Exactly. Forster and also Orwell in some essays definitely articulate that colonial mentality that in itself was also a stereotype--and it was really a surprise to see how far Kipling had moved beyond the people Forster and Orwell depict--not so much in his awareness of the effects of colonialism and racism on those who hold those prejudices (he comes up short there), but in his knowledge of and sympathy for the other culture. He's not the subtle thinker that those writers are, but he's more willing to take a risk (maybe there's a connection).
I don't think we can know, and maybe don't need to know, what Kim meant to the readers of its time. What I'm try to puzzle out is how we read works like this today.
And, yes, can't say the US in the 21st century is any healthier than the British Empire in the 19th.
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Date: 2004-04-04 11:29 pm (UTC)I don't think we can know, and maybe don't need to know, what Kim meant to the readers of its time. What I'm try to puzzle out is how we read works like this today.
And, yes, can't say the US in the 21st century is any healthier than the British Empire in the 19th.