During “An Orison of Sonmi-451”, Mitchell introduces us to a
futuristic, corporate, fast-paced culture and language that at first seems
unfamiliar, but as the chapter progresses it becomes increasingly apparent many
of the nuances are not so different from today.
Sonmi-451 works at a popular fast food chain, Papa Song’s, and there are
multiple references to how Sonmi “saw Papa Song’s golden arches recede into a
hundred other corp logos” (201). During
the orison, she talks about purebloods wearing “Nikes” and “Rolexes” that are
just what they seem: shoes and watches.
When she watches The Ghastly
Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish, the reader gains some insight of one of the
words evolution in the past; “Disneys were called ‘movies’ in those days”
(233).
In Sonmi’s Korea, this evolved language and culture is the
norm to fabricants and purebloods alike, but there are still people, like
Sonmi, who see that the control business has over language is more serious than
simply changing names of words; “Corporacy is built on slavery, whether or not
the word is sanctioned” (189). An
interesting note is that the word slavery itself is banned, which suggests that
attempting to ignore or eradicate an idea or action can start at the most base
level: not being allowed to talk about it. Sonmi is clearly one of the few who
has both experienced this enslavement to Corporacy and learned enough through her studies to
identify it, both through her experiences and the usage of language.
While the evolution of language is natural and expected,
Mitchell seems to predict the language of the future will become bogged down by
consumerism and materialism, just as many accuse popular culture of being
affected by today. The glimpse into
Sonmi-451’s world suggests that humans will sacrifice the individuality of
language, and consequently the individuality of each person, for the flashiness
and ease of consumer culture and allow it to permeate our means of
communication.
Rachel brings up a very interesting point in her blog post: Consumerism has become an increasingly significant part of language as history has progressed, and it will likely continue to do so in the future. As this blog post indicates, the chapter An Orison of Somni-451 in David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas illustrates several examples of the increasing role of materialism in language.
ReplyDeleteWhat stands out is a particular instance in which consumerism is indirectly compared to religion, suggesting that its prevalence may escalate beyond the realm of language in the future. Somni-451 explains how “Catechism Three teaches that for servers to keep anything denies Papa Song’s love for us and cheats His Investment” (191). The capitalization of the word “his” clearly imitates how the Bible capitalizes the words “he” and “his” when referring to God. Thus, this grammatical choice suggests that Papa Song—head of a McDonald’s-style futuristic diner—is thought of as a god. Mitchell implies that individuals may have an innate desire to identify a superior being in life. The capitalization in this example indicates that—at least in some people’s opinions—consumerism may one day carry as much importance as religion.
Overall, not only do the words in An Orison of Somni-451 demonstrate consumerism’s impact on language, but the grammar in this chapter also illustrates the growing role of materialism.
Mitchell’s projected effect of consumerism on language is undeniably visible in the orison of Sonmi-451. As Rachel mentioned, there are numerous references to popular brands replacing everyday objects/words. Movies become “Disneys” (233, 348-349). Shoes become “Nikes,” smartphones become “Sonys,”and so on. What occurred to me while thinking about this idea however is that consumerism isn’t the only driving force behind changes in language.
ReplyDeleteAfter reflecting, I believe that technology has begun to have a very similar effect on language like the one depicted in Cloud Atlas. Before the creation of smartphones and extensive social media networks, the word “tweet” was only used in relation to birds. If you were to play a word association game today however, tweet would take on a whole new meaning with most people. Social media networks like Facebook have also begun to reshape the way we communicate. Rather than sending long, hand-written letters, most people now resort to communicating via short, back and forth instant messages. Many popular phrases and figures of speech have altogether become acronyms such as “BRB”(be right back) and “LYL”(Love you lots). As social media continues to involve and technology becomes more advanced, I think it is reasonable to assume a similar change in language will occur as a result. It is even possible that someday the integration of technology into everyday life could reshape or even eliminate every language in the world altogether.
I really like that you discussed this. I noticed the use of specific corporations’ names to signify larger categories of products, but I interpreted it as perhaps the existence of monopolies. Your linguistic evaluation of it, however, is really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI found the influence of corporations to also be evident through the emission of vowels prior to the consonant “x.” The most frequently used example of this is the word “Xultation.” In addition to Xultation, other words beginning with a vowel followed by an “x” emit the vowel: “xercises” (203), “xpect” (209), “xec” (208, 210), “x-classmate” (210), “xtremists” (220), “x-postgrad” (216), “xperimental” (208), “x-dinery” (229), “x-sisters” (221), “xits” (235), “xist” (344), “xpendable” (348), and “xtra” (348). These are but a few of the many examples in which this form of spelling is illustrated.
Dropping the vowel preceding “x” relates to the consumerist culture in a somewhat indirect manner. The intense consumerism described in these chapters requires mass production of goods, and mass production requires quick manufacturing. Quick manufacturing is accomplished in two ways: simplicity in style and the use of machinery (which requires homogeneity). The result is a distribution of simple, homogenous products to satisfy a large demand. Critics of this often value the artistic value of products, which can be gleaned from the uniqueness and intricacy of their design. In this way, language also undergoes a transformation similar to that of products. Whereas the artistic value of language may have been celebrated in the past, language takes on a simpler, more functional use in a society focused on pumping out products for consumers. Thus, corners are cut when spelling words in the same way that corner are cut when mass producing goods.
Rachel's discussion of consumerism in the development of language in Somni-451 is very interesting. I think the same theory can be applied to the language in Sloosha's Crossing.
ReplyDeleteThe very nature of language in Sloosha's Crossing can be defined by its title: "Sloosha's Crossin' An' Evrythin' After". The language in this distopian future is extremely basic, if not underdeveloped. One can see this when Sloosha is describing Meronym. "First, second, third days the Prescient woman was wormyin' into my dwelling'. Got to 'fess she din't b'have like no queeny-bee, nay, she never lazed a beat. She helped Sussy with dairy in' an' Ma with twinin'n'spinnin' an' Jonas took her bird-eggin' an' she listened to Catkin's yippin" (254). The language Sloosha uses is elemental, almost hillbilly-like. With language at its most basic, society is also basic. In this post-apocalyptic setting, there are few humans and they are surviving on a remote island. They are defending their lives from island cannibals, and they live in huts. The culture of Sloosha's society is far from a consumerist culture. Mitchell links that to a basic form of language to signify how society has changed to become more basic.