Power of Language (Post Class Blog)

Reflecting back on my pre class blog post, I keep contemplating the themes of gaps and spaces in the reading. As others have mentioned in their post the example of “abso_ _ _ _ _ _ _lutely” clearly demonstrates how much our brains like to fill in the gaps. We do this with words, images, film scenes, and even in conversations. Perhaps it goes back to the quote of “some things are better left unsaid” or “leave something to the imagination.” We romanticize or eroticize the gaps but rather than leaving them empty, we crave to fill them in with what we find satisfying. This makes me wonder how do each of our gap fillings or tmesis’ compare with one another? We all have different realities and notions of pleasure, thus I imagine some of the ways we fill in the gaps will show up to be different.

            After class last week, I wrote in big bold letters on my notes "POWER OF LANGUAGE." You could easily say that language is the most popular and powerful way of communicating. One of the concepts we discussed in class that keeps swimming around in my brain is the fact that ideology becomes powerful through language. So resuming this talk about gaps and spaces, I am wondering how they are used as tools of influence or manipulation. Do politicians leave gaps and spaces for us to fill in? I feel like sometimes they use vague language or words that signify a certain meaning. For example they may say the word “progressive” or “liberal” and that would be enough for some people to vote or not vote for them because those words hold a collective shared understanding as well as certain connotations.

            I also began thinking about how this works in marketing and public relations, where they use certain symbols, images and words to suggest something about their product. For example in greenwashing, companies will paint their product as sustainable and eco-friendly by featuring a Zen symbol, or using words as “natural”, and “pure” or making the design look earthy. Since we all have a collective shared understanding of what these designs or phrases signify, it makes it easier for these companies to convince us to buy something.

Here is an ad demonstrating  greenwashing. http://www.ethicalshopping.com/files/imagecache/medium_fig/files/images/7upGreenwash_0.jpg