Orwellian Oldspeak
"Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary."
- George Orwell "1984"
palimpsest, n [L. palimpsestus fr. Gk palimpsestos scatched or scraped again palimpseston a palimpsest fr palin again + psen to rub, rub away.]
1. A kind or portion of writing material, as parchment or paper, so prepared that the writing could be erased. Obs.
2. A parchment, tablet or other portion of writing material, which has been used twice or three times (double palimpsest), the earlier writing having been erased; a manuscript in which one or two earlier erased writings are found; a codex rescriptus. This double or tripple use in early times of writing material was largely due to scarcity of such material. Valuable texts or fragments have been recovered from palimpsests by the use of chemicals etc.
3. A memorial brass having earlier engraving on the side opposite to that which is now exposed.
- Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition (1961)
The Archimedes Palimpsest
A Prayer Book's Secret
"The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking — not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness."
- George Orwell "1984"
Big Brother In China
Undoubtedly more than a few visitors to China will have perceived parallels between Orwell's dystopian vision in "1984" and the communist's overhaul of Chinese society. For one thing the state news agency, Xin Hua literally translates as "New China", though it is a homonym of "new speak". This develops an even more sinister overtone when considered along with the communists' restructuring of the Chinese writing system. While traditional Chinese characters are still used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other overseas Chinese societies, simplified characters are standard in China. The simplified characters were supposedly designed to encourage literacy though it can also be seen as a devisive means to sever connections with the past.
Chinese Media Culls Undesirable Characters
*EXIT*
|
EXIT
