Title & author
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein
Synopsis
“There is one thing that we must never surrender, and that is the language of anti-facism. The true meanings of ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ and ‘Holocaust,’ and the supremacist mindset that makes them all possible,” writes Naomi Klein in her book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World. Published less than a month before the ongoing attack in Gaza began, Klein has been a staunch advocate for labeling the events as what they are: a genocide. Why such an emphasis on language?
Who should read this book
Fans of Rivermouth and The Sentence
What we’re thinking about
Gray areas and not-so-gray areas
Trigger warning(s)
White supremacy, genocide, racism, antisemitism (see all here)
“There is one thing that we must never surrender, and that is the language of anti-facism. The true meanings of ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ and ‘Holocaust,’ and the supremacist mindset that makes them all possible,” writes Naomi Klein in her book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2023). And about the Israeli government’s current actions, Klein has been a staunch advocate for labeling the events as what they are: a genocide. Why such an emphasis on language?
“I have been writing about how Bannon and Wolf are…making a mockery of concepts that matter, and that is deeply disorienting. But so, too, is what more centrist leaders have been doing for much longer: using words as intended, yet with no intention of acting on them. And one form of denialism feeds the other” (Klein, 155). We’ve seen throughout history individuals co-opt and misappropriate not just others’ cultures, but words. Words like “woke” and “othered” and “marginalized” have been taken hold of by groups in power to describe their own fight. And Klein discusses the impact of this in depth: how the left then fears using those words, so not to be associated with the right, despite those words often being the most accurate choice. And “there is a power in naming,” as Klein writes (155).
All of this ties into Klein’s larger idea of the right being defined by the left and the left being defined by the right. There is no middle ground. We are in a “mirror world,” aka a world in which we see our own image reflected…but differently. This plays into everything from how we define our values, to society’s ability to get anything done.
But, as Klein makes clear, “when editors and journalists steer clear of important topics for fear that their audiences can’t cope with complex truths, it doesn’t throttle conspiracies—it fuels them” (120). Systems in power—capitalism, racism, sexism, etc.—all drive narratives. And when people in power use words like “complicated,” they dissuade their audience from taking the time to learn more. And so we believe whatever we are told—or outright disbelieve whatever we are told—which leads to rabbit holes of misinformation, and others’ taking advantage of our trust in misinformation (ex: Netanyahu again and again claiming attacks in Gaza were “accidental”).
Language as power is something writers, especially Black authors, have called attention to for decades. In her essay “The Foreigner’s Home,” Toni Morrison wrote: “Oppressive language does more than represent violence, it is violence: does more than represent the limits of knowledge, it limits knowledge….All are typical of the policing languages of mastery and cannot, do not permit new knowledge or encourage the mutual exchange of ideas.” And in How the Word Is Passed, Clint Smith writes: “Just because something is difficult to accept doesn’t mean you should refuse to accept it. Just because someone tells you a story doesn’t make that story true.” And, like these authors, Klein doesn’t believe our understanding of language should stop there. “In recent years,” she writes, “left social movements have won huge victories in transforming the way we talk about all kinds of issues…but we appear to have done it at the precise moment when words and ideas underwent a radical currency devaluation” (153).
In a society that has taken to using language however they’d like, words, without action, run the risk of being empty, or even being misappropriated. Take action to push for a ceasefire and Palestinian liberation.
“ There is a power in naming.”
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Beyond conspiracy theories, how does language and interpretation of language play a role in our society?
How has Doppelganger influenced the way you view our current society, if at all?
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