Exploring Superiority and Racism as the Impacts of Paternalism in Burmese Days by George Orwell
Abstract
Burmese Days is a novel by George Orwell, inspired by his experiences as a police officer in Burma. At that time, Burma was under British colonial rule, which led to the belief that local people were inferior to British people. This research aims to show how George Orwell depicts one of the characters, Ellis, with a sense of superiority and racism based on paternalism. The research uses a qualitative descriptive method, using Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism as the primary source to understand how the West defines the East. Orientalism is a way to understand the East based on the experiences and knowledge of Europeans. This research aims to discover the sense of paternalism in the novel and how paternalism caused racism and superiority. The researchers found that the arrival of the British to Burmese made Ellis think that local people could not govern themselves. He felt that local people were destined to be enslaved, and this sense of colonialist paternalism caused racism and superiority to emerge in him. Ellis firmly refused to accept local people into the club by raising the issue of racism and the superiority of British people over local people.
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Zhang, H. (2023). Orientalism and the Western Stereotypical Portrayal of East Asians. International Conference on Economics, Education and Social Research, 155–159.
Zulkarnaen, R., Ruminda, & Awaludin, L. (2023). The British Colonial Power in George Orwell’s Burmese Days. CALL, 5(1), 67–77. https://doi.org/10.15575/call.v5i1
Afiah, N., Arafah, B., & Abbas, H. (2022). Burmese Women Portrait Under the British Imperialism in Orwell’s Burmese Days. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 13(1), 213–219. https://doi.org/10.17507/JLTR.1301.25
Al Hafizh, M. (2016). Rasisme dalam Masyarakat Pascakolonial: sebuah Analisis Wacana Kritis terhadap Novel-novel Jacqueline Woodson. Humanus, XV(2), 177–194.
Amalia, I. (2021). Representasi Praktek Perbudakan Dan Penindasan Dalam Puisi ‘Negro’Karya Langston Hughes: Sebuah Kajian Poskolonial. Diksi, 29(1), 51–59.
Anjarsari, F. (2015). Anti-Rasisme dalam Novel Perjalanan Burmese Days Karya George Orwell. Poetika, 3(1), 67–74.
Azzahra, F. (2023). Conflicts in George Orwell’s Burmese Days. Doctoral Dissertation, Universitas Hasanuddin.
Biederstadt, C. (2017). Paradoxical Orientalism Gender and Power in George Orwell’s Burmese Days. Proquest LLC, 1–24.
Bilqis, B., Setiawan, I., & Supiastutik, S. (2023). The Construction of Orientalism in Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing. Pioneer: Journal of Language and Literature, 15(2), 322. https://doi.org/10.36841/pioneer.v15i2.3165
Chaudhary, V. B., & Berhe, A. A. (2020). Ten simple rules for building an antiracist lab. In PLoS Computational Biology (Vol. 16, Issue 10). Public Library of Science. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008210
Chibber, V. (2018). The Dual Legacy of Orientalism. Cambridge University Press.
Dankertsen, A., & Kristiansen, T. G. S. (2021). “Whiteness Isn’t about Skin Color.†Challenges to Analyzing Racial Practices in a Norwegian Context. Societies, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/SOC11020046
Datta, S. M., & Mukherjee, U. (2015). Pukka Sahibs and Yellow Faces: Reassessing Ambivalence in George Orwell’s Burma. George Orwell Now! New York: Peter Lang, 161–174.
Descola, P., & Pálsson, G. (1996). Nature and Society. Taylor & Francis e-Library.
Ersan, S. (2019). The Orphans of The Empire in Forster’s a Passage to India and Orwell’s Burmese Days. Mater Thesis.
Fei, D. Y. (2015). Naturalistic Tendencies in Burmese Days. International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science, 3(7), 66–74. www.ijlass.org
Güven, F. (2019). Criticism to Edward W. Said’s Orientalism. RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, 15, 418–430. https://doi.org/10.29000/rumelide.580700
Ikeya, C. (2017). Refiguring Women, Colonialism, and Modernity in Burma. University of Hawai Press.
Kusumadewi, F. K., & Pandin, M. G. R. (2021). Racism: A Part of History That Has Never Been Lost. Hisotia Madania: Jurnal Ilmu Sejarah, 5(2), 210–223.
Nasution, H. F. (2023). Instrumen Penelitian dan Urgensinya dalam Penelitian Kuantitatif. Al-Masharif: Jurnal Ilmu Ekonomi Dan Keislaman, 4(1), 59–75.
Orwell, G. (2021). Burmese Days. Bookyards.
Paradis, C. G. (2018). “Racial Repercussions of The British Imperial Curriculum:†Misperceptions of the Natives in George Orwell’s Burmese Days [In BSU Honors Program Thesis and Projects]. https://vc.bridgew.edu/honors_projhttps://vc.bridgew.edu/honors_proj/424
Poudel, U. (2022). Paternalistic Colonialism in William Hodges’ Travels in India. Haimaprabha, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3126/haimaprabha.v21i01.44829
Pratama, D. S. (2016). Representasi Rasisme Dalam Film Cadillac Records. Jurnal E-Komunikasi, 4(1), 1–11.
Ridwan, M. F., & Sofianto, K. (2019). Rasisme dalam Novel Bumi Manusia Karya Pramoedya Ananta Toer: Kajian Sosiologi Sastra. Diglosia, 3(2), 1–11.
Rogers, E. (2018). Power, Paternalism, and Partnership: A postcolonial critique of the philosophies and practices of empowerment within a Sport for Development programme in Malawi.
Said, E. W. (1979). Orientalism (First Vintage Books). Vintage Books.
Shabanirad, E., & Marandi, S. M. (2015). Edward Said’s Orientalism and the Representation of Oriental Women in George Orwell’s Burmese Days. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 60, 22–33. https://doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ilshs.60.22
Shihada, I. M. (2014). Racism in George Orwell’s Burmese Days. The IUP Journal of English Studies, 9(3), 80–99. http://ssrn.com/abstract=2631925
Sunatri, S. (2017). Membaca Kembali Orientalisme Edwar Said. Badan Bahasa, 1–8.
Syarifuddin, & Zakia, R. (2022). Dampak Diskriminasi Ras Terhadap Tokoh Utama Dalam Cerpen Rihlah Ghurbah Karya ’Awad Al-Nawasreh ;Sosiologi Analisis Sastra. Tamaddun: Jurnal Kebudayaan Dan Sastra Islam, 12(1), 1–13.
Turale, S. (2020). A Brief Introduction to Qualitative Description: A Research Design Worth Using. Pacific Rim International Journal of Nursing Research, 24(3), 289–291. https://doi.org/10.1002/1098-240X(200008)23
Widjajati, G. A., & Setiawan, I. (2022). The Construction of Orientalism in Dan Brown’s Digital Fortress. Haluan Sastra Budaya, 6(1), 69–96.
Wilcock, C. (2024). Paternalism, Capitalism, and Political Suppression: Case Studies of Settler-Colonialism on the Grand River [Doctoral dissertation].
Zarako, A. (2017). Hierarchies in World Politics (E. Goh, N. J. Wheeler, & C. Reus-Smit, Eds.). Cambridge University Press.
Zhang, H. (2023). Orientalism and the Western Stereotypical Portrayal of East Asians. International Conference on Economics, Education and Social Research, 155–159.
Zulkarnaen, R., Ruminda, & Awaludin, L. (2023). The British Colonial Power in George Orwell’s Burmese Days. CALL, 5(1), 67–77. https://doi.org/10.15575/call.v5i1
Published
2024-12-31
How to Cite
ADI, Bagas Cahyo; ISTIANI, Imas.
Exploring Superiority and Racism as the Impacts of Paternalism in Burmese Days by George Orwell.
Pioneer: Journal of Language and Literature, [S.l.], v. 16, n. 2, p. 181-195, dec. 2024.
ISSN 2655-8718.
Available at: <https://unars.ac.id/ojs/index.php/pioneer/article/view/4602>. Date accessed: 03 apr. 2025.
doi: https://doi.org/10.36841/pioneer.v16i2.4602.
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