The language of A Clockwork Orange: A corpus stylistic approach to Nadsat

Abstract

The 1962 dystopian novella A Clockwork Orange achieved global cultural resonance when it was adapted for the cinema by Stanley Kubrick in 1971. However, its author Anthony Burgess insisted that the novel’s innovative element was the introduction of ‘Nadsat’, an art language he created for his protagonist Alex and his violent gang of droogs. This constructed anti-language has achieved a cultural currency and become the subject of considerable academic attention over a 50-year period, but to date no study has attempted a systematic analysis of its resources and distribution. Rather, a number of studies have attempted to investigate the effects of Nadsat, especially in terms of the author’s claim that learning it functioned as a form of ‘brainwashing’ embedded within the text. This paper uses corpus methods to help isolate, quantify and categorise the distinctive lexicogrammatical features of this art language and investigate how Burgess introduces a new, mainly Russian-based lexicon to readers. In doing so, it clarifies the existing confusion over what Nadsat is, and also provides a roadmap for future studies into the construction, function and translatability of the created linguistic component of the novel.

Speculative Oceanography: An Historical Survey of the Literature

“…al. [3] , Miller [4] , Miller [5] Wilson [6] , Baldwin [7] , Baldwin [8] and Smith [9] , while also extending previous research by Clarke [10] , Clarke [11] , Clarke [12] , Clarke [13] and Vincent & Clarke [14], aims to reinstate that gap in the knowledge. Speculative practices about oceanography likely date back at least as far as early human maritime transport, and certainly can be noted in Roman inquiries, such as that conducted by Avienus [15] in the 4th century CE, in which he drew upon the now lost Massiliote Periplus to review the navigations of the Carthaginian Himlico from some nine centuries earlier.…”

Ponying the Slovos: A Parallel Linguistic Analysis of A Clockwork Orange in English, French, and Spanish

“…This analysis is based on a parallel corpus of ACO, LOM, and LNM, which was analysed using the online corpus software Sketch Engine, which provides a number of useful tools for the quantitative analysis and comparison of texts. The methodology for identifying and categorising the Spanish-Nadsat lexicon in this study follows a procedure that we have developed over two previous studies on English-Nadsat (Vincent and Clarke, 2017) and then on French-Nadsat (Vincent and Clarke 2020). The aim is not just to identify how English-Nadsat items are translated into French-Nadsat and Spanish-Nadsat-the 'coupled pairs method' (Toury 1995)-but to consider French-Nadsat and Spanish-Nadsat as varieties in their own right.…”

“…As the process for identifying the Nadsat in English and French is outlined in Vincent and Clarke (2017) and Vincent and Clarke (2020), here we will detail how Spanish-Nadsat items were extracted. At first glance, the Spanish-Nadsat glossary provided in the Spanish edition of the novel appears to be a comprehensive source.…”

“…Nadsat poses stylistic and creative challenges for translators, since it is composed of different categories that draw on different word-formation principles, including the introduction of Russian words (e.g. droog from друᴦ to mean 'friend'), babytalk (skolliwol for 'school') and word play such as syphilised ('civilised') (Vincent and Clarke 2017). Work comparing Nadsat in ACO and LOM (Vincent & Clarke 2020) shows a number of key similarities and differences in its realisation.…”

“…For this analysis, we draw on corpus linguistic techniques to identify, analyse, and categorise Nadsat in each language, building on previous work in Vincent and Clarke (2017;2020). Our primary focus in approaching these two translations is to use quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis to determine what similarities and differences are apparent in their treatment of Nadsat.…”