Nineteen Eighty-Four in Context: George Orwell’s Enduring Legacy

Catalog description

“Big Brother is watching you.” “Some animals are more equal than others.” Contemporary discussions of politics, journalism, and social issues regularly reflect the influence of George Orwell’s classic novels, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The term “Orwellian” routinely appears in modern speech and writings. Published in the aftermath of World War II, Orwell’s dystopian projections, along with other provocative writing by this courageous thinker and writer, reflect the turbulent world experienced by Orwell from the waning of British colonialism to the rise of the Cold War. To contextualize the composition and importance of his most influential works, this course will explore a wide range of Orwell’s writings; the historical and cultural contexts that shaped him; and the use of his work and ideas by his contemporaries and by subsequent artists, critics, and social analysts.