View source for Rudyard Kipling

Born December 30 1865 in Bombay, India, died January 18 1936, in London, England. Anglo-Indian writer who is famous for his works about life in India under British Rule. He also is the author of ''The Jungle Book''. 


== Life ==


Kipling was the son of John Lockwood Kipling, principal of the Jeejeebyhoy Art School in Bombay, and of Alice Macdonald Kipling. Both his parents were originally from Staffordshire, England. In 1871 Kipling and his family returned to England but only six months later his parents went back to India, leaving the six year-old son with foster parents in Southsea where he was subjected to physical mistreatment for five years. 

Between 1878 and 1882 Kipling was a student at the United Services College in Devon. When he had graduated from there in 1882, he returned to India where he worked as a journalist and editor for seven years. During that time he became a professional author of literature which turned out a great success for him right from the start. 

In 1891 he visited South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India on a world trip, followed by his marriage with the American Caroline Balestier. After having lived in Vermont, USA, Kipling returned to England – alone [out of mere interest: why? what happened to his wife?] – in 1899, the same year that he would have to face his daughter Josephine’s death, followed by his son John’s death in 1915 during World War I. From 1902 until his death in 1936 he lived in Sussex but despite his bad health he stayed an enthusiastic traveller. 



== Work ==
 

Rudyard Kipling is one of the major representatives of the ''Fictions of Empire'' genre, along with [[Joseph Conrad]] and [[E.M. Forster]]. The ''Fictions of Empire'' novel that came about in the late 19th century is a derivative of the rather non-political adventure novel from the mid-19th-century (a famous, yet late example of which is [[R. L. Stevenson]]’s ''Treasure Island'', 1881). 

''Fictions of Empire'' are literary reflections of the British policy of expansion and hegemony that concentrated on spreading “Englishness” and obtaining raw materials from the colonies. The novels tend to present expansionism in a downplaying way and pretend to be interested in the exotic aspect of colonialism instead. The rightfulness and superiority of the British Rule as such are never questioned in these novels. 

The two most important authors of ''Empire Fictions'', Kipling and Conrad, present the British striving for power differently. In contrast to Kipling, Joseph Conrad acknowledges that the manifestations of colonialism (not only the English) are exploitation and oppression, while Kipling recognises the superior’s obligation to lead the colonies. However, both authors hold the opinion that the English (and only the English) colonialism could essentially bring forth good. 

On the other hand Kipling is far from romanticising the foreign countries he writes about and the harsh living conditions they hold for both the natives and the white invaders, thus creating a disillusioned picture of the British Empire. It is especially Kipling’s early works that deal with India and the Anglo-Indian society there, and which depict the exotic country as well as the power struggles within.  

Kipling’s works show profoundly ambiguous feelings towards the Indian/Eastern culture which is presented as utterly fascinating but at the same time there also lurks the fear of losing one’s Western identity by immersing oneself too deeply in the foreign culture. This ambiguity mirrors an English colonial ideology that promoted learning about foreign cultures to secure British Rule in the colonies. The racial divide that is advocated in the short story "Beyond the Pale" (1888), for example, can be seen in that same context. His inability to embrace the changing ''Zeitgeist'' during the 20th century and his adherence to Imperialist values are clearly traceable in his later works that never gained the fame of his earlier works. 



== Miscellaneous ==
 

- Kipling's nickname was ''Bard of the Empire'', awarded for his poem "The White Man’s Burden" (1899).  

- He was the first English writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (1907). 

- His uncles by marriage were the painters Sir Edward Byrne-Jones and Sir Edward Poynter, as was Member of Parliament Alfred Baldwin. 

- He was buried in [[Westminster Abbey]], next to [[T. S. Eliot]]. 



== Selected Works ==


''Departmental Ditties'' (1886, collection of poems)

''Plain Tales from the Hills'' (1888, collection of short stories, contains "Beyond the Pale") 

''The Jungle Book'' (1894, collection of short stories) 

''The Second Jungle Book'' (1895, collection of short stories) 

''Captains Courageous'' (1897, novel) 

"The White Man’s Burden" (1899, poem)

''Kim'' (1901, novel) 

''Puck of Pook’s Hill'' (1906, collection of short stories) 

''Life’s Handicap'' (1915, collection of short stories) 



== Works Cited ==
 

Cody, David. "Kipling: a Brief Biography." ''The Victorian Web. Literature, History and Culture in the Age of Victoria.'' 1988. 4 Nov 2010. <http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/kipling/rkbio2.html>. 

Erlebach, Peter, and Reitz, Bernhard, and Stein, Thomas Michael. ''Geschichte der englischen Literatur.'' Stuttgart: Reclam, 2007. 

Petzold, Dieter. "Die koloniale Welt in den Kurzgeschichten Kiplings und Conrads." ''Geschichte der englischen Kurzgeschichte.'' Eds. Arno Löffler and Eberhard Späth. Tübingen: Francke, 2005. 129-149.