In Search of the Undiscoverable: A Politically (In)Correct Mission

In a discourse-analytical framework providing access to the historicity in which feelings are immersed, the movement of political correctness originating in the 1980s in the US is characterized as a form of authoritarian discourse that condemns discriminatory speech & attitudes without engaging with their ideological support in historical conditioning. While the sociohistorical factors giving rise to the feelings behind politically incorrect expressions remain unchanged, reorderings of expressions simply cause meanings to slide from a proscribed term to its replacement. Feelings, images, & social relations are claimed to be integral parts of discourse, contributing to the effectiveness of propaganda & the creation of the image of political correctness. This conceptual structure is applied to an analysis of a marketing ploy stating that it is politically incorrect not to read a particular newspaper column. 14 References. J. Hitchcock