Semiotics can be considered as a well-organized signification journey taken among the pages of the work of art. It requires background knowledge related to the field and its analysis tools, as well as careful reading practices in the text to reach the projected destination after stopping over in certain stations. These stations represent meaning intersections where the meaningful formations are articulated to contribute to the generation of the semantic universe of the text. The presentation of such a fictional universe can be complicated because of the nature of the literary work and the language used. With regards to Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, what makes its fiction precious is the masterful acts of the author in both paradigmatic and syntagmatic dimensions. This book conducts a semiotic analysis in order to unfold the enigmatic semantic organization of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four narrative by penetrating the formative structures at various meaning levels of the text.

Mythology offers a set of cultural codes that have played an essential role in the construction of culture, social life, and identity for the entirety of human history. The transfer of mythological elements to humanity has been achieved through both oral and written narratives in literature. This volume compares the themes of mythological elements used in contemporary narratives with the motifs of classical narratives, and investigates the functions of those elements pursuant to semiotics and narratology.

George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is among the most widely read books in the world. For more than 50 years, it has been regarded as a morality tale for the possible future of modern society, a future involving nothing less than extinction of humanity itself. Does Nineteen Eighty-Four remain relevant in our new century? The editors of this book assembled a distinguished group of philosophers, literary specialists, political commentators, historians, and lawyers and asked them to take a wide-ranging and uninhibited look at that question. The editors deliberately avoided Orwell scholars in an effort to call forth a fresh and diverse range of responses to the major work of one of the most durable literary figures among twentieth-century English writers. As Nineteen Eighty-Four protagonist Winston Smith has admirers on the right, in the center, and on the left, the contributors similarly represent a wide range of political, literary, and moral viewpoints. The Cold War that has so often been linked to Orwell's novel ended with more of a whimper than a bang, but most of the issues of concern to him remain alive in some form today: censorship, scientific surveillance, power worship, the autonomy of art, the meaning of democracy, relations between men and women, and many others. The contributors bring a variety of insightful and contemporary perspectives to bear on these questions.

There is not a single book that gives a systematic description of George Orwell’s views on language. Andrei Reznikov’s work is the first attempt to fill this gap. Reznikov puts together the pieces of Orwell’s language puzzle, scattered throughout his essays, diaries, letters, radio talks and fiction, and proposes the Newspeak model as Orwell’s way to formulate his theory. The theory is then tested with illustrative examples from three languages—modern English, Nazi German, and Soviet Russian. Finally, the author describes bias-free language as an implementation of Orwell’s ideas.

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, , language: English, abstract: Occupying a central position in the political inner debate of Winston Smith, the main character in Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, is the following statement/promise/threat: “We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness” (25). This cryptic illocutionary speech act is initially heard by Winston in a dream, then is distinctly associated with, and equivocally reiterated, later on in the novel, by O’Brien who embodies, at the same time, the main character’s ideological mentor, intellectual tormentor and physical torturer. As the story unfolds, the initially promising trope, “the place where there is no darkness,” becomes more and more of a sibylline utterance representing a locus of (mis)understanding and a space of radical misreading. The representation of this place is stripped of its dream-like, metaphorical significance and reveals a dark, deictic and literal meaning. “[T]he place where there is no darkness” turns out the infamous Room 101, which is precisely the opposite of what it initially passes for, that is, a ‘utopian’ space of enlightenment. On the contrary, Room 101 is a ‘dystopian’ place, in the novel, where the light is deliberately never switched off as a torture inflicted upon political dissidents like Winston Smith. Likewise, the story line seems to operate a series of ironical degradations such as utopia becoming dystopia; metaphor dwindling into synecdoche; and euphemism signalling a glaring “statement” (25) charged with a sense of utter (mis)understanding, foreboding and warning, culminating in the irreversible destruction of the main character. Winston’s revolutionary dream of a better world turns into a horrible nightmare full of equivocation and despair. The mutual (mis)understanding between Winston and O’Brien leads to complete brainwash and emasculation of the former. Winston’s political resistance to, and hate of, Big Brother’s regime are annihilated, his dream is shattered. The story ends with Winston being ultimately defeated, ironically depicted as follows: “[h]e had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother” (297); whereas at the beginning of the narrative he has emphatically written in his secret diary in distinct capital letters: “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (18).

Great literary works resonate with readers not only because of well-developed characters and plots, but also because they often reflect important social themes. The Social Issues in Literature series brings together the disciplines of sociology and literature in a unique format designed to support cross-curricular studies. Each volume explores a work of literature through the lens of the major social issue reflected in it, and features carefully-selected content representing a variety of perspectives. All volumes in the series contain biographical and critical information about the author; secondary excerpts offering both historical and contemporary views of the highlighted social issue; a timeline of the author's life; a "For Further Reading" section of other works on the issue; and a detailed subject index. Book jacket.