‘This is a novel about a totalitarian state’: 1984 translator disproves Russian diplomat’s claims that Orwell’s novel represents ‘the end of liberalism’

Viktor Golyshev, a Russian translator of English and American literature, responded to a statement made by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who said that George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984” represented “the end of liberalism” instead of a totalitarian government.

Golyshev’s response was published by the Podyom Telegram channel.

“I don’t think this is about the Soviet Union. I think it is a novel about a totalitarian state. When he wrote it, they were already in decline, but between the First and Second World Wars, half of Europe had totalitarian governments. But I don’t see the decline of liberalism, not at all. I cannot say that this is a novel about modern Russia either,” the translator said.

Earlier, Maria Zakharova said during an event in Yekaterinburg that George Orwell did not write “1984” about totalitarianism.

“For many years, we thought that Orwell had described totalitarianism.

He wrote about how liberalism would drive humanity to a deep end. He wasn’t writing about the USSR, he was writing about the society he lived in, about the collapse of the idea of liberalism. But it was imposed on you that he was writing about you. So tell them that he wasn’t writing about us, but about them. Tell them that they are the ones living in a fantasy world, where people can get cancelled,” Zakharova said.

Golyshev is the head of the Literary Translation Guild. He translated the works of Ken Kesey, Charles Bukowski, J. D. Salinger, J. K. Rowling, Susan Sontag and many other writers.