Comment on necessary read
Velypso@sh.itjust.works 6 days agoHe literally wrote a novel about his time in Myanmar.
You can kinda ask him yourself.
Comment on necessary read
Velypso@sh.itjust.works 6 days agoHe literally wrote a novel about his time in Myanmar.
You can kinda ask him yourself.
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 days ago
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_Days
To be clear, that last bit of that last sentence is meant to be read as hideously haughty and privileged… it is dripping with irony, a self-cariacature, as the novel showcases the craven nature of characters in all kinds of social positions, from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds.
The whole thing is meant as an unflinching critique of how colonialism ruins everyone involved.
I guess we could also maybe ask Orwell what he was doing in Spain in the 1930s, but at the time, he would again have difficulty telling you.
Turns out that when you join an internationalist anti fascist militia to go personally shoot fascists yourself, well, sometimes they shoot back, and sometimes they hit you in the neck.
… thankfully, writing exists.
I find it absolutely incredible that George Orwell, a man who has likely personally shot more fascists than probably anyone you’ll find on the internet… somehow doesn’t clear the ideological purity test these days.
And that is because Orwell, while literally shooting at fascists in Spain, also found himself as the target of a pro-Soviet, pro-Stalin smear campaign, which tried to paint him and his outfit as Trotskyists and also as fascists.
Apparently, this smear campaign remains quite influential, to this day.