Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. [Vol. 5.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 25)

Studies - Pál Csontos: Is Political Correctness Politically Correct? A Tour along the Alleyways of the Shambles Called Political Correctness

few aspects of the phenomenon commonly denominated as political correctness, raise certain questions concerning them and, finally, offer an approach to what possibly could be the right track towards potential answers. Far be it from me to pretend that I know the correct solutions to all the problems and dilemmas that can crop up during this brief inquiry or can satisfactorily take care of all the relevant concerns. That is not the aim of the present study. Rather, I intend it to be merely thought provoking and I would not prefer it to move beyond the level of generating further query into the nature of the issue. Having stated this much, 1 will start with a quick outline of the itinerary I plan to follow, before I get immersed in the details. In the first section, I am going to concentrate on the potential sources and original meanings of the issue of PC, starting with the inherent sexist quality of the English language, and followed by examples from George Orwell's and Paul Fussell's respective critiques of certain other aspects of English usage. A brief look at the notions of affirmative action and multiculturalism will preface an assessment of Harold K. Bush's "A Brief History of PC, With Annotated Bibliography," one of the most useful introductions into the evolution of the phenomenon. The second section will take a look at interpretations, implications and applications of PC. From a grammatical definition, through a look at the hazards of both the serious and the humorous approaches and a sample of Hungarian application possibilities, we shall finally arrive at the controversial question of sexual correctness in section three. I "Every language reflects the prejudices of the society in which ii evolved," state the authors of the first essay of Appendix B in Rosalie Maggio's The Nonsexist Word Finder: /I Dictionary of Gender-Free Usage. They contend that one should not be surprised at how the vocabulary and grammar of English reflect attitudes that exclude or demean minorities and women since it evolved in a white, AngloSaxon, patriarchal society through most of its history (Maggio 187). Sexist language, i.e. language that "promotes and maintains attitudes that stereotype people according to gender" (165) assumes that male is the norm. Indicators of sexism in English include, for example, the 22