Description and Objectives

The degradation, too, of man through man, alarmingly evident in the acts of physical violence committed by all tyrannies…has its beginning, certainly much less alarmingly, at the almost imperceptible moment when the word loses its dignity.

 

–Josef Pieper, Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power (1992)

 

The focus of this class will be on George Orwell’s dedication to battling tyranny by means of his commitment to preserving the dignity of language, that is, its foundations in truth. We will first explore some of his essential essays that pivot around this paramount concern: if language is allowed to decay, if usages of academic and even ordinary discourse lose their bearings to truth, the manipulation of language will inevitably lead to the subjugation of people to accomplish the will of those in power.

 

Throughout the semester we also will study 1984 with a special emphasis on Newspeak, the sanctioned language of society under the reign of Big Brother.

 

Our concern will be how and why Orwell creates this nightmare in 1984. We will examine how Orwell has his central character create a private space to escape from this tyranny, and then suffers his “reeducation” under the abuse of the system that has as its goal the internal as well as external subjugation of every human person for the consummation of power as an end in itself. Thus, in this vision, the perfection of power is also the destruction of language as a truth-telling medium for communion with others. What this means for the integrity of human nature is, in Orwell’s view, equally dire.

 

We will be reading carefully for Orwell’s style: his characteristic lucidity, his deft description of setting, personality, and ideas, and his insights into his own experience that elucidate universal concerns. Writing assignments will be in class in blue books—given approximately every ten class days—that will ask you to examine passages from our reading and explicate them according to your own deep reading and class discussion.

Textbooks

Our texts will be: Orwell Essays: Introduction by John Carey (Everyman Library); and 1984.

Course Requirements

Daily readings; class presentations; blue books exams every two weeks.

Successful Students

If you come to each class brimming with questions about the texts we are studying, you will flourish in all things Orwell.

Additional Resources

The Schedule of Reading:

 

Week 1–Sept. 9-11: Orwell’s early years; origins of his hatred of institutional power

 

Reading: “Such, Such Were the Joys”

 

Week 2—Sept. 14-18: Orwell’s discovery of his own powers of expression

 

Reading: “Why I write” (1946)

 

Week 3—Sept. 21-25: Orwell’s major thesis: Corrupt language corrupts thought

 

Reading: “Politics and the English Language” (1946); 1984, 1-3

 

Week 4—Sept. 28-Oct. 1: The Destruction of Language, the Destruction of Politics

 

Reading: 1984, 4-6

 

Week 5—Oct. 5–9: What Power Does to Conscience

 

Reading: “The Prevention of Literature” (1946); 1984, 7-8

 

Week 6—Oct. 13-16: Orwell’s view of privacy and the State

 

Reading: 1984, Part Two, Ch. 1-3

 

Week 7—Oct. 19-23: Power’s Corruption of its Instruments

 

Reading: 1984, Part two: 4-6

 

Week 8—Oct. 26-29: Power and Coercion

 

Reading: “Shooting an Elephant” (1936); 1984, 7-8

 

Week 9—Nov. 2-5: Power’s Abuse in the Absence of Truth

 

Reading: 1984, part two: 9-10

 

Week 10—Nov. 9-13: Inside the Ministry of Love

 

Reading: 1984, Part three, 1-2

 

Week 11—Nov. 16-20: Destroying the Inner Sanctum?

 

Reading: 1984, Part Three, 3-4; “Some Thoughts on the Common Toad” (1946)

 

Week 12—Nov. 23: Last Meeting

 

Reading: 1984, Part Three, Ch. 5

 

Week 13—Nov. 30-December 4: Room 101: “The Cure”

 

Reading: 1984, Ch. 6, and the Appendix on Newspeak

 

Week 14—Dec. 7-11: Conclusion and Review

 

Reading: “Reflections on Gandhi” (1949)