Linguists are routinely exposed to negative emotion words, which are becoming embedded in their vocabulary arsenal, ready to be used for translating and interpreting purposes. Is so much negativity eliciting an emotional reaction and affecting our linguistic response?
Can linguists remain impartial given such exposure to negative language, a pessimistic outlook, and a diet of cantankerous comments following many online articles?
To test this theory, a quick round up of Le Monde, Stern, and El País, seemed to confirm this.
Le Monde – Nouriel Roubini:
Inflation, guerre commerciale, réchauffement climatique…Dans un entretien au , l’économiste américain, réputé pour son péssimisme, dresse la liste des grandes menaces auxquelles nos pays seront confrontés ces prochaines années.
Stern - Ukraine-Krieg
Sprechen Sie militärisch? Das sind Division, Infanterie, Schützenpanzer und Generaloberst.
El País – Ambiente laboral, conciliación y bienestar: estos son los retos y oportunidades de la ‘Gran Renuncia’.
Popular buzzwords encountered: war – one headline even educates us in military jargon, strikes, riots, stagflation, economic uncertainty, pension reform, the Great Resignation, digital education – young people need more humans, not more machines, global warming, climate crisis, health crisis, juxtaposed with stress-busting well-being headlines, aimed at alleviating the anxiety caused by the above key words! Every other headline alludes to a crisis, with society teetering on the edge of pending disaster.
Historic tragedies and negative press are nothing new, yet gone are the days of cheeriness, and a positive attitude, eager for a successful outcome.
According to Big Think: Media headlines have grown remarkably negative over the past two decades, according to an analysis just published in PLoS ONE. Headlines denoting anger have increased 104% since the year 2000. Headlines featuring fear (+150%), disgust (29%), and sadness (+54%) have also soared.
Key take-aways:
• Understanding the wider context, to avoid taking the headline at face value.
• Finding the right synonyms to accurately translate subtle nuances, whilst retaining the true essence.
• Conveying the meaning with literary flair, as well as linguistic accuracy.
Speakers:
Maria-Elena Metaxas
Elizabeth Beevers
Tia Smith
Georgina Metaxas
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