Library:The Language of the Third Reich
| The Language of the Third Reich | |
|---|---|
| Author | Victor Klemperer |
| First published | 1947 |
| ISBN | 978-0-485-11526-0 unverified |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | History Culture, Religion & Society |
| Tactics | Propaganda Technique |
The Language of the Third Reich is a 1947 book by Victor Klemperer.
Summary
Victor Klemperer was a Jewish professor of Romance languages in Dresden who survived the Nazi period, protected in part by his marriage to a non-Jewish wife, Eva. Throughout the period he kept secret notes on how Nazi language worked. He published them in 1947 as LTI – Lingua Tertii Imperii ("the language of the Third Reich"). The English translation by Martin Brady appeared in 2000.
How words were changed
Klemperer shows how the regime changed the meaning and use of ordinary words. "Fanatical," once an insult, became praise. Superlatives multiplied. Mechanical and military metaphors spread into everyday speech, and abbreviations and euphemisms disguised persecution.
How propaganda spreads
His central observation is that propaganda worked less through individual speeches than through endless repetition of words and phrases that people absorbed without noticing, until even opponents of the regime used them.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
Klemperer's book is a detailed eyewitness record of how language itself can carry propaganda, a reminder to watch the words used to describe events, not only the claims made about them.
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