Misplaced Pages

Memory hole: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 02:12, 9 June 2009 editEmmette Hernandez Coleman (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users15,272 edits →Origins of term: Removing unnecessary invisible text, per WP:REDIRECT#NOTBROKEN. This makes reading the edit page easier.← Previous edit Revision as of 06:25, 9 June 2009 edit undoJack Merridew (talk | contribs)34,837 edits tidyNext edit →
Line 2: Line 2:
{{Notability|date=May 2009}} {{Notability|date=May 2009}}


The '''memory hole''' generally refers to the alteration or outright disappearance of inconvenient or embarrassing documents, photographs, transcripts, or other records, such as from a ] or other archive. The term is the name of one website (]) whose goal is to preserve those documents which are in danger of being lost, although there a a number of webistes with similar goals.<ref>{{cite news The '''memory hole''' generally refers to the alteration or outright disappearance of inconvenient or embarrassing documents, photographs, transcripts, or other records, such as from a ] or other archive. The term is the name of one website (]) whose goal is to preserve those documents which are in danger of being lost, although there a a number of webistes with similar goals.<ref>
{{cite news
| last = McNichol | last = McNichol
| first = Tom | first = Tom
| title = Peeking Behind the Curtain of Secrecy | title = Peeking Behind the Curtain of Secrecy
| publisher = ] | publisher = ]
| date = 11-13-2003 | date = 11-13-2003
| url = http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/13/technology/circuits/13kick.html | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/13/technology/circuits/13kick.html
| accessdate = 06-08-2009}}</ref> | accessdate = 06-08-2009
}}</ref>


==Origins of term== == Origins of term ==


The '''memory hole''', as in the phrase "''Going down the memory hole,''" refers to a small chute leading to a large ] used for ] in ]'s novel, '']'': The '''memory hole''', as in the phrase "''Going down the memory hole,''" refers to a small chute leading to a large ] used for ] in ]'s novel, '']'':


<blockquote>
<blockquote>In the walls of the cubicle there were three orifices. To the right of the speakwrite, a small pneumatic tube for written messages, to the left, a larger one for newspapers; and in the side wall, within easy reach of Winston's arm, a large oblong slit protected by a wire grating. This last was for the disposal of waste paper. Similar slits existed in thousands or tens of thousands throughout the building, not only in every room but at short intervals in every corridor. For some reason they were nicknamed memory holes. When one knew that any document was due for destruction, or even when one saw a scrap of waste paper lying about, it was an automatic action to lift the flap of the nearest memory hole and drop it in, whereupon it would be whirled away on a current of warm air to the enormous furnaces which were hidden somewhere in the recesses of the building.'''''(pp. 34-35)'''''</blockquote> In the walls of the cubicle there were three orifices. To the right of the speakwrite, a small pneumatic tube for written messages, to the left, a larger one for newspapers; and in the side wall, within easy reach of Winston's arm, a large oblong slit protected by a wire grating. This last was for the disposal of waste paper. Similar slits existed in thousands or tens of thousands throughout the building, not only in every room but at short intervals in every corridor. For some reason they were nicknamed memory holes. When one knew that any document was due for destruction, or even when one saw a scrap of waste paper lying about, it was an automatic action to lift the flap of the nearest memory hole and drop it in, whereupon it would be whirled away on a current of warm air to the enormous furnaces which were hidden somewhere in the recesses of the building.'''''(pp. 34-35)'''''
</blockquote>


In the novel, the memory hole is a slot into which government officials deposit politically inconvenient documents and records to be destroyed. ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'''s protagonist ], who works in the ], is routinely assigned the task of revising old newspaper articles in order to serve the propaganda interests of the government. For example, if the government had pledged that the ] ] would not fall below the current 30 ] per week, but in fact the ration is reduced to 20 grams per week, the historical record (e.g. an article from a back issue of the ''Times'' newspaper) is revised to contain an announcement that a reduction to 20 grams might soon prove necessary, or that the ration, then 15 grams, would soon be increased to that number. The original copies of the historical record are deposited into the memory hole. A document placed in the memory hole is supposedly transported to an ] from which "not even the ash remains". However not all things tossed in make it to the incinerator. A picture Winston threw into one is produced during the torture session, if only to be thrown back in an instant later. In the novel, the memory hole is a slot into which government officials deposit politically inconvenient documents and records to be destroyed. ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'''s protagonist ], who works in the ], is routinely assigned the task of revising old newspaper articles in order to serve the propaganda interests of the government. For example, if the government had pledged that the ] ] would not fall below the current 30 ] per week, but in fact the ration is reduced to 20 grams per week, the historical record (e.g. an article from a back issue of the ''Times'' newspaper) is revised to contain an announcement that a reduction to 20 grams might soon prove necessary, or that the ration, then 15 grams, would soon be increased to that number. The original copies of the historical record are deposited into the memory hole. A document placed in the memory hole is supposedly transported to an ] from which "not even the ash remains". However not all things tossed in make it to the incinerator. A picture Winston threw into one is produced during the torture session, if only to be thrown back in an instant later.


==References== == References ==


<references/> <references />

⚫ == See also ==


⚫ ==See also==
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
Line 29: Line 34:
* ] * ]


==References== == References ==

*George Orwell, ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', first published by Martin Secker & Warburg, London, 1949. This reference, Penguin Books pocket edition, 1954. * George Orwell, ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', first published by Martin Secker & Warburg, London, 1949. This reference, Penguin Books pocket edition, 1954.


{{reflist}} {{reflist}}
<br>
{{1984}} {{1984}}


Revision as of 06:25, 9 June 2009

For other uses, see Memory hole (disambiguation).
The topic of this article may not meet Misplaced Pages's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted.
Find sources: "Memory hole" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The memory hole generally refers to the alteration or outright disappearance of inconvenient or embarrassing documents, photographs, transcripts, or other records, such as from a web site or other archive. The term is the name of one website (The Memory Hole) whose goal is to preserve those documents which are in danger of being lost, although there a a number of webistes with similar goals.

Origins of term

The memory hole, as in the phrase "Going down the memory hole," refers to a small chute leading to a large incinerator used for censorship in George Orwell's novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four:

In the walls of the cubicle there were three orifices. To the right of the speakwrite, a small pneumatic tube for written messages, to the left, a larger one for newspapers; and in the side wall, within easy reach of Winston's arm, a large oblong slit protected by a wire grating. This last was for the disposal of waste paper. Similar slits existed in thousands or tens of thousands throughout the building, not only in every room but at short intervals in every corridor. For some reason they were nicknamed memory holes. When one knew that any document was due for destruction, or even when one saw a scrap of waste paper lying about, it was an automatic action to lift the flap of the nearest memory hole and drop it in, whereupon it would be whirled away on a current of warm air to the enormous furnaces which were hidden somewhere in the recesses of the building.(pp. 34-35)

In the novel, the memory hole is a slot into which government officials deposit politically inconvenient documents and records to be destroyed. Nineteen Eighty-Four's protagonist Winston Smith, who works in the Ministry of Truth, is routinely assigned the task of revising old newspaper articles in order to serve the propaganda interests of the government. For example, if the government had pledged that the chocolate ration would not fall below the current 30 grams per week, but in fact the ration is reduced to 20 grams per week, the historical record (e.g. an article from a back issue of the Times newspaper) is revised to contain an announcement that a reduction to 20 grams might soon prove necessary, or that the ration, then 15 grams, would soon be increased to that number. The original copies of the historical record are deposited into the memory hole. A document placed in the memory hole is supposedly transported to an incinerator from which "not even the ash remains". However not all things tossed in make it to the incinerator. A picture Winston threw into one is produced during the torture session, if only to be thrown back in an instant later.

References

  1. McNichol, Tom (11-13-2003). "Peeking Behind the Curtain of Secrecy". The New York Times. Retrieved 06-08-2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)

See also

References

  • George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, first published by Martin Secker & Warburg, London, 1949. This reference, Penguin Books pocket edition, 1954.
George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
Characters
Places
Groups
Concepts
Adaptations
Film
Television
Stage
Related
Categories: