عنوان

Fantastic Borderlands and Masonic Meta-religion in Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King"

شماره

LA125591

زبان متن نوشتاري يا گفتاري و مانند آن

انگلیسی

عنوان اصلي

Fantastic Borderlands and Masonic Meta-religion in Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King"

نام عام مواد

[Article]

نام نخستين پديدآور

Lucas Kwong

محل نشرو پخش و غیره

Leiden

نام ناشر، پخش کننده و غيره

Brill

متن يادداشت

This article examines Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King" through the lens of Freemasonry's interreligious ideology. In British India, members of "The Craft" offered what scholar James Laine calls a meta-religion, a fraternity whose emphasis on interreligious tolerance masks power relations between colonizers and colonized. When he became a Freemason, Kipling's lifelong fascination with India's religious diversity translated into enthusiasm for the sect's unifying aspirations. In this context, "The Man Who Would Be King" stands out for how sharply it contests that enthusiasm. The story's Masonic protagonists determine to find glory and riches in Kafiristan, a borderland region known for its idiosyncratic polytheism. Initially offering an ideal staging ground for Masonic triumphalism, the region ultimately upends Freemasonry's goal of unifying imperial subjects under a metareligious banner; Kipling's deployment of the fantastic frames Kafiristan as a borderland, not only between Empire and wilderness, but also between incommensurable visions of reality. This article examines Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King" through the lens of Freemasonry's interreligious ideology. In British India, members of "The Craft" offered what scholar James Laine calls a meta-religion, a fraternity whose emphasis on interreligious tolerance masks power relations between colonizers and colonized. When he became a Freemason, Kipling's lifelong fascination with India's religious diversity translated into enthusiasm for the sect's unifying aspirations. In this context, "The Man Who Would Be King" stands out for how sharply it contests that enthusiasm. The story's Masonic protagonists determine to find glory and riches in Kafiristan, a borderland region known for its idiosyncratic polytheism. Initially offering an ideal staging ground for Masonic triumphalism, the region ultimately upends Freemasonry's goal of unifying imperial subjects under a metareligious banner; Kipling's deployment of the fantastic frames Kafiristan as a borderland, not only between Empire and wilderness, but also between incommensurable visions of reality.

تاريخ نشر

2020

توصيف ظاهري

263-289

عنوان

Religion and the Arts

شماره جلد

24/3

شماره استاندارد بين المللي پياييندها

1568-5292

اصطلاح موضوعی

"The Man Who Would Be King"

اصطلاح موضوعی

borderlands

اصطلاح موضوعی

empire

اصطلاح موضوعی

late Victorian literature

اصطلاح موضوعی

postcolonial studies

اصطلاح موضوعی

religious studies

اصطلاح موضوعی

Rudyard Kipling

اصطلاح موضوعی

the fantastic

مستند نام اشخاص تاييد نشده

Lucas Kwong

شماره بازیابی

10.1163/15685292-02403002

نام الکترونيکي

فرمت انتشار

p

نوع ماده

[Article]

کد کاربرگه

275578

سطح دسترسي

a

تكميل شده

Y