LEXICOLOGICAL FEATURES AND IDEOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF NEOLOGISMS IN GEORGE ORWELL`S 1984 AND MARGARET ATWOOD`S THE HANDMAID`S TALE
Keywords:
neologism, dystopia, Newspeak, Gilead, lexicology, word-formation, discourse analysis.Abstract
This article examines the structural, semantic, and functional characteristics of neologisms in two canonical dystopian novels: George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Through lexicological, semantic, comparative, and discourse-analytic methods, the study identifies how newly coined or semantically transformed lexical units operate as tools of ideological manipulation, world-building, and cognitive control. The findings demonstrate that Orwell’s Newspeak functions through lexical reduction and conceptual restriction, while Atwood’s Gilead lexicon relies on euphemism, resemanticization, and symbolic renaming. The article argues that dystopian neologisms not only shape fictional realities but also extend into contemporary sociopolitical discourse, influencing real-world vocabulary related to surveillance, gender oppression, and authoritarianism.
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