Dogwhistles and Figleaves: How Manipulative Language Spreads Racism and Falsehood

by Jennifer Saul

Pinpoints how "dogwhistles" and "figleaves," two kinds of linguistic trick, distort political discourse and normalize racism

It is widely accepted that political discourse in recent years has become more openly racist and more accepting of wildly implausible conspiracy theories. Dogwhistles and Figleaves explores ways in which such changes--both of which defied previously settled norms of political speech--have been brought about. Jennifer Saul shows that two linguistic devices, dogwhistles and figleaves, have played a crucial role. Some dogwhistles (such as "88", used by Nazis online to mean "Heil Hitler") serve to disguise messages that would otherwise be rejected as unacceptable, allowing them to be transmitted surreptitiously. Other dogwhistles (like the 1988 "Willie Horton" ad) work by influencing people in ways that they are not aware of, and which they would likely reject were they aware. Figleaves (such as "just asking questions") take messages that could easily be recognized as unacceptable, and provide just enough cover that people become more willing to accept them. Saul argues that these devices
are important for the spread of racist discourse. She also shows how they contribute to the transmission of norm-violating discourse more generally, focusing on the case of wildly implausible conspiracist speech. Together, these devices have both exploited and widened existing divisions in society, and normalized racist and conspiracist speech. This book is the first full-length exploration of dogwhistles and figleaves. It offers an illuminating and disturbing view of the workings of contemporary political discourse.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Philosophy, Linguistics, Audiobook

240 pages, Hardcover

Published February 8, 2024

Reviews

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but packed book about linguistic devices (dogwhistles and Figleaves), what they are, how they're used, and what mediums they are used in. I particularly liked the section on how they affect conspiracy theories and beliefs.

[Bente]

I CANNOT wait to discuss this in my reading group. I think there is quite a bit of critique to have; perhaps I'll edit this review after the discussion!
I think the debate will mostly focus on 'education as solution to oppression' and the flaws of this "solution".

[Thomas Edmund · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been on my to-read for some time, and I was quite excited(?) to pick it up and read it (not sure its the best term for reading something potentially so horrible). Its quite a strange read, by Saul's own introduction, the earlier sections are more academic, whereas later parts are more proposed or more speculative. Nothing wrong with that in principle, however for this topic is does read kinda strangely -

For example we get a highly in depth and ultra-specific review of Dogwhistles (including analysis of different subtypes, intentionally, unintentional, covert and overt etc) Then the Figleaf section is slightly broader and more example based (as there is less literature). What this created was a little bit of whiplash between having to engage my technical brain and then my more philosophical neurons.

Anyhoops - not the best intro to a review! The content of this book is dead interesting. Dog Whistles are perhaps a more well known concept, however Saul breaks the topic down in a fascinating way and explains the complex reaction to dog-whistles - for example its not just a signal to (in this case racists) that a political candidate is for them, its also a (very cultish) tactic of enflaming anti-racists and then playing the victim when they are accused of being a bigot...

A very very interesting subtopic was Saul explaining what is known at the 'white-folk' theory of racism. This is the nuanced and at times confrontational and paradoxical concept of racism espoused by (typically white folk - hence the name I guess) that racism is a person with deep rooted hatred for an entire race of people. Problem being this is a high bar for people to actually meet, so even if people genuinely think racism is bad their bar for making that judgement is so high that they are easily persuaded that someone isn't.

The Figleaf section was IMHO the really good part, as this is a slightly newer concept and one that has been observed to be used frequently in recent politics. The concept of the Figleaf is actions or utterances that provide 'reasonable doubt' on the bigoted comments of the speaker - these can range from the tropey and almost ridiculous "I'm not racist but..." to the much more insidious "and some I assume are good people". While it seems almost unbelievable to people more on my side of the argument, Figleaves are evidenced to do a lot of heavy lifting in making people seem less bigoted than they are.

Saul also touches on subjects such as 'post-truth' and presents a section on misinformation and the strange modern state where we acknowledge that politicians have long been recorded to lie, however more recently they appear to 'bullshit' too (definitions included, there is something funny about someone academically and carefully defining what a bullshiter is).

All in all, while this was a perhaps gloomy read in some respects, knowledge is power and learning more about these rhetorical techniques is highly insightful and beyond important for our current state of politics.

[Courtney Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

detailed study on how dogwhistles like the number 88 or fig leaves like “i have a ton of black friends but….” have totally eroded the political sphere as people want to hypothesize on the speakers intention rather than the effect of their words (ie: elon giving that salute that then gets applauded for by actual nazis… regardless of if he meant to give a heil hitler salute or not doesn’t actually matter)

also liked the section of how the platforming and discussion we give to complete nonsense has also caused harm by just giving these ideas more of a standing in the public eye… i’m looking at you joe rogan

[Mark Moxley-Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I went to high school with Ms. Saul. Didn't know her well, different classes, but she was there.

I'd still read this if I didn't know her. Excellent, readable sociology text, with many current examples and some history on the use of these techniques, plus some suggestions on countering them. Well-researched and referenced, but not dry. Sometimes hard to read because the examples are so current and abhorrent. Gives some hope for the future, but describes how usages covering, however transparently, racism and other issues have evolved and proliferated.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scholarly look at the way sneaky words and imagery are used to signal prejudiced attitudes to those "in the know," and ways that those who are not can avoid engaging with hurtful content. I appreciated the real-world examples and discussions, but at times things got a bit too mired in academia-speak for regular reading.

[Quan Nguyen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This coming from someone who's read lots of Saul's papers on dogwhistles and figleaves, and the book is basically a more public facing version of her research over the past five years or so. But she leaves out a lot of the speech act theory to be more accessible, which unfortunately resulted in a (for me) less clear and more confusing book.