English Or Anglo-Indian?: Kipling and the Shift in the Representation of the Colonizer in the Discourse of the British Raj
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English or Anglo-Indian?: Kipling and the Shift in the Representation of the Colonizer in the Discourse of the British Raj Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Catherine Elizabeth Hart, M.A. Graduate Program in English The Ohio State University 2012 Dissertation Committee: Clare Simmons, Advisor Jill Galvan Amanpal Garcha Pranav Jani Copyright by Catherine Elizabeth Hart 2012 Abstract Using Rudyard Kipling as the focal point, my dissertation examines nineteenth- century discourse on English identity and imperialism through literature of the British Raj written in the 1840s through the 1930s. In my analysis of this literature, I identify a shift in the representation of the colonizer between English and Anglo-Indian in four distinct historical moments: pre-Rebellion (1857), post-Rebellion, the fin de siècle, and post- World War I. While the term Anglo-Indian can be used as a simple means of categorization—the Anglo-Indian is the English colonizer who lives in and conducts imperial work in India as opposed to one of the other British colonies—it also designates a distinct cultural identity and identifies the extent to which the colonizer has been affected by India and imperialism. As such, the terms Anglo-Indian and English, rather than being interchangeable, remain consistently antithetical in the literature with one obvious exception: the Kipling canon. In fact, it is only within the Kipling canon that the terms are largely synonymous; here, the Anglo-Indian colonizer is represented not only as a positive figure but also as a new and improved breed of Englishman. Kipling’s voice, though presumed to be the definitive voice in the contemporary imperial imagination, is an anomaly. By drawing attention to this fact and to the specific historical context within which the colonizer is represented, my analysis changes ideas of colonial masculine identity and contends that Kipling’s pervasive effect on imperial discourse overshadows ii the complexity of the discourse of the British Raj and contemporary discourses on imperialism, English identity, British identity, and nationalism. iii Dedication To Sadie iv Acknowledgments The completion of this dissertation marks the successful accomplishment of a personal goal I ambiguously set for myself in 2002, and the prospect of finally being done with school after so many years has made me overjoyed, sentimental, bewildered, and grateful. I realize that a few words on a page are petty recompense for all of the encouragement and support I have received over the years from family, friends, colleagues, students, mentors, and faculty, but I will offer them nonetheless. To my professors and mentors at Western Michigan University—Jon Adams, Gwen Tarbox, Lisa Minnick, Kim Ballard, Charie Thralls, Erin Huskey, Todd Kuchta— thank you for preparing me for my doctoral program and for helping me feel that I have something to contribute to the field. After all, this project began its life as a seminar paper for Todd Kuchta’s course on The Literature of the British Empire in the spring of 2006. While it has changed substantially over the past six years, if not for him, this dissertation would not exist. He was the first (of many) to hear my disconnected idea about the difference between English and Anglo-Indian, and the first to encourage me to pursue the idea further. My dissertation committee at The Ohio State University—Jill Galvan, Amanpal Garcha, Pranav Jani, Clare Simmons—has offered considerable guidance as I have imagined, re-imagined, composed, and revised the various parts of this project. Their v feedback has been invaluable, and I cannot thank them enough for pushing me to improve my argument and my writing. I would also like to especially thank Clare for making me feel more confident in my work and for helping me become better prepared for discussing my work with others. As any doctoral student will confirm, writing a dissertation can be a lonely business. Thank you to my fellow grad students and friends, Ann Burgoyne, Karin Hooks, Heather Thompson-Gillis, and Meghan Hattaway, for reminding me that I am not alone. Your encouragement, your willingness to listen to me complain, and your friendship has helped me keep my sanity. Also, Meghan, thank you for proofreading the final drafts. And, last but not least, I would like to thank my family—my parents, siblings, nephews, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and cats. I really could not have gone back to school without your support. To all of my family, both here and elsewhere—Grandma and Sadie, I miss you—thank you for believing in me (and making me believe in myself), for helping me realize what is truly important in life, and for not making too much fun of me for spending almost all of my life in school. I look forward to all the days we have to spend together now that I am finally done. Although, I hate to admit it, especially in writing, you were right, Mom and Dad. I can do this. vi Vita 1997................................................................B.S. Biology, University of Michigan 1999................................................................M.S. Horticulture, University of Illinois 2005................................................................B.A. English, Western Michigan University 2007................................................................M.A. English, Western Michigan University 2007 to present ..............................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of English, The Ohio State University Field of Study Major Field: English vii Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v Vita .................................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Englishness Compromised: The Colonizer as Exile ....................................... 11 Eighteenth-Century Perceptions of the Anglo-Indian ................................................... 14 The Dandy: A Consumer on the Periphery of Englisness ............................................. 19 The Military Hero: A Gentleman from an Idealized Past ............................................. 42 The “Foreigner”: Revealing the Bond Between Colony and Nation ............................ 69 Chapter 2: In the Wake of the Rebellion: The Colonizer, The Empire, and the Nation ... 93 Bridging the Gap between Nation and Empire ........................................................... 102 The Empire as English ................................................................................................ 123 Kipling and the Unnarratability of the Rebellion ........................................................ 131 Chapter 3: Loafers in Our Midst: The Colonizer in the “Great Cesspool” of Empire .... 145 Loafers in India ........................................................................................................... 146 viii Loafers in London ....................................................................................................... 167 Chapter 4: Being Anglo-Indian: The Colonizer and the Fate of Empire ........................ 202 The Native-Born Anglo-Indian: The Future of Empire .............................................. 204 Joining the Herd: Becoming an Anglo-Indian ............................................................ 212 Living a Lie: The Anglo-Indian and the “White Man’s Burden” ............................... 232 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 250 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 254 ix Introduction Reflecting on his experience in the Ceylon Civil Service, Leonard Woolf notes: “The white people were also in many ways astonishingly like characters in a Kipling story. I could never make up my mind whether Kipling had moulded his characters accurately in the image of Anglo-Indian society or whether we were moulding our characters accurately in the image of a Kipling story” (46). While Woolf himself may have found it impossible to definitively answer this question—which came first, Anglo- Indian society or Kipling’s representation of it?—he draws attention to what has become a virtually indisputable fact: Kipling is the voice of British India.1 But how did this happen? According to Stephen Arata and John McBratney, Kipling’s rise to preeminence in the discourse of the British Raj was influenced by the fin de siècle anxiety regarding the perceived degeneration of the English race and the concurrent debate on whether the Englishman or the Anglo-Indian was most fit for imperial service. Citing modern life as the cause of English degeneration in England, many looked to Anglo-India, a place free from the contaminating influences of modernity, as the place where the English race could flourish.2 Significantly,