The Relation of Orwel’s 1984 to The Uighur Conflict in China

The writing style of renowned English novelist George Orwell can be characterized as a critique of society that incorporates political culture and disagreement with totalitarianism. All of the things that characterize his writing shine through in his most famous literary work, 1984, published in 1949 by Secker and Warburg. The novel follows main character Winston Smith, who works in a government position with the task of rewriting history in a more favorable manner for the oppressive government. A recurring theme throughout the novel that can be depicted in many ways in today’s society is censorship. An instance out of the many in which this suppression of communication can be clearly displayed is in the ongoing conflict of the mass genocide of the Uighur Turkic peoples in the communistic state China currently ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. This situation relates to 1984 with similar issues such as censorship, totalitarianism, and propaganda.

In this era of technological advancement and daily usage of technology, censorship has become less prevalent in countries that allow freedom of speech, press, and religion, such as the United States. It is narrow minded, however, to assume that this is the case for all people across the globe. In China, the media and even what individuals are allowed to have on their phone is incredibly censored through close monitoring and harsh punishments. This is a method of oppression that is implemented highly specifically towards a group of people called the Uighurs. The Uighurs are a Turkic group of people that adhere to the religious practices of Islam. This has been an ongoing conflict throughout the 21st century that has brought into play many different types of censorship from the Chinese government to the Uighur peoples. Examples of censorship in China towards this specific group of people includes suppression of the Quran, religious practice such as attending mosques, and even the language of the Uighur people. In the Chinese province Xinjiang, Uyghur is no longer being taught in schools, even though a bilingual education used to be the standard. Now, only Mandarin is taught in school, effectively censoring the usage of the native tongue of many peoples. This closely relates to the novel in the sense that a new language is invented specifically to prevent government opposition. Although it is not the exact same situation, language comes into play to erase thoughts in certain people. For the people in 1984, it was to prevent political rebellion, but for the Uighurs it is to erase their culture. Another relation of the novel and the issue at hand is that of books. In both instances, a book (the Quran), or books in general are censored to keep the people in the society oppressed. While again this is not the exact same situation, the same act of censorship is being performed, but with different intentions. In 1984, prohibition of free thought is the norm in their society, but this can also be the case for the Uighur group, as their liberty of free thought to pursue their desired religion is withheld again by an oppressive higher power.

Throughout his career as an author, Orwell emphasized his opposition to totalitarianism and often made critiques about society concerning this topic in his writing. Totalitarianism is a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state, which is a recurring theme throughout the novel 1984, with various examples. In the China-Uighur conflict, totalitarianism is all too prevalent. It occurs in many forms, and by far the most appalling method of totalitarianism in China is placing Uighur Muslims into “re-education camps” that parallel WWII concentration camps when they oppose the oppressive government system. The purpose of re-education camps in China is to torture Uighur muslims into total subservience to the government. Methods such as electrocution, forced female sterilization, and brainwashing all occur within these camps as a terrifying method of control. Another form of control within China is control of the Uighur population by diminishing it through methods such as forced sterilization, and a cap on how many children Uighur-Muslims are allowed to have. By far, however, the most common method of control from the Chinese government unto the Uighurs is brainwashing. They’re brainwashed using cult-like methods of repeating sentences over and over and over again until it’s permanently ingrained into their heads. They’re forced to renounce their religious beliefs and state that their only belief in life is in the Chinese Communist Party. This is a horrible event that is occurring, which Orwell would heavily oppose due to his opposition of totalitarianism. This is one of the major characteristics that shaped his writing style, and therefore, can be seen many times throughout 1984. This closely relates to the situation in China in the sense that in the novel, there’s also a government that requires total subservience of its people through methods of brainwashing. In the novel, however, the brainwashing begins at birth, because from day one children are brainwashed into believing that the government is the highest authority in existence. Unalike, the brainwashing of the Uighur peoples occurs when they defy the government by practicing their native tongue, or their religion. The Uighur peoples are a very ancient group of steppe peoples that have existed for a long time, and their culture is essentially being erased from history, and their struggles are being silenced, similar to colonialism in the Americas. They too, were brainwashed and had their culture erased from history. This demonstrates that the issues in 1984 extend beyond certain situations, and that the themes throughout the novel can be applied to many things throughout history and today, which is one of the factors that made Orwell such an incredible writer.

When discussing the topic of propaganda in 2020, something that can be related to it is the ongoing issue of North Korea vs. the United States. It is often believed that the North Koreans are conspiring against the USA, and news outlets all over the country describe this as “propaganda”. Propaganda extends further than this topic, and can be seen everywhere today, including in one’s own household. Propaganda can at times be a difficult topic to wrap one’s head around, but the essential meaning of it is a form of communication and is biased or manipulated to benefit one’s own viewpoint or argument. This could be a celebrity stating that they’d had no plastic surgery done, while omitting the fact that they received nose fillers because technically, it is not a surgical procedure. For China, however, the propaganda extends far beyond petty self-imagery. The propaganda that exists in China is mainly communicated to other countries. This could be through telling other countries that the Uighur conflict are all merely allegations, or just straight up lying about what is going on. China has commented a few times on the issue at hand, once issuing a statement detailing that the conflict had improved with measures of “counter-terrorism” and “de-radicalization”. However, this information is highly manipulated to conceal the truth from other nations, while attempting to put a bandaid over the serious problem, which a neighboring country (Turkistan) called “brutal Holocaust-like oppression”. Although in not the exact same manner, 1984 also touched on the subject of propaganda. The method that was used in the novel was the government rewriting history in a more favorable manner for their intentions. This is essentially the exact same thing, because it is a manipulation of communication that should be offered to the public.

The Uighur conflict relates in many ways to the literary work 1984 written by author George Orwell. It relates in similar ways such as censorship, totalitarianism, and propaganda. While all previously described separately, all three topics work together to form the ultimate oppressive government, and all of them go hand in hand. First, the government requires the peoples to censor themselves, essentially isolating them from the majority. Second, the government forces its people to surrender their complete subservience to it and renounce their personal beliefs. Finally, the government hides it from the rest of society, whether that be from everyone in Oceania, or from the rest of the planet for China. This is not the only historical event that meets these exact same criteria. Many events happened before this novel was written that adhered to the exact same topics. Orwell was way ahead of his time in the sense that he detailed a critique of society that closely resembled almost all oppressive situations throughout history. This can be seen during the colonization of the Americas. Native Americans were forced to surrender complete subservience to the Europeans, as well as adhere to their religious and personal beliefs. They were written in history as barbaric, when in actuality, they were one of the most advanced groups on the planet. This information was manipulated by Europeans to morally justify their actions, similar to the Chinese government. Although the Native American situation was not the topic of this text, this just goes to show how closely the themes of 1984 can be related to almost anything, making Orwell’s writing all that much more incredible and advanced.