Abstract
The main purpose of this paper is to make a general survey of past studies on a specific language in Soviet society which was formed under the influence of Soviet ideology, namely what is called the Soviet totalitarian language. The study of the language of totalitarianism can provide a basis for a general theory of the politics of language and the relationship between language, ideology and power. Also, as it can cover many important areas of study, it will make a contribution to sociolinguistics. Studies on this topic can be roughly classified into the following groups: descriptive studies on social dialects in Soviet society, sociological content analysis, critical linguistic analysis based on the Newspeak model, analyses of linguo-cultural practices, and discourse analysis. For further systematic and comprehensive study on this topic, it is desirable not only to make the most of the benefits of previous studies, but also to pay more attention to the whole communication system of Soviet society.
