English literature & Political discourse
FIRST PAPER
Subject : #14206 Literatura Anglesa i Discurs Polític – grup A
Student´s name: Fernández Ibáñez, Alba
Title of the paper: Manipulation of language as a weapon of mind control and abuse of power in Animal Farm.
Author or topic: George Orwell.
Abstract: Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, is one of the most famous and well-known writers of the 20th Century. His most famous anti-totalitarian novels, Animal Farm and 1984, form the basis of his reputation and both of them have been read and re-read from the time they were written as a powerful attack on any political power that seeks to control human beings unjustly.
In Animal Farm and in 1984, George Orwell not only shows to the reader his personal opinion about totalitarian regimes, but also the importance of rhetoric in these political systems in order to control people and keep them submissively.
The way language is used by George Orwell in these novels is a perfect reflection of the rhetorical tactics employed by totalitarian regimes, so in this paper we are going to analyse how language can be used as a weapon of mind control and abuse of power, specially related to Animal Farm. But to do so and first of all, we need to know better the author and the historical background that gave place to this novel in order to understand better the allegorical meaning behind Animal Farm and the reasons why George Orwell decided to write not only about this matter but also in this allegorical way.
George Orwell was a writer really concerned about the social and political situation of his time, and as a visible result a great part of his work deals with political issues, in this blog we are going to focus on Animal Farm, as we have just said, but we cannot forget one of Orwell’s best-crafted novels, 1984, which is analysed in the blog of one of my fellow team member, Rocio Rueda Soriano (Rocio’s Blog). Finally, and to complete the study on George Orwell related to politics, visit the blog created by Ruben Paz Simeon (Ruben’s blog), where he deals with the author’s life in depth and explores themes such as political control of communication, public texts and control of their meaning or censorship.
Please, follow the table of contents you will find on the next page to read the paper in an organized way.
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| Academic year 2010/2011 | |
| © a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López | |
| © Alba Fernández Ibáñez | |
| alferi@alumni.uv.es |