'American Newspeak' brings doubletalk up to date for the 21st century. An Internet favourite for many years, as well as a popular regular column in Z Magazine, 'Newspeak' already has a large club of fans and admirers. Now the book is sure to awaken whole new audiences to the grim but gripping reality of how far our culture has gone in the direction of Orwell's 1984. Focusing on the 'twin towers of alienation' - corporations and bureaucracies - author Wayne Grytting scavenges through the crevices of the popular media to reveal countless gems of doublespeak propagated by the spin doctors of the 'emerging new world consumerist order'. Specifically focusing on the insinuation of advertising into every square inch of our cultural life, Grytting re-digests the news, providing uniquely thoughtful, humorous and caustic commentary on specific examples of the best PR that money can buy. Between the laughs lies a more serious analysis of the mechanisms of distancing, disconnection and denial, and examples of humorous forms of protest designed to penetrate the layers of false consciousness. A final 'Groucho Marxist Response' calls for using more satire, parody and play to subvert the indifference that has colonised our way of life, and to connect directly with people instead of simply being oppositional. Sure to appeal to young people with rings in their noses activated by WTO protests, as well as to educators, labour and community organisers, and cynical old Sixties activists, this book will also penetrate the mainstream...
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About the Author:
Wayne Grytting is a long-time Alaskan fishing skipper with a '60s background in anti-war activism. He now teaches special education students in Seattle. He began writing American Newspeak columns on the Internet in 1996, which were then regularly featured in Z Magazine.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherNew Society Publishers
- Publication date2003
- ISBN 10 0865714649
- ISBN 13 9780865714649
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages210
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