There is no escaping them -- clichés. They are there -- in life and in words. They strike you first in your textbooks, then in public service messages thrown your way, in the newspapers you read every morning (editorials most of all) and finally in the statements of politicians. You can’t miss them at birth or in death and whatever passes in between these two consequential events.
What exactly are these clichés, where do they come from and where they go? What role do they play in our lives? Or do they? What is life or the daily grind if not a cliché? As for politics, it thrives on them.
Cliches are the erstwhile creative phrases and ideas that became dead by overuse. By definition, they signify a lack of imagination and creativity. Thus while there is a general desire to refrain from hackneyed words and ideas, these are strictly forbidden in writing, especially the one that qualifies as literature. Literature essentially means prose that is divested of clichés. Poetry is all about using words and twisting phrases to create fresh imagery -- the uncliche so to speak.
So while arts and literature transcend the clichéd life, most aspects of our lived experience cannot break free and therefore do not touch human imagination. Some politics does it sometimes but only when it is at its creative best and is trying and suggesting new solutions for human problems. At most other times it is mundane and repetitive.
This is what our Special Report today is all about.