- does not critique a specific political system and can be applied to all of them
- combines literature and politics more than other dystopian novels
- fake news, societal taboos and cancel culture make the warning about the lack of truth important again, since when there is no truth there is only oppression
- Orwell describes how reality can be manipulated through media, which originally criticized big magazines and filmmakers, but the same principle can be applied to modern media (and social media)
Subject: Why we’re reading 1984
Dear Donald,
It’s been a while, how are ya doing? I hope you’re not too bothered by the whole convicted felon thing. As per your last email, I have found a German article which sums up the your question about why we’re still reading 1984 pretty well.
The article ”George Orwells ‘1984’ – Warum der Roman heute noch bewegt” was written by Michael Mandlik and published on the 18th of November 2021 by German public broadcast station BR. The title can be translated as ”George Orwells ‘1984’ – Why the novel stays relevant”.
Expert and professor for literature and language Ingo Behrensmeyer talks about how Orwell does not critique a specific political system and therefore the novel can be applied to all of them. According to him, the work is interesting since it combines literature and politics more than other dystopian novels.
Additionally, Behrensmeyer says that fake news, societal taboos, and cancel culture make Orwells warning relevant again – the lack of truth he portrays leads to absolute power, which is synonymous with oppression, according to Behrensmeyer.
Finally, Orwell describes how reality can be manipulated through media, which originally criticized big magazines and filmmakers, but Behrensmeyer shows how the same principle can be applied to all kinds of modern media.
So as you can see, there are plenty of reasons why 1984 can still be used to criticize contemporary politics and therefore why a school class can learn from it.
Have a nice day.
Kind regards,
Oskar
PS: Don’t do anything stupid in case you’re reelected.