1. POST-COLONIAL LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN EDU32PLC © La Trobe University, David Beagley 2006 Post-colonial Voices: Where are they coming from?

2. Kim - the novel Generally considered Kipling’s best novel, and a key part of him winning the Nobel Prize No. 78 on NY Times’ “Best 100 novels of the 20 th century” (2000) Filmed several times - 1950 with Errol Flynn, 1987 with Peter O’Toole & Bryan Brown A literary product of its times: vocabulary and grammar, extended structure, background detail, reflecting the nature of reading at that time

3. Kim – some themes Picaresque novel – the rogue/adventurer on his journey Search for identity –Kim’s or Kipling’s? –Indian or English? –Controlled or independent? –Destiny or Choice? Search for Peace –Lama vs Creighton –Great game vs Mystic river

4. Kim – the friend of all the world Many cultures, multi-cultures, of India, and Kim moves through them all - “little friend of all the world” Castes and social groups - “High-born”, Low-born”: Sahibs, scholars, traders, priests, soldiers, brothels, spies Does he use, or is he used by (or does he just encounter):  The lama  Colonel Creighton  The regiment and its priests  Mahbub Ali  Hurree Babu  The widow of Kulu Kim, the literary device: an observer of the variety of India, rather than a controller of action.

5. Spying - Searching - Finding The Great Game - the defence of Empire Kim’s game - hiding, observing Never ending, no final winners The Mystic river Real or metaphorical? River of humanity on the road? Never ending, step in - step out

6. I am Kim. And what is Kim? Identity is a key theme 1.Kim as a person - who and where is his family? 2.Kim as a citizen - British or Indian, to whom does he owe civic duty? 3.India as a place/nation/culture Must it be ruled by Britain to survive? Does it have its own integrity apart from Britain? Can the British Empire survive without it?

7. I am Kim. And what is Kim? So, what is Kim’s voice? 1.Kim, the created fictional character in a story? 2.Kim, the outward expression of Kipling himself? 3.Kim, the product of a colonial world with all its inherent values? 4.Kim, the friend of all the world?

8. A little bit of Politics Hegel : the dominant approach of science in the 18 th -19 th centuries was Taxonomy – identifying, classifying, differentiating, and categorizing the parts of the universe, including human society. Marx : Society has an economic imperative. To enable production, people are grouped into classes (workers, consumers, capital controllers etc.). Injustices arise when one group dominates others and controls an unequal share of the production. Thus, class conflict is inevitable, and political. From Greek: Polis – city, polites – citizen, politikos - popular

9. A little bit of Politics Therefore, assumptions from this view: that people must identify with labelled groups/classes in society that they will, consequently, behave according to that prescribed identity that those classes are in opposition to control the benefits of society that they will fight each other for that control Thus, to the 19 th century European mind, colonised peoples (such as Indians or Australian Aboriginals) were an opponent in the race for survival.

10. Voice What is “voice” in literature? Perspective, point of view, personality of the perceived “speaker” Character voice – the person portrayed Narrative voice – the teller of the story Authorial voice – the impression conveyed by the creator Personal voice - the tone and expression of a particular person Cultural voice – the underlying social context

11. Voice How is “voice” conveyed? Personal voice By the language characteristics of the “speaker” Vocabulary, idiom, accent, grammar Emotions, expression, tone Cultural voice By the issues expressed By the social context of that expression Cultural markers, that distinguish Identity of the personal voice

12. Aboriginal voices in Australian Literature Until recently, very, very little: David Unaipon 1873-1967 Oodgeroo Noonuccal – Kath Walker 1920-1993 Last two decades, a rich and rapidly growing corpus deriving directly from personal experience presenting personal identity and culture with pride Not so much “history at a distance” as “me in my world”