George Orwell and Raymond Williams : a comparison of their thoughts on politics, letters and language

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dc.contributor.advisorBertelsen, Eveen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorHiggins, Johnen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, D Wen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-09-20T12:29:04Z
dc.date.available2016-09-20T12:29:04Z
dc.date.issued1989en_ZA
dc.descriptionBibliography: pages 221-230.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between George Orwell and Raymond Williams as reflected in their respective writings on politics, letters and language. The study aims to provide a close historical reading of exemplary texts written by Orwell and Williams. This involves: description of the historical context in which the texts were produced; close analysis of the selected texts; and summarising their related writings in these three areas in order to place the 'exemplary texts' in the context of their work as a whole. Finally, having thus provided a synthesis of their respective thoughts on politics, letters and language, the similarities and differences between Orwell and Williams are derived. The conclusion drawn in this study is that notwithstanding several important differences, Orwell and Williams share a number of fundamental assumptions and beliefs in these defined areas. In their 'political' writings, they share a reliance on the evidence of experience; a sense of Britain as a society governed ultimately by consensus rather than by conflict; and a commitment to similar forms of socialist-humanism. In their work on letters, they both resist the dominant definitions of 'literature'; they both explore the relation between 'politics' and 'letters'; and they both seek to use 'letters' in the service of (socialist) 'politics'. In their understandings of language, both Orwell and Williams assume a 'unified subject' that precedes language as the source of meaning; they both insist on the existence of some pre-linguistic 'reality'; and they share a sense of language as being in some way constitutive. The differences between Orwell and Williams can be summarised as follows: first, they wrote in different contexts; second, they represent different constituences of British socialism (Orwell middle-class and Williams working-class}; and third, whereas Orwell is a popular essayist, Williams is a literary academic, who explores the many concerns they share with greater subtlety and care.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationJohnson, D. W. (1989). <i>George Orwell and Raymond Williams : a comparison of their thoughts on politics, letters and language</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21811en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationJohnson, D W. <i>"George Orwell and Raymond Williams : a comparison of their thoughts on politics, letters and language."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21811en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationJohnson, D. 1989. George Orwell and Raymond Williams : a comparison of their thoughts on politics, letters and language. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Johnson, D W AB - The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between George Orwell and Raymond Williams as reflected in their respective writings on politics, letters and language. The study aims to provide a close historical reading of exemplary texts written by Orwell and Williams. This involves: description of the historical context in which the texts were produced; close analysis of the selected texts; and summarising their related writings in these three areas in order to place the 'exemplary texts' in the context of their work as a whole. Finally, having thus provided a synthesis of their respective thoughts on politics, letters and language, the similarities and differences between Orwell and Williams are derived. The conclusion drawn in this study is that notwithstanding several important differences, Orwell and Williams share a number of fundamental assumptions and beliefs in these defined areas. In their 'political' writings, they share a reliance on the evidence of experience; a sense of Britain as a society governed ultimately by consensus rather than by conflict; and a commitment to similar forms of socialist-humanism. In their work on letters, they both resist the dominant definitions of 'literature'; they both explore the relation between 'politics' and 'letters'; and they both seek to use 'letters' in the service of (socialist) 'politics'. In their understandings of language, both Orwell and Williams assume a 'unified subject' that precedes language as the source of meaning; they both insist on the existence of some pre-linguistic 'reality'; and they share a sense of language as being in some way constitutive. The differences between Orwell and Williams can be summarised as follows: first, they wrote in different contexts; second, they represent different constituences of British socialism (Orwell middle-class and Williams working-class}; and third, whereas Orwell is a popular essayist, Williams is a literary academic, who explores the many concerns they share with greater subtlety and care. DA - 1989 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1989 T1 - George Orwell and Raymond Williams : a comparison of their thoughts on politics, letters and language TI - George Orwell and Raymond Williams : a comparison of their thoughts on politics, letters and language UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21811 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/21811
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationJohnson DW. George Orwell and Raymond Williams : a comparison of their thoughts on politics, letters and language. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 1989 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21811en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of English Language and Literatureen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherEnglish Language and Literatureen_ZA
dc.titleGeorge Orwell and Raymond Williams : a comparison of their thoughts on politics, letters and languageen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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