Now for something different at MAD

[_moksha]

This seems unusual to me, so I thought I would mention it here. Today MAD closed a thread because the poster has used the spelling Amerika, instead of America. The moderator Rhad viewed this as a violation of Godwin's Law of Substitutionary Reasoning, perhaps because Amerika is the German spelling.

What do you make of this? Also, do you think this means that Franz Kafka's book Amerika, is not to be found on the bookshelves at the BYU library?

[_Blixa]

It's an established, if somewhat archaic, shorthand way to indicate a critical stance towards "America." I think it cropped up in 30's leftist circles and was used in the 60's. I don't really know the genesis of the term, I've read that it alluded to the German spelling, thus suggesting Nazi-ness (but how or why it would other than its usage in the 30's, I don't know). Sometimes its explained with reference to Kafka's novel, which depicts an authoritarian society of byzantine and impossible bureaucracy. The wikipedia entry stays with these two explanations.

I've never found either all that satisfying. I have a couple of colleagues who specialize in american political literature of the 30's and 40's and I suppose I should ask one of them sometime.

At this point its not as obviously provocative as Amerikkka, though, in fact I can't remember the last time I saw it used...sometime in the 70's?

[_DonBradley]

What Blixa said.

"Amerika" has been used to insinuate that the US is a totalitarian state. It's not a neutral term of reference fit for rational discussion, but rather a term designed for provocative political propaganda.

Don