Concetti Chiave
- "The White Man's Burden" concept was popularized by colonial writers like Rudyard Kipling, symbolizing the perceived duty of the British to civilize colonized territories.
- Kipling's poem advised the United States during the annexation of the Philippines, reinforcing the belief in Anglo-Saxon racial superiority.
- The "Civilizing Mission" was justified by contemporary scientific discoveries, suggesting that white men had a responsibility to civilize non-white populations.
- Resistance and sacrifice are themes in Kipling's stanzas, highlighting the challenges of imposing civilization and the ongoing struggles faced by colonizers.
- The "Authority of the Servant" reflects the paradox of power, where colonizers lack true authority and face the ultimate costs of their imperial ventures.
What is The White Man's Burden?
The concept of "the white man's burden was exalted in the works of colonial writers like Rudyard Kipling, and the expansion of the to Fill was often regarded to mission. Every time the British took control over to territory, they felt they brought civilization to the barbarian, faith to the heathen, wealth to the poor and law and social order primitive to societies.
Rudyard Kipling's poem "The white man's Burden", written in 1899 to give advice to the United States on the occasion of the annexation of the Philippines, contains the author's most famous phrase "the white man's burden", which made them the bard of the English Empire and came to symbolize the belief in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race.
The Civilizing Mission
The concept respect the supremacy of the white man was very clear thanks to the scientific discoveries of the time as those of Darwin because thanks to the importance that gave to the men him it started to think that the white men had to civilize the dark people. "Burden" = burden, meant the weight and the responsibilities that the English man had towards the Indian world.
1° strophe: The English preferred to live distant from the Indian areas because they were frightened from their moral strength. The English were aware of the fact that was very difficult to civilize the people because the Indians were half child and half devil.
Resistance and Sacrifice
2° strophe: "ability to disguise and to bear the threat of the terror and to repress their pride to tell simple words. In hundreds of occasions they showed that they pursued other people's profits and that it guaranteed another improvement."
3° strophe: "the fierce wars of peace, Fill full the mouth of Famine (you fill the mouth of the hungry ones), and you promise to put elegant to the illnesses, and when your finishing line will be nearby, looked for the end of other things and you see the idleness and the pagan folly and you destroy all of your hopes.
The Authority of the Servant
4°strophe: "you won't have any authority, but only that of the servant and chimney sweep, the story of common things, the harbors where you won't enter, the roads that you won't cross, will build them with your life, and you will mark them with your death."
Domande da interrogazione
- What is the central theme of "The White Man's Burden"?
- What challenges did the English face in their civilizing mission according to the text?
The central theme of "The White Man's Burden" is the belief in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race and the perceived duty of white men to civilize non-European societies. This concept was popularized by Rudyard Kipling's poem, which advised the United States during the annexation of the Philippines.
The English faced challenges such as the moral strength of the Indian people, who were described as "half child and half devil." The English struggled with the difficulty of civilizing these societies, which often resisted their efforts and undermined their hopes.
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