In an ironic move, the famous novel that portrays a dystopian Britain beset by extreme censorship has now received an official academic “offensive” warning. The warning was addressed to students taking a module called, ‘Identity Under Construction’ at the University of Northampton. The students taking the module are warned that it “addresses challenging issues related to violence, gender, sexuality, class, race, abuses, sexual abuse, political ideas and offensive language”.
Orwell’s book is one of a list of novels identified as having the potential to be “offensive and upsetting”.
The other novels on the “offensive” list include the works of Samuel Beckett, Alan Moore, David Lloyd and Jeanette Winterson.
The University of Northampton has also issued warnings over modules on its English degree course.
Students have been warned that Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time includes “death of an animal, ableism and disability and offensive language”.
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time is written from the perspective of an autistic 15-year-old boy, Christopher John Francis Boon.
The Mail on Sunday submitted a Freedom of Information request and found that staff at the university had placed a warning on George Orwell’s novel on the grounds that it contains “explicit material” which some students may find “offensive”.
Orwell’s concept of the “thought police” proscribed material that was not deemed appropriate by the ruling system.
Referring to the university’s actions, Orwell’s biographer David Taylor said: “I think 13-year-olds might find some scenes in the novel disturbing.
“But I don’t think anyone of undergraduate age is really shocked by a book anymore.”
About the warning, Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: “There’s a certain irony that students are now being issued trigger warnings before reading Nineteen Eighty-Four.
“Our university campuses are fast becoming dystopian Big Brother zones where Newspeak is practised to diminish the range of intellectual thought and cancel speakers who don’t conform to it.
“Too many of us, and nowhere is it more evident than our universities, have freely given up our rights to instead conform to a homogenised society governed by a liberal elite ‘protecting’ us from ideas that they believe are too extreme for our sensibilities.”
A spokesman for the University of Northampton spoke to the Mail on Sunday and said: “While it is not university policy, we may warn students of content in relation to violence, sexual violence, domestic abuse and suicide.
“In these circumstances, we explain to applicants as part of the recruitment process that their course will include some challenging texts.
“This is reinforced by tutors as they progress through their programme of studies.
“We are aware some texts might be challenging for some students.
“We have accounted for this when developing our courses.”
*story by Express Online
