Russia: Yevgeny Zamyatin – We
It would be absolutely impossible to talk about Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We without talking about George Orwell’s 1984. The books are incredibly similar, despite the former being relatively unknown.
As soon as I began the book, I was awash with rage. Who was this saboteur thinking he could rip-off Orwell’s masterpiece? The stylistic features were the same: the curve of the structure, the use of an omniscient domineering totalitarian, the homogeny of the proletariat, the use of a female protagonist as a symbol of subversion – it was all there! I did some research into this shady character Zamyatin and discovered that actually his book had been written first, as early as the 1920’s yet because he was living in Communist Russia the book had been furtively passed from intellectual to intellectual until it eventually ended up in the hands of George Orwell, who reviewed it for a literary magazine.
1984 can therefore almost be seen as plagiarism although there are certain differences between the books. For example, Orwell’s is much more overtly politicised, it uses much more rhetoric and the form is different, whereas We offers a more personal insight of events through its first person narration. Although this book did slightly dampen my opinion of 1984, it served to highlight the the extent of the influence form foreign writers on English Literature. Therefore, it’s clear that our superior attitude towards literature from our homeland needs to change.
Words by Beth Chaplow