Wiktionary

Oceanian

English

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Etymology

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From Oceania ‎ -an.

(nation): This term is not used in the novel itself.

Adjective

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Oceanian (not comparable)

  1. From or relating to Oceania (geographical region or continent).
  2. (literary criticism) From or relating to the fictional nation of Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
    • 1993, Stephen Ingle, “Orwellian socialism today”, in George Orwell: A Political Life, Manchester, New York, N.Y.: Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 117:
      Although the proles are on the fringe both of Oceanian society and of the action, it is their values which provide the only warmth in the novel.
    • 2009, Philip Bounds, Orwell and Marxism: The Political and Cultural Thinking of George Orwell, I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, →ISBN:
      Orwell’s point was that the Oceanian government had effectively invented the idea of opposition in order to reinforce the status quo.
    • 2018, Murat Kalelioğlu, “Semiotic Analysis”, in A Literary Semiotics Approach to the Semantic Universe of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, section “Spatialization”, page 111:
      The situation for Oceania, which appears as a significant space in the narrative, can be expressed as follows: Though the Party adopts a repressive dictatorship, it never accepts decentralized management so that Oceanian people do not feel colonial.

Translations

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Noun

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Oceanian (plural Oceanians)

  1. Someone from Oceania (geographical region or continent).
  2. (literary criticism) Someone from the fictional nation of Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
    • 1986, Bernard Oldsey, Joseph Browne, editors, Critical Essays on George Orwell, G. K. Hall & Co., →ISBN, page 74:
      In order to ensure that the Oceanians do get excited about Big Brother—displace, that is, eroticism from its natural object, another individual, to the State—the Party attempts in every way “to remove all pleasure from the sex act. . . . The only recognized purpose of marriage was to beget children for the service of the Party. Sexual intercourse was to be looked on as a slightly disgusting operation, like having an enema” (p. 57).
    • 2018, Iskra Fileva, “Bad Faith and Make-Believe”, in Ezio Di Nucci, Stefan Storrie, editors, 1984 and Philosophy: Is Resistance Futile? (Popular Culture and Philosophy; 116), Open Court Publishing Company, →ISBN:
      We might suppose that Orwell’s claims about the beliefs of Oceanians are simply implausible: after all, as the little thought experiment I started with demonstrates, we cannot just make ourselves believe on command.
    • 2018, Murat Kalelioğlu, “Semiotic Analysis”, in A Literary Semiotics Approach to the Semantic Universe of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, section “George Orwell and “Nineteen Eighty-Four””, page 59:
      Accordingly, the Ministry behaves in favor of the Party by making necessary amendments and manipulations in mass media to earn the sympathy of Oceanians.

Translations

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