A reflection on Orwell-as-idea that âoutlines some of the misconceptions and misuses of the Orwell nameâ (Modern Fiction Studies). Â The year 1984 is just a memory, but the catchwords of George Orwellâs novel Nineteen Eighty-Four still routinely pepper public discussions of topics ranging from government surveillance and privacy invasion to language corruption and bureaucratese. Orwellâs work pervades the cultural imagination, while others of his literary generation are long forgotten. Â Exploring this astonishing afterlife has become the scholarly vocation of John Rodden, who is now the leading authority on the reception, impact, and reinvention of George Orwellâthe man and writerâas well as of âOrwellâ the cultural icon and historical talisman. In The Unexamined Orwell, Rodden delves into dimensions of Orwellâs life and legacy that have escaped the critical glare. He discusses how several leading American intellectuals have earned the title of Orwellâs âsuccessor,â including Lionel Trilling, Dwight Macdonald, Irving Howe, Christopher Hitchens, and John Lukacs. He then turns to Germany and focuses on the role and relevance of Nineteen Eighty-Four in the now-defunct communist nation of East Germany. Rodden also addresses myths that have grown up around Orwellâs life, including his âmore than half-legendaryâ encounter with Ernest Hemingway in liberated Paris in March 1945, and analyzes literary issues such as his utopian sensibility and his prose style. Â Finally, Rodden poses the endlessly debated question, âWhat would George Orwell do?â and speculates about how the prophet of Nineteen Eighty-Four would have reacted to world events. In so doing, Rodden shows how our responses to this question reveal much about our cultureâs ongoing need to reappropriate âOrwell.â
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