5 - Anti-Colonial Affinities

Summary

This chapter examines the anti-colonial deployment of animals as figures within counter-hegemonic discourses of reformed Buddhist practice and aspirational Burmese nationalism. The chapter first analyzes the long-running gossip column of the nationalist Burmese-language newspaper The Sun that was authored under the pen name ‘Town Mouse’. It then looks at the more eclectic writings of the anti-colonial poet and journalist Thakhin Kodaw Hmaing, particularly his texts on primates.