Doppelganger and the Importance of Language
And why language isn't always enough
[Dear readers: This issue contains discussion of the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.]
“There is one thing that we must never surrender, and that is the language of anti-facism. The true meanings of ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ and ‘Holocaust,’ and the supremacist mindset that makes them all possible,” writes Naomi Klein in her book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2023). And about the Israeli government’s current actions, Klein has been a staunch advocate for labeling the events as what they are: a genocide. Why such an emphasis on language?
“I have been writing about how Bannon and Wolf are…making a mockery of concepts that matter, and that is deeply disorienting. But so, too, is what more centrist leaders have been doing for much longer: using words as intended, yet with no intention of acting on them. And one form of denialism feeds the other” (Klein, 155). We’ve seen throughout history individuals co-opt and misappropriate not just others’ cultures, but words. Words like “woke” and “othered” and “marginalized” have been taken hold of by groups in power to describe their own fight. And Klein discusses the impact of this in depth: how the left then fears using those words, so not to be associated with the right, despite those words often being the most accurate choice. And “there is a power in naming,” as Klein writes (155).
All of this ties into Klein’s larger idea of the right being defined by the left and the left being defined by the right. There is no middle ground. We are in a “mirror world,” aka a world in which we see our own image reflected…but differently. This plays into everything from how we define our values, to society’s ability to get anything done.
But, as Klein makes clear, “when editors and journalists steer clear of important topics for fear that their audiences can’t cope with complex truths, it doesn’t throttle conspiracies—it fuels them” (120). Systems in power—capitalism, racism, sexism, etc.—all drive narratives. And when people in power use words like “complicated,” they dissuade their audience from taking the time to learn more. And so we believe whatever we are told—or outright disbelieve whatever we are told—which leads to rabbit holes of misinformation, and others’ taking advantage of our trust in misinformation (ex: Netanyahu again and again claiming attacks in Gaza were “accidental”).
Language as power is something writers, especially Black authors, have called attention to for decades. In her essay “The Foreigner’s Home,” Toni Morrison wrote: “Oppressive language does more than represent violence, it is violence: does more than represent the limits of knowledge, it limits knowledge….All are typical of the policing languages of mastery and cannot, do not permit new knowledge or encourage the mutual exchange of ideas.” And in How the Word Is Passed, Clint Smith writes: “Just because something is difficult to accept doesn’t mean you should refuse to accept it. Just because someone tells you a story doesn’t make that story true.” And, like these authors, Klein doesn’t believe our understanding of language should stop there. “In recent years,” she writes, “left social movements have won huge victories in transforming the way we talk about all kinds of issues…but we appear to have done it at the precise moment when words and ideas underwent a radical currency devaluation” (153).
In a society that has taken to using language however they’d like, words, without action, run the risk of being empty, or even being misappropriated. Take action to push for a ceasefire and Palestinian liberation.
The power of language
In addition to Doppelganger, what are some books that delve into language? (You can read an excerpt from Klein’s book focusing on Israel and Palestine here.)
How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith: “Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective history, and ourselves.
Rivermouth by Alejandra Oliva: “In this memoir of translation, storytelling, and borders, Alejandra Oliva, a Mexican-American translator and immigrant justice activist, offers a powerful chronicle of her experience interpreting at the US-Mexico border.”
The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison: This collection of essays and speeches by Morrison takes a look at everything from her own writing to the role of authors to the political and social movements of our present and past.
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich: In this novel broaching the pandemic, uprisings in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, and more, Erdrich asks “what we owe to the living, the dead, to the reader and to the book.”
James by Percival Everett: A reimagining of Huck Finn from Jim’s point of view with a stark focus on language and agency.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller: “Her story of trauma and transcendence illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicting a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shining with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life.”
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado: “Tracing the full arc of a harrowing relationship with a charismatic but volatile woman, Machado struggles to make sense of how what happened to her shaped the person she was becoming. And it's that struggle that gives the book its original structure: each chapter is driven by its own narrative trope…through which Machado holds the events up to the light and examines them from different angles.”
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong: “With sly humor and a poet's searching mind, Hong uses her own story as a portal into a deeper examination of racial consciousness in America today. This intimate and devastating book traces her relationship to the English language, to shame and depression, to poetry and female friendship.”
If you have other recommendations you’d add to this list, please feel free to share them in the comments!
“There is a power in naming…”
—Doppelganger, p155
Thanks so much for taking the time to read! If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share with friends, and consider subscribing if you have not yet already.
We’ll be back in just a few weeks with our end-of-month issue to break down current topics in the publishing world.
Xx,
ad astra