Recently, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott travelled to Afghanistan to visit the soldiers and made a rather 'unfortunate' remark. (similar to Kevin Rudd's visit in '08/'09 which had similar results)
Below are some news articles on the issue:
Things to think abt:
- Was the use of "shit" appropriate in the situation?
- Is the use of swear words appropriate for those involved in poltics?
- In a society with increased stress on political correctness, are such references to taboo unfitting?
Stuff to note:
- What was the context? An informal, solemn chat between the soldier's superior/Colonel and Tony Abbott.
- What is the lexicon of the "Military-English variety"? is it acceptable to use such profanities within soldiers?
- Was the aim of Tony Abbott to relate to the soldier or "reduce the social distance" through the use of words common to a soldier?
- If Mr. Abbott had used poltically correct langauge or the Cultivated Australian English accent (inc. its syntax, lexicon + phonology), using phrases like "most sincere sympathies", "makes one ill to think about it" or "tragic loss for the people of Australia" would he have portrayed himself as "fellow comrade in arms" or "airconditioned, politician suit"??
- What is a more heartfelt and sincere thing to say?
- Lexical items belonging to taboo tend to have undergone the most drastic changes in language. eg. "f--k" denotes "to have s*x with", and "sh*t" denotes "excrement". So if such words are used outside of its denoted meaning, ["fml" doesn't mean "s*x my life"], does saying "shit happens" necessarily refer to a soldier's life as baing "excrement"? does the lexical item "shit happens" carry other semantics??
(starting to sound one sided...) so on the other hand...
- Politicians must be politically correct. If celebrities are scrutinsed for every comment they make, which must be poltically correct (eg. Stephanie Rice + twitter), then shouldn't politicians be held in the same regard?
- "Taken out of context or not, you just DO NOT say #shithappens about anyone's death, especially a digger who died serving the nation," - Twitter user: rinajlee.
- If the use of swear words are unacceptable in even school environments, why should government be allowed anything different?
- Does Tony Abbott take casual language too far?
- "shit happens" --> seems to have 2 main connotations: 1. Fatalistic (bad things can happen no matter how much you prepare); 2. Dismissive (a minced-oath/pseudo-profanity [shoot instead of sh*t, dang/darn instead of da*n] form of this is 'it happens' --> very dismissive)
A full discourse analysis/principle of approp. could be done on this topic. ie:
- Mode: (obviously spoken)
- Context: outdoors, conversational environment, post-tragic-event --> does the context give any indication to what langauge should be used?
- Audience: *a key issue here. If Mr Abbott knew there were recording cameras present which would show the conversation in Australia, who was his intended audience?? 2 possibilities: A) the US commander he was facing; B) the people of Australia. It seems as though his intended audience was the US commander as his intention was, most likely, acting appropriately to the situation through the use of soldier's vernacular, to reduce the social distance between him and the Colonel. This opposed to speaking with cliches and lexemes with neutral semantics which would be acceptable to Australians, but perhaps not the military personnel surrounding him at the time of the discourse. "This was a tragic accident that demands our utmost deepest sympathies".
- Function: maintainer of social relationships (was the aim to reduce social distance with the language)? conveying information (to extract information from the Colonel to inform Australia)? marker of groups (should T. Abbott have used lexemes from sem. field of government and political correctness)?
- Language Features: "Nah it's pretty obvious that um... well sometimes sh*t happens doesn't it?" --> so many discourse particles and hedging expressions. Which indicates....?
Please note: I am not trying to be insincere or inconsiderate to a soldier who has died for our country. Far from it in fact. I merely wish to give my opinion on why i believe it is inappropriate or uncouth to accuse Tony Abbott of lacking sympathy/sincerity/consideration with his use of language...
