Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal

ISSN: 2278-9529  |  www.galaxyimrj.com

Abstract

This article examines George Orwell’s Burmese Days through a postcolonial lens, focusing on the contradictions within its representation of British colonialism in Burma. It argues that while the novel exposes the racism, corruption, exploitation, and moral failures of the colonial system, it also reproduces some of the Orientalist ideas and representational patterns of colonial discourse. Using Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism, Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, and Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of mimicry, the study examines colonial space, the representation of Burmese people, the internalisation of colonial ideology, and the unstable identities of both colonisers and colonised. The analysis of characters such as John Flory, Dr Veraswami, U Po Kyin, Ma Hla May, and Elizabeth reveals the limits of resistance within the colonial system. The article concludes that Burmese Days occupies an ambivalent position between resistance to and complicity with imperial discourse.

Keywords

Orientalism Colonialism Cultural Hegemony Mimicry Postcolonialism

Article History

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How to Cite

Chaudhary, Angel. “Between Resistance and Complicity: A Postcolonial Reading of George Orwell’s Burmese Days.” Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, vol. 15, no. 5, Sept. 2026, pp. 50–75. https://doi.org/10.66376/galaxy.v15.n5.4

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