Making Myanmar: Colonial Burma and popular Western culture Andrew Selth RESEARCH PAPER Griffith Asia Institute Griffith Asia Institute Research Paper Making Myanmar: Colonial Burma and popular Western culture (Revised version) Andrew Selth i About the Griffith Asia Institute The Griffith Asia Institute (GAI) is an internationally recognised research centre in the Griffith Business School. We reflect Griffith University’s longstanding commitment and future aspirations for the study of and engagement with nations of Asia and the Pacific. At GAI, our vision is to be the informed voice leading Australia’s strategic engagement in the Asia Pacific— cultivating the knowledge, capabilities and connections that will inform and enrich Australia’s Asia-Pacific future. We do this by: i) conducting and supporting excellent and relevant research on the politics, security, economies and development of the Asia-Pacific region; ii) facilitating high level dialogues and partnerships for policy impact in the region; iii) leading and informing public debate on Australia’s place in the Asia Pacific; and iv) shaping the next generation of Asia-Pacific leaders through positive learning experiences in the region. The Griffith Asia Institute’s ‘Research Papers’ publish the institute’s policy-relevant research on Australia and its regional environment. The texts of published papers and the titles of upcoming publications can be found on the Institute’s website: www.griffith.edu.au/asia-institute ‘Making Myanmar: Colonial Burma and popular Western culture’ October 2020 ii Burma—land of mystery, of gilded Buddhas and almond-eyed dancing girls, of patient elephants piling teak, of shaven, yellow-robed priests, smouldering incense, and the silver tinkle of temple bells. The jungle—teeming with tropical life and potential death. Otis Adelbert Kline ‘Tam, Son of the Tiger’ Weird Tales , June-December 1931. iii About the Author Andrew Selth Andrew Selth is an Adjunct Professor at the Griffith Asia Institute. He has been studying international security issues and Asian affairs for almost 50 years, as a diplomat, strategic intelligence analyst and research scholar. Between 1973 and 1986 he was posted to the Australian missions in Rangoon, Seoul and Wellington. He later served in the Defence Intelligence Organisation and Office of National Assessments. He has been an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University (ANU), a Visiting Fellow at the ANU’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, a Chevening Scholar at St Antony’s College, Oxford University, an Australian Research Council Fellow at Griffith University and a Harold White Fellow at the National Library of Australia. Dr Selth has written ten books and more than 50 peer-reviewed works, most of them about Myanmar (Burma). He has also contributed to the public debate on Myanmar through numerous articles, blogs and news commentaries, 97 of which have been collected in his forthcoming book, Interpreting Myanmar. Books by the Author 1986 The Terrorist Threat to Diplomacy: An Australian Perspective 1988 Against Every Human Law: The Terrorist Threat to Diplomacy 1996 Transforming the Tatmadaw: The Burmese Armed Forces Since 1988 2002 Burma’s Armed Forces: Power Without Glory 2012 Burma (Myanmar) since the 1988 Uprising: A Select Bibliography 2015 Burma (Myanmar) since the 1988 Uprising: A Select Bibliography (2 nd edition) 2017 Burma, Kipling and Western Music: The Riff from Mandalay 2018 Burma (Myanmar) since the 1988 Uprising: A Select Bibliography (3 rd edition) 2019 Secrets and Power in Myanmar: Intelligence and the Fall of General Khin Nyunt 2020 Interpreting Myanmar: A Decade of Analysis (forthcoming) iv Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................................................................. vi Preface ................................................................................................................................................................................................... vii 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................................1 2. Exotic Burma .....................................................................................................................................................................................3 3. The physical setting ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10 4. Burmese society ........................................................................................................................................................................... 14 5. The role of women ....................................................................................................................................................................... 21 6. Economies and cultures .............................................................................................................................................................. 26 7. The Second World War .............................................................................................................................................................. 33 8. After the war ................................................................................................................................................................................. 38 9. Burma today ................................................................................................................................................................................... 44 9. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 48 Select bibliography ............................................................................................................................................................................ 50 Notes and references ....................................................................................................................................................................... 68 v Abstract Over the centuries, images of Burma in the Western imagination have been remarkably consistent. At the broadest level, they have emphasised Burma’s remoteness, strangeness and harshness, or offered a much more idealised, romantic view of the country and its people. Within these two broad schools there have been a number of recurring motifs that have helped confirm the idea of Burma’s dualistic nature, and contributed to its mixed reputation. It has been depicted as a rugged but picturesque tropical land of jungles, wild animals, trained elephants, pagodas, Buddhist monks, rural villagers, pretty girls and primitive ‘hill tribes’. Such tropes too have proven to be surprisingly resilient, the result in large part of their repeated use in the many vehicles of popular culture found in the West. By providing memorable, if selective and commodified, glimpses of colonial Burma and the Burmese, they have helped to reinforce stereotypes and strengthen clichés, many of which survive to the present day. This research paper surveys a wide variety of references to Burma in the popular culture of Great Britain, although to illustrate particular points it occasionally cites examples from other Western countries, notably the United States. For heuristic purposes, the paper is divided into seven sections. They look in turn at Burma’s exotic reputation, its physical geography, Burmese society, the role of Burmese women, and the economies and cultures of both the colony and metropole. The paper also looks at descriptions of Burma during and after the Second World War, to note continuities and contrasts with the main colonial period. Finally, it briefly relates all these trends to more contemporary developments. The paper concludes that the most enduring mental pictures of a country are formed not from a few key sources, however influential they may seem, but from the combination of many, often subtle, influences, accumulated over time. The perceptions of Burma found in the West, particularly since the 19 th century, have been derived in part from high culture, such as fine art and literature, but arguably the many and varied vehicles of popular culture have provided much more powerful vectors. For, despite their lowly social status and often ephemeral nature, they were highly influential social artefacts that portrayed Burma and the Burmese people in ways that helped them become part of an imaginative inner world. It was a distorted picture, characterized by inaccurate information, misleading stereotypes and naïve assumptions. However, the very crudity of the messages conveyed by movies, pulp fiction, comic books, postcards, trading cards, posters, advertisements and other such sources helped to ensure their impact, and durability. vi Preface It is related of a member of Parliament that some years ago he met at dinner a civilian from British Burma, home on leave. The conversation turned on that country, and the legislator remarked, “Burma—oh, yes, Burma. I had a cousin who was out there for some time, but he always called it Bermuda”.