![]() Second chapter focuses on the classical authors and the depiction of the traditional themes in their influential novels, taking into account their non-fictional works as well, which include Orwell’s famous essay on politics and language and Huxley’s critical rediscovery of his own famous novel. Following is a brief summary of the historical transformation of these genres, primarily throughout the twentieth century, which was especially rich in the various literary trends and styles as an answer to the frequently changing political opinions of that era. Sargent, or Adam Roberts, the first chapter attempts to define the characteristics of dystopian writing and those of the related genres, descending from the general terms of “speculative fiction” and “science fiction” to the more specific ones concerning utopian literature and all of its variants, with a clear distinction between utopianism, dystopianism, and anti-utopianism. With the help of prominent critics such as Tom Moylan, L. Structurally, the study is divided into three chapters, the first of them assuming the role of theoretical introduction, whereas the latter two represent the practical analysis. As the most prominent and recurring themes in dystopian literature, both traditional and contemporary, the thesis recognizes concepts such as the manipulation through language and media, the loss of individual freedom and privacy, and the abuse of power by elites, all of which are of special importance for the present-day social thinking and politics. ![]() Besides these goals, the study aims to provide the reader with a thorough definition of dystopianism and a concise overview of the historical development of this genre and its manifestations in the works of the above-mentioned authors. The analysis involves prominent recent authors including Iain Banks, Ken MacLeod, Adam Roberts, Charles Stross, and Chris Beckett and through the selected works of these authors it aims to explore the recent trends in science fiction and its utopian subgenres. The objective of the present study is to identify and analyse the common themes of dystopian fiction in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and to trace the transformation of these themes, as well as the development of new thematic realizations, in contemporary British speculative fiction. Lastly, I will briefly discuss whether the future portrayed in the books has been reached today in any sense. That is, I will try to discover if their construction was based on the authors’ true life lessons and if these, in turn, are reflected or prevalent in the characters. Through the eyes of John the Savage and Winston Smith, who are not only connected by their marginal and repressive situation in society, but also because they are direct witnesses of that change the authors feared, I will try to demonstrate whether they can be representative of the voices and thoughts of Huxley and Orwell, respectively. That change, they contemplated, would aggravate with the pass of time. In their opinion, keeping in mind the different contexts in which they lived, both contemporary societies and individuals were suffering from a change the latter being transformed into one more part of a highly hierarchical industrial and social apparatuses. These, dystopia and their travel experiences, allowed them to clearly express their critiques once they arranged to write the novels. Following, I deal with their opinions about the effects of industrial and technological advances, such as propaganda, as for what they witnessed because of their travels and personal experiences. Firstly, I succintly comment the outcomes of the two world wars in England to, then, relate them to the authors’ choice of the dystopian genre. The main objective of my study is based on the literary analysis of two novels: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World in relation to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.
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