Euphemism and metaphor

[zmaalej]

To all,
At the risk of turning this discussion somewhat into a political one, I
would like to go back to the "cleansing" I offered in a previous post as a
case of euphemism and the non-eupehemistic term offered by Celso
("genocide").  Looking at what is going on in Kosovo as simply a religious
matter (which legitimises the use of "cleansing" non-eupemistically) is in
my view a bit of a reductionist stance, which justifies in a sense the use
of "cleansing" euphemistically and makes "genocide" a more appropriate
candidate for literal usage. Of course, "genocide" was not used instead
"cleansing" because it was not favorable to the interests of the West. Don't
we, however, believe here that what is happening in Kosovo is even worse
than what caused Pinochet's extradition from the UK? One of the senses of
"cleansing in The New Shorter Oxford Dictionary is "clear, rid (of, from),"
excluding thus the sin, guilt, religious connotations that surround the
other senses quoted in the dictionary (there are 7 of them, by the way).

Regards
Zouhair Maalej, Assistant Professor,
Department of English Chair,
Faculty of Letters, Manouba, 2010,
University of Tunis I, TUNISIA.
Office Phone: (+216) 1 600 700 Ext. 174
Home Tel/Fax: (+216) 1 362 871
Email: zmaalej at gnet.tn

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-----Original Message-----
From: Celso Alvarez Caccamo <lxalvarz at udc.es>
To: DISCOURS at linguist.ldc.upenn.edu <DISCOURS at linguist.ldc.upenn.edu>
Date: Sunday, June 27, 1999 5:54 AM
Subject: Re: Euphemism and metaphor


Regarding euphemism, Zouhair Maalej wrote:

> For instance, in the news exterminating
> a race by massive killing may be euphemistically
> termed as cleansing (as in what has been going on
> in Kosovo). Note that here metaphorically killing
> becomes cleansing.

I agree that this is a metaphor, but I disagree with the
interpretation that "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo has been
applied euphemistically. And I disagree, simply, because,
in terms of propaganda, euphemism wasn't favorable to the
interests of the West military and political elites. The
non-euphemistic term for 'exterminating a people by massive
killing' is "genocide", which was seldom used during the war.
"Genocide" is very narrowly defined in international law,
as the case for Pinochet's extradition from the UK is
showing.

On the contrary, arguments have been raised (f.ex. by Chomsky
in Znet, http://www.zmag.org) that the atrocities by the
Serbian military and paramilitary forces were *semantically
upgraded* to "ethnic cleansing" -- exactly the opposite of
euphemism.

In my view, the "cleansing" metaphor alludes not exactly to a
nationalistic programme, but to purification of the Body of the
Yugoslav and Serbian States -- their respective territories.
"Cleansing" involves killing (as when antibiotics are used
against invading bacteria), burning houses (=cauterization), or
mass expulsion or fleeing of human beings (=expectoration).
We must remember that a good number of Kosovars fleed to
Montenegro, where their infecting powers are inactive, as
there they do not hold any claims to independence. Invading
agents may coexist with the host --as in the number of dormant
microorganisms a body carries along, that is, The Melting Pot--
as long as they do not attempt to disrupt political... life.

In this sense, "cleansing" is being repeated now by
Kosovo Albanians against Serbs: killings, burnings, expulsions.
Interestingly, this is not being called "cleansing" by
Western media. Expulsions of "illegal" immigrants from Western
countries, massive incarceration of African Americans in the
US, burnings of Turks in Germany, or killings of Kurds
by the Turkish army are not called "cleansing", either.

In selectively metaphorizing the atrocities by which each
State attempts to purify its Body, propaganda reveals
the media's allegiance to the State. Obviously, faithful
propagandists do not call their own State's atrocities
"cleansing". In Kosovo's case, the media's failure to call
present atrocities by the KLA and Albanians as "cleansing",
as well as KFor's passivity before these acts, reveal the
likely objective of the West -- that Kosovo constitute itself
into a(n allied) State, in which case purification is
legitimate and necessary.

After the invasive radiotheraphy by NATO, the KFor is to
Kosovo what morphine is to a body in pain: they both take
over, but they create dependency -- which is the best
way to promote addiction.

Oh, and Milosevic. In these ten years, Milosevic has been
the Necessary Virus. The West needs him to experiment
with expensive treatments and to get rid of expired drugs.

--
Celso Alvarez Cáccamo              Tel. +34 981 167000 ext. 1888
Linguística Geral, Faculdade de Filologia     FAX +34 981 167151
Universidade da Corunha                          lxalvarz at udc.es
15071 A Corunha, Galiza (Espanha)   http://www.udc.es/dep/lx/cac