iamBullivantJun 7

Alan Turing died by suicide on 7 June 1954. Turing was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 and given a choice between imprisonment and probation. His probation would be conditional on his agreement to undergo hormonal physical changes designed to reduce his libido. Turing's conviction led to the removal of his security clearance and barred him from continuing with his consultancy for GCHQ. He was denied entry into the United States after his conviction.

#AlanTuring #GayRights #OnThisDay

Show threadKris Dreemurr (they/them) of the Pnictogen WingJun 7
@bullivant incidentally, the ice-cold handling of Alan Turing suggests that the English authorities did break George Orwell through similarly extreme means, but the official story of course is that #Orwell renounced leftism. ~Chara
Show threadiamBullivantJun 7
@kris_of_pnictogen I hadn't realised that about Orwell, Kris. Thank you. And, yes, the way the way that they handled Turing, who had as much credit for winning the war as anyone else, was utterly brutal.
Show threadKris Dreemurr (they/them) of the Pnictogen Wing
@bullivant it's only guesswork but surely the better attuned readers of Orwell know that his novels are commentaries on trends in his own society. 1984 / 1948, it scarcely matters; the same British civil service _handling_ exists in both times.
Jun 7 at 8:31amWeb
Show threadIanMoore3000Jun 7
@kris_of_pnictogen @bullivant I'm not sure Orwell actually renounced leftism.
Show threadKris Dreemurr (they/them) of the Pnictogen WingJun 7
@IanMoore3000 @bullivant oh that goes without saying! yet the official narrative is...uh....
Show threadDermot RyanJun 7

@kris_of_pnictogen @bullivant Thing is, when asked by a UK propaganda unit for a list of writers who would be useful for the purposes of anti-Soviet propaganda, he gave them instead a list of people he'd compiled of his own volition who he thought of as communist-sympathetic. Fairly petty too, describing Seán O'Casey as "very stupid" while he had the opportunity.

https://historyireland.com/george-orwell-sean-ocasey/

George Orwell & Sean O’Casey – History Ireland

Show threadDermot RyanJun 7
@kris_of_pnictogen @bullivant I don't think this necessarily counts as him renouncing left-wing politics, but his essays (and the private correspondence mentioned in History Ireland) make it very clear that he was very "patriotic"
/pro-England, and that latterly coloured his views on other subjects, including saying the Empire was necessary for England's material well being.
Show threadKris Dreemurr (they/them) of the Pnictogen WingJun 7
@dermotryanie @bullivant oh. oh dear. I thought Orwell was more clear-headed about that stuff
Show threadDermot RyanJun 7
@kris_of_pnictogen @bullivant He's an interesting character in the essays and journalism. Often insightful, and then pretty reactionary, or even ignorant.
Show threadHugs4friends ♾🇺🇦 🇵🇸😷Jun 7
@dermotryanie Pet theories can be like that. Was 1984 in a way an allegory - fiction and prediction, which was actually used as a manual (we joke about it, I know). @kris_of_pnictogen @bullivant
Show threadDermot RyanJun 7
@Tooden @kris_of_pnictogen @bullivant Yeah, it's an enduring work of fiction, so it works on a few levels, I think
Show threadKris Dreemurr (they/them) of the Pnictogen WingJun 7
@dermotryanie @bullivant yeah. I was appalled by how he wrote about Tolstoy for example
Show threadDermot RyanJun 7
@kris_of_pnictogen @bullivant I'll check that out
Show threadKris Dreemurr (they/them) of the Pnictogen WingJun 7
@dermotryanie @bullivant oof that looks like a very complicated literary feud and not the come-to-Jesus narrative which mainstream U.S. and English discourse forces, obscenely, onto Orwell's disillusionment.