I have finished Derek Raymond's A State of Denmark. It is now in theLibrary. I was most surprised to see it was first published in 1970 because, apart from the lack of an internet, it describes some familiar scenarios. The better part of the novel is set in the countryside between Civitella Marittima and Roccastrada, just before the coastal plain in front of the Golfo di Follonica - familiar landscape to regular Library users as there is a branch of the Library on the coast. Life there is unchanged in many ways since always, so there is no anachronistic background.
The elected government of England (Scotland and Wales having unilaterally seceded from the Union) is called New Pace. Beginning with the steady marginalisation of parliament and the politicisation (perhaps partyfication would be a better word) of the civil service, and the out-sourcing of government to arms length party-appointed bodies, England is conceding democracy in return for no immigration, social order, and the retention of social and economic privilege by a fairly extensive middle and upper class; there is a much publicized 'working partnership' with the monarchy.
The hero has left what was then the UK on New Pace's election victory, taking everything he has with him after selling up in London and the country, because he despises and fears New Pace for what it will become.
I have been struck often by the early and mid 20th century echoes of nightmare propaganda and press control in the last ten years; as if there has been a style indulgence in a secretly admired regime, with the arogant assumption that the rest of us would not notice the similarities and derivations. I was shaken by the accuracy of Raymond's portrayal of social attitudes, political cowardice, deliberate eye-closing and his choice of words and phrases that come from today's comment pieces and ministerial announcements.
As he could not have been seeing into the future he must have been looking at the same past as that being drawn upon now for policy, practice, and imagery. The word 'new' has risen again as a marker for authoritarians, their achievements, and their goals.
Would the next visitor to the Library bring Resnais' film, on DVD, with them?
1 comment:
The trouble with dis-topias is that reality always beats imagination by many lengths; whatever dismal society is been artificially constructed will have been or will be much worse in the real world.
Eu-topias (the good utopias, that is), in turn, tend to have collateral adverse effects that are invariably neglected by their creator or promoters. Just look at socialism.
Therefore nobody can win the utopia game, it's a lose-lose situation in which reality is always worse than both the worst and the best case scenarios produced by individual imagination.
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