>
>
> It's most famous literary apologists were pretty devious about it -- I'm
> thinking mostly of Conrad and Kipling. And the 17th c. presentation of
> Dutchmen as monsters was a sort of backhanded apology for British
> imperialism as "not that bad." I hope someone can give more explicit
> answers, for this is I believe rather important, if only because the U.S.
> apologetic strategy, as the horrors of Vietnam apparently fade even
> in the memories of intellectuals, seems to be working all too well these
> days even on the supposed left.
>
> The Athenians (as presented in Thucydides) show up well in contrast.
> Let's not beat about re Justice, one of the Athenian spokesmen quoted
> (or constructed) by Thucydides says -- it's to our interest, so go along with
> us or we will bring about a final solution to the problem. That could be
> used as a benchmark for honesty.
Edward Said wrote an interesting book along these lines called Culture and Imperialism. He talks a lot about the representation of imperialism in Austen and Conrads novels. How these novels represented an imperialist point of view not consciously but because they were part of an imperialist culture.
Sam