What do you think?
Rate this book
Genetically Modified Language: The Discourse of Arguments for GM Crops and Food
The GM debate is as much a war of words as of facts. Food and farming are being changed forever - yet whether for good or bad is the subject of an increasingly bitter argument. Those promoting GM have mounted an intense campaign, characterising their opponents as terrorists and Luddites, governed by ignorance, irrationality and hysteria. Yet public opinion remains unconvinced and antagonistic. As the argument intensifies and the voices on all sides get louder, Genetically Modified Language cuts through the confusion and controversy to the issues and ideology at the heart of the disagreement.
Guy Cook subjects the language of the case for GM to a careful and detailed examination. He looks in turn at the persuasive strategies used by politicians, scientists, the media, biotechnology corporations, and supermarkets, showing how their arguments mix together scientific, commercial, ethical and political criteria, and are seldom as factual and straightforward as they claim. Through analyses of recurrent words and phrases, and of the constant comparisons made with other international issues, he shows how the GM debate has become inseparable from the wider political conflicts of our time. In a final chapter he turns to public reactions to all of the arguments.
Throughout this analysis, the campaign for GM is seen as exemplifying disturbing trends in the contemporary use of language for public information. Language which purports to seek clarity and neutrality, and to be a vehicle for informed democratic debate, is in fact achieving the opposite obscuring the issues and manipulating opinion.
Written in a clear, accessible style and drawing on illustrative examples, Genetically Modified Language is an insightful look at how language shapes our opinions.
Guy Cook subjects the language of the case for GM to a careful and detailed examination. He looks in turn at the persuasive strategies used by politicians, scientists, the media, biotechnology corporations, and supermarkets, showing how their arguments mix together scientific, commercial, ethical and political criteria, and are seldom as factual and straightforward as they claim. Through analyses of recurrent words and phrases, and of the constant comparisons made with other international issues, he shows how the GM debate has become inseparable from the wider political conflicts of our time. In a final chapter he turns to public reactions to all of the arguments.
Throughout this analysis, the campaign for GM is seen as exemplifying disturbing trends in the contemporary use of language for public information. Language which purports to seek clarity and neutrality, and to be a vehicle for informed democratic debate, is in fact achieving the opposite obscuring the issues and manipulating opinion.
Written in a clear, accessible style and drawing on illustrative examples, Genetically Modified Language is an insightful look at how language shapes our opinions.
176 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2004
21 people want to read
About the author
Guy Cook
19 books17 followersGuy Cook is Professor of Language and Education at the Open University, UK. He was formerly Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Reading (1998-2004) and head of TESOL at the London University Institute of Education (1991-1998). He was co-editor of the journal Applied Linguistics 2004-2009. He is current Chair of the British Association for Applied Linguistics, and an academician of the UK Academy of the Social Sciences. He has published extensively on applied linguistics, discourse analysis, English language teaching, literary stylistics, advertising, and the language of environmental debate. He has been an invited speaker in over 30 countries.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 12, 2013
I'm almost 79. and I find myself doing less and less of what I "ought" to but see no real reason to do otherwise. I guess that's part of getting old, "letting yourself go!" So, I haven't been reviewing anywhere near all the books I've been reading. But, this book demands a review. In fact, I think every literate person should read it. English classes should make it required reading both for analyzing the language used in the book, and to show how easily we are manipulated by language use itself.
Guy Cook is a linguist who specializes in discourse analysis. So do I, but my work is with psychotic discourse. How I missed this book, I don't know. It was published nine years ago I read it today, November 10, 2013. I mourn the lost years since this was published and I found it. Good Lord! I sound like a hymn singer! Well, when it comes to language use, I am virtually a religious person.
Oh, I've read--and written--about the ways we are manipulated by language use. But this taught me even more. I, who supposedly am an "expert," was reminded to read more closely and critically.
Guy Cook has analyzed the language used by "the scientific community" in the UK and how they convince people that what's "scientific" is per se the right thing to believe. He shows that it is enough to present an idea as "scientific" to convince the public it is right. He shows that scientists, when dealing with the public, do not put forth evidence that genetically modified foods are good--or at least harmless. To the contrary, they just equate naysayers with illiteracy, fundamentalism, conservatism and other outcasts in our societies The equation is easy. If you agree, you are a scientist. If you don't, then you're stupid, governed by instinct and irrationality. This charge is leveled even at scholars who disagree and at people who ask very intelligent questions. In short, at anyone who dares to challenge the opinion of "scientists" who are promulgating the idea that genetic modification carries no problems for people, for the environment, for the world's food supplies. Even worse, these scientists are quoted by such politicians as Tony Blair as justification for bankrolling GM.
What I've said here is suggestive, but reading the book itself is--or should be--required for every citizen in a supposed democratic society.
Guy Cook is a linguist who specializes in discourse analysis. So do I, but my work is with psychotic discourse. How I missed this book, I don't know. It was published nine years ago I read it today, November 10, 2013. I mourn the lost years since this was published and I found it. Good Lord! I sound like a hymn singer! Well, when it comes to language use, I am virtually a religious person.
Oh, I've read--and written--about the ways we are manipulated by language use. But this taught me even more. I, who supposedly am an "expert," was reminded to read more closely and critically.
Guy Cook has analyzed the language used by "the scientific community" in the UK and how they convince people that what's "scientific" is per se the right thing to believe. He shows that it is enough to present an idea as "scientific" to convince the public it is right. He shows that scientists, when dealing with the public, do not put forth evidence that genetically modified foods are good--or at least harmless. To the contrary, they just equate naysayers with illiteracy, fundamentalism, conservatism and other outcasts in our societies The equation is easy. If you agree, you are a scientist. If you don't, then you're stupid, governed by instinct and irrationality. This charge is leveled even at scholars who disagree and at people who ask very intelligent questions. In short, at anyone who dares to challenge the opinion of "scientists" who are promulgating the idea that genetic modification carries no problems for people, for the environment, for the world's food supplies. Even worse, these scientists are quoted by such politicians as Tony Blair as justification for bankrolling GM.
What I've said here is suggestive, but reading the book itself is--or should be--required for every citizen in a supposed democratic society.
Displaying 1 of 1 review