01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 Visit the Discussion Salon on Anarchism

Detective Chomsky So, against a backdrop of Hitler's ascent to power, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II ­ which were described in antirevolutionary ways in the mainstream press ­ the teenaged Chomsky was reading about, discussing, and evaluating other ways of conceiving societal relations. But while Orwell was traveling from Wigan Pier to Paris to Barcelona in order to witness events and evaluate possible alternatives firsthand, Chomsky was doing his own exploration through his reading. This required a strong commitment, particularly on the part of a teenager, who would have been tempted, presumably, by more immediate pleasures. Take, for example, Chomsky's interest in the CNT, the Spanish anarchist group: I was most interested in the CNT, and the anarchists generally, from the early 1940s when I really began to follow these things beyond the press. Even to say that I was interested in the CNT is a bit misleading. I was influenced early on by the anarchist critique of the CNT leadership. What I really found inspiring was the original "collectivization" documents, then available only in French (possibly Spanish), and what I could pick up about Berneri and others. And also commentary like Rocker, Korsch in Living Marxism, and a few others. (31 Mar. 1995) What motivated his interest? A powerful curiosity, exposure to divergent opinions, and an unorthodox education have all been given as answers to this question. He was clearly struck by the obvious contradictions between his own readings and mainstream press reports. The measurement of the distance between the realities presented by these two sources, and the evaluation of why such a gap exists, remained a passion for Chomsky. He persistently sought out marginalized left-libertarian perspectives on current and historical events, and gradually became aware that the monolithic world view that is propped up before us by the mainstream media is suspiciously consistent, and that it is used to establish the status quo. This insight fueled his youthful investigations, and ultimately formed the foundations of much of his later work on propaganda, the media, and the ways that groups such as the Spanish anarchists are discredited in Western society. In "Language in the Service of Propaganda," one of his many later articles that draws upon George Orwell's writings and the reception of his work, he describes the "interesting and revealing" publishing history of Homage to Catalonia:

George Orwell (links to online resources)

It appeared in 1937 but was not published in the United States. It was published in England, and it sold a couple hundred copies. The reason that the book was suppressed was because it was critical of communists. That was a period when pro-communist intellectuals had a great deal of power in the intellectual establishment. . . . It did appear about 10 years later, and it appeared as a Cold War tract because it was anti-Russian and fashions had changed. That was a really important book. I think there were things wrong with it, but it was a book of real great significance and importance. It's probably the least known of Orwell's major political books. (Chronicles 21) The issue of ruling-class or corporate control of public access to information is a divisive one for many of Chomsky's critics. Some are convinced that works are, for the most part, printed and distributed according to capitalist profit motives. For example, another Orwell novel, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, was not distributed in the United States until many years after its publication in 1936 because it was deeply rooted in English life, and therefore considered by distributors to be of little interest to American readers. Yet other critics endorse Chomsky's belief that a type of elite control does exist: Chomsky himself has had his own work suppressed by publishers, and some media outlets have refused to print his letters and interviews with him.