Orwell's legacies

Orwell’s legacy remains both vast and vividly present. This chapter asks what constitutes that legacy, how it may best be understood, and what its preservation reveals about the current status and possible futures of Orwell’s work. Focusing on literary, cultural, and disciplinary-institutional dimensions, it examines the lasting effects of Orwell’s work and the responses to his public figure and posthumous myth. The chapter places Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four at the centre of Orwell’s canonization and considers his role in shaping the genres of modern dystopia and the literary essay. It traces Orwell’s afterlives through intertextual references, rewritings, and adaptations that may expose both omissions and inherited assumptions. Beyond literature, the chapter explores Orwell’s global circulation, his continuing presence in political discourse and popular culture, and the paradox of simultaneous canonization and censorship. It then turns to Orwell’s institutional legacy, including the development of George Orwell Studies and the role of organizations such as the Orwell Foundation and the Orwell Society. Finally, the chapter argues that the durability of Orwell’s legacy lies in its adaptability, and that examining this legacy places both his work and its readers within a richer and more revealing context.