Tuesday, April 07, 2009

George Orwell and < I >


George Orwell is most commonly known for 1984 and Animal Farm.

I've mentioned before the most important concept of Orwell's that has retained deep relevance is not the emergence of Big Brother, but Newspeak, that euphemistic language that has crept into the real world in the form of terms such as collateral damage or contractors as a stand-in for 'mercenaries.' 

But a little more tongue in cheek, Orwell also famously said a poetry reading is a 'grisly thing.' and I've seen firsthand what he means by this. There are any number of poets who've helped avert this phenomenon, but also as many poetasters (poetic disasters) who've reinforced that odious pronouncement. 

For me, I hold a personal set of ethics that believes we should never create new enemies of art and literature, but do our utmost to leave our audiences with as great a love of the arts, writing and expression as our great predecessors instilled in us through their performance and bodies of work.

Ah, but the how of the matter is where the rub is. One can spend a lifetime trying to master this.

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