Utopian and Dystopian Societies and Literatures

1984 MIRRORING 1948 (Partner 1)

Introducing the historical context of Orwell’s dystopia

totalitarianism: the political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute
state authority (Merriam Webster)

Zoom Breakout Rooms (Split class in two halves – PA 1 and PA 2)

Assignment 1: Work out key features of Hitler’s fascist regime and draw parallels to 1984. Be
ready to present your results to your partner who has read a different text.

Partner 1: Fascism in Nazi Germany

Once in power Adolf Hitler turned Germany into a fascist state. The term fascist was originally used to
describe the government of Benito Mussolini in Italy. Mussolini's fascist one-party state emphasized
patriotism1, national unity, hatred of communism, admiration of military values and unquestioning
obedience2. Hitler was deeply influenced by Mussolini's Italy and his Germany shared many of the same
characteristics.

The German economic system remained capitalistic but the state played a more prominent role in
managing the economy. Industrialists were sometimes told what to produce and what price they should
charge for the goods that they made. The government also had the power to order workers to move to
where they were required.

Under fascism, most potential sources of opposition were removed. […] The individual had no freedom
to protest in Hitler's Germany. All political organizations were either banned or under the control of the
Nazis. Except for the occasional referendum3, all elections, local and national, were abolished. All
information that people in Germany received was selected and organized to support fascist beliefs. As
Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels kept a close check on the information provided by newspapers,
magazines, books, radio broadcasts, plays and films.

1
patriotism : loves your country and willing to defend it
2
obedience: when someone does what they are told to do, or what a law, rule etc says they must do
3
referendum: when people vote in order to make a decision about a particular subject, rather than voting for a person
 Utopian and Dystopian Societies and Literatures

1984 MIRRORING 1948 (Partner 2)

Introducing the historical context of Orwell’s dystopia

totalitarianism: the political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute
state authority (Merriam Webster)

Assignment 1: Work out key features of Stalin’s communist regime and draw parallels to 1984. Be
ready to present your results to your partner who has read a different text.

Partner 2: Communism in Bolshevist Russia/Soviet Union

[…] When Lenin died in 1924 […] Stalin had used his position as Secretary of the Communist Party to
build up support. Once in power, Stalin became obsessed with power and obedience4. Everywhere there
had to be propaganda praising him for causing everything that was good – even for bringing the spring.
He demanded continuous applause.

History books were changed to remove the names and pictures of discredited people. All areas of the
USSR were ‘russified’ and national differences were forbidden. Ordinary people who were accused by a
nasty neighbour were carried off to the gulag5. Instead, apparatchiks (party members) got the new flats,
jobs and holidays. […].

In 1931 Stalin prophesied […] that Russia had 10 years to modernise before it was attacked. He
therefore set about modernising Russia’s economy. Firstly he had to increase the amount of food that
Russia produced. […] Therefore, in 1927, Stalin announced that he was going to collectivise farming.
[…]. Secondly, Stalin introduced a series of 5-year plans to try to improve industry. The state planning
department (GOSPLAN) drew up targets for production of basic industrial items such as electricity, coal,
oil and steel, and local factories were told to increase production.

Ø Back to class. Present results and do task 2 in class.

Assignment 2: Collect shared features that characterize the two totalitarian regimes in Germany
and Russia in the first half of the 20th century and discuss in which way these ideas have found way
into 1984.

4
obedience : doing what you’re told to do
5
GuLag is the acronym for Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies
Assignment 3: Discuss Orwell’s intention in writing 1984 based on the quote below.

“My recent novel (1984) is NOT intended as an attack on Socialism or on the British Labour Party (of
which I am a supporter), but as a show-up of the perversions to which a centralised economy is liable and
which have already been partly realised in Communism and Fascism. I do not believe that any kind of
society I describe necessarily will arrive, but I believe (allowing of course for the fact that the book is a
satire) that something resembling it could arrive. I believe also that totalitarian ideas have taken root in
the minds of intellectuals everywhere, and I have tried to draw these ideas out to their logical
consequences. The scene of the book is laid in Britain in order to emphasise that the English-speaking
races are not innately better than anyone else and that totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph
anywhere.”

totalitarianism, form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom and that seeks to
subordinate all aspects of the individual’s life to the authority of the government. Italian dictator Benito
Mussolini coined the term totalitario in the early 1920s to describe the new fascist state of Italy, which he
further described as: “All within the state, none outside the state, none against the state.” By the
beginning of World War II, “totalitarian” had become synonymous with absolute and oppressive single-
party government.