Critical Discourse Analysis of George Orwell’s Animal Farm: Fairclough’s Three Dimensional Model

Abstract

The current study is planned to critically analyze the novella “Animal Farm” by George Orwell. The author analyses the novella Animal Farm by using the three-dimensional model of Norman Fairclough (1989). This approach is composed of three stages: textual analysis, discursive practices, and social practices, which are also known as the stages of description, interpretation, and explanation, respectively. The data for this analysis were obtained through repeated readings of ANIMAL FARM. The study’s findings demonstrated that language can serve as a powerful tool for empowering individuals and groups to resist injustices, advocate for their rights, and contribute to social transformation and revolutionary change. A further novel finding is that the allegorical characters created by George Orwell to illustrate how the ambition for power can corrupt people and lead to a cycle of abuse, exploitation, and dishonesty—even for those who initially have the best of intentions. The study’s findings have important implications in interdisciplinary studies, such as politics, sociology, psychology, and literature. The current study focuses only on the analysis of animal form via Fairclough’s 3D Model of CDA, but the novel can also be analyzed by applying the other lens of CDA, and the research scholars of the future might analyze ORWELL’S other novels via Fairclough’s model as well. The findings demonstrated how the conflicting ideologies about how to wield authority on the farm influenced the power struggle that resulted in violence and propaganda.