If you listened to the last episode of Citations Needed, you heard that the CIA funneled money into into cultural institutions like the Iowa Writers Workshop and the Paris Review to win the cultural war against communism. Much of this led to the emphasis on first-person writing and a focus on individual experience.
I don't know about you comrades, but I got Ds throughout secondary (high school) in English. I fucking hated 20th century lit. Are there any pretentious and overly individualistic writers that you blame on the CIA?
Orwell Apologists: "Nooo you don't get it 1984 is just against authoritarianism its equally dismissive of capitalism and socialist dictatorships"
Every single living normal person who has read 1984: "Oh this is obviously all about the Soviet Union and how awful it is compared to us"
CIA: "Hehe airdrops go brrr"