Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	LH Orwell's Books: Writing Politics, Resisting Tyranny
School	Eng, Drama, & Creative Studies
Department	English Literature
Module Code	09 32236
Module Lead	Nathan Waddell
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-10 hours Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-170 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	The goal of this module is to introduce students to the full range and complexity of George Orwell’s writing, focusing on the nine books of fiction and non-fiction he published between 1933 and 1949. Beginning with Down and Out and Paris in London (1933), the module will look at: Orwell’s ongoing concern about poverty and destitution; his critical account of empire in Burmese Days (1934); the oddly experimental and little-read novel A Clergyman’s Daughter (1935); the self-dramatizing strategies of Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936); Orwell’s calls for a new and rethought socialism in The Road to Wigan Pier (1937); the captivating reminiscences of fighting in the Spanish Civil War as told in Homage to Catalonia (1938); the (justified) paranoia and inventiveness of Coming up for Air (1939); why the pigs always seem to get the upper hand in Animal Farm (1945); and the fate of ‘the last man in Europe’, Winston Smith, as depicted in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). The emphasis throughout will be on drawing connections and threads—at the level of form and theme—between these magnificent works of literature, reportage, and political commentary. Although Orwell is to some extent responsible for the genre of the literary dystopia, this is not a module about his place in that venerable tradition. As the module’s subtitle suggests, students will be asked to think about how Orwell resisted the work of tyranny by means of political, critical, and cultural-historical analysis. His oft-quoted goal to turn political writing into an art will provide the background note to much of the seminar discussions and many of the lectures, all of which will seek to contextualize Orwell’s writing in political, cultural, and theoretical ways. Although students will not be expected to have substantive political knowledge beforehand, inter-war politics will by definition be a recurrent point of reference throughout the module, ranging from the politics of socialism and capitalism to totalitarianism. Readings from key political thinkers (e.g. Hannah Arendt, Friedrich Hayek) will be set as secondary texts, as will many of Orwell’s own essays. Students who take the module will not only have an opportunity to study the work of one of the twentieth century’s most important writers, but also find themselves coming face to face with some of the most intractable social problems of the recent past—problems which continue to haunt our world today.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: demonstrate a good understanding of the significance of politics in Orwell’s career as a writer, and a sophisticated grasp of his merits as a literary figure on the basis of sustained close engagement with the forms, themes, and contexts of his books.demonstrate a good grasp of relevant critical approaches not just to the Orwellian books studied on the module but also to the means with which such novels can be contextualized historically. develop a well-structured and persuasive critical argument by exploring a range of primary texts, showing good close reading skills, drawing on relevant secondary material, and relating formal textual innovation to novels’ thematic concerns. demonstrate the ability to engage in independent research.
Assessment	32236-01 : 4,000 Word Essay : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment 4,000 word essay Reassessment 4,000 word essay
Other
Reading List