Although Orwell’s essay “The English People” (CEJL 3: 15-56) was written in May 1944, it was not published until August 1947.
It was Orwell’s compulsive chronicling of transient sociological patterns and the acuity with which he accomplished it that enabled critics such as Richard Lance Keeble and Christopher Hitchens to assert that Orwell was, in fact, the originator of cultural studies. As Keeble suggests, Orwell’s political and cultural writing inaugurated the fledgling science of Cultural Studies (Orwell Today), while Christopher Hitchens notes of Orwell, “It would not be too much to say that he pioneered ‘cultural studies’ without giving the subject a name” (Why Orwell Matters. 58).
It was Orwell’s compulsive chronicling of transient sociological patterns and the…
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Citation: Williams, Nigel. "The English People". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 January 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35013, accessed 27 November 2024.]
