marcelo pelissioli from allegory into symbol

116 Pages·2016·1.58 MB·English

MARCELO PELISSIOLI
FROM ALLEGORY INTO SYMBOL: REVISITING GEORGE
ANIMAL FARM NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
ORWELL’S AND
ST
IN THE LIGHT OF 21 CENTURY VIEWS OF
TOTALITARIANISM
PORTO ALEGRE
2008
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UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL
INSTITUTO DE LETRAS
PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM LETRAS
ÊNFASE: LITERATURAS DE LÍNGUA INGLESA
LINHA DE PESQUISA: LITERATURA, IMAGINÁRIO E HISTÓRIA
FROM ALLEGORY INTO SYMBOL: REVISITING GEORGE
ANIMAL FARM NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
ORWELL’S AND
ST
IN THE LIGHT OF 21 CENTURY VIEWS OF
TOTALITARIANISM
MESTRANDO: PROF. MARCELO PELISSIOLI
ORIENTADORA: PROFª. DRª. SANDRA SIRANGELO MAGGIO
PORTO ALEGRE
2008
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PELISSIOLI, Marcelo
FROM ALLEGORY INTO SYMBOL: REVISITING GEORGE ORWELL’S
ANIMAL FARM AND NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR IN THE LIGHT OF 21ST CENTURY
VIEWS OF TOTALITARIANISM
Marcelo Pelissioli
Porto Alegre: UFRGS, Instituto de Letras, 2008. 112 p.
Dissertação (Mestrado - Programa de Pós-graduação em Letras)
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.
1.Totalitarismo, 2.Animal Farm, 3. Nineteen Eighty-Four, 4. Alegoria, 5.
Símbolo.
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Acknowledgements
To my dear professor and adviser Dr. Sandra Maggio, for the intellectual and
motivational support;
To professors Jane Brodbeck, Valéria Salomon, Vicente Saldanha, Paulo Ramos,
Miriam Jardim, José Édil and Edgar Kirchof, professors who guided me to follow the
way of Literature;
To my bosses Antonio Daltro Costa, Gerson Costa and Mary Sieben, for their
cooperation and understanding;
To my friends Anderson Correa, Bruno Albo Amedei and Fernando Muniz, for their
sense of companionship;
To my family, especially my mother and grandmother, who always believed in my
capacity;
To my wife Ana Paula, who has always stayed by my side along these long years of
study that culminate in the handing of this thesis;
And, finally, to God, who has proved to me along the years that He really is the God
of the brave.
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For that which can foresee by the exercise of mind is by nature
intended to be lord and master, and that which can with its body
give effect to such foresight is a subject, and by nature a slave;
hence master and slave have the same interest.
Aristotle, Politics.
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RESUMO
Os primeiros textos do escritor inglês George Orwell consideram o apelo do
ideário comunista, ao passo que seus dois últimos romances, A Revolução dos
Bichos (publicado em 1946) e 1984 (publicado em 1949) se contrapõem
radicalmente a esse regime. Ao longo da segunda metade do século XX, foi-se
estabelecendo a mística de uma forte ligação entre a obra de Orwell e o histórico do
regime comunista, de modo que, com a queda do Comunismo, o desinteresse pelo
assunto parece haver provocado uma diminuição no conceito dos méritos do
escritor. O argumento da presente dissertação é que estamos frente a um momento
nevrálgico no desenrolar da fortuna crítica de George Orwell, no qual a leitura
alegórica feita até aqui deve ser substituída pela leitura simbólica, para que os textos
do autor possam transcender à derrocada do movimento Comunista, sustentando-se
na estética de sua literariedade e na atemporalidade de seu apelo ético. Em outras
palavras, não é o texto de Orwell que precisa ser mudado, e sim, o ângulo de
abordagem daqueles que constroem a fortuna crítica do autor, pois as referências
temporais desgastadas diminuem a potencialidade interpretativa das obras. Um
ponto comum que permanece, e que transpassa a obra literária de Orwell, é a
opressão exercida por quaisquer sistemas políticos que possam ter atitudes
consideradas totalitárias. Esta observação não remete apenas ao sistema
comunista, mas também ao imperialista, ao autocrático, e até mesmo ao
democrático. Orwell demonstra que um sistema não é totalitário por si só, mas
através de suas atitudes em relação ao povo. Se, na época de seus lançamentos, a
temática totalitária foi relacionada ao comunismo, tomando-se os textos como
alegorias irreversíveis do discurso anti-comunista, a queda daquele regime, ou sua
gradual abertura a práticas capitalistas, não basta para condenar as obras de Orwell
ao anacronismo, descartando maiores possibilidades interpretativas. Ao propor uma
releitura de A Revolução dos Bichos e 1984 substituindo as referências ao
comunismo por qualquer tipo de prática totalitária — e concentrar o foco das
observações no que é simbólico, ao invés de alegórico — acredito estar cumprindo
minha parte neste processo de resgate da fortuna crítica de um escritor que
considero ser um dos mais honestos e competentes de seu tempo.
Palavras-chave: Totalitarismo, A Revolução dos Bichos,1984, Alegoria, Símbolo.
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ABSTRACT
The first texts of the English writer George Orwell approach the appeal of
Communist views; however, his two last novels, Animal Farm (published in 1946)
and Nineteen Eighty-Four (published in 1949) radically oppose this regime. Along the
second half of the 20th century , strong bonds were established between Orwell’s
works and the history of the Communist regime, however, with the fall of
Communism, the lack of interest for the subject seems to have generated a
diminution in the merits and recognition of the writer. The argumentation of this thesis
is that we have been facing a central moment in the unfolding of George Orwell’s
critical heritage, in which the allegorical reading done so far must be replaced by the
symbolical reading, so that the texts of the author can transcend the fall of the
Communist movement, supported by the esthetic of the literariety and atemporality of
their ethic appeal. In other words, it is not the text of Orwell which must be changed,
but the angle of the approach of those who build the author’s critical heritage,
because outdated temporal references impair the interpretative possibility of the
works. A remaining point that seems to cross all Orwell’s literary works is the
oppression exerted by any political systems that can have attitudes considered
totalitarian ones. This remark does not address only the Communist system, but also
the Imperialist, the autocratic and even the Democratic ones. Orwell demonstrates
that a system is not totalitarian on its own, but through its manifestations towards
people. If, at the age of their launchings, the totalitarian theme was connected to
Communism, taking the texts as irreversible allegories of the anti-Communist
discourse, the fall of that regime, or its gradual opening to Capitalist practices, is not
enough to condemn Orwell’s works to anachronism, discharging more
comprehensive interpretative possibilities. I believe that, by proposing a new reading
of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, replacing the references to Communism
for references to any kind of totalitarian practice--, and concentrating the focus of the
observation on what is symbolical – I will be doing my part in this process of rescuing
the critical heritage of a writer who I consider one of the most honest and competent
authors of his time.
Keywords:Totalitarianism, Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Allegory,
Symbol.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 10
1 JUSTICE AND LIBERTY: THE MAKING OF AN AUTHOR.......................... 18
1.1 - Britain at the Turn of the 19th – 20th Century.................................. 19
1.2 - Life Shaping Work: Of how Eric Blair Became George Orwell....... 22
1.3 - Criticism........................…………………………………………………… 40
2 DEFINING THE TERMS............................................................................…. 44
2.1 - Choice of genre: Satire, allegory, fable, and science fiction............ 46
2.2 - Utopia and Dystopia.....................................................................……. 54
2.3 - The implied political discussion: Socialism, Communism, 58
Fascism, Nazism………………………………………………………………….
2.4 - Totalitarianism...................................................................................... 62
3 SYMBOLIC ELEMENTS IN ANIMAL FARM AND NINETEEN EIGHTY- 66
FOUR..........………………………………………………………………………..
3.1 – Revisiting Manor Farm and Oceania: what a 21st century reader 67
finds in common with his contemporary world……………………………..
3.2 – The aesthetic importance of the works........................……………… 89
CONCLUSION................................................................................................ 92
REFERENCES...................................................………………………………. 98
TABLE OF IMAGES................................................................................…... 106
APPENDIXES................................................................................................. 107