Imaginary Narratives Of Empire

As an important British writer in the late19th century and the early20th century, Rudyard Kipling has always been regarded as one representative of imperialist writers and has been active in the English literature. With the emergence of postcolonial theory, uncertainty and hybridization of Kipling’s works are added into the criticism about his imperialism, and the trend of combination between the writer’s Indian fictions and imperialist position is further strengthened by the influence of the postcolonial theory. When Kipling’s idealized narrative of India was regarded as the proof of his imperialist "paternalism" mentality, the imperialist narrative with the main characteristics of the romanticism and idealization, which is also permeated through the Kipling’s late British subject fictions, is intentionally or unintentionally overlooked by the critics. Such unity is one important premise to comprehend Kipling’s ideal imperialism. Through the analysis of all Rudyard Kipling’s fictions, this dissertation focuses on Kipling’s religious philosophy, and clarifies his comprehension of the individual, the world and the universe under the notion of the imaginative empire. Under the premise of acknowledging the realistic limitations of Kipling’s view, this paper researches the writer’s perception and understanding of the individual feelings in family and society which are based on the law, and then summarizes people’s psychological requirements of order and stability which are reflected by the notion of idealized imperialism.The dissertation consists of introduction, body and conclusion.The introduction section points out that breaking through the existing reading framework, which emphasizes Kipling’s Indian fictions and politicized tendency, is an important step to understanding Kipling’s imperialism after the literature survey on him both at home and abroad. It is contradictory that Kipling is popular with the academic circles while left out among general readers, and the causes of this phenomenon is associated with the social environment and the transformation of human mind. Because romanticism has declined, the discontinuity of the experience between Rudyard Kipling and the contemporary readership leads to the relatively narrowing down of research. The introduction is then followed by the analysis of Kipling’s praises to science and technology which reveal his romantic idea and the cycling historical perspective. The mission and morality of depicting the human nature and life had influenced Kipling’s comprehension and expression about imperialism. As a social institutional mode between men and god, imperialism is ideally embedded into the specific text narrative, and is not only idealized by British society at that time, but is also a kind of reflection of Kipling’s cosmopolitanism. With the moral instruction about family ethics and life philosophy, the idealized narration about imperialism has its own style in Kipling’s works, and is the theoretical basis of his existential philosophy.The body section consists of four chapters.The first chapter examines the religious origin and the Freemasonry influence on Kipling’s cosmopolitanism. In a broad sense, Kipling’s life experiences in India shape him into a theist, rather than a conventional Christian or Catholic. The writer’s cognition towards the world exceeds the limitation of ordinary religious doctrines, and his inclusive religious perspective found the practical patterns of organization in Freemasonry. The cosmopolitan existential philosophy had deeply influenced Kipling’s pro-imperialism identity, and that is the background of the writer’s idealistic presentation that lacks realistic criticism of imperialism. Based on his wish to seek for unity in diversity, Kipling regards imperialism as a great form of social system in the world, and gives his full support to it. Then, on this basis, Kipling forms his imaginative expression about imperialistic ethical and moral values.The second chapter clarifies the political, economic, religious and cultural factors in the concept of imperialism, and focuses on the consistency between the European civilization and the law of the universe which Kipling believes in. The European civilization has carried out the law of the universe because of its complete historical context of maintaining of order. The only criterion is not color or race, but whether man observes the universal law. As his criterion concentrates on the communication between men and god, Kipling’s imperialism is idealized and unified. Besides, the focus of Kipling’s description is on individual benefits from the imperialist system.The third chapter discusses the position and function of family relationship in Kipling’s imperialist narrative. As the smallest unit of society, family is also given the utopian nature in which women’s marginalized status underlines the male leading role. Besides, love and support between the old and the young, which is built on emotional connection rather than blood relationship, reflects Kipling’s ideal cosmopolitanism. Then, children’s peculiar psychology, the characteristics which are not attention about class, race and social identity, makes Kipling full of tenderness and expectations when he describes children, and he often portrays children as the possessor of the universal law.The fourth chapter explains Kipling’s imagination of and self-identification with imperialism from the perspective of individual-social relationship. Laugh is the effective way to eliminate racial differences, and work is not only the way by which individuals seek the meaning of life, but also the reflection of imperial values and history. Living at present is Kipling’s answer to the significance of individual life. In his view, imperialism makes it possible to have a universal answer about the significance of individual life, a question that defies an answer because of individual differences.The conclusion is a summary of the dissertation, and reiterates Kipling’s intention of depicting and solving human universal dilemma, which is the objective of his ideal imperialism.