Inheritance And Subversion:the Oriental Images In Kipling’s Kim

Kim,published in 1901,was written by Rudyard Kipling.This novel mainly tells a story that an India-born Irish orphan and a Lama from Tibet start a journey to find the River of the Arrow.This sets off a wonderful oriental world with accumulation of various oriental images.After a comparative analysis between oriental images in traditional western literature and those in Kim,this thesis discovers the inheritance and subversion of oriental images and aims to find out the reason of its production.This thesis is divided into five chapters.Chapter One offers a brief introduction of Joseph Rudyard Kipling and his works.Chapter Two delves into the domestic and foreign research on Kim,recent study of the novel and the major theories adopted inside the thesis.Chapter Three analyzes the inheritance and subversion in oriental environment through the analysis of"utopia image" inside the context.From the natural environment,through analysis of outdoor landscape and indoor decor,the novel reflects the inheritance of diversification of oriental nature.Besides,the novel has been infused with strong affection.It subverts the traditional flamboyant magnificent description of the Orient,instead it lies much more emphasis on the presentation of a humanistic atmosphere for living.From the social environment,through Said’s concept of "space",the novel reveals the inheritance of colonized oriental society after an analysis of the power relation between colonized India with British government and local people.Meantime,the novel subverts the colonized oriental society.Contrary to the previous colonized Orient,the novel reflects a rising Orient from the improvement in politics,economy,culture,science and technology.Chapter Four exposes the inheritance and subversion of oriental characters through the description of "other".This thesis analyzes the oriental subordinates represented by Mahbub Ali and Babu,the oriental lama and the oriental women represented by Huneefa and the woman of Shamlegh.The oriental subordinates represented by Babu inherits the previous description of being submissive and obedient while Mahbub Ali subverts the original,reflecting their versatile and sophisticated characteristics.Oriental lama inherits the previous holy master image but also takes on a secularized image of him.Chapter Five is the conclusion part.The oriental woman represented by Huneefa inherits the previous oriental women image of being sacrificed to construct western civilization while the woman of Shamlegh impresses readers with a brave image to destroy the woman’s inferiority.Through a summary of points in each chapter,this thesis helps to deepen the research on Kipling,reflecting not only Kipling’s expectation towards the British Empire but also the warm concern of the oriental India.