Editing Orwellian

{{short description|Pertaining to a dystopia like in George Orwell's fiction}}
{{Italic title}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage=[[File:1984 and photo of George Orwell.png|210px]] | video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe64p-QzhNE What "Orwellian" really means – Noah Tavlin] (5:31), [[TED-Ed]]<ref name="teded">{{cite web | title =What "Orwellian" really means |author= Noah Tavlin | publisher =[[TED (conference)|TED Ed]] | url =http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-orwellian-really-means-noah-tavlin | access-date =4 October 2015}}</ref> }}

'''''Orwellian''''' is an [[adjective]] which is used to describe a situation, an idea, or a societal condition that 20th-century author [[George Orwell]] identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and [[open society]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Orwellian |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/orwellian_adj |access-date=29 January 2025 |work=Oxford English Dictionary |quote=Characteristic or suggestive of the writings of George Orwell, esp. of the totalitarian state depicted in his dystopian account of the future, Nineteen Eighty-four (1949).}}</ref> It denotes an attitude and a brutal policy of [[Draconian constitution|draconian]] control by [[propaganda]], [[surveillance]], [[disinformation]], [[Denialism|denial of truth]] ([[doublethink]]), and manipulation of the past, including the "[[unperson]]"—a person whose past existence is expunged from the public record and memory, practiced by modern repressive governments. Often, this includes the circumstances depicted in his novels, particularly ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Drabble |first=Margaret |title=The Oxford Companion to English Literature |edition=Sixth |publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford and New York |year=2000 |page=726 |isbn=0-19-861453-5}}</ref> despite the narrative depicting a society in which only governmental employees are under repressive scrutiny, but political [[doublespeak]] is criticized throughout his work, such as in ''[[Politics and the English Language]]''.<ref name="obama">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/magazine/the-empty-threat-of-boots-on-the-ground.html |title=The Empty Threat of 'Boots on the Ground' |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 5, 2016 |last=Traub |first=James}}</ref>

''[[The New York Times]]'' has said the term is "the most widely used adjective derived from the name of a modern writer".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/22/weekinreview/simpler-terms-if-it-s-orwellian-it-s-probably-not.html|title=Simpler Terms; If It's 'Orwellian,' It's Probably Not|last=Nunberg|first=Geoffrey|date=2003-06-22|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-02-27|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/nov/11/reading-group-orwellian-1984|title=Do you really know what 'Orwellian' means?|last=Jordison|first=Sam|date=2014-11-11|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-02-27}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=16em|
* [[Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Big Brother]]
* [[Alternative Facts]]
* [[Bibliography of George Orwell]]
* [[Brainwashing]]
* [[Doublespeak Award]]
* [[Forced labour]]
* [[Extrajudicial punishment]]
* [[Indefinite detention]]
* [[Indoctrination]]
* [[Mass surveillance]]
* [[One-party state]]
* [[Permanent war economy]]
* [[Police brutality]]
* [[Police state]]
* [[Political prisoner]]
* [[Torture]]
* [[Totalitarianism]]
* [[Toxic leader]]}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|d=Q2156379|c=no|voy=no|v=no|q=no|n=no|b=no|species=no|mw=no|m=no|s=no|commons=no}}
* [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4761169 Finding Orwell in Burma]

{{Crimethink}}
{{Media manipulation}}

[[Category:George Orwell]]
[[Category:History of science fiction]]
[[Category:Nineteen Eighty-Four]]
[[Category:Freedom of expression]]
[[Category:Censorship]]
[[Category:Totalitarianism]]