Language lover

In an eclectic career -- from academic historian to writer of political satire, political speeches, essays, books and films -- Monash alumnus Dr Don Watson is now turning public language on its head. Ros White reports.

In 2003, after a couple of intense years spent writing Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating PM, Dr Don Watson (PhD Arts 1977) wanted to immerse himself in something far removed from politics.

Don Watson: "I've discovered that my little obsession about the degradation of our language is actually shared by thousands of Australians." Photo: Susan Gordon Brown. Copyright: State Library of Victoria.

The result was Death Sentence, a book woven out of his long-time love of inventive and direct language and a loathing of the dull and obscure.

Dr Watson's interest in language has deep roots. As a young boy growing up in rural Victoria in the 1950s, he remembers being acutely aware of all types of language.

"There was the vernacular of locals yarning, the Biblical vernacular that coloured our language because most people were churchgoers then, the vernacular of the wars...all this fed into our language," he says.

"It was also a time when the radio was the centre of family entertainment: you listened harder, there were no images to distract you from the words -- from the sober rhythm of ABC news to comedy shows like Beyond Our Ken, Take it From Here and My Word.

"By comparison, we have a more monochrome vernacular these days. There were dozens of oaths in currency in the 1950s, but we really only have one now."

Dr Watson, who completed a PhD in history at Monash in 1977, says his interest in the decline of public language may have begun as a young academic.

"Academics can be as dry as dust," he says wryly. "Everywhere there are people who imagine they need to avoid saying anything that might inform us or incite feelings of any kind. They use language to mask any real meaning. The effect is deadening."

However, he has much harsher criticism for the language of 'managerialism', which has spread from the big corporations to governments and their agencies and into every corner of our lives.

"The starting point is usually a vested interest in obscuring any clear communication, which rather overlooks the whole point of language," he says.

It was during his speech-writing days for Paul Keating and former Victorian premier John Cain that his interest in the decline of language turned into what might be described as a minor obsession.

"Speech-writing heightens your sensibility to language because it is such a direct communication," he says. "By contrast, the materials I received from government departments as the basis for the speeches were foggy, politically correct and full of clichés.

"Since the launch of Death Sentence, I've discovered that my little obsession about the degradation of our language is actually shared by thousands of Australians. I've received hundreds of letters and emails from people who feel the same way.

"The book has taken off in a way I never imagined, which I think means that I have identified a much deeper problem than I thought existed."

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Death Sentence, published by Knopf Australia, RRP $29.95.