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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Myth of Mau Mau in Its International Context
Author:Cleary, A.S.
Year:1990
Periodical:African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society
Volume:89
Issue:355
Period:April
Pages:227-245
Language:English
Geographic term:Kenya
Subjects:propaganda
national liberation struggles
Mau Mau
colonialism
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
nationalism
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/722243
Abstract:To this very day, Mau Mau remains both an enigma and an embarrassment. However, it is recognized that the portrayal of the uprising in Kenya as a rejection of civilization, an atavistic regression into barbarity, constituted essentially a 'myth', a propaganda exercise carried out by the colonial authorities. It is generally assumed that this myth was employed to justify the firm repression of the movement, that it was aimed primarily at the British public and that few questioned its validity. This article suggests that sense can only be made of certain key aspects of the colonial propaganda by adopting a wider historical and international perspective than hitherto. The myth of Mau Mau served the useful purpose of forestalling any concerted international effort to redirect United Kingdom policy and of blunting the criticisms emanating from those countries to whom the British were obliged to pay heed. By dissociating the uprising from the global forces of nationalism and communism, by stressing its violent and uncompromising nature, and by constantly asserting the ease with which it would be defeated, the myth succeeded in this aim. Ref.
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