George Orwell
(June 25, 1903 – January 21, 1950)
Eric Arthur Blair, known by his pen name of George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, and critic. Commonly ranked as one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century, Orwell wrote literary criticism, poetry, polemical journalism, and novels.
He is best known for his dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) and his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945). In 2008, The London Times ranked him second on its list of The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945.
He died of tuberculosis at just 46 years old.
Orwell was Ghost of Honor at Disclave 28 in 1984 and was listed as one of the planned GoHs of the Moscow in 2017 hoax bid. In 1996, Animal Farm was awarded the 1946 Best Novella Retro Hugo.
Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
Nineteen Eighty-Four[edit]
Nineteen Eighty-Four, often titled 1984, is a dystopian novel published in 1949 by Orwell.
The novel is set in Airstrip One (formerly known as Great Britain), a province of the superstate Oceania in a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and public manipulation. As literary political fiction and dystopian SF, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a classic in content, plot, and style. Many of its terms and concepts have entered into common use since its publication in 1949.
It becomes more significant as prognostication as time goes by.
Fandom absorbed 1984 as sf and has lightly used its themes and concepts. (See the Fancyclopedia 2 article on Newspeak, below.) 1984 was on Fancyclopedia 2's Basic Stfantasy Library list.
The LA in 1984 Worldcon bid used a 1984-ish theme.
Newspeak[edit]
| From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959 |
| Newspeak The intended language of 1984, in Orwell's novel. In line with the Party's scientific approach to dominance, Newspeak is composed of words with limited -- and, naturally, non-heretical -- associations; ultimately it will consist only of words with which no rebellious thoughts can be expressed. It was the analogy on which Fanspeak was formed, and donated to us such customs as reversing the meanings of words by giving them negative prefixes. |
| Person | 1903—1950 |
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