Language and identity - Sapir Whorf hypothesis and 'woke'

Summary of the guardian article - https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/29/how-words-influence-thought


  • Whorf believed that the language you use can influence thought 
  • Whorf hypothesized his idea of relativity as having to have the same linguistic background to perceive things differently 
  • Hopi - native american tribe who were said to have no concept of time, this made Whorf hypothesize they could not conceive the idea of time 
  • As linguistic advancements progressed, this idea of 'Whorfism' became less credible  
  • Language and colour perception research - the number of words you have for different shades of colour can make conceiving colour different to other cultures who may have more or less 
  • Namibian Himba - only have 5 categorizes for colour,  compared to our 11 basic so colours can look vastly different but may fall under same category 
  • Determinism- way you use language determines you as a person 

'Woke' article  

the word woke goes against the Whorf hypothesis 
  • the word 'woke' rose to popularity in correlation to the 'BlackLivesMatter' movement 
  • the word has recently been used more as a slur or joke by more right wing people to undermine its original intentions
  • however, through this popularity it has encouraged people to speak out about discrimination and racism 

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