Was Hitler’s Language In Style?

Language is used as the tool through which ideas are spoken, conveyed, and signified. However, it holds power beyond these simple terms, and is used to perform several other tasks, such as shaping a particular social discourse. Through Bahktin’s, “Discourse In the Novel,” we are presented with the idea that a particular style used in language can effectively shape the means through which persuasion and rhetoric can be deemed as effective. The speaker is expected to personalize a tone and style representative of his own in order to connect to a specific audience on a unified level. 

According to Schuster’s description, Bakhtin believes that, “Style is language, that to create a style is to create a language for oneself.” (Schuster, 598) It is not necessarily language and content alone that shapes the speaker’s purpose, but rather, the style in which the speaker presents his language in order to achieve that purpose. Bakhtin addresses the idea of language being portrayed in its own essence by an individual speaker's voice. He explains this through a lens that makes language appear as performative; it serves as a connection for an audience. However, it is important to also consider the listener’s perspective. A particular style through speech may be violated in order to suit that of the rhetoric being utilized, which, in some way, must connect with that of the audience. “It is as if the author has no language of his own, but does possess his own style, his own organic and unitary law governing the way he plays with languages and the way his own semantic and expressive intentions are refracted within them” (Bakhtin 311). Essentially, it is the speaker’s job to portray a voice that makes his audience feel differently, and in a way, manipulate them. “Language is the medium which expresses the continuous energy of its speakers” (Bakhtin 597).

A speaker’s style and how his or her language is conveyed is meant to evoke a certain energy in a crowd that will prove to be effective. Language should not be monotonous; it should carry its own characteristics that make it successful, in which the author moves away from a common language. “The comic style demands of the author a lively and to-and-fro movement in his relation to language, it demands a continual shifting of the distance between author and language…” (Bakhtin 302)

                                                                                                    

Through Kenneth Burke’s, The Rhetoric of Hitler’s Battle,” it is obvious that Hitler applied Bahktin’s notion of language and style through his successful use of rhetoric to his audience- the Aryans. He uses unification as the basis through which he connects with the Aryans to practice his Anti-Semitic beliefs. “The symbol of a common enemy, the prince of evil himself. Men who can unite on nothing else can unite on the basis of a foe shared by all” (193). The enemy, therefore, brings the audience together as one and forces them to act upon the speech presented by Hitler. His motivational method is to find the device that will force his audience to connect to his speech, and he finds a way to specifically incorporate this into his style and tone of his speech. “Hitler’s book certainly falls under the classification of hate… But the rationalized family tree for this hate situates in Aryan love” (Burke, 199). It is true that Hitler was evil and held much hatred, but the Aryans, which were his listeners, were united in moving forward and complying with his demands due to his stylistic and rhetorical nature. He can therefore be considered a genius in his rhetorical approaches to motivate his listeners.

When considering how motivational speeches are interpreted today, it is obvious that the style is specifically matched to suit that of the audience. A modern day example relating to this connection of style and language can be a boss giving a speech to his employees about potential raises if they work harder. The idea of money would connect them on the working level, allowing them to come together as a motivated team to achieve this goal. Money would be the device used here as the persuasion tool, because money is everything in this day and age. For Hitler, he focused on topics, such as sex, because again, sex is another aspect that can be relatable to any crowd. It is these devices used through language that become the significant means through which rhetoric is effective.

Hitler mastered his use of rhetoric; he understood that in order to connect with the Aryans, the message had to be conveyed on a level through which they could associate themselves. He applied Bahktin’s notion that an author or speaker understands the listener’s perspective to make his rhetoric effective. “The more I argued with them, the more I got to know their dialectics” (qtd. in Burke 197). This quote addresses his rise in Anti-Semitism as the audience came to understand and connect with him on his beliefs. It is therefore through his specific style of language that he achieves his set purpose. 

-Vanessa Coppola