Abstract
This article seeks to broaden the ongoing debate surrounding the nature and structure of colonial anxiety by incorporating elements of literary discussion into the conversation. It is a commonly experienced problem that the current definition of colonial anxiety is not mutable, and is often viewed as a singular indivisible whole. This, of course, cannot be the case due to the inherent links between anxiety generally, and its sub-set “colonial anxiety”. Whilst there are many methods of examining colonial anxiety, the current study seeks to examine the problem through literature. The investigation will examine George Orwell’s Burmese Days and Multatuli’s Max Havelaar as core texts. Whilst Orwell’s anti-imperial feelings have been well publicized, as has Multatuli’s anti-colonial standpoint, the notion that they were individual colonial servants who likely, it is argued, suffered from colonial anxiety, has not. Also crucial to the discussion will be the attempt to more fully integrate diverse regions such as Burma and Indonesia into the wider debate on colonial anxiety.
Highlights
An overarching issue contained in the study of personal histories within empire is how to situate the individual experience alongside the canon of colonial anxiety
After the bigoted Ellis injures a young Burmese child, who subsequently goes blind after botched medical care, a large group of natives assault the English club demanding retribution on Ellis. Through this scene, quoted below, Orwell suggests how utterly vulnerable colonial servants were in rural colonial stations, and more generally the point must be made, if the communal balance was not maintained
Whilst Orwell has constructed a vision in which colonial anxiety can be seen through the lens of isolation, threat of attack, corruption and despotism, he has left traces of something more intricate and intimate
Summary
An overarching issue contained in the study of personal histories within empire is how to situate the individual experience alongside the canon of colonial anxiety. Through the use of relevant literary material, such as Burmese Days by George Orwell and Max Havelaar by Multatuli, new areas of discussion for colonial anxiety may be opened up. This is in agreement with John V. After the bigoted Ellis injures a young Burmese child, who subsequently goes blind after botched medical care, a large group of natives assault the English club demanding retribution on Ellis Through this scene, quoted below, Orwell suggests how utterly vulnerable colonial servants were in rural colonial stations, and more generally the point must be made, if the communal balance was not maintained. Full of love for truth and justice, he often neglected his most simple and nearest obligations to remedy an injustice which lay higher, or further, or deeper, and which allured him more by the perhaps greater exertion of the struggle. (Multatuli, 1868: 90–1)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
