What is Jelinek's central idea about language?
My central idea is that language is not a neutral tool but a trap, a battlefield where power is enacted. The clichés we use, the advertising slogans we absorb, the very grammar of love and family—they all carry ideological weight. My writing aims to show how these linguistic structures dictate our thoughts and actions, often without our conscious awareness. 'Language is a trap,' I say. We are spoken by the language before we speak it. It dictates the terms of our reality, especially concerning gender and social roles, making 'everything is already written' a grim truth.
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