Rudyard Kipling - Spotlight Online

Modern interpretation:
Disney’s 1967 version
of Kipling’s work
HISTORY | 75 Years Ago
Rudyard
Kipling
trol of the Philippines in the Spanish-American War, to
“civilize” that country, whether “your new-caught, sullen
peoples, half-devil and half-child” were thankful or not.
As disdainful as Kipling could be, he was also inspiring.
His 1910 poem “If—” was written for his son, Jack: “If you
can fill the unforgiving minute / With 60 seconds’ worth of
distance run, / Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it
/ And — which is more — you’ll be a man, my son!”
During the First World War, Kipling lent his talent to
the British propaganda effort. He also used his influence
to get Jack, who’d been rejected several times because of
bad eyesight, accepted into the military. In 1915, while
leading a mission in France, Jack was killed.
Kipling’s own death was announced in a magazine
while the author was still alive. He wrote to the publisher,
Voice of the
British Empire
War der Schöpfer des Dschungelbuchs ein
Rassist oder nur das Sprachrohr seiner
Zeitgenossen? MIKE PILEWSKI hat sich auf die
Suche nach Antworten begeben.
I
t’s been said that all writing is a product of its time.
Set in different eras, poems and novels can never
break free of their cultural perspective. In 1907, English
author Rudyard Kipling received the Nobel Prize for Literature. His stories, most of which are about British soldiers in India and Burma, reflect attitudes that are no
longer held today, but they stand as important documents
of their time.
In the 19th century,
Britain saw itself as being at
the pinnacle of civilization.
It claimed a natural right to
rule the world, and it felt it
was bringing the light of
civilization to the peoples
of Asia and Africa. It was
into this world that Joseph
Rudyard Kipling was born
in 1865: the son of English
parents living in Bombay
(now Mumbai).
His middle name reflected his English roots,
being the name of the village in Staffordshire where
his parents had first met.
But Kipling’s early years
were spent in the company
of Indian servants whose
stories
and language excited
Poet of his time: Kipling around 1892
his young imagination.
As was common in colonial families, Kipling and his
sister were sent back to the mother country to be raised in
a foster home. is was a horrible experience for the young
boy. “I have known a certain amount of bullying, but this
was calculated torture,” he later wrote. “Yet it made me
38
Spotlight 1 |11
The Jungle Book: the
first edition included
art by Kipling’s father
give attention to the lies I soon found it necessary to tell:
and this, I presume, is the foundation of literary effort.”
In 1882, he returned to India when his father got him
a job at a newspaper there. “So, at 16 years and nine
months, but looking four or five years older,” he wrote, “I
found myself at Bombay, where I was born, moving
among sights and smells that made me deliver in the vernacular sentences whose meaning I knew not.”
After four years, a new editor took charge at the newspaper and asked Kipling to write not only news, but also
short stories and poems. ese included “e Man Who
Would Be King” (1888), a story about two Englishmen
who go to Afghanistan to try to rule part of it themselves,
and “Gunga Din” (1890), a poem about an Indian man
who continues to serve British soldiers even as he is dying.
By 1890, the popularity of Kipling’s works — which
already filled six books — extended from British India all
the way back to England. While in London to work on
another book, Kipling met his publisher’s sister, Caroline
Balestier, an American, and married her. e couple went
to live on her property in Vermont.
While in the US, Kipling wrote a collection of humorous short stories about jungle animals that find and raise
a human child; these formed what is now his most popular
work, e Jungle Book (1894).
In spite of this, Kipling wasn’t really accepted in America. e neighbours didn’t like his attitude, and an argument with Mrs Kipling’s family made things worse. So in
1896, the couple moved back to England. For ten years,
they also spent each winter holiday in South Africa, where
Kipling encouraged the British to fight the Boers.
In 1899, Kipling wrote “e White Man’s Burden”,
the seven stanzas of which were controversial even at the
time. e poem urged the United States, having won con-
argument [(A:gjumEnt]
Boer [bO:]
bullying [(bUliIN]
burden [(b§:d&n]
cartoon [kA:(tu:n]
delete [di(li:t]
disdainful [dIs(deInf&l]
foster home [(fQstE hEUm]
foundation [faun(deIS&n]
literary effort [)lIt&rEri (efEt]
people [(pi:p&l]
Streit
Bure
Tyrannei
Last
Zeichentrickfilm
streichen, entfernen
herablassend
Pflegefamilie
Grundlage
etwa: Schreibkunst
Volk
saying, “I’ve just read that
I am dead. Don’t forget to
delete me from your list of
subscribers.” In January
1936 — 75 years ago this
month — Kipling died in
London of a stomach illness.
Biographers remain divided
on Kipling’s intentions. Was he a
racist, or was he just expressing the views of the colonials
he wrote about? Opinions are also divided on his ability
as a writer. However, the exotic settings of his works have
kept the interest of readers. e Jungle Book has been made
into at least ten films and cartoons. e most recent of these
is a cartoon series to be shown on ZDF this spring.
•
pinnacle [(pInEk&l]
presume [pri(zju:m]
publisher [(pVblISE]
set in: be ~ [(set In]
stanza [(stÄnzE]
subscriber [sEb(skraIbE]
sullen [(sVlEn]
torture [(tO:tSE]
urge [§:dZ]
vernacular [vE(nÄkjUlE]
would [wUd]
Spitze
vermuten, annehmen (→ p. 57)
Verleger(in)
spielen in
Strophe
Abonnent(in)
mürrisch
Folter
eindringlich bitten
Umgangssprache
hier: möchten
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