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English Language and Literature Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

City University of New York (CUNY)

2020

Empire

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in English Language and Literature

Fantastic Borderlands And Masonic Meta-Religion In Rudyard Kipling’S “The Man Who Would Be King”, Lucas Kwong Jul 2020

Fantastic Borderlands And Masonic Meta-Religion In Rudyard Kipling’S “The Man Who Would Be King”, Lucas Kwong

Publications and Research

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 …


Defoe’S Robinson Crusoe: “Maps,” Natural Law, And The Enemy, Ala Alryyes Jan 2020

Defoe’S Robinson Crusoe: “Maps,” Natural Law, And The Enemy, Ala Alryyes

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.