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Imperialism and the Elephant in Burma: An Analytical Perception of George Orwell's ‘Shooting the Elephant’

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dc.contributor.author Dasture, P.
dc.contributor.author Aniruddha, J.S.
dc.date.accessioned 2016-08-25T04:36:40Z
dc.date.available 2016-08-25T04:36:40Z
dc.date.issued 2016
dc.identifier.citation Dasture, P. and Aniruddha, J.S. 2016. Imperialism and the Elephant in Burma: An Analytical Perception of George Orwell's ‘Shooting the Elephant’. In: International Conference on Asian Elephants in Culture & Nature, 20th – 21st August 2016, Anura Manatunga, K.A.T. Chamara, Thilina Wickramaarachchi and Harini Navoda de Zoysa (Eds.), (Abstract) p 72, Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. 180 pp. en_US
dc.identifier.isbn 978-955-4563-85-8
dc.identifier.uri http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/14088
dc.description.abstract Burma had been under British occupation through 1824 to 1948, the British rule brought social, economic, cultural and administrative changes; during which it was also administered as a province of India. Moulmein, the capital of British Burma, is the setting of George Orwell’s famous 1936 memoir ‘Shooting the Elephant’. Orwell, born in India and brought up in Britain, held the post of Assistant Superintendent in the British Indian Imperial Police in Burma. Moulmein was full of elephants employed to haul logs in the timber firms; ordinary tamed elephants, for centuries had been part of Burmese life. The essay describes the experience and anguish of the English narrator, possibly Orwell himself, called upon to shoot an aggressive elephant while working as a police officer in Burma. The story is looked upon as an allegory for British imperialism. Orwell’s other publications, like this one too, generally reflected the mood of the times and relied heavily on contemporary happenings. Through the analysis of the essay in question, this paper intends to bring to the fore the importance of the elephants in Burmese society, with the imperial spectre looming large over the political horizon. Where the elephant represents a symbol of the oppression of the Burmese society, its death is a parallel of how the British Empire struggled to suppress the natives. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka en_US
dc.subject Burma en_US
dc.subject Imperialism en_US
dc.subject Elephants en_US
dc.subject George Orwell en_US
dc.subject Moulmein en_US
dc.title Imperialism and the Elephant in Burma: An Analytical Perception of George Orwell's ‘Shooting the Elephant’ en_US
dc.type Article en_US


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