The image of revolutionary Catalonia in the publicism of George Orwell (2nd article)

Author(s):  A.P. Korochensky, Dr., Prof., Belgorod National Research University, Belgorod, Russia, prensa@yandex.ru

Issue:  Volume 38, № 3

Rubric:  Journalism and public relations

Annotation:  Orwell's book of essays "In honor of Catalonia" and his other publicistic works on the Spanish civil war contrasted both with the coverage of the war of 1936–1939 in the mainstream British press and with their interpretation in the left-wing publications. At the suggestion of the Stalinists, their author, who sacrificed his life in Catalonia in the struggle against the enemies of the Spanish Republic, was branded as a Trotskyist and an accomplice of fascism. The author of the dystopia "1984" was presented later in the USSR as an anti-Soviet. These circumstances determined the lack of attention of Russian researchers to the studying of the contribution of George Orwell as the creator of a brilliant publicistic picture of the events in Catalonia at one of the turning points in the history of the Spanish Republic, largely predetermined its future. The surge of interest in Orwell's work in the post-Soviet period, expressed in numerous reprints of his works and the appearance of significant biographical works, has not been accompanied by a thorough analysis of his journalistic heritage dedicated to the Spanish events. Orwell was the direct participant of the events of 1936–1937 and devoted his journalistic writings to the Republican struggle against the forces of frankism. Orwell witnessed a turn from the anti-Franco unity of Republican forces, united in the Popular front or cooperating with it, to the historical betrayal that destroyed this already unstable unity and predetermined the subsequent defeat of the Republic and the social revolution that began in Catalonia. The article reproduces and analyzes the Orwell's dominant characteristics of the political struggle in the ranks of Republicans and publicistic picture of the situation in Barcelona on the eve of the suppression by Stalinists of political "fellow travelers" during the clashes of may 1937 and subsequent events that led to the fall of the Republic and the social revolution that began in Catalonia. The aim of this work is to analyze the Orwell's journalistic image of revolutionary Catalonia, . represented in his book "In honor of Catalonia" (1938), as well as essays "Spilling the Spanish Beans" (1937) and "Looking Back on the Spanish war " (1942).

Keywords:  Catalonia, Spanish Republic, social revolution, POUM, anti-Franco militia, anarchists, stalinists

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