“[T]he anti-imperialist Boudica” [1] — only a cretin of the calibre of Johann Hari would dare make the Queen of the Iceni sound like a Leninist.
[1] Johann Hari, “London - a Vast Cemetery” The Evening Standard, 19th July 2006.
[1] Johann Hari, “London - a Vast Cemetery” The Evening Standard, 19th July 2006.
4 comments:
Beautiful title...
Ta!
I'm afraid that, as someone who fought against an empire in favour of a more local ruler (i.e. herself), Boudicca deserves the title of anti-inperialist far more than someone who doesn't like America, which is how most people seem to use the word nowadays. (This doesn't mean that Hari wasn't using Boudicca in a silly way.)
Boudicca was fighting her own corner against an empire. One might at a stretch say she was anti-imperial, as long as we make clear that that description is for our explanatory purposes and not necessarily how she would have thought of herself, but to describe her as anti-imperialist seems to be an attempt to co-opt the past for one's present political purposes.
Post a Comment