Our Orwell, Right or Left

Writers’ words have always been used by pundits and politicos in order to further their own agendas, but it is probable that no writer’s work has been used (and misused) as frequently and as effectively as George Orwell’s. Once the champion of Europe’s down-and-out and a self-proclaimed advocate of Socialism, Orwell was, understandably, embraced by many on the Left during his own lifetime. Following the publications of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four – and the writer’s own death shortly thereafter – Orwell also became a patron saint of sorts for many on the Right. Within the arenas of political theory and literary criticism, this confusing and seemingly contradictory turn of events has resulted in an ongoing battle over the writer’s legacy.

Our Orwell, Right or Left examines Orwell’s reception history in order to decode why critics on both ends of the political spectrum have been compelled to claim Orwell as one of their own, and how they have gone about doing so. In many cases, when Orwell’s writing has been misused by those in politics, it has, alarmingly, reflected the same species of dangerous propaganda that Orwell had warned about in his final two books. As there is an inherent problem with a situation in which critics have misrepresented the scope and focus or Orwell’s writing – whether the misrepresentation happens to be intentional or not – Our Orwell, Right or Left takes a close look at the details of Orwell’s own writing and juxtaposes what George Orwell had written with the often dubious claims of his proponents.

Manipulative political propaganda, however, is but one of the many very dangerous symptoms of repression and tyranny that Orwell had warned against in his writing. As Our Orwell, Right or Left shows, there are many aspects of our contemporary culture that are worryingly similar to the Oceania of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. That Orwell’s writing still remains prescient even approaching sixty years following his death proves that he is not only a writer still worthy of being read, but that he is also a writer still worth fighting over.