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Kill Talk: Language and Military Necropolitics
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 16, 2025
Emotionally devastating critique of military necropolitics. The text, like the wars it recounts, is littered with desecrated bodies and linguistic degradations. I’m left with anger and empathy.
November 11, 2025
which came first chicken or egg - humanizing enemy and shift away from racist dehumanizing language
more willing to kill if they think they themselves are not human
seeing yourself as human makes it harder to do immoral things
genocides: referring to people as vermin, rats, cockroaches: extermination
body count
during wartime, us projects identities of marginalized groups (women, gay, etc.) onto enemy (stigmatized half of binary)
“don’t call them Vietnamese”
more willing to kill if they think they themselves are not human
seeing yourself as human makes it harder to do immoral things
genocides: referring to people as vermin, rats, cockroaches: extermination
body count
during wartime, us projects identities of marginalized groups (women, gay, etc.) onto enemy (stigmatized half of binary)
“don’t call them Vietnamese”
January 1, 2026
A brilliant read with great writing. Couldn't recommend more for anyone interested in linguistics, the military, or how our language shapes our thoughts and actions. Five stars,
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews