Abstract
The essay reads Orwell's Burmese Days as a late addition to the literature of empire. It begins with a consideration of education and empire - both the colonial custom of sending children back to Britain for education and education as training for empire - through comparing Orwell's account of his education with Kipling's 'Baa baa, Black Sheep' and by approaching 1984 through Stalky & Co. The core of the essay is a reading of Burmese Days through Conrad's anti-colonial fiction (particularly his Malay novels) and by comparison with Maurice Collis's trials in Burma (1938), which Orwell reviewed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Oxford Handbook of George Orwell |
| Editors | Nathan Waddell |
| Place of Publication | Oxford |
| Publisher | Oxford Univerity Press; Oxford |
| Chapter | 14 |
| Pages | 197-214 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-0-19-886069-3 |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Mar 2025 |
Keywords
- George Orwell
- Joseph Conrad
- Rudyard Kipling
- Empire
- literature of empire
- education
- Almayer's Folly
- An Outcast of the Islands
- Burmese Days
- 1984
- Maurice Collis
- Heart of Darkness
- Stalky & Co
- anti-colonialism
- The Road to Wigan Pier
- working-class
- psychological damage