The mythology of imperialism : a revolutionary critique of British literature and society in the modern age : Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad, E.M. Forster, D.H. Lawrence, and Joyce Cary / by Jonah Raskin

Includes bibliographical references (pages 333-335).

A voice from the third world -- Introduction: bombard the critics -- Chaos: the culture of imperialism -- Kipling's contrasts -- Portrait of the artist as imperialist -- Terror -- Imperia Romana -- Kim: the middle way -- Conrad's contradictions -- Season in hell -- Lord Jim: white skins -- The darkness of the gulf -- Russians and revolutions -- Forster and Cary: old and new -- Disconnections -- Trips east -- School Lessons: history and geometry -- Mister Johnson: on the road -- The end: neo-colonialism -- Works of passion and imagination.

"The Mythology of Imperialism is a totally innovational and revolutionary view of the origins of the modern British literary tradition as seen through the works of Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad, E. M. Forster, D. H. Lawrence and Joyce Cary. What emerges is a comprehensive examination of the artist and his relationship to society, his links to his ancestors and his responsibility to the future. The Mythology of Imperialism defines the role of the artist in the modern age, the impact of economic and social conditions on his art and the power of the writer to shape his own society. Raskin offers several clear-cut portraits of these relationships. For example, there is Rudyard Kipling, the artist who defends the status quo, who is owned by the establishment. He is seen as the official artist of the ruling elite, whose work suffers because of Kipling's failure to become a rebel. Joseph Conrad is described as a writer who, caught in the conflict of his day, welcomes the creative-giving powers of change and chaos, and undermines the value of sacred tradition, continuity and order. Raskin sees Conrad as perhaps the most representative of his time - a vanguard artist because he stand in direct opposition to the dominant strains of his own society, namely, the decadence and repressiveness of British imperialism." --From the dust jacket

"We, the readers and students of literature, have been hijacked. The literary critics, our teachers, those assassins of culture, have put us up against the wall and held us captive." So begins Jonah Raskin’s The Mythology of Imperialism. When first published in 1971, this book was nothing short of a call to arms, an open revolt against the literary establishment. In his critique of five well-known British writers—Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, D. H. Lawrence, E. M. Forster, and Joyce Cary—Raskin not only developed the model for a revolutionary anti-imperialist criticism, but, through this book’s influence on Edward Said, helped usher in the field of postcolonial studies. Nearly four decades later, The Mythology of Imperialism is all the more relevant. Its readings of British literature still offer bold and original insight into the relationship between text, artist, and historical context. But, perhaps more crucially, this book sends a revolutionary message to all readers and students of literature. Against much of today’s postcolonialism—diluted by postmodern obfuscation and largely detached from its historical roots—Raskin locates the center of his anti-imperialist criticism in the anti-imperialist struggle itself and takes his cues not from "the assassins of culture" in the academy but from the national liberation movements of his time." --From NYUpress.org