Writers in British Intelligence: The Secret State and the Public Sphere

英国情报作家：秘密国家与公共领域

基本信息

批准号：
AH/V001000/1
负责人：
Jago Morrison
金额：
$ 43.02万
依托单位：
Brunel University London
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2021
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2021 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FV001000%2F1
关键词：
Writers British Intelligence Secret State

项目摘要

Intelligence work is characterised by secrecy and, as such, is often assumed to be detached from the public sphere. Popular images of the spy from 007's 'license to kill' onwards tend to reinforce this separation, portraying intelligence as something outside the law, exempt from public oversight. As this project will show, this is far from being the case. Despite the cloak of official secrecy, British intelligence has always had to be mindful of political opinion, and writers have often found themselves acting as intermediaries between the secret state and the people. The aim of this research is to explore this interaction, looking at five writers in particular. Our work will be divided into four strands:1) In the 1900s the idea of having a state 'secret police' was widely regarded as un-British by government. It took a mass campaign of 'citizen spies' spearheaded by the novelist William Le Queux to change this posture. For the first time, we will examine Le Queux's campaign and the responses it elicited from officials in detail. In so doing we will ask: how could a work of fiction achieve sufficient political momentum to force the establishment of Britain's first state intelligence service?2) Dennis Wheatley's and John Masterman's involvement with intelligence in WW2 is well known. However, the way their imaginative skills as novelists were used strategically, to 'game' adverse scenarios and to sell complex fictional intelligence to the Abwehr, has never been closely analysed. 25 years after the end of the war, both writers broke official silence by publishing their stories: the effect of these revelations on the public reputation of British intelligence has also, never been properly assessed. In doing so, we aim to develop a new understanding of the complex role these writers played in the history of British intelligence.3) In 1963, a serving MI6 officer emerged from nowhere to become the most successful spy writer in history. His scathing account of the intelligence 'circus' would shape the popular image of the agencies for a generation. The early 1960s were an intensely turbulent period for the politics of intelligence in Britain: for the first time, we will assess the impact of Le Carré's 'New Realism' within this febrile media climate. As arguably the most influential intervention made by any spy writer, what does it reveal about the changing relationship between British intelligence and the public sphere in this era of exposure?4) In 1992, as the first publicly acknowledged Director of MI5, Stella Rimington became the new face of 'openness' in British intelligence. All of her writing, both fictional and non-fictional, is concerned with negotiating a fresh, democratic image for the agencies. Almost none of it, however, has met with serious scrutiny. As we will show, during her tenure Rimington oversaw a major revolution in intelligence gathering methods, in many ways threatening the democratic rights and freedoms she claimed to defend. On this, her writing is almost completely silent. As such, we will ask whether Rimington's project is ultimately more about concealment than openness, obscuring the real evolution of intelligence work in the 90s and beyond.A key aim of this project is to engage both academic and non-academic audiences, encouraging further enquiry into the role of writers in intelligence. To stimulate cross-disciplinary dialogue between Literary and Intelligence studies, our programme includes a symposium in which leading scholars from each discipline will be brought together, leading to a ground-breaking collection of essays. Our public engagement strategy includes a major author event, as well as an innovative online exhibition on the Google Arts & Culture Platform. Our blog 'Writers in Intelligence' will provide a space for ongoing debate and dialogue between intelligence specialists, critics and members of the public.

情报工作的特点是保密，因此通常被认为与公共领域无关。从 007 的“杀人执照”开始，间谍的流行形象往往会强化这种分离，将情报描绘成法律之外的、豁免的东西。正如这个项目将表明的那样，情况远非如此，尽管有官方保密的外衣，英国情报部门始终必须留意政治观点，而作家们经常发现自己充当了中间人的角色。这项研究的目的是探索这种互动，特别关注五位作家，我们的工作将分为四个部分：1）在 1900 年代建立国家“秘密警察”的想法。被政府广泛认为是不英国的。小说家威廉·勒奎克斯发起了一场大规模的“公民间谍”运动，才改变了这种态度。我们将首次审视勒奎克斯的运动及其引起的官员反应。在在这样做的过程中，我们会问：一部虚构的作品如何能够获得足够的政治动力来迫使英国建立第一个国家情报机构？2）丹尼斯·惠特利和约翰·马斯特曼在二战中参与情报工作的方式是众所周知的。战争结束 25 年后，两位作家都打破了官方的沉默，但他们作为小说家的想象力被战略性地用来“玩弄”不利情景并向德国国防军兜售复杂的虚构情报。通过发表他们的故事：这些揭露对英国情报机构公众声誉的影响也从未得到适当的评估。在此过程中，我们的目的是对这些作家在英国情报史上所扮演的复杂角色有一个新的认识。 3) 1963 年，一名军情六处的现役军官横空出世，成为历史上最成功的间谍作家，他对情报“马戏团”的严厉描述塑造了一代人对情报机构的普遍形象。英国情报政治时期：我们将首次评估勒卡雷的“新现实主义”在这种狂热的媒体氛围中的影响，作为任何间谍作家所做的最具争议性的干预，它揭示了什么。在这个暴露的时代，英国情报部门和公共领域之间的关系正在发生变化吗？4) 1992 年，作为首位公认的军情五处局长，斯特拉·里明顿成为英国情报部门“开放”的新面孔。她所有的公开作品，都是虚构的。和然而，正如我们将要展示的那样，雷明顿在她的任期内监督了情报收集方法的重大革命。在这一点上，她的文章几乎完全保持沉默。因此，我们会问，雷明顿的项目最终是否更多的是隐藏而不是开放，从而掩盖了 90 年代情报工作的真正演变。该项目的一个主要目标是吸引学术和非学术受众，鼓励进一步探究作家在情报中的作用。为了促进文学和情报研究之间的跨学科对话，我们的计划包括一个研讨会，其中包括领导者。来自各个学科的学者将齐聚一堂，形成一系列开创性的论文集，其中包括一次大型作者活动，以及在我们的博客“作家情报”上举办的创新在线展览。 '将为持续的情报专家、批评者和公众之间的辩论和对话。