Blog Post 2 – Sara Hancock

Using McLuhan's medium theory of the human sensorium as a framework, argue that there is something about speech as a medium and orality as communicative practice that creates the possibility of the 'language virus" that afflicts the anglophones in Pontypool.

According to Marshall McLuhan’s theory of human sensorium, the term medium describes any form of extension of a sense or faculty. Contemporary tele-technologies, such as telegraphy, telephony, radio, and television, are thereby extensions of hearing and sight. The author also mentions that throughout history, these views may become distorted especially because of the globalization of communication and culture and biases of capitalistic hegemonic institutions. In correlation with the film Pontypool, the medium of orality creates the possibility of a “language virus” to become widespread by using tele-technologies. I argue that throughout history, words become tainted by ideologies and associations with certain people, groups, or organizations. These terms cause societal disruption and stigmatization when they are used carelessly and especially in disrespectful contexts. For instance, research available on the science of swearing illuminates that swear words cause harm in situations of verbal abuse, discrimination, and sexual harassment (Jay & Janschewitz, 2012). Furthermore, Jay and Janschewitz (2012) explain that “the Anglo-Saxon words we say are hundreds of years old, and most of the historically offensive sexual references are still at the top of the offensiveness list; they have not been dislodged by modern slang.” In other words, a communicative virus could emerge through reference to historical and emotionally charged words that are controversial and harmful to members of society.



References

 

Jay, T., & Janschewitz, K. (2012, April 25). The science of swearing. Association for 

Psychological Science. Retrieved from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/

the-science-of-swearing  

Comments

  1. Hi Sara, great post!
    I thought your mention of Jay and Janschewitz, explaining the dated Anglo-Saxon words was so interesting. I guess that it's something that we tend to forget about our language, that it is so old and has aspects that have been altered significantly since it's origin. I looked up some of these words out of curiosity and it is crazy to see how dislodged they seem from our spoken vernacular today. Ultracrepidarian means to be presumptuous, but if I was to tell anyone today that they were being Ultracrepidarian, they would have no idea what I was talking about. This was a really good way to show how words can lose their meaning, much like the words that were the root of the virus in Pontypool. I loved this connection!

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