Nineteen Eighty-Four was identified by Geoffrey Stokes as the first major twentieth-century dystopian novel, which is a modern variation of the traditional utopian novel. The utopian novel has been an established genre since the appearance of Sir Thomas More's Utopia in 1516. Until the early twentieth century, works of this sort commonly expressed a belief in humanity's potential for individual and social perfectibility. These ideal societies were usually depicted as lying not in the future but in some remote geographical area. Following World War I, anti-utopian, or dystopian, novels began to appear. These works frequently projected contemporary social, political, and economic trends into a foreseeable future. Probably the two best-known dystopias before Nineteen Eighty-Four are Yevgeny Zamyatin's We (1924) and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932), with which Nineteen Eighty-Four is often compared. However, Orwell's novel differed from Zamyatin's and Huxley's in that he did not posit any technological advances—often a staple of futuristic fiction—but only adapted existing technology in the creation of such devices as the telescreens and speakwrites.
Background: George Orwell. (2021). In DISCovering Authors. Detroit: Gale.
Rating: E Duration: 11:45
Description: The period leading up to and following World War II saw both communist and fascist leaders rise to power in Europe. Economic depression and the propaganda prevalent during WWII shaped perspectives on life in Britain during the Cold War period. This video investigates the inspiration behind and dystopian influences on George Orwell’s novel ‘1984’. It provides a valuable accompaniment to students studying this text.
Born: June 25, 1903 in Motihari, India
Died: January 21, 1950 in London, United Kingdom
Other Names : Blair, Eric Arthur; Blair, Eric
Nationality: British
Occupation: Novelist
Orwell, George. (2021). In The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™. New York: Columbia University Press.
Orwell, George. (2021). In DISCovering Authors. Detroit: Gale.
