Representation of Misrepresentation; A Reorientalist Study of Kim and Mehbub in Rudyard Kipling’s Kim (1901)
Keywords:
Misrepresentation; the Subcontinent; Re-orientalism; KimAbstract
This research paper investigates the characters Kim and Mehbub in Kipling’s Kim (1901) from reorentalist perspectives. It is a qualitative study that highlights and analyses the elements of misrepresentation of the subcontinent through these characters. This study uses Dabashi’s concept of reorientalism to analyze the selected novel. The analysis of the novel reveals that the West holds a negative perspective towards the East. As depicted in the novel, the East embodies a negative identity. Any negative, pessimistic, immoral, and unsocial events that occur in the novel are associated with characters from the subcontinent. The current study identifies and examines these excerpts from the novel, revealing its negative portrayal of a specific society, namely the subcontinent. The novel portrays the West as the savior of humanity, devoid of any negativity. As a hybrid race, Kim, who is white by blood but has grown up in the subcontinent, embodies both the West's goodness and the East's evil features. It is concluded that good and bad are everywhere, and this should not be stereotyped with a specific locality.
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