Katharine Burdekin
Encyclopedia
Katharine Burdekin (born Katharine Penelope Cade) was a British novelist who wrote speculative fiction dealing with political, social, and spiritual issues. She was the sister of Rowena Cade, creator of the Minack Theatre
in Cornwall
. Many of her novels could be categorized as feminist utopian/dystopian
fiction. She also wrote under the name Kay Burdekin and under the pseudonym Murray Constantine. Daphne Patai
unraveled "Murray Constantine's" true identity while doing research on utopian and dystopian fiction in the mid-1980s.
, Derbyshire
, the youngest of four children. She was educated by a governess at home and later, at Cheltenham Ladies' College
. Highly intelligent and an avid reader, she wanted to study at Oxford, as did her brothers, but her parents did not allow it. She married Olympic rower and barrister Beaufort Burdekin
, in 1915, and had two daughters from this marriage, in 1917 and 1920. The family moved to Australia, where Katharine Burdekin started writing. Her first novel, Anna Colquhoun, was published in 1922. Her marriage ended in the same year, and she moved back to the UK. In 1926, she met a woman with whom she formed a lifelong relationship.
Burdekin's best-known novel, Swastika Night
, was published in 1937 under the Murray Constantine pseudonym, and republished in 1985 in England and the U.S. Reflecting Burdekin's analysis of the masculine element in fascist ideology, Swastika Night depicts a future in which the world has been divided between two militaristic powers: the Nazis and the Japanese. Set hundreds of years into the future, this dystopia envisions a sterile, dying Nazi Reich, in which Jews have long since been eradicated, Christians are marginalized, and Hitler is venerated as a God. A "cult of masculinity" prevails, and a "reduction of women" has occurred: deprived of all rights, women are kept in concentration camps, their sole value residing in their reproductive roles. The novel bears striking similarities to Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
, published more than a decade later: the past has been destroyed and history is rewritten, language is distorted, few books exist apart from propaganda, and a secret book is the only witness to the past. Swastika Night was a Left Book Club
selection in 1940 -- one of the few works of fiction thus honored. Burdekin anticipated the Holocaust and understood the dangers presented by a militarized Japan while most people in her society were still supporting a policy of appeasement
. A pacifist committed to communist ideals, Burdekin abandoned pacifism in 1938 out of the conviction that fascism had to be fought.
She wrote six further novels after the end of World War II
, but none were published in her lifetime. These novels also reflect her feminist commitments, which, however, increasingly took a spiritual direction. One of Burdekin's unpublished manuscripts, The End of This Day's Business, was published by The Feminist Press in New York in 1989; it is a counterpart to Swastika Night and envisions a distant future in which women rule and men are deprived of all power. This vision, too, was subjected to Burdekin's critique; she had little patience with what she called "reversals of privilege" and aspired to a future in which domination itself would finally be overcome.
She wrote several children's books, including The Children's Country.
Katharine Burdekin died in 1963. With the growing interest in women's utopian fiction in the last few decades, her work has been the object of considerable scholarly attention. Most of the information currently available about her comes from the research of Daphne Patai.
Minack Theatre
The Minack Theatre is an open-air theatre, constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. Many of her novels could be categorized as feminist utopian/dystopian
Utopian and dystopian fiction
The utopia and its offshoot, the dystopia, are genres of literature that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction is the creation of an ideal world, or utopia, as the setting for a novel. Dystopian fiction is the opposite: creation of a nightmare world, or dystopia...
fiction. She also wrote under the name Kay Burdekin and under the pseudonym Murray Constantine. Daphne Patai
Daphne Patai
Daphne Patai is a feminist scholar and author. She is a professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her PhD is in Brazilian literature, but her early work also focused on utopian and dystopian fiction...
unraveled "Murray Constantine's" true identity while doing research on utopian and dystopian fiction in the mid-1980s.
Early life
Katharine Burdekin was born in SpondonSpondon
Spondon is a ward within the city of Derby. Prior to this, Spondon was a separate village which dated from before the Domesday Book of 1086.-Description:The name Spondon is Anglo-Saxon and describes a gravelly hill....
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, the youngest of four children. She was educated by a governess at home and later, at Cheltenham Ladies' College
Cheltenham Ladies' College
The Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.-History:The school was founded in 1853...
. Highly intelligent and an avid reader, she wanted to study at Oxford, as did her brothers, but her parents did not allow it. She married Olympic rower and barrister Beaufort Burdekin
Beaufort Burdekin
Beaufort Burdekin was a British rower who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.Burdekin was born in Dorset but came from an Australian family after whom the Burdekin River was named. He was educated at Cheltenham College and at New College, Oxford...
, in 1915, and had two daughters from this marriage, in 1917 and 1920. The family moved to Australia, where Katharine Burdekin started writing. Her first novel, Anna Colquhoun, was published in 1922. Her marriage ended in the same year, and she moved back to the UK. In 1926, she met a woman with whom she formed a lifelong relationship.
Writing career
Burdekin wrote several novels during the 1920s, but she later considered The Rebel Passion (1929) to be her first mature work. In the 1930s, she wrote 13 novels, six of which were published. In 1934, Katharine Burdekin began using the pseudonym Murray Constantine. The political nature and strong criticism of fascism in her novels allegedly inspired her to adopt the pseudonym in an effort to protect her family from the risk of repercussions and attacks.Burdekin's best-known novel, Swastika Night
Swastika Night
Swastika Night is a futuristic novel first published in 1937 and republished in 1940 by Katharine Burdekin, writing under the pseudonym Murray Constantine. Swastika Night was a Left Book Club selection in 1940....
, was published in 1937 under the Murray Constantine pseudonym, and republished in 1985 in England and the U.S. Reflecting Burdekin's analysis of the masculine element in fascist ideology, Swastika Night depicts a future in which the world has been divided between two militaristic powers: the Nazis and the Japanese. Set hundreds of years into the future, this dystopia envisions a sterile, dying Nazi Reich, in which Jews have long since been eradicated, Christians are marginalized, and Hitler is venerated as a God. A "cult of masculinity" prevails, and a "reduction of women" has occurred: deprived of all rights, women are kept in concentration camps, their sole value residing in their reproductive roles. The novel bears striking similarities to Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
, published more than a decade later: the past has been destroyed and history is rewritten, language is distorted, few books exist apart from propaganda, and a secret book is the only witness to the past. Swastika Night was a Left Book Club
Left Book Club
The Left Book Club, founded in 1936, was a key left-wing institution of the late 1930s and 1940s in the United Kingdom set up by Stafford Cripps, Victor Gollancz and John Strachey to revitalise and educate the British Left. The Club's aim was to "help in the struggle For world peace and against...
selection in 1940 -- one of the few works of fiction thus honored. Burdekin anticipated the Holocaust and understood the dangers presented by a militarized Japan while most people in her society were still supporting a policy of appeasement
Appeasement
The term appeasement is commonly understood to refer to a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power. Historian Paul Kennedy defines it as "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and...
. A pacifist committed to communist ideals, Burdekin abandoned pacifism in 1938 out of the conviction that fascism had to be fought.
She wrote six further novels after the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but none were published in her lifetime. These novels also reflect her feminist commitments, which, however, increasingly took a spiritual direction. One of Burdekin's unpublished manuscripts, The End of This Day's Business, was published by The Feminist Press in New York in 1989; it is a counterpart to Swastika Night and envisions a distant future in which women rule and men are deprived of all power. This vision, too, was subjected to Burdekin's critique; she had little patience with what she called "reversals of privilege" and aspired to a future in which domination itself would finally be overcome.
She wrote several children's books, including The Children's Country.
Katharine Burdekin died in 1963. With the growing interest in women's utopian fiction in the last few decades, her work has been the object of considerable scholarly attention. Most of the information currently available about her comes from the research of Daphne Patai.
Sources
- BookRags
- Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 225, British Fantasy and Science-Fiction Writers, 1918-1960 (edited by Darren Harris-Fain, 2002).