Chapter 5: Selective Storytelling: Manufacturing Heroes and Villains

History is not just a record of events; it is a curated gallery of characters. The stories we tell about the past are populated by heroes who embody our highest ideals and villains who represent our deepest fears. The Anglophone historical narrative is a masterclass in this kind of selective storytelling. It has consistently elevated figures who advanced the cause of empire while demonizing those who stood in its way.

This process of manufacturing heroes and villains is not about telling lies; it is about carefully curating the truth. It involves emphasizing a figure’s admirable qualities while minimizing or ignoring their crimes, and doing the precise opposite for their opponents.

This chapter will analyze this process through a series of case studies:

• The Heroic Founder: Figures like Christopher Columbus or the “Founding Fathers” of the United States are presented as visionary pioneers. The narrative focuses on their courage and their role in building a new world, while conveniently omitting the fact that Columbus initiated the transatlantic slave trade and that many of the Founding Fathers were slave owners who presided over a genocidal campaign against Native Americans.
• The Imperial Statesman: Winston Churchill is celebrated in the Anglophone world as the heroic figure who stood up to Nazi tyranny. This narrative almost completely erases his role as a lifelong, unapologetic white supremacist and imperialist who was responsible for policies that led to the death of millions in the Bengal Famine, and who openly advocated for using poison gas against “uncivilised tribes.”
• The “Savage” Resistance Leader: Those who fought against colonial rule are rarely granted the title of “patriot” or “freedom fighter” in Anglophone histories. Instead, they are often labeled as “fanatics,” “terrorists,” or “bloodthirsty savages.” Figures like Tipu Sultan in India, or the leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, are remembered for their violence against the colonizers, not for the colonizers’ far greater violence that provoked their resistance.

By controlling the casting of history’s drama, the Anglophone narrative creates a simple moral universe where its own protagonists are always on the side of progress and light, and their opponents are relegated to the darkness. This chapter will shine a light on this process, revealing how the selective telling of biography is one of the most powerful tools for shaping our understanding of the past.