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Painted on the facet of tanks and emblazoned on the shirt of Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, the letter Z has come to symbolize help for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It has even been integrated into the spelling of place names corresponding to КуZбасс in south central Russia.
In some international locations, the Czech Republic for example, there are even discussions about whether or not displaying the letter needs to be a legal offence. Its rise comes shortly after one other lesser-used letter from the Latin alphabet – Q – grew to become part of far-right politics within the US (and overseas) by way of the conspiracy idea QAnon.
Using symbols is a elementary a part of any political battle — a part of the propaganda technique that tries to form the general public narrative. However what’s most fascinating is how these efficient symbols emerge, and that a few of them resonate so powerfully that they find yourself banned as a type of hate speech.
Inciting public opinion
The struggle for public opinion that runs alongside the precise struggle in Ukraine has given rise to a number of symbols representing help for one facet or the opposite. Twitter is stuffed with folks including the Ukrainian flag emoji to their title. The defiant phrases of the Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island – “Russian warship, go fuck your self!” – have develop into a strong underdog slogan, and even the premise for an official Ukrainian postage stamp.
FILE PHOTO: A person walks previous the image “Z“ painted on a bus cease in help of the Russian armed forces, as Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Saint Petersburg, Russia March 4, 2022.
On the opposite facet, probably the most notable image has been the straightforward Z. There have been many theories about why this letter has develop into a pro-war image, and what its origins could be. Is it as a result of it represents the Russian phrase for west (zapad), the route wherein Putin’s tanks are rolling? Or is it shorthand for Za pobedu — “for victory”? There’s additionally the oddity that the Cyrillic alphabet doesn’t have an indication resembling Z. The zed sound is written as З.
Giving letters that means
The circumstances of an emblem’s origin are solely a small a part of its story. It’s the best way symbols come to resonate in society, and the way folks impose meanings on them, which transforms arbitrary indicators into highly effective devices of propaganda. Political symbols can take just about any type you possibly can think about.
In 2013, penguins grew to become the image of anti-government protesters in Istanbul. When violent clashes between police and protesters first broke out, all of the nationwide TV channels selected to not cowl them. CNN Turk as a substitute ran a documentary about penguins — which protesters then adopted as an emblem for his or her wrestle, and to mock the broadcaster.
Using letters of the alphabet as political symbols is a bit of uncommon for the straightforward cause that particular person letters aren’t meant to have any intrinsic that means of their very own. They’re supposed merely to symbolize sounds which, when mixed, produce phrases which solely then have a that means.
When the Nato phonetic alphabet (Alfa, Bravo, Charlie and so forth) was being developed, one of many standards for phrases used to symbolize letters was that they need to “be free from any affiliation with objectionable meanings”. They need to be politically and culturally impartial, in the identical method the letters themselves are.
Impartial letters
The neutrality of alphabetic letters was additionally behind the World Well being Organisation’s determination to make use of Greek letters to designate new Covid variants. Previous to this, the variants had been named in response to their homeland, however this risked stigmatising places or international locations by having them without end related to the virus.
Even then, sure letters needed to be omitted in case they by accident led to undesirable associations. The Greek letter Xi, for instance, was skipped because it resembles the surname of the president of China, Xi Jinping.
A service member of pro-Russian troops in a uniform with out insignia walks subsequent to an armoured automobile with symbols “Z“ painted on its facet within the separatist-controlled village of Bugas throughout Ukraine-Russia battle within the Donetsk area, Ukraine March 6, 2022.
What this reveals is that language is at all times probably political, exactly as a result of it’s on the coronary heart of how people work together – and human interplay itself is at all times, at some degree, political. Phrases and symbols have a denotative that means – their literal “dictionary definition” – however additionally they carry traces of the historical past of their use, which colors the connotations they’ve for folks.
It’s not shocking that the 2 latest situations of alphabetic letters as political symbols have adopted the 2 least used of all of the letters. Z has historically been seen as superfluous in English — a lot in order that Shakespeare made it the premise of an insult in King Lear: “Thou whoreson zed! Thou pointless letter!” And Q has associations with phrases corresponding to question and query. So neither was a very clean canvas earlier than their use was co-opted.
In the end, nevertheless, it’s the best way that indicators are literally used that transforms them into symbols. It’s a matter of who they’re utilized by, for what objective. As soon as this utilization begins to unfold by way of society and is adopted by supporters, highlighted and debated by the media – and, in some instances, banned – its that means rapidly will get embedded within the tradition. Ultimately, it turns into a part of the on a regular basis vocabulary we use to make sense of the world.
Philip Seargeant, Senior Lecturer in Utilized Linguistics, The Open College
Printed on
March 22, 2022
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