Orwell and the Politics of Despair: A Critical Study of the Writings of George Orwell

by Alok Rai

Overview

Alok Rai recognises that George Orwell was both a political writer and a literary artist, and that any adequate study must do justice to both aspects of his work. Drawing on a wide range of Orwell's writing, including unpublished and previously unused material, Rai charts his progression from rebellion through reconciliation to despair. Making use of the insights of contemporary critical theory, he demystifies the idea of Orwell as a 'transparent' writer, simply concerned with basic human values, and by means of close reading relates the literary style to the political beliefs, asking how a writer who is from one perspective, a relatively minor talent, can come to occupy such a culturally central position. Rai's discussion reopens the question of the nature and necessity of Cold War attitudes and perceptions, and examines the ideological apparatus of the Cold War consensus, of which Orwell was an influential guarantor.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521397476
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/31/1990
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.47(d)

Table of Contents

Preface and acknowledgments; 1. Introduction: the Orwell problem; 2. Totalitarianism, etc; 3. Inventing a form; 4. A kind of socialism; 5. War and revolution; 6. The road to Airstrip One; 7. Orwell's truth: concluding remarks; Notes and references; Index.