Fictionalized Worlds and the Politics that Inspired Them

Abstract

What does the Russian October Revolution of 1917 have to do with Brexit? The study of political literature informs readers and researchers alike on real political events and how they affect the ordinary citizen. This Senior Project explores the two political novels, We and Home Fire, and explores the relationship between political literature and the eras in which Yevgeny Zamyatin and Kamila Shamsie set their novels. By offering a close analysis of the texts, the author will explore the historical and cultural context behind these two novels and how elements of Communist propaganda and post 9/11 Islamophobia find their way into the texts, as well as enabling discussion of various cultural and artistic movements such as neo-futurism and post-colonialism, In addition to these movements, both Zamyatin and Shamsie draw inspiration from their own cultures and the revolutionary actions of their peers. Similarly, readers today can broaden their understanding of their own world, using the wealth of context behind these fictional novels, thus allowing Western audiences to sympathize with otherwise foreign and modern issues like Islamophobia and the threat of constant surveillance. Per Zamyatin, "... why then do you think there is a last revolution ... their number is infinite.”