Editing Political fiction (section)

==Political satire==
The [[Greek comedy|Greek playwright]] [[Aristophanes]]' plays are known for their political and social satire,<ref name="Sutton, D. F. 1993 p.56">{{Citation | last = Sutton | first = DF | title = Ancient Comedy: The War of the Generations | place = New York | year = 1993 | page = 56}}</ref> particularly in his criticism of the powerful Athenian general, [[Cleon]], in plays such as ''[[The Knights]]''. Aristophanes is also notable for the persecution he underwent.<ref name="Sutton, D. F. 1993 p.56" /><ref>{{Citation | chapter-url = http://www.theatrehistory.com/ancient/aristophanes003.html | chapter = Political and social satires of Aristophanes | editor-first = Alfred | editor-last = Bates | title = The Drama, Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization | volume = 2 | place = London | publisher = Historical Publishing | year = 1906 | pages = 55–59}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | first = JE | last = Atkinson | jstor = 639144 | title = Curbing the Comedians: Cleon versus Aristophanes and Syracosius' Decree | journal = The Classical Quarterly | series = New | volume = 42 | number = 1 | year = 1992 | pages = 56–64 | doi=10.1017/s0009838800042580| s2cid = 170936469 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0714-06.htm | title = Aristophanes: the Michael Moore of his Day | first = John Louis | last = Anderson | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061019054115/http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0714-06.htm | archive-date = 2006-10-19 }}</ref> Aristophanes' plays turned upon images of filth and disease.{{Sfn | Wilson | 2002 | p = 17}}  His bawdy style was adopted by Greek dramatist-comedian [[Menander]], whose early play, ''Drunkenness'', contains an attack on the politician, [[Callimedon]].

[[Jonathan Swift]]'s ''[[A Modest Proposal]]'' (1729) is an 18th-century [[Juvenal]]ian [[Satire|satirical]] [[essay]] in which he suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. The satirical [[hyperbole]] mocks heartless attitudes towards the poor, as well as [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] policy toward the [[Irish people|Irish]] in general.

[[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Animal Farm]]'' (1945) is an [[allegory|allegorical]] and [[dystopian novel|dystopian]] novella which satirises the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]] and the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[History of the Soviet Union (1927–53)|Stalinist era]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/george-orwells-animal-farm-historical-context-pt-1-3/8177.html|title=BBC - GCSE English Literature - 'Animal Farm' - historical context (pt 1/3)|work=bbc.co.uk}}</ref> Orwell, a [[democratic socialism|democratic socialist]],<ref>Orwell, George. "[[Why I Write]]" (1936) (''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 1 – An Age Like This 1945–1950'' p.&nbsp;23 (Penguin))</ref> was a critic of [[Joseph Stalin]] and was hostile to Moscow-directed [[Stalinism]]—an attitude that had been shaped by his experiences during the [[Spanish Civil War]].<ref>[[Gordon Bowker (writer)|Gordon Bowker]], ''Orwell'' p.&nbsp;224 ; Orwell, writing in his review of [[Franz Borkenau]]'s ''[[The Spanish Cockpit]]'' in ''[[Time and Tide (magazine)|Time and Tide]]'', 31 July 1937, and "Spilling the Spanish Beans", ''New English Weekly'', 29 July 1937</ref> The Soviet Union, he believed, had become a brutal [[dictatorship]], built upon a [[cult of personality]] and enforced by [[Great purge|a reign of terror]]. Orwell described his ''Animal Farm'' as "a [[satire|satirical]] tale against Stalin",{{sfn|Davison|2000|p=}} and in his essay "[[Why I Write]]" (1946) he wrote that ''Animal Farm'' was the first book in which he tried, with full consciousness of what he was doing, "to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole."

Orwell's most famous work, however, is ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' (published in 1949), many of whose terms and concepts, such as ''[[Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Big Brother]]'', ''[[doublethink]]'', ''[[thoughtcrime]]'', ''[[Newspeak]]'', ''[[Room 101]]'', ''[[telescreen]]'', ''[[2 + 2 = 5]]'', and ''[[memory hole]]'', have entered into common use. ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' popularised the adjective "[[Orwellian]]", which describes official deception, secret surveillance, and manipulation of recorded history by a [[totalitarian]] or [[authoritarian]] state.<ref name="English Literature 2000. p. 726">The Oxford Companion to English Literature, Sixth Edition. University of Oxford Press: 2000. p. 726.</ref>