Language itself is a political battlefield when discourse is indoctrinated

Evidence

In the totalitarian era, the therapeutic task of philosophy would be a political task, since the established universe of ordinary language tends to coagulate into a totally manipulated and indoctrinated universe. Then politics would appear in philosophy, not as a special discipline or object of analysis, nor as a special political philosophy, but as the intent of its concepts to comprehend the unmutilated reality. If linguistic analysis does not contribute to such understanding; if, instead, it contributes to enclosing thought in the circle of the mutilated universe of ordinary discourse, it is at best entirely inconsequential. And, at worst, it is an escape into the non-controversial, the unreal, into that which is only academically controversial. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 713

Categorization

• XREF: Directly serves the stated reading purpose: the administered society’s control works through language, extending the flatting-of-critical-thought thesis to discourse itself. — connects to: Political discourse redefines contested terms so opposition becomes definitionally impossible; Slang and colloquial speech resist official one-dimensional discourse. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 378; Seeking correct definitions is itself politically subversive — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 514 (+12 more)
• ADDENDUM: Supports the tree article’s grafting metaphor: one-dimensional language grafts established meanings onto usage, closing off the historical dimension in parallel to how infrastructure naturalizes itself.

Broader Connections

• Political language weaponizes selective concepts to serve power. #corroborates (0.85)
• A homogeneous epistemological field enables political tactical uses of discourse #expands (0.80) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 223
• Discourse constructs subject positions that speakers must occupy regardless of belief #expands (0.80)
• Political statements need decoding of who speaks, not just surface reading #expands (0.75) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 566
• Political discourse dissolves complexity into myth and suppresses causal understanding #expands (0.75)
• Discourse is neither mere speech nor mere practice but meaning that shapes belief #corroborates (0.75)
• Discourse constrains but does not fully determine what can be said #qualifies (0.70) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 55
• Labeling language poetic protects an underlying political metaphysics #expands (0.70) — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 456