How did run yard kipling feel about british imperialism?

Answer 1

Rudyard Kipling has long been considered as an apologist for British Imperialism, largely on the basis of the content and attitudes of much of his poetry and prose, but perhaps best demonstrated by his (in)famous "White Man's Burden." That poem states that white European empires--obviously with England as the leader--have a moral right and obligation to lead others to follow their example. It says that the white man must impose enlightened and civilized values on people and nations that don't even necessarily want them in the first place, simply because it's better for them in the long run.

Of course, with historical hindsight, Kipling's attitude has been condemned as ethnocentric to an extreme, repressive, unjust, intolerant, and--ironically--uncivilized in that it inflicts a form of cultural genocide on weaker, more vulnerable cultures. The fact that English is the official or unofficial language of power around the world is a pretty strong indication that British imperialism was largely successful and that might is, in fact, right.

There are some recent critics who have suggested that Kipling was not entirely serious in his "Rule Britannia"-style attitude and that he was aware of how self-serving and arrogant the whole exercise of colonialism and empire building was, but that doesn't seem to be consistent with his whole canon of writing. The poetry appears to be honestly supportive of Britain's right to extend its influence around the globe; Kim (perhaps his best novel) allows some criticism but in the end is hardly attacking the Union Jack. If he was being satirical, his satire has been a little too subtle to have worked as well as, say, George Orwell's was a generation later.