Nature as an uncontrolled space in George Orwell’s 'Nineteen Eighty-four' and Aldous Huxley’s 'Brave New World'

Sammanfattning: This paper suggests that dystopian fiction should receive more attention within the environmental advocacy space. Despite the genre’s ability to provoke the reader, it is rarely interpreted in an environmental context. This paper aims to fill this research gap through an ecocritical analysis of two of the most famous dystopian novels: George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. It explores and highlights that environmental themes are an underappreciated part of the novels’ interrogation of modernity and human individuality. The rulers in both novels view ‘nature’ as separate from humanity, and consequently externalise and subjugate it. However, manifestations of ‘nature’ provide a lens through which the reader can see that that suppression of ‘nature’ can lead to the eradication of humanity. As such, ‘nature’ becomes a central force of resistance against sovereignty. The novels depict a second-wave ecocritical approach, showing the interconnectedness of humanity and ‘nature’, thus urging a greater acceptance of their inherent interdependence. Ultimately, this paper seeks to enrich our understanding of ecocriticism. This is done by using ecocriticism as a new and illuminating way to interpret non-environmentalist texts and by exemplifying how ecocriticism can reveal a deeper level of understanding of the relationship between different societies and the natural world in dystopian fiction.