Now it was Humpty Dumpty who said “When I use a word, …. it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’*
As a statement and a reflection on the power of language, it is a fascinating comment.
And I was reminded of it while reading Deborah Lipstadt’s new book, Antisemitism Here and Now. **
It is to quote the sleeve notes “a timely analysis of the new antisemitism, by the historian who defeated Holocaust denier David Irving in Court”.
It “connects distinct currents in contemporary culture, such as the resurgence of racist right-wing nationalisms, left-liberal tolerance of hostility to Jews, the plight of the Palestinians, and the rise of Islamic extremism, to explore how contradictory forces have found common scapegoats”.
And very early on the book explores the correct way to spell antisemitism, observing that this not “an arcane academic argument” but “is part of its ugly history and its contemporary reality”.
It was popularised by Wilhelm Marr, who was a German journalist in the late 19th century, who wanted an all-embracing term which could be used against all Jews who he saw as the “enemy within” and included those who had converted to Christianity.
In turn it utilised the word Semitic, coined by a German historian in 1781 to describe “a group of languages that originated in the Middle East and that have some linguistic similarities, [although] there is nothing that binds speakers of these different languages together as a people”.
When the word first appeared in English in 1893 it was given a hyphen, but in French and Spanish it always appeared without the hyphen and in lower case.
This Ms Lipastadt argues is how it should be, “because the word both as its creator had intended and as it has been generally used for the past one hundred and fifty years, means, quite simply, the hatred of the Jews”.
And she continues, that as antisemitism is illogical and shot through with contradictions “it doesn’t deserve the dignity of capitalisation, which in English is reserved for proper names”.
All of which I think would have made perfect sense to Lewis Carroll and provides the answer to Alice’s question of “whether you can make words mean so many different things”.
History is littered with examples of how words have been used to obscure the actions of the powerful or to confuse the outcomes.
And so it is with the word antisemitism.
*“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”
Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll, 1871
** Antisemetism Here and Now, Deborah Lipstadt, 2019
And I was reminded of it while reading Deborah Lipstadt’s new book, Antisemitism Here and Now. **
It is to quote the sleeve notes “a timely analysis of the new antisemitism, by the historian who defeated Holocaust denier David Irving in Court”.
It “connects distinct currents in contemporary culture, such as the resurgence of racist right-wing nationalisms, left-liberal tolerance of hostility to Jews, the plight of the Palestinians, and the rise of Islamic extremism, to explore how contradictory forces have found common scapegoats”.
And very early on the book explores the correct way to spell antisemitism, observing that this not “an arcane academic argument” but “is part of its ugly history and its contemporary reality”.
It was popularised by Wilhelm Marr, who was a German journalist in the late 19th century, who wanted an all-embracing term which could be used against all Jews who he saw as the “enemy within” and included those who had converted to Christianity.
In turn it utilised the word Semitic, coined by a German historian in 1781 to describe “a group of languages that originated in the Middle East and that have some linguistic similarities, [although] there is nothing that binds speakers of these different languages together as a people”.
When the word first appeared in English in 1893 it was given a hyphen, but in French and Spanish it always appeared without the hyphen and in lower case.
This Ms Lipastadt argues is how it should be, “because the word both as its creator had intended and as it has been generally used for the past one hundred and fifty years, means, quite simply, the hatred of the Jews”.
And she continues, that as antisemitism is illogical and shot through with contradictions “it doesn’t deserve the dignity of capitalisation, which in English is reserved for proper names”.
All of which I think would have made perfect sense to Lewis Carroll and provides the answer to Alice’s question of “whether you can make words mean so many different things”.
History is littered with examples of how words have been used to obscure the actions of the powerful or to confuse the outcomes.
And so it is with the word antisemitism.
*“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”
Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll, 1871
** Antisemetism Here and Now, Deborah Lipstadt, 2019
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