The great imperialism revival (2)
I liked Paul Gilroy's article in today's Guardian on Prince Harry attending a 'Colonists and Natives' fancy dress party in a Nazi uniform. Extract:
"Prince Harry's indiscretions have been seen in the context of the Auschwitz anniversary and the failure of his elite education. His youth, his ignorance, poor parenting and a hatred of political correctness have all been offered in mitigation.
These explanations are insufficient. To leave interpretation of his conduct on that level would be to miss an opportunity to understand something fundamental about the cultural life of a post-colonial country that has never dealt with the consequences of its loss of empire.
Harry's behaviour, rather than just being part of the sub-culture of a group of toffs, raises mainstream themes. The telling mix of Nazis and colonial fantasy provides an insight into the core of the two-world-wars-and-one-world-cup mentality. That nihilistic outlook dictates that conflicts against Hitler and Hitlerism remain imaginatively close while Britain's many wars of decolonisation - particularly in Africa, Malaya, Cyprus and Aden - are to be actively forgotten.
Standing firm against Nazis comforts Brits by making them feel righteous and perennially innocent. Being forced to reckon with the ongoing consequences of imperial crimes makes them uncomfortable in equal measure. "
Read part 1 of the great imperialism revival here.
"Prince Harry's indiscretions have been seen in the context of the Auschwitz anniversary and the failure of his elite education. His youth, his ignorance, poor parenting and a hatred of political correctness have all been offered in mitigation.
These explanations are insufficient. To leave interpretation of his conduct on that level would be to miss an opportunity to understand something fundamental about the cultural life of a post-colonial country that has never dealt with the consequences of its loss of empire.
Harry's behaviour, rather than just being part of the sub-culture of a group of toffs, raises mainstream themes. The telling mix of Nazis and colonial fantasy provides an insight into the core of the two-world-wars-and-one-world-cup mentality. That nihilistic outlook dictates that conflicts against Hitler and Hitlerism remain imaginatively close while Britain's many wars of decolonisation - particularly in Africa, Malaya, Cyprus and Aden - are to be actively forgotten.
Standing firm against Nazis comforts Brits by making them feel righteous and perennially innocent. Being forced to reckon with the ongoing consequences of imperial crimes makes them uncomfortable in equal measure. "
Read part 1 of the great imperialism revival here.
posted by David Skinner at 9:05 AM
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