A Biopolitical Study Of Brave New World And Nineteen Eighty-Four

Since they were published,Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four have shocked the readers all around the world for their predictions of biotechnology and totalitarianism,and have attracted a great number of scholars within various fields.Both the foreign and the domestic studies basically revolve around the following aspects: totalitarianism,power operating mechanism and technology.This thesis intends to carry out a study from a rather new perspective: biopolitics which has turned out to be an international buzzword recently,but has not gained wide attention by Chinese scholars yet.There are barely any studies at home or abroad that concentrate on either Brave New World,or Nineteen Eighty-Four from the perspective of biopolitics,except the few essays at home focusing on a biopolitical study of the latter novel,which not only renders this thesis some referential points,but also leaves ample room for a comprehensive and in-depth study.With Michel Foucault's and Giorgio Agamben's ideas of biopolitics as theoretical foundation,this thesis aims to carry out a biopolitical study of these two novels,and then to point out the hidden nature of biopolitics reflected in the novels through the deviation of the consequences of biopolitics from its original aim.This thesis consists of six parts including: the introduction,four chapters as the mainbody and the conclusion.The introduction begins with a brief depiction of the life experience and literary works of the two authors Aldous Huxley and George Orwell together with the plot of their masterpieces Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four.Then,a general literature review of these two novels both abroad and at home is provided.At length,this section ends by explicating the central argument,methodology and research significance of the thesis.Chapter One takes the origin and development of biopolitics as its preoccupation.A brief overview of biopolitics' history is provided with the main focus on the theoretical assumptions that this thesis adopts: biopolitics of Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben.Chapter Two intends to carry out a detailed analysis of biopolitics reflected in Brave New World represented by biological regulation pertaining to life making and setting,the medicalization and sexuality.Chapter Three deals with the physical discipline,an important aspect of biopolitics illustrated in Nineteen Eighty-Four from the perspective of surveillance,distribution of the body and force as well as punishment.Chapter Four explores the political manipulation in relevance to biopolitics in these two novels respectively: racism and totalitarianism.Finally,the conclusion summarizes this thesis,reaffirming the hidden nature of biopolitics as reflected in these two novels.The interpretation of these two novels from biopolitical perspective is not only a new attempt in combining the theory and the text,but also serves as an alarm enabling human reflection on biotechnological advances and political reality.Even biopolitics which aims to make live and foster life may contain the seeds of racism and totalitarianism.They will pose threat to a certain group of individuals in name of protecting the whole.