Description:
"Students of colonial Burma inevitably turn to Burmese Days. The frequent
pedagogical use of George Orwell?s (1903-1950) novel has meant that the text has
become a part of the mythology of imperial experience not only for Burma, but for the
British Empire as a whole...this paper will raise the possibility that repositioning Burmese Days within the stream of discourse about Burma shows
that while it was an important work of social criticism, it also bore the biases which
some scholars prefer to label as `orientalist.? Having said as much, it remains beyond
the boundaries of this discussion to decide whether Orwell?s novel warrants its
mythological reputation...With its emphasis on the cunning
of U Po Kyin and ultimate unknowable character of the Burmans Orwell?s novel repeats the constructions of stereotypes which scholars have come to associate with
`orientalism.? To be sure, Orwell did not write to create categories of difference or to
promote racial hierarchies, but his novel has the effect of supporting some of these
patterns of discourse. Burma, both the land and its peoples, remains as `the other?; the
main emphasis is on the presentation of the generic evils associated with imperialism.
Source/publisher:
SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 2005
Date of Publication:
2005-03-20
Date of entry:
2010-10-03
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English