  koroleva-vv-khvorostyanny-da-vestnik-2026-1.pdf |
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- Autobiographical motifs in the novel “A Clergyman’s Daughter” by George Orwell
- Koroleva V.V., Khvorostyanny D.A. Autobiographical motifs in the novel “A Clergyman’s Daughter” by George Orwell. Vestnik of Kostroma State University, 2026, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 110–116. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2026-32-1-110-116
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2026-32-1-110-116
- УДК: 821(410).09”20”
- EDN: OQBGUL
- Publish date: 2026-01-12
- Annotation: The article examines the artistic transformation of autobiographical material in George Orwell’s novel “A Clergyman’s Daughter” (1935). The main research task is to analyse the ways of representing Orwell’s personal experience, which serve to form a socially critical discourse in the text. The methodology includes a comparative analysis of biographical sources and images of the main and secondary characters, which allows us to identify the prototypes of the characters in the novel, as well as biographical and historical methods. The research material includes the text of the novel, Orwell’s autobiographical essays, testimonies about the writer’s teaching activities, his life in poverty, as well as the story of the relationship with Brenda Salkeld. The authors of the article conclude that Orwell deliberately distances himself from direct autobiography, synthesising personal experience with fiction, which allows him to move from individual history to criticism of key public institutions – the religious environment, the education system and class inequality. Autobiography in “A Clergyman’s Daughter” functions as a tool of social analysis, transforming the writer’s personal experience into a universal representation of the systemic crisis of society.
- Keywords: George Orwell, “A Clergyman’s Daughter”, autobiography, social criticism, fiction.
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