Russian President Vladimir Putin, quoting Harry Potter author JK Rowling to refer to an alleged Western habit of “erasing” historical figures and events, compared recent sanctions and measures against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine with the Allegations and the boycott campaigns that have done so have escalated against the writer in recent years over some of her sex and gender remarks.
In Hollywood they make films where the army that defeated fascism is the American one, but if you look at the number of soldiers that fought in the east, it was the Russians. (…) They don’t even mention who dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they just say they are vague “allies”. (…) They erase the truth. They recently fired Joanne Rowling, the author of children’s books published around the world, simply because it doesn’t meet their gender rights needs. And they are trying to wipe out our country, I’m talking about progressive discrimination of everything Russian. It’s a trend developing in a number of Western countries. They practice “cancel culture”, they even remove Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Rachmaninov from posters, Russian writers and their books are deleted. The last book burning was carried out by the Nazis 90 years ago. Something like that is unimaginable in our country.
“Something like this is unimaginable in our country”
President Vladimir Putin cites JK Rowling as an example of Western cynicism and the “breakdown culture” he says is currently aimed at Russia.
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Sky News (@SkyNews) March 25, 2022
It’s not the first time Putin has spoken of a “cancellation process” in recent weeks to describe what’s happening around the world in terms of sanctions, distancing, boycotts and other initiatives to isolate the country from Russia in various areas, from culture to science . In his last speech, he made explicit reference to the “cancel culture” as this tendency which has been the subject of much and heated debate has been defined for some years as putting pressure on the internet because someone is accused of having said or done something unfortunate have , usually because it is regressive or discriminatory, he loses his job or is no longer published.
Also read: What does “cancel culture” mean?
Rowling is one of the most famous people to have landed in the middle of this debate due to some controversial claims about sex and gender identity that had sparked widespread allegations of transphobia on social media. Rowling responded on Twitter that “criticism of Western Cancel culture should not come from those who are currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance and imprisoning and poisoning their opponents.”
Criticisms of Western demolition culture may not be best voiced by those who currently slaughter civilians for the crime of resistance, or imprison and poison their critics. #IStandWithUkraine https://t.co/aNItgc5aiW
JK Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 25, 2022
Also read: What JK Rowling said about transgender people and women