Art and the Political
by makeacrane
Consider George Orwell’s enthralling essay, “Why I Write.” He outlines four main reasons for writing prose:
(1) sheer egoism
(2) aesthetic enthusiasm
(3) historical impulse
(4) political purpose
Here is the last sentence, which is worth pondering:
And looking back through my work, I see that it is invariably where I lacked a political purpose that I wrote lifeless books and was betrayed into purple passages, sentences without meaning, decorative adjectives and humbug generally.
That sentence is so Orwellian! If you had not attributed it to Orwell, I would have thought to myself, “That is a very Orwellian way of putting things.”
Regards