“When have you been aware that language was an 'ideological struggle for meaning?”

Good afternoon everyone, hope you've all had a wonderful labour day and relaxed today! I thought today I would share a response that I did for a homework question not long ago for one of my subjects and found answering it extremely thought-provoking. Language is a powerful tool and when combined with culture, it becomes extremely interesting conversing with others. Volosinov further explains this concept and how we have all had experiences with communicative devices with people everyday.  

Volosinov, a fundamental figure in the development of constitutive approaches to language, once said that “language never exists in a vacuum”. In other words, our language has many cultural and political contexts so it can never be neutral or objective. Volosinov also suggested that language is an “ideological struggle for meaning”, that when we speak with one another, we are constantly trying to find meaning and connect with them on some level or another. Even though our backgrounds and understandings differ, we are continually trying to get on the same page as the other person. Through this communication process, we in turn develop an agenda. This is the struggle aspect that Volosinov mentioned previously as each of us have a preferred vision or perception of ourselves and the world, therefore we must negotiate with others who may or may not agree to understand our point of view. Many different factors influence a person’s understanding of the message communicated by the other person and we are sometimes limited in expanding our own opinions and views by language. (Below is an image Volosinov)

A particular moment when I was aware that language was an ideological struggle for meaning was when I had a discussion about gay marriage with a very religious friend of mine. On one hand, I had grown up believing that everyone was equal and had a right to love and marry whoever they want. This viewpoint was developed through the many morals and concepts my family taught me when I was younger. However, my friend had grown up in a strict catholic background and therefore believed that marriage between two people of the same sex was wrong and a sin, her family’s religious beliefs controlled her understandings. When this particular topic came up, there was a clash of two very different opinions and viewpoints due to our different upbringings and even cultural contexts. It was very hard for me to understand her views and try to connect to what she was saying about gay marriage due to my strong agenda already set in place. However, in the end we both decided that each person is entitled to their own opinion and left the topic of gay marriage aside. That scenario definitely made me aware that language was an ideological struggle for meaning but that each person will have their own agenda and understanding due to their differing background and we must respect their views in order to communicate successfully.