"Down and Out in Paris and London" is typically perceived as non-political. Orwell's first book, it examines his life with the poor in two cities. Although on the surface "Down and Out" seems not to be about politics, Orwell covertly conveys a political message. This is contrary to popular critical opinion. What most critics fail to acknowledge is that Orwell wrote for a middle- and upper-class audience, showing a previously unseen view of the poor. In this he suggests change to the policy makers who are able to bring about improvements for the impoverished. "Down and Out" is often ignored by both critics and readers of Orwell. With an examination of Orwell's politicizing background, and of the way he chooses to present himself and his poor characters in "Down and Out," I argue that the book is both political and characteristic of Orwell's later work.

Así surge el problema materia de la presente investigación, cuyo punto de vista básico es que, hay algunos puntos de contacto en la acción causada por el dictador en las dos novelas, pero también hay algunas diferencias, que dan a cada una de las novelas un carácter peculiar. El objeto de este estudio es hacer un análisis comparativo de ciertas consecuencias producidas por la acción del "señor Presidente," en las novela El señor Presidente, y de Antón Bocanegra, en la novela Muertes de perro. Para que los terminos de comparacion se coloquen en un plano factible y lógico, se partirá del punto de vista que las dos novelas tratan de un tema común, la dictadura, pero bajo estructuras, procedimientos, métodos, y recursos utilizados diferentes.

[pt] A Freedom House, instituição estadunidense, reportou 2019 como o décimo quarto ano seguido de recessão democrática mundial, uma crise que ressuscita a discussão acerca do conceito usado para denominar esses movimentos antidemocráticos. Muito se fala que eles seriam novas versões de um fascismo, a despeito de características distintas em cada manifestação. O semiólogo italiano Umberto Eco antecipou essa questão e criou um conceito que busca resolver essa problemática: Ur-Fascismo. O Ur-Fascismo é o fascismo que nunca acaba, que se reconstrói, se retrabalha, se adequa a cada época, dado seu caráter infinito. As distintas aparições do fascismo não se limitam à política da realidade: a política da ficção tratou de apresentá-lo de diversas formas. Partindo da discussão de uma base teórica sobre teoria política, em particular sobre o Ur-Fascismo, será possível perceber como a ficção tratou aparições e características desse fenômeno, tomando, para isso, dois objetos: Não vai acontecer aqui, de Sinclair Lewis, e Ele está de volta, de Timur Vermes. Assim, será possível trabalhar as idiossincrasias dos Ur- Fascismos dessas ficções, suas diferenças e similitudes, em consoante com as bases da teoria política e, no processo, expandir tanto o estado da arte sobre literaturas do Ur-Fascismo, quanto contribuir à discussão sobre um fenômeno político pouco compreendido. Por fim, encerra-se com uma discussão, a partir da ideia de vaga-lumes de Pasolini e Didi-Huberman, sobre a importância da arte, em especial a arte antifascista, na luta contra o Ur-Fascismo. / [en] Freedom House, an US institution, reported 2019 as the fourteenth year in a row of a global democratic recession, a crisis that resuscitates the discussion about the concept used to name these anti-democratic movements. Much is said that they would be new versions of fascism, despite different characteristics in each manifestation. Italian semiologist Umberto Eco anticipated this issue and created a concept that seeks to resolve this issue: Ur-Fascism. Ur-Fascism is fascism that never ends, that is reconstructed, reworked, adapted to each era, given its infinite character. The different appearances of fascism are not limited to the politics of reality: the politics of fiction tried to present it in different ways. Starting from the discussion of a theoretical basis on political theory, in particular on Ur-Fascism, it will be possible to perceive how fiction treated apparitions and characteristics of this phenomenon, taking, for this, two objects: It can t happen here, by Sinclair Lewis, and Look who s back, by Timur Vermes. Thus, it will be possible to work on the Ur-Fascism idiosyncrasies of these fictions, their differences and similarities, in line with the bases of political theory and, in the process, expand both the state of the art on Ur-Fascism literatures and contribute to the discussion on a little understood political phenomenon. Finally, it ends with a discussion, based on the idea of fireflies, developed by Pasolini and Didi-Huberman, about the importance of art, especially anti-fascist art, in the fight against Ur- Fascism.

Ce mémoire interroge la place qu’occupe le personnage historique, Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848-1907) dans le roman Soumission (2015) de Michel Houellebecq. Située en France en 2022, l’histoire met en scène François, spécialiste de Huysmans. Afin de cerner le rôle de Huysmans dans l’histoire, nous nous sommes intéressée à l’amitié que François exprime pour lui, leurs affinités et leurs divergences. Les polémiques suscitées lors de la parution du roman nous ont poussé à également considérer la moralité de l’histoire. L’aspect temporel du roman, situé dans un futur proche, est important car il laisse supposer une comparaison. Ainsi, notamment la notion de politique-fiction - anticipation de faible amplitude -, ainsi que des concepts narratologiques empruntés à Genette - transtextualité, voix et mode -, ont fourni des outils d’analyse. De même, la recherche de Viard sur la vision politique de Houellebecq, et sa conception comtienne de la religion, a servi de guide. En premier lieu, nous avons ainsi montré que Houellebecq a créé l’illusion d’une réalité possible dans un cadre familier aux lecteurs, puis, en deuxième lieu, nous avons constaté que le narrateur est autodiégétique et la focalisation interne, ce qui nous a permis de faire le rapprochement entre le héros et la vie et l’oeuvre de Huysmans. Plus loin, l’association des caractéristiques de la politique fiction avec les fonctions testimoniale et idéologique du narrateur ont fait apparaître la figure de Huysmans comme plus largement le représentant de la décadence de la modernité. La vision antilibérale et critique exprimée par François rappelle donc le désenchantement dans la littérature « fin de siècle » dont Huysmans était un grand représentant. De plus nous avons constaté que si François et Huysmans ne partagent pas la même vision de la religion, ils partagent le même idéal conservateur de la femme et du couple. Enfin, ces éléments réunis, nous en sommes arrivée à la conclusion que plutôt que nihiliste, la moralité exprimée serait altruiste. / This essay interrogates the part played by the historical figure, Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848-1907) in Michel Houellebecqs novel Submission (2015). The story, set in France in 2022, revolves around François, specialist in Huysmans. In order to establish Huysmans role, we have focalized on François’s friendship, expressed by him, their affinities and their differences. The polemics brought on when the novel was published has also made us consider the moral of the story. The temporal aspect is important since it underscores a comparison between a plot set in the future and a historical figure. Here especially one notion of political fiction – speculation in a nearby future – has proven useful. It was furthermore the case of concepts in the field of narratology developed by Genette, intertextuality and metatextuality, voice and mode. Moreover, we have been guided by Viards theory regarding Houellebecqs political view as well as his vision on religion, inspired by Auguste Comte. Considered all together, this shows that Houellebecq has created an illusion of reality taking place in a familiar environment to which readers can relate. Further on, the narrator being homo-diegetic with an internally focalized perspective, makes it possible for us to conciliate the life of the hero with the life and works of Huysmans. We have also seen that the notions of political fiction, combined with the testimonial and ideological functions of the narrator, relates to the character of Huysmans as a representant of the decadency of modernity. Moreover, François’s anti-liberal and critical vision of France has a clear affinity with the disenchantment expressed in the 19th century, fin de siècle literature, of which Huysmans was a principal figure. We argue that although François and Huysmans don’t share the same vision of religion, they share the same conservative ideal of femininity and the couple. This all together has led us to the conclusion that the moral of the story rather than nihilistic is altruistic.

This project is an exploration of 20th century dystopian literature through the lens of germ theory. This scientific principle, which emerged in the late 19th century, asserts that microorganisms pervade the world; these invisible and omnipresent germs cause specific diseases which are often life threatening. Additionally, germ theory states that vaccines and antiseptics can prevent some of these afflictions and that antibiotics can treat others. This concept of a pervasive, invisible, infection-causing other is not just a biological principle, though; in this paper, I argue that one can interpret it as an ideological framework for understanding human existence as a whole. Particularly, I believe that authors of prominent 20th century dystopian novels applied the tenets of germ theory in order to explore the potential “pathogens” that furtively exist within the human mind. These pseudo-germs are various human tendencies that, when left “untreated” by governments, create nonnormative members of society. In the eyes of dystopian regimes, it is precisely this nonnormativity that poses a lethal threat, in that it challenges the continued existence of society with the current ruling body at the helm. In this paper, I trace love (both sexual and familial) and individuation (as a function of social hierarchy, recreational activities, and the use of language) as social disease-causing pathogens in George Orwell’s 1984 and in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.