Intervention will be running three short writing competitions and a first contact message competition. These competitions are open to members of the convention only. Two of the short writing competitions are based upon 'Newspeak', whilst the third is open to writers of other invented languages. The first contact competition is designed to tax your ingenuity, too.
Newspeak is the official language of Oceania, devised to meet the ideological needs of Ingsoc (the ruling power in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four).
In principle, it seems to be an elegant language, simple to use and easy to understand.
If you have a word like 'good', what need is there for a word like 'bad'? 'Ungood' will do just as well… Or again, if you want a stronger version of 'good', what sense is there in having a whole string of vague useless words like 'excellent' and 'splendid' and all the rest of them? `Plusgood' covers the meaning, or `doubleplusgood' if you want something stronger still… In the end, the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words—in reality, only one word.
On the face of it, this is a solution to appeal to anyone who ever had to learn strings of French, Latin or even English irregular verbs. With rules such as this, communication becomes simple and straightforward, which is fine as long as it is simple and straightforward things that you are trying to say. This, of course, is the point: Newspeak is not simply intended to remove uncertainty and to cut out rubbish.
…the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought.
Ingsoc attempts to do one better than the Academie Francais in the preservation of the native culture: instead of just resisting the adoption of new words from other languages, it actively deletes words that are no longer required. Without a means of expression, Orwell posits, thought cannot crystallize into concept. Thus, by removing the words to describe the (thought)crime, we remove the possibility that the (thought)crime may take place.
In the interests of reducing vocabulary to the minimum there is in Newspeak an almost complete interchangeability between parts of speech. Words should be able to do service as verb, noun, adjective or adverb by the addition of standard suffixes (-ful, -wise) and prefixes (ante-, post-, un- etc.). This, of course, means that the classic Orwellian term 'thoughtcrime' is not in itself proper ('goodful') Newspeak—thought being replaced by the noun-verb `think'.
In addition to the standard vocabulary (vocabulary A), Newspeak contains ideological words (vocabulary B) and scientific terms (vocabulary C).
Vocabulary B words all carry ideological weight and include standard euphemisms which may involve a reversal of apparent meaning ('joycamp': forced labour camp) or simple contempt ('prolefeed': tabloid television). Also included are words formed from the Oldspeak names of organizations and institutions (e.g. 'Minipax' from 'Ministry of Peace'); the purpose of such words is to avoid any unfortunate associations and misunderstandings. Vocabulary B words are the only words capable of any ambiguity. For example; 'duckspeak' can, when applied to one uttering orthodox opinions, be an expression of high praise.
Care should always be taken in Newspeak with regard to pronounceability. Good Newspeak should roll off the tongue with the minimum of thought (indeed the need for any thought at all when using Newspeak is to be regretted.)
Competition One: 'Transformation Goodthinkfulwise'
It being desirable to preserve the memory of certain historical figures, while at the same time bringing their achievements into line with the philosophy of Ingsoc, the contestant will provide a Newspeak version of an existing text. The contestant must identify the original work. Works will be judged according to the rules of Newspeak (brevity, clarity, removal of redundancy in vocabulary), appropriateness of translation ('thoughtcrime') and the whim of the judges. Mark entries 'NEWSPEAK 1'.
Competition Two: 'Doubleplusgood duckspeaking'
The contestant will provide an original work in Newspeak. This work can be of any length but the contestant should bear in mind that it is unlikely to win if the judges do not get to the end. Mark your entries 'NEWSPEAK 2'.
Competition Three: Speaking with the Tongues of Men and of Angels?
The contestant will provide an piece in an invented language suitable for reading aloud. This may be either a translation or an original work. The language can be either a fictional language, (such as Nadsat, Elvish or Klingon), an artificial language, (such as Esperanto, Pidgin or BASIC), or entirely original. The contestant must identify the language used and either provide references which show the language in use or, in the case of a new language, the rules of grammar and sentence construction. The work may be up to 500 words long. Mark entries 'INVENTED'.
When Voyager was launched to the stars, it took with it a plaque showing a naked man and woman, plus what has been described as a giant nine legged spider (but which was meant to be a picture of the solar system). Also on the spaceship was a long playing record containing snatches of Bach and the sound of representatives of the children of the world, sending chirruping messages of welcome if the recipients ever figured out the secrets of revolution at 33 1/3 RPM.
Now you have a chance to improve on the efforts of NASA, with the added incentive that your message will definitely be intercepted by the vast and unsympathetic minds of the committee. Send us a picture, write us a letter or send us a computer programme (preferably one that we can run; so talk to us first if you want to do this)—do whatever you think is appropriate to demonstrate that there is intelligent life out there and that you are it. Convince us we want to give you the secrets of the universe, or at least a prize, to you rather than any of the other random blips which fill our universe. Remember that you are talking to conrunners, so none of your human assumptions apply. Mark entries 'CONTACT'.
Entries should be sent to the convention address to reach us by 15 January 1997. Entry indicates permission to publish in the programme book without fee.