Orwell and Marxism: The Political and Cultural Thinking of George Orwell

266 Pages·2009·2.81 MB·English

by  Philip Bounds

Philip Bounds holds a PhD in Politics from the University of Wales.
He is the author of British Communism and Literary Theory and Cultural Studies.
INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF CULTURAL STUDIES
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ORWELL AND MARXISM

The Political and Cultural Thinking
of George Orwell
PHILIP BOUNDS
Published in 2009 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
www.ibtauris.com

In the United States of America and Canada distributed by Palgrave Macmillan,
a division of St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010

Copyright © 2009 Philip Bounds

The right of Philip Bounds to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
the publisher.

International Library of Cultural Studies: 4

ISBN: 978 1 84511 807 5

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

Printed and bound in India by Thomson Press India Ltd
from camera-ready copy edited and supplied by the author
FOR MY PARENTS,
AND FOR DAISY

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction 1

1 The Common People 29

2 The Politics of Mass Communication 63

3 Literature and Commitment 85

4 Reforming English Culture 117

5 The Totalitarian Future 137

Appendix 1 Orwell as his Own Critic 177

Appendix 2 Biographical Details 199

Notes 209

Index 245

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am especially grateful to Noorul Hasan for his comments on an earlier
draft of this book. I have also benefited greatly from the encouragement,
help and support of the late Margaret Bounds, Andy Croft, Alan Finlayson,
Liz Friend-Smith, Vincent Geoghegan, Aftab Hamid, Jayne Hill, Mala
Jagmohan, Heather Jordan, Alan Mauro, Ian and Tania Morgan, Edward
Parr, Jonathan Smith, Richard Taylor and Ieuan Williams. My parents were
as supportive as ever – I thank them for everything. I owe a similar debt to
Daisy Hasan, whose selfless generosity ensured that I persevered to the end.