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Animal Farm: Animal Satire
A Research Paper
Table Of ContentS ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
1. CHAPTER THE AUTHOR: GEORGE ORWELL 1
1.1. PRESENTATION 1
1.2. HIS LIFE 1
1.3. HIS TIME: POLITICAL BACKGROUND 4
1.3.1. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 5
1.3.2. THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR 7
1.4. ORWELL AND THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR 8
1.5. ANIMAL FARM 9
2. CHAPTER SATIRE 13
2.1. PRESENTATION 13
2.2. WHAT IS SATIRE? 13
2.2.1. DEFINITION 13
2.2.2. CHARACTERISTICS OF SATIRE 14
2.2.3. TECHNIQUES OF SATIRE 17
3. CHAPTER METHOD OF RESEARCH 19
3.1. PRESENTATION 19
3.2. PROCEDURE 19
4. CHAPTER ANIMAL FARM AS SATIRE 21
4.1. PRESENTATION 21
4.2. ELEMENTS OF SATIRE IN ANIMAL FARM 21
4.2.1. SUMMARY OF THE PLOT 22
4.2.2. SATIRICAL TECHNIQUES IN ANIMAL FARM 24
4.2.2.1. APPROACH TO THE SUBJECT 24
4.2.2.2. VIEW POINT 26
4.2.2.3. CHARACTERISATION 27
4.2.2.4. IRONY 34
4.2.2.5. COMPARISON OF ANIMAL FARM AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 43
5. CHAPTER CONCLUSION 49 5.1. SUMMARY OF THE STUDY 49 5.2. CONCLUSION
OF THE STUDY 49 REFERENCES 51
ABSTRACT
Animal Farm as Political Satire KORKUT, Rydvan Supervisor: Assoc.Prof. Dr.
Joshua M. Bear
This study aims to determine that George Orwell's Animal Farm is a
political satire which was written to criticise totalitarian regimes and
particularly Stalin's practices in Russia. In order to provide background
information that would reveal causes led Orwell to write Animal Farm,
Chapter one is devoted to a brief summary of the progress of author's life
and significant events that had impact on his political convictions.
Chapter one also presents background information about Animal Farm. Chapter
two is devoted to satire. In this chapter, definition of satire is
presented and some important characteristics of satire are discussed. In
chapter three, the method of this research is described. Under the light of
information presented in the previous chapters, Chapter four discusses
Animal Farm and focuses on the book as a political satire. The last chapter
presents the conclusion of this study.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would first like to express my sincere thanks to my thesis supervisor,
Assoc.Prof. Dr. Jashua M. Bear for his help and freedom he gave me in this
study. Without his understanding this thesis would never have been
completed.
I also wish to thank my sister Fidan Korkut for her suggestions in the
planning stage of this study and her endurance during my long study days at
home.
My special thanks go to zgr Ceylan, who constantly granted me her moral
support. She was always there when I needed her.
CHAPTER THE AUTHOR: GEORGE ORWELL Presentation
This chapter introduces general information about George Orwell's life. It
includes chronological progress of his life and his political convictions.
Furthermore, important events, such as The Russian Revolution and The
Spanish Civil War which had significant influence on his commitment to
write Animal Farm will be discussed. Lastly, general information about
Animal Farm will be given.
His Life
The British author George Orwell, pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, was born
in Motihari, India, June 25, 1903. His father was an important British
civil servant in India, which was then part of the British Empire. A few
years after Eric was born, he retired on a low pension and moved back to
England. Though their income was not much enough, the Blair family sent
their son away to boarding school which was an exclusive preparatory school,
to prepare him for Eton Collage. Eric then won a scholarship to Eton
Collage. During his education from the age of eight to eighteen, as he
wrote in his essay about his school experiences titled "Such, Such Were the
Joys," he experienced many things about the "world where the prime
necessities were money, titled relatives, athleticism, tailor-made clothes",
inequality, oppression and class distinctions in the schools of England (In
Ball,1984).
After the education at Eton College in England, Eric joined the Indian
Imperial Police in British-Ruled Burma in 1922. There he witnessed
oppression again, but this time he was looking at things from the top.
Having served five years in Burma, he resigned in 1927 and turned back to
Europe and lived in Paris for more than a year. Though he wrote novels and
short stories he found nobody to get them published. He worked as a tutor
and even as a dishwasher in Paris. During his poor days in Paris, he once
more experienced the problems of the oppressed, the helpless and lower
class people.
In 1933, After having many experiences about the life at the bottom of
society, he wrote Down and Out in Paris and London and published it under
his pen name "George Orwell." After a year in 1934 he published his novel
Burmese Days, which he reflected his experiences there. Then, he published
A Clergyman's Daughter in 1935, and Keep the Aspidistra Flying in 1936.
In 1936, his publisher wanted Orwell to go to the English coal-mining
country and write about it which was another important experience in his
life. He wrote The Road to Wigan Pier to reflect what he saw there, the
real poverty of people of the Lancashire Town of Wigan, and published it in
1937 (Ball, 1984).
1937 was the year that Orwell who for some time had been describing himself
as "pro-socialist" (BALL, 1984) joined the Republican forces in the Spanish
Civil War. When the Communists attempted to eliminate their allies on the
far left, he fought against them and was wounded in the fighting, later was
forced to flee for his life. His experience in this war was to have the
most significant impact on his political thoughts and his later works.
In 1938, Orwell wrote Homage to Catalonia, which recounts his experiences
fighting for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. One of his best-
known books reflecting his lifelong distrust of dictatorial government,
whether of the left or right, Animal Farm, a modern beast-fable attacking
Russian Revolution, Stalinism and totalitarianism, was published in 1945,
and Nineteen Eighty-Four, a dystopian novel setting forth his fears of an
intrusively bureaucratised state of the future was published in 1949. His
first fame was brought by these two novels and they were the only ones
which made a profit for him as a writer (Ball,1984).
Orwell died at the early age of forty-seven of a neglected lung ailment in
London, Jan. 21, 1950.
His Time: Political Background In his essay "Why I Write", Orwell (1947)
says:
I do not think one can assess a writer's motives without knowing something
of his early development. His subject matter will be determined by the age
he lives in_at least this is true in tumultuous, revolutionary ages like
our own_
Taking Orwell's his own words into consideration, in order to get a better
understanding of his works and particularly of his political satire Animal
Farm, we should look at his political convictions, and the historical
context which influenced Orwell and inspired him to write. Very few authors
develop essays explaining the motivation behind their writing. Orwell was
of one them. Therefore in order to understand his motivations, his essay
"Why I Write" would be the most appropriate source to be looked at.
Orwell was a political writer and according to him he was `forced' to be a
writer by the circumstances under which he has become aware of his
`political loyalties'. His Burma and Paris days increased his `natural
hatred of authority' and `made him aware of the existence of the working
classes.(Orwell, 1947)
As mentioned above, he described himself as "pro-Socialist." What he was
longing for was a society in which there would be no class distinctions,
and he named his ideal ideology "democratic socialism". He says "every line
of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been directly or
indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism " (Orwell,
1947)
There are two significant events that have great influence on Orwell's
political thoughts: The Russian revolution that took place in the second
decade of 20th century and The Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939.
The Russian Revolution
Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 was the first great revolution which
aimed at to overthrow the owners of the means of production, that is
Capitalist Bourgeoisie, and to establish a state to be ruled by the working
class, the Proletariat. Ideological basis of the revolution was taken from
the philosophy of Karl Marx and Frederick Angels who believed that the
history of the world was the history of a struggle between classes- between
ruling classes and ruled classes (Hanerliodlu, 1976). Marx was very
critical of industrial capitalist society in which there are many cruel
injustices and men are exploited by men. Out of his analysis of Capitalist
system, he attained a vision of ending these injustices and establishing a
society in which there would be no social classes and everybody would be
equal. To him, in order to achieve this end the only way was a revolution
made by the working class or the Proletariat against the Bourgeoisie. After
revolution working classes would own the means of production. Marx called
the new order that would be set after revolution "dictatorship of the
Proletariat" which eventually replaced with a classless society (Han
erliodlu, 1976).
In October 1917, V.I. Lenin, led the socialist (Bolshevik) revolution in
Russia. After the revolution was a four-year bloody civil war. During this
war Red Army of the revolution organised and headed by Leon Trotsky had to
fight against both Russians who were loyal to Czar and foreign troops (The
Academic American Encyclopaedia, 1995).
After Lenin died in 1924, a struggle between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky
started for the leadership of the Communist Party. Stalin gained priority
over Trotsky and; in 1925 Trotsky with several other members ousted from
Politburo (the chief executive and political committee of the Communist
Party); in 1927 Trotsky and his followers expelled from Party; Stalin took
the control. Later Trotsky was exiled and in 1929 he was deported. In 1940
he was assassinated. During this period, Stalin always denounced Trotsky as
a traitor (Ball, 1929).
In the following years, Russia witnessed that Stalin started to take all
power only in his hands. In 1930's, many people were arrested. After public
trials most of the opposing elements were eliminated.
Stalin has been accused of being a very cruel dictator. However, Nikita
Khrushchev, who ruled USSR between 1958-1964 and who was very critical of
Stalin's crimes and non-human practices said in 1956 that:
Stalin believed that all his practices was necessary in order to defend the
benefits of labourers. He looked at these practices from the view point of
the benefit of socialism and labourers. Thus, we cannot define his
practices as of a giddy cruel despot. Here, it is the all tragedy (Han
erliodlu, 1979).
The Spanish Civil War
In 1936, General Francisco Franco led a military coup in Spain, plunging
the country into civil war. Franklin Rosemont in his article "Spanish
revolution of 1936" defines the beginning of the revolution as follows:
When Franco's fascist troops invaded Spain in July 1936 with the purpose of
overthrowing the young and unstable Republic, the Spanish working class
responded by making a revolution that went much further toward realising
the classless and stateless ideal of proletarian socialism than any
preceding popular revolt. Spontaneously and almost overnight, workers
seized factories and other workplaces; land was collectivised; workers'
militias were formed throughout the country; the church_age-old enemy of
all working-class radicalism and indeed, openly profascist_was dismantled,
and its property confiscated; established political institutions
disintegrated or were taken over by workers' committees (Rosemont, 1988).
Yet, between 1936 and 1939 the military rising originating in Morocco,
headed by General Francisco Franco, spreads rapidly all over the country,
After a number of bloody battles in which fortunes changed from one side to
the other. Finally, Nationalist forces occupied the capital, Madrid, on
March 28, 1939, and on April 1, General Franco officially ended the war
(The Academic American Encyclopaedia).
Orwell And The Spanish Civil War
David Ball (1984) points out three experiences in the Spanish Civil War
that were important for Orwell: atmosphere of Comradeship and respect, what
happened to his fellow fighters and what happened when he returned to
England and reported what he had seen.
After spending very poor days in Paris, Orwell went to Spain to fight for
the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. When he arrived Barcelona, he
found an elating "atmosphere of Comradeship and respect". People were
friendly and addressing each other "comrade". To Orwell, relations in the
militia group he joined were the same and this made him feel that socialism
was in action there.
But later on, he was disappointed by what happened to his arm friends who
were imprisoned and killed by their own "comrades" who were of Communist-
dominated elements of the Republican government that they were fighting for.
Communists believed that the communist ideas were betrayed by the militia
group that Orwell belonged to. After he was wounded Orwell went back to
England for remedy and was saved from being killed by his "comrades".
When he returned England he reported what he witnessed in the war, but
Socialists strongly resisted to understand what he told about the practices
of communists in Spain. The reason was that it was not the right time to
publicise all these things while the war was going on and this information
would harm Republican's position in the war. After this bad experience, he
started to be more critical of British socialists and of communism. He
wrote in his article "The Spanish war and other events in 1936-37 turned
the scale and thereafter I knew where I stood." (Orwell, 1947)
Animal Farm
Through his questioning of his own experiences in Burma and Spain and
communists' practices in USSR, Orwell began to develop a rejection of
totalitarian systems. He was also denouncing the acceptance of soviet
regime by the left-wing people of other countries and particularly of
England without questioning in depth. For Michael Shelden, "the idea for
the book" which was to serve Orwell's desire to "make a forceful attack, in
an imaginative way, on the sustaining myths of Soviet communism had been in
the back of his mind since his return from Spain" (Shelden, 1991, p. 399).
Another author Peter Davison points out that, besides Orwell's experience
in Spain, Animal Farm "originated from the incident that suggested its
genre: the little boy driving a huge cart-horse, which could easily
overwhelm the child had realised its own strength."(Davison, 1996, p.125)
Shortly after he published Animal Farm, Orwell (1947) in his essay titled
"Why I Write" wrote about his goals in writing his book:
Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of
what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one
whole. I have not written a novel for seven years, but I hope to write
another fairly soon. It is bound to be a failure, every book is a failure,
but I do know with some clarity what kind of book I want to write.
When Orwell finished his book, no one wanted to publish it. Since, like his
efforts to publicise reality after he returned from Spain, for many people,
and of course for publishers, it was the very wrong time to attack Soviet
myth, particularly when the World War-II was going on and Russia was
Britain's ally. Consequently the book was published in Britain on 17 August
1945, after the war was over, and sold more than 25.000 hard copies in five
years. When it published in the State in 1946, it sold about 590.000 in
four years (Shelden, 1991).
The book was a satire on totalitarian regime of Stalin in Russia. Many
people thought (and still think) that the book reveals Orwell's opposition
to the ideology that was prevailing in Russia. As Michael Shelden states,
the book "caught the popular imagination just when the Cold War beginning
to make itself felt. For many years `anti-Communists' enjoyed it as a
propaganda weapon in that war" (Shelden, 1991, p.404). But this
interpretation of the book was completely opposes to the real intention of
the book. As Roger Fowler reports, in his preface to the Ukrainian edition
of Animal Farm, written in 1947, Orwell writes that his aim with Animal
Farm was not only to attack and to criticise Soviet Communism, but to
attack "Soviet Myth" as received in Britain. To him, this myth was giving
harm to the Socialist movement (Fowler, 1995, p. 163).
Animal Farm might leave a kind of pessimism on readers who have knowledge
of historical background that inspired Orwell to write it. For instance,
one possible pessimistic view that can be derived from Animal Farm is the
impossibility of establishing a social system in which there would be no
inequality between individuals and there would be no individuals or groups
of people who apt to make use of power just for their benefits. Another
possible pessimistic view of those who rely on socialism or communism would
be that: even socialism, which is claimed to be a more egalitarian system,
would be turned into a dictatorship by human beings' desire for power.
Actually, the point that Orwell intended to give emphasis is not the
ideology itself, but the human nature. As Christopher Hollis (1962)
explains, "The lesson of Animal Farm is clearly not merely the corrupting
effect of power when exercised by Communists, but the corrupting effect of
power when exercised by anybody" (In Yemenici, 1997).
Finally, for a better understanding of Orwell's intention, it is the best
way to consult Orwell himself. Shelden (1991) quotes Orwell's letter he
sent to Dwight Macdonald in America in which he expresses his intentions in
writing Animal Farm. The letter included his arguments against pessimistic
view of his book:
Of course I intended it primarily as a satire on the Russian Revolution.
But I did mean it to have a wider application in so much that I meant that
that kind of revolution (violent conspiratorial revolution, led by
unconsciously power-hungry people) can only lead to a change of masters. I
meant the moral to be that revolutions only effect a radical improvement
when the masses are alert and know how o chuck out their leaders as soon as
the latter have done their job. The turning point of the story was supposed
to be when the pigs kept the milk for themselves (Kronstad). If the other
animals had had the sense to put their foot down then, it would have been
all right ... what I was trying to say was, `You can't have a revolution
unless you make it for yourself; there is no such thing as a benevolent
dictatorship (p.407).
Chapter SATIRE
Presentation
This chapter is devoted to the information about satire. After the
definition of satire, its significant characteristics, and some techniques
used in satire will be discussed.
What Is Satire? Definition There are many different ways to reveal one's
perception of life and its reflection by a person. In art for instance, the
reflection may be revealed in the form of a sculpture, a song or a picture.
Satire is one the ways that the reaction or perception of life is expressed.
Since people look at life from different stand points, as matter of fact,
they naturally perceive it in numerous ways. As a result of the variety in
perception, the way of revealing the effects or reflections of these
perceptions also shows variety.
Originally, the word "satire" comes from "the Latin word for medley,
satura; the impression that it is to do with the word "satyr" is a popular
delusion" (Abrams, 1986, p.2598). it is a way of revealing the reaction to
what is perceived, with a mixture of laughter and outrage. In The Quarterly
Journal of Contemporary Satire the description of satire is given as "a
work in which vices, follies, stupidities, abuses, etc. are held up to
ridicule and contempt." In the preface to The Battle of the Books, Jonathan
Swift, who claimed that satire is therapeutic, describes satire as "A sort
of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their
own" (In Bozkurt, 1977, p.71).
Bozkurt (1977), offers two fundamental types of satire: Horatian and
Juvenalian satire. These types are named for two Roman poets Horace and
Jevenal, the most differentiated practitioner of them. As Bozkurt reports,
both of them were critical of the Roman society but while the former was
more "gentle, urbane, smiling and tolerant", the latter was "severe" and
angry. Horatian satire is purpose is to sort out society through a "gentle
and broadly sympathetic laughter." On the other hand, Juvelian satire is
"bitter, angry, misanthropic" or cynical. It approaches to its subject with
a degrading and disrespecting manner (Bozkurt, 1977, p. 68).
Characteristics of Satire
People, in their everyday life, always use satire in order to respond
several events going on in their environs. The main purpose of using satire
is to attack and intensely criticise the target subject. It also includes
aggressiveness toward the subject being criticised. As a matter of fact,
satire should include more than these in order to be accepted as a
satirical work. It must, for instance, include aesthetic features like
different sound and meaning patterns that can give pleasure to the readers.
Furthermore, the satirist should deal with problematic subjects that are
known by many people. In doing so, the satirist should abstract the setting
of satire from the world. Mostly, this imaginary world is of non-human
beings, as in beast fables like Animal Farm or, as in Gulliver's Travels
and Alice in Wonderland, a world that possibly would not exist or in which
the real world is turned upside down. Primary reason for abstraction is to
move readers from the concrete reality, and so, while entertaining them
through a fantastic setting to provide them with a critical vision. Richard
(1976) calls this element of satire "fantasy". He says.
The satirist does not paint an objective picture of the evils he describes,
since pure realism would be too oppressive. Instead he usually offers us a
travesty of the situation, which at once directs our attention to actuality
and permits an escape from it. ... It is written for entertainment, but
contains sharp and telling comments on the problems of the world in which
we live, offering `imaginary gardens with real toads in them'.
As mentioned above, people approach problems, subjects etc. in different
ways so do authors. The satirist differs from authors of other types of
literature with regard to its way of dealing with his subject. In novel or
drama, for example, the target subject is dealt with directly. In the
Cherry Orchard, Chekhov deals with social change in Russia and how people
react to it. His characters are real persons that can be found in the
society as they are described in the play. On the hand, it is impossible to
find a real Napoleon or Lilliputian in a society. Since, they are just
symbols of particular types of people.
In this sense, the satirist use high level of symbolism. One reason for
using symbols might be that it provides the author with an absolute freedom
to attack his targets through their images he created which seemingly have
no relation with the reality. As Richard (1976) notices, the satirist often
aims at "to deflate false heroes, imposters or charlatans, who claim a
respect which is not their due, the vehicle he chooses for this is usually
the mock-heroic." Therefore, in order to operate his attack and mockery
towards these so-called heroes who might be leaders of a country or people
of prestigiousness, without any restriction the satirist uses symbols.
Since the main topic of satire is politics which is throughout the history
considered a dirty business, writing political satire is very risky, but on
the other hand it would be very rewardful. As remarked before, after he
published his two satires, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell was
to be one of the greatest authors of literature, as mentioned above he
hardly find a publisher for Animal Farm, and published it after a year he
finished it.
In order to achieve his end says Richard (1976), the satirist "must use
some of the basic strategies of satire." He also should "commit himself
boldly to his `impure' subject, yet retain a purity of attitude, in his
aesthetic disengagement from the vulgarities and stupidities of the
struggle." Richard (1976) continues his argument by adding that what
distinguishes satire from other kinds of literature is its approach to the
subject. Therefore its subject-matter forms the most important aspect of
satire. Despite he introduces the cruellest facts of life, the satirist
mean to make people laugh and In order to make people laugh, he employs
some techniques.
Techniques of Satire
The satirist may use different forms of literature in prose or verse. But
for the satirist some particular techniques are necessary to achieve his
aim. Richard (1976) suggests two main techniques that the satirist use: the
first one is reduction and the other one is invective and irony.
Reduction is the act of decreasing or reducing something. It is the main
means of the satirist to attack his subject. People can more easily
criticise those who they can laugh at. Since, laughter loosen muscles and
is anatomically relaxing. if you laugh at someone, then your critical
mechanism are set free, your criticism is revealed easily. Through
reduction the satirist aims at to make the reader laugh at his subject.
Degrading, says Richard (1976) may be employed "on the level of plot and
will almost he continued to the level of style and language." He puts
Gulliver's Travels as the most outstanding example of reduction. Animal
world is continually used by the satirist for this aim.
Invective is the expression of bitter deep-seated ill will. As it can be
expected the satirist, writing satire, expose himself to counter-attacks by
those who attacked. Richard (1976 )says:
this danger becomes the greater, the more the writer is committed to
invective and abuse. Invective is of course one of his most useful weapons,
and it is an art its own: it requires elegance of form to set off grossness
of content, and learned allusiveness to set off open insult. But although
invective has the sanction of holy writ, the best satirist use it only
occasionally, for shock effect (p.130).
Irony is one of the figure of speeches. It includes the reverse meaning of
what is said. It is one of the main devices of which the satirist make use.
As Richard (1976) wrote,
"Irony assumes double meaning and double audience one of which is deceived
by the surface meaning of the words, and another that catches the hidden
sense and laughs with the deceiver at the expense of the deceived. In order
to operate irony, the satirist uses imaginary or fictional characters or
events by which s/he allow the double flow of meaning to be maintained
(p.130).
Chapter
METHOD OF RESEARCH Presentation This chapter is concerned with the
procedure of the research which was carried out to collect necessary
sources for the study and method of the study.
Procedure
Since the subject of this study mainly concerns with George Orwell's Animal
Farm, first the book was read. After reading the book, sources about George
Orwell's life and Animal Farm were cited. When investigating Orwell's
intention in writing the book and his political convictions, mainly his
essays were used as primary sources. During this period it was found that
the Spanish Revolution was of great influence. Information on the Spanish
War was mainly drawn from secondary sources.
Since the book is strongly related to the Russian Revolution, Socialism,
Communism and Marxism, several sources and Internet sites were searched for
to find out important dates and events in the Revolution, and to gather
basic information about the principles of above maintained ideologies. In
the parts related to these subjects of the study, again, mostly secondary
sources were used.
Information about Satire is mainly drawn from secondary sources.
Finally, comparison of Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution in terms of
characters, events and some specific elements, mainly based on the
information gathered from primary and secondary sources.
Chapter
ANIMAL FARM AS SATIRE Presentation In this chapter, under the light of
information given in the chapter-1 and chapter-2, Animal Farm will be
examined. It aims at to show the elements of satire in Animal Farm, and to
compare characters, events and some elements of Animal Farm and The Russian
Revolution
Elements of Satire In Animal Farm
Orwell, as quoted before, clearly explains that his main purpose for
writing Animal Farm was to write a satire on the Russian Revolution (In
Shelden, 1991, p.399). Through animal satire, Orwell attacks on the
Stalin's practices in Russia and in wider scope, on totalitarian regimes.
Taking Bozkurt's (1977) classification into consideration, Animal Farm
would be said to be a Juvenial satire. Since, it is clearly seen that
Orwell bitterly criticise Russian Communism and Stalin.
Summary of The Plot
One night after Farmer Jones has gone to bed drunk, all the animals of
Manor Farm meet in the barn for a meeting. Old Major, the prize Middle
White boar, wants to tell them about a strange dream he had. First, he
narrate "the nature of life" as he has come to understand it. Animals,
though work very hard
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