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Subject:
From:
Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 7 Oct 2018 16:30:36 -0700
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I have a copy of "Confronting Imperialism" here and interestingly
enough neither Raj nor India appear in the index.  There is mention of
Twain's introduction of Churchill on page 96, in the essay on the
Russian Revolution.  Twain in India seems to provide quite a number of
contradictions of what we have come to expect from him.  The Raj made
his journey through India comfortable and made the exotic exotic rather
than fearful.

On Sun, 2018-10-07 at 17:52 -0500, Martin Zehr wrote:
> I don=E2=80=99t think Twain was sympathetic to the English in South
> Africa =
> per se, especially with respect to their behavior during the Boer
> War.  If =
> memory serves me, in a public speech in 1900 (?), he introduced a
> young Win=
> ston Churchill, then a war correspondent and hero to the English, to
> an Ame=
> rican audience with particularly caustic commentary regarding the
> imperiali=
> stic behavior of the British.  You can check this in the Harpers
> volume on =
> Mark Twain=E2=80=99s Speeches, or, better yet, the published work of
> our la=
> te colleague, Jim Zwick.
> Martin Zehr
> 
> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
> 
> From: Scott Holmes
> Sent: Sunday, October 7, 2018 5:41 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Indians, Indians and Imperialism
> 
> While working on my Twain's Geography site, currently his tour of
> India, I frequently reference Ian Strathcarron's book, "The Indian
> Equator". =C3=82=C2=A0There is a footnote that reminded me of the
> recent th=
> read on
> Twain and Native Americans but also of Twain's feelings about
> Imperialism:
> 
> "Many Mark Twain enthusiasts have commented on his life-long dislike
> of
> imperialism and the resultant puffed-up vanity of colonialism. The
> one
> exception to this rule was the jewel in the crown of imperialism, the
> British Raj reign of India. Not only did he forgive the British for
> their incursion but on numerous occasions pointed out how beneficial
> it
> was to the natives; how lucky they were to have the British to rule
> over them."
> 
> This is footnoted, thus:
> 
> "He felt something similar about the British treatment of Indians
> closer to home. In Johannesburg, South Africa, he said: 'Look at the
> difference between the position of the Canadian Indians and the
> Indians
> with whom the United States government has to deal. In Canada the
> Indians are peaceful and contented enough. In the United States there
> are continual rows with the government, which invariably ends in the
> red man being shot down.'=C3=A2=E2=82=AC=C2=9D
> 
> Here are two instances that stand in contrast to our general
> understanding of Twain - he appears to approve of
> imperialism/colonialism; and, he appears sympathetic to Native
> Americans.
> 
> 
> 
> --=20
>  There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt
> of
>                           in your philosophy.
>                         http://bscottholmes.com
-- 
 There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of
                          in your philosophy.
                        http://bscottholmes.com

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