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Article: Them's fighting words: language of war and war through language.
- Article from:
- Arena Magazine
- Article date:
- October 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Arena Printing and Publications Pty. Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For the first conceivable time, a country declared war without knowing its enemy and without firing a shot. In the four weeks after 11 September before the first missle strikes, in lieu of military action the United States initiated a war composed of preliminary troop manoeuvres and a volley of words. Instead of carpet bombing, the as yet unconfirmed enemy was subjected to a blitz of verbiage. This linguistic onslaught has not only expressed sorrow and anger, but has literally constituted the enemy in the absence of more tangible targets. As metaphors proliferate, the very language of description becomes the primary site of battle.
Words failed onlookers in the ...