Language and Myth in American Politics

Abstract

Politics is quintessentially a linguistic activity, an activity in which language is employed to inform others about political issues and persuade them to adopt courses of action in regard to these issues. However, numerous thinkers have supposed that language is more than just the vehicle for the expression of political views. As the political scientist Murray Edelman (1974) said, language is “not simply an instrument for describing events but [is] itself a part of events” (p. 4). According to this view, the language used to describe political events can influence political perceptions in a way that goes beyond its propositional content. The net effect can be a subtle, largely covert influence of language on political perceptions.¹