Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 06:44:09 -0700
From: Michael Andre-Driussi 
Subject: (urth) Orwellian geography

Josh Geller wrote:
>And, in fact, Oceania is Great Britain/America in the 1984 world, and
>Ascia is North America to the Commonwealth's South America on Urth.

In general, yes.

But in details, hmmm.

I have this theory that most published pieces on NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR (and
many readers) see its geopolitical set up as being "World War Two carried
on for decades" and basically the USA is the location of the
command/control structure, or "America is on top, just like during the Cold
War era."  (Not that Josh Geller has said this, mind you -- just that this
is one of those things that I've been mulling over for years now.)

While there are threads of textual truth to this viewpoint, still it is
clear to me that: North America is scarred by the atomic war to a degree
greater than Europe was scarred by WWII; the name "Oceania" is not a poetic
one (for a sea power superstate) is a geographical one (like the names of
the other two superstates) that in this case describes the area of
Australia, New Zeland, and islands around there -- Australasia -- and this
is the location of the command/control structure.

The former USA is a battered, poisoned province, less well off than
Airstrip One.

And Big Brother is an Aussie.

=mantis=



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