Politics and the English Language

George Orwell, D.J. Taylor

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English

Bodleian Library
01 December 2022

Language: history & general works; Literature, Poetry & Criticism; Literary essays; Politics & government

George Orwell's essay examines the power of language to shape political ideas. It is about the importance of writing concisely, clearly and precisely and the dangers to our ability to think when language, especially political language, is obscured by vague, cliched phrases and hackneyed metaphors. In it, he argues that when political discourse trades clarity and precision for stock phrases, the debasement of politics follows.

First published in Horizon in 1946, Orwell's essay was soon recognised as an important text, circulated by newspaper editors to their journalists and reprinted in magazines and anthologies of contemporary writing. It continues to be relevant to our own age.

'To read a speech by a contemporary politician, an article in a broadsheet newspaper or a communication from a government department is to be plunged straightaway into a landscape where the euphemisms, wool-pulling and downright duplicity that Orwell complained about back in 1946 are all going strong.' — D.J. Taylor

By: George Orwell
Introduction by: D.J. Taylor
Imprint: Bodleian Library
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 184mm, Width: 114mm,
ISBN: 9781851246021
ISBN 10: 1851246029
Pages: 64
Publication Date: 01 December 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

George Orwell (1903-1950) was a British novelist, journalist and critic, best known for his novels 'Animal Farm' and 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'. D.J. Taylor is an award-winning novelist and critic.