"Big Brother" and "Total Surveillance": Orwell's Prophecies Come True. Big brother is watching you
Big Brother is a character in the famous novel by George Orwell "1984", the eternal leader of Oceania and the Ingsoc party. After his coming to power, the history of Oceania was completely rewritten, Big Brother became its main character, the sole leader of the party since pre-revolutionary times. Other significant participants in the events of that time were erased from memory. In the book, Big Brother is portrayed as a black-mustache male, about 45 years old, with a rude but masculine attractive face. Big Brother's face is depicted in numerous posters posted throughout Oceania. “At each site, the same face looked from the wall. The portrait was made in such a way that wherever you went, your eyes would not let go. The older brother is looking at you - the signature read. " Whether the Big Brother really exists or is he just an image created by propaganda is unknown. The main character, Winston Smith, asks the zealous party member O'Brien: "Does he exist in the sense in which I exist?", And hears in response: "The elder brother exists and is immortal - as the personification of the party."
In the book "The 101 Most Influential Non-Existing Personality", Big Brother, who has become a symbol of totalitarianism and government control over a person, took second place.
In 1998, the annual Big Brother Award was established for the most flagrant violation of citizens' freedom by a state or company.
Now "Big Brother" is a common name for a state or organization seeking to establish total surveillance or control over the people. After the book was written, the theory "Big Brother is watching you" appeared, according to which the secret services of all developed countries organized a mechanism for total surveillance of citizens, organizations and other states, including surveillance of Internet users. However, every year we receive more and more new evidence that this is actually happening around us.
Surveillance is carried out on the Internet, using control over cellular communications and any communications, through payments using electronic systems, video surveillance equipped with face recognition systems, through documenting movement in transport and across borders. Search services are a particularly convenient means for collecting information about Internet users: by asking search queries, the user involuntarily informs the search engine, and through it, the special services and other interested organizations a lot of information about their interests and preferences, as well as their social circle. Other convenient means of collecting information are e-mail and instant messengers, as well as browsers and the operating system installed on the user's computer.
Only sophisticated security methods can resist such surveillance, which include the use of cryptography, open source software, and anonymization tools.
The expression about Big Brother is well known both to fans of social dystopias and not to reading fans in general. Another thing is that they understand the meaning of these words in different ways.
Where did the phrase "Big Brother is watching you" came from?
The phrase "Big Brother is watching you" became famous after the release of the novel "1984" by the famous British writer J. Orwell, which continued the theme of the "betrayed" revolution, begun in his own work "Animal Farm", which was an allegory to the October Revolution of 1917 and subsequent development of events in Russia.
An interesting fact. The phrase “Big brother is watching you” was first translated by V. Golyshev in the Russian edition of the book as “The elder brother is watching you”, but such a translation did not take root in oral speech, transforming into a more intense “Big brother is watching you”. The same version was used when dubbing film adaptations of the work (films).
As it sounds in the book by George Orwell
The Big Brother in Orwell's book is the leader of the British Revolution of the 1950s, the founder of the Angsoz party and the ruler of the totalitarian state of Oceania. The image is frighteningly infernal, because none of the ordinary citizens of Oceania even knows (and many do not even think) how real this person is, whether Big Brother really exists or is it just a phantom, a product of propaganda, the personification of the party. We only know one thing - how it looks; his portraits, painted in such a way that a person, wherever he stands, constantly feels the Big Brother's gaze, hang on every square in London. The feeling of constant close attention is further intensified by the inscription under the image - "Big Brother is watching you" and by the fact that these words are supported by an extensive network of observers and informers for the timely identification and elimination of dissidents.
It is generally accepted that Orwell chose Stalin as one of the prototypes for the image of Big Brother, a man and ruler whom the writer hated with all his heart, considering him a "traitor to the revolution." It was his features, a black-haired and black-mustache middle-aged man, that were used by the author of "1984" to create a portrait of the ruler of Oceania. However, in his interview with Life magazine, J. Orwell mentioned that when creating the book he “had in mind totalitarianism as such, having specially modeled it in English society in order to show that no society is immune from such a fate,” all the more in view of the generally recognized the fact that the only state that does not look after its citizens is the one that is physically unable to provide appropriate measures.
An interesting fact. In 1998, the American annual "Big Brother Award" was established for the most flagrant violation of citizens' freedom by a state or company, and in 1999, as if in mockery, the first reality show "Big Brother" was launched on Dutch television, in which several people , selected according to the degree of maximum quarrelsomeness with each other, live in a confined space, literally stuffed with CCTV cameras, following the orders of Big Brother, who is watching them around the clock, whose word is law. Adaptations of this show took place in several countries, including Russia.
In modern society, the term "Big Brother" is used to refer to totalitarianism, anti-democracy and surveillance.
An interesting fact. J. Orwell owns the authorship of a number of stable expressions and terms, for example, "cold war", "doublethink", "orthodoxy."
Big Brother
Big Brother
From the dystopian novel 1984 (1948) by the English writer George Orwell (pseudonym Eric Blair, 1903-1950), who described in his work an imaginary totalitarian state, similar in a number of features to both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union of Stalin's time.
The line from this novel also became widely known: "Big Brother is watching you."
Allegorically:
1. About the totalitarian state and its repressive and controlling bodies, day and night overseeing the population.
2. About a harsh leader (ironic joke).
Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M .: "Lokid-Press"... Vadim Serov. 2003.
See what "Big Brother" is in other dictionaries:
Big Brother- Allegory of total surveillance by the state for its citizens from the novel by the English writer J. Orwell "1984". Topics information security EN Big Brother ... Technical translator's guide
This term has other meanings, see Brother. Big Brother: Big Brother is a character in George Orwell's 1984 novel. Big Brother (reality show) is an international reality show, presented in Russia by the TNT channel. "Big Brother" ... ... Wikipedia
Big Brother (Big Brother) Big Brother Big Brother from the BBC TV version. Creator: George Orwell Works: "1984" ... Wikipedia
Volog. In a wedding ceremony, the bride's brother or brother, who, before agreeing to the bride's extradition, “sells and drinks” her. SVG 1, 38 ...
Big Brother- idioms. a metaphorical expression by J. Orwell, who is very popular in the English-speaking world, denoting a total political power overseeing a person, capable of controlling the behavior of citizens in detail ... ... Universal Additional Practical Explanatory Dictionary of I. Mostitsky
- (wheels). See RIDING SHIPPING ...
The big (dear, older) brother paid for the profit. See TRADE ... IN AND. Dahl. Russian proverbs
The brother is a man, each of the sons in relation to other children from the same parents. Step-brother. Brother fasting, vow. In many cultures, there is the establishment of fraternal friendships between men during a special ritual ... ... Wikipedia
Brother of the Yakuza Brother Genre drama / ... Wikipedia
White brother (brother). Zharg. pier Shuttle. Toilet. Vakhitov 2003, 14. Big brother. Volog. In a wedding ceremony, the bride's brother or brother, who, before agreeing to the bride's extradition, “sells and drinks” her. SVG 1, 38. Brother lifted his brother on forks. ... ... A large dictionary of Russian sayings
Books
- Big brother of small business, Alexander Karakulko. Do you dream of business and money, but dreams do not come true? And there is a good reason for this. This reason is not spoken of. Those who have the audacity to go against the system are accused of being nothing ...
The real name of the writer is Eric Arthur Blair. He was born in India, in the family of an employee of the British colonial administration. The writer himself served in Burma in his youth - in a police detachment. Since then, Eric Blair has always become a habit of punctuality and accuracy in completing tasks that were useful to him during his years as a journalist. Starting to write books, he took on the pseudonym George Orwell, by which the whole world knows him. Orwell was a participant in the Spanish Civil War, hosted television broadcasts on the BBC, wrote poetry, novels and stories, acted as a publicist for newspapers and magazines. His dystopian novel "1984" is included in the Golden Fund of World Literature. AiF.ru remembered Orwell's prophecies, which came true.
Total surveillance
Long before there were modern video surveillance systems, telephone tapping, as well as Internet technologies that allow special services to collect detailed information about a person and, if necessary, control his every step, Orwell described such "total surveillance" in his dystopian novel "1984" ... In it, the writer talks about a totalitarian state system, in which "for the good" of all mankind, individual individuals are deprived of their individuality, the right to choose and the opportunity to show civic initiative. "1984" was written in 1949, after the Second World War, but even today, when it comes to the surveillance of the secret services, they recall the phrase: "Big Brother is watching you."
Newspeak
“Each reduction was a success, because the less choice of words, the less the temptation to think,” Orwell wrote about the speech artificially created for ordinary citizens by the ruling totalitarian sect (in the same novel “1984”). The logic is simple - the fewer words a person has, the fewer thoughts he can express with them. This means that there will be less thinking. Undesirable words were banned by law, withdrawn from use under the threat of arrest and fines, and textbooks and books were rewritten in accordance with Newspeak. When today linguists talk about borrowings and abbreviations in the speech of the younger generation, especially in the language used by users of the Russian Internet, they often compare it with Newspeak.
Distorting reality with the media
In the world that Orwell invented, there were two specific organizations - the Ministry of Truth and the Ministry of Abundance. The first was engaged in deliberate distortion of real historical facts, forming in the minds of residents that view of the country's history, which was pleasing to the government, and also through the media gave people a distorted picture of the real state of affairs.
The Ministry of Truth was assisted in this by the Ministry of Abundance - which deliberately reduced the supply of food and household items to the people, but through the media disseminated information that the standard of living was steadily increasing. Today, the media are an effective means of propaganda, which is often used to their advantage by the participants in the election races.
Telescreen (monitor)
A TV with a built-in camera that cannot be turned off. Telecreens stood in every house and "watched" both ordinary citizens and members of the ruling clique. In fact, Orwell anticipated the many "reality shows" that are broadcast today in many countries.
Cold war
In one of his newspaper articles, Orwell for the first time publicly used this term, which then became firmly established as a description of the confrontation between the USSR and the United States. However, there are versions that the writer was not the author of the phrase, but borrowed it from a German publicist Eduard Bernstein who first used the term back in 1893.
“At each site, the same face looked from the wall. The portrait was made in such a way that wherever you went, your eyes would not let go. BIG BROTHER IS LOOKING AT YOU, - read the signature /… / The telescreen worked for reception and transmission. He caught every word if it was not spoken in a very soft whisper; moreover, as long as Winston remained in the field of vision of the cloudy plate, he was not only heard, but also visible. Of course, no one knew whether he was being watched at the moment or not. How often and on what schedule did the Thought Police connect to your cable was anyone's guess. It is possible that everyone was being watched - and around the clock. In any case, they could connect at any time. You had to live - and you lived, according to a habit that turned into an instinct - with the knowledge that your every word is overheard and your every movement, until the light goes out, is watched. "
George Orwell, 1984.
The Soviet government was afraid of this book by Orwell like the plague - he was very accurate in describing the realities of that life and that government. “1984” was translated and printed in “Tamizdat” - on thin tissue paper, in small print - nonparelia (6 points). They let me read at night. For spreading Orwell, there was a prison term. Then the novel became just good literature and a political anachronism. It seemed that the Ministry of Truth (Central Committee of the CPSU) and the Ministry of Love (KGB) were in the past forever. They began to write Big Brother with a small letter, and the generation of the 90s had to explain for a long time and in detail why an Englishman's novel was read in the USSR as a native one - written by us and about us.
And now Big Brother returns. I have already returned by the Ministry of Truth and the Ministry of Love. And again it seems that these guys with a hot heart and a steel gaze are crawling out from around every corner: they can - using expensive and modern technology - remotely eavesdrop on conversations (more on page 19), read e-mails, bombard with spam attacks undesirable sites will be able - if necessary - to lower the iron curtain on the window to the global world (p. 21) and take control of the still free and freedom-loving sites of electronic social networks
They beat those who disagree with truncheons or lock them up in prisons - just as they shut down the leader of the St. Petersburg Yabloko and organizer of the unification conference of democrats Maxim Reznik. And Big Brother - oh, immortal Orwell! - meanwhile he listens favorably to the democratic maxims of Reznik's senior colleague, Grigory Yavlinsky. They, as often happened in past times, are again ready to imprison for a word - even for a word spoken in an online diary - the first trial against a blogger from Syktyvkar, 22-year-old Savva Terentyev, has already begun. Ministry of Love outposts are reopening at universities, and students are asked to report possible sedition in lectures by professors and protest moods among colleagues. And now they are closing the Russian Humanities University in Moscow and the European University in St. Petersburg, and students - organizers of OD-groups who fought against corruption at the faculty and the squalor of their dean's curricula - are being expelled from the social faculty of Moscow State University. Who, what - will be next? One thing is clear: both "who" and "what" will be. Big Brother is back. Has already returned.