Kipling's Vision of India and the Problem of Split Consciousness

"When it comes to the first Nobel prize winner in English literature, everyone remembers The Jungle Books and Mowgli, but few see the multiple and complex meanings of the two concepts combined in the title, the book and the jungle, civilization and savagery, the civilizer and the civilized, the Self and the Other, We and They, the English and the Indians; we can therefore have the impression that this is the point from where Nicoleta Marcu (Medrea) started her bold exploration of topics and issues that postcolonial literature has been relentlessly addressing for some time. We are therefore dealing with imperialism and post-imperialism, both in history and culture and in Rudyard Kipling's work and private life. A poly-vocal author - as Kipling is presented in the last chapter of this book - the creator, trapped in his own indecisions, is continually unveiling himself in writings that take the form of selfdiscovery journeys, which reveal a self - once again - divided between the bazaar boy and the sahib. To conclude, according to the main idea of the book, a re-examination of the relationship between the writer and the imperial project is required, Kipling being often, somewhat simplistically, identified with this project. The Empire, therefore, writes back once more."