white man's burden

The white man's burden Katherine Aust - a satirical view from an 1899 edition of Life Magazine

This 1890s advertisement for soap uses the theme of the White Man's Burden, encouraging white people to teach cleanliness to members of other races.

"The White Man's Burden" is a poem by the English poet Rudyard Kipling. It was originally published in the popular magazine McClure's in 1899, with the subtitle The United States and the Philippine Islands.^[1] Although Kipling's poem mixed exhortation to empire with sober warnings of the costs involved, imperialists within the United States latched onto the phrase "white man's burden" as a characterization for imperialism that justified the policy as a noble enterprise.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

The poem was originally written for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, but exchanged for "Recessional"; Kipling changed the text of "Burden" to reflect the subject of American colonization.^[7] The poem consists of seven stanzas, following a regular rhyme scheme. At face value it appears to be a rhetorical command to white men to colonize and rule people of other nations for their own benefit (both the people and the duty may be seen as representing the "burden" of the title). Because of its theme and title, it has become emblematic both of Eurocentric racism and of Western aspirations to dominate the developing world.^[8][9][10] A century after its publication, the poem still rouses strong emotions, and can be analyzed from a variety of perspectives.

Differing interpretations

The white man's burden - The Journal, Detroit, 1923.

A Eurocentric analysis of the poem may conclude that Kipling presents a Eurocentric view of the world, in which non-European cultures are seen as childlike. This view proposes that white people consequently have an obligation to rule over, and encourage the cultural development of people from other ethnic and cultural backgrounds until they can take their place in the world by fully adopting Western ways. The term "the white man's burden" has been interpreted as racist, or taken as a metaphor for a condescending view of non-Western national culture and economic traditions, identified as a sense of European ascendancy which has been called "cultural imperialism". An alternative interpretation is the philanthropic view, common in Kipling's formative years, that the rich have a moral duty and obligation to help "the poor" "better" themselves whether the poor want the help or not.^[11]

Within a historical context, the poem makes clear the prevalent attitudes that allowed colonialism to proceed. Although a belief in the virtues of empire was wide-spread at the time, there were also many dissenters; the publication of the poem caused a flurry of arguments from both sides, most notably from Mark Twain and Henry James.^[12] While Kipling may have intended the piece as a form of satire, much of Kipling's other writing does suggest that he genuinely believed in the "beneficent role" which the introduction of Western ideas could play in lifting non-Western peoples out of poverty and ignorance^{[citation needed]}. Lines 3-5, and other parts of the poem suggest that it is not just the native people who are enslaved, but also the "functionaries of empire", who are caught in colonial service and may die while helping other races less fortunate than themselves. An analysis focused on the social status and background of colonial officers active at the time is lacking; as is one of the Christian missionary movement, also quite active at the time in parts of the world under colonial rule (e.g. the Christian and Missionary Alliance) which also emphasized the theme of aiding those less fortunate.

Some commentators also point to Kipling's history of satirical writing, and suggest that "The White Man's Burden" is in fact meant to undermine imperialism. Chris Snodgrass, in A Companion to Victorian Poetry^[13] describes Kipling's poetry as "imperial sensibilities with wry irony and skepticism, viewing all human endeavors as ultimately transitory". Kipling also wrote many poems celebrating the working classes, particularly the common soldier. Six months after "The White Man's Burden" was published, he wrote "The Old Issue", a stinging criticism of the Second Boer War, and an attack on the unlimited, despotic power of kings. The Norton Anthology of English Literature argues it is no satire, but in line with Kipling's strong imperialism and a belief of a "Divine Burden to reign God's Empire on Earth", that other, less Christian nations would otherwise take.^[7] Still, some find Kipling's work fascinating because his pro-imperialist stance did not blind him to the less glamorous and more perilous aspects of imperialism. According to Steve Sailer, writer John Derbyshire has described Kipling as "an imperialist utterly without illusions about what being an imperialist actually means. Which, in some ways, means that he was not really an imperialist at all."^[14]

Several parodies and other forms of critical works have used themes or quotes collected from Kipling's poem. Early examples include Henry Labouchère's poem "The Brown Man's Burden" (1899),^[15] British journalist Edmund Morel's 1903 article criticizing imperialist practices in the Congo Free State,^[16] and Ernest Crosby's poem "The Real White Man’s Burden" (1902).^[17]

See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The White Man's Burden

• The text of the poem at Fordham University
• Colonialism
• 1899 in poetry
• 1899 in literature
• List of the works of Rudyard Kipling

Notes

References

• A Companion to Victorian Poetry, Alison Chapman; Blackwell, Oxford, 2002.
• Chisholm, Michael (1982). Modern World Development: A Geographical Perspective. Rowman & Littlefield, 1982, ISBN 0389203203.
• Cody, David. The growth of the British Empire. The Victorian Web, University Scholars Program, National University of Singapore, November 2000.
• Crosby, Ernest (1902). The Real White Man’s Burden. Funk and Wagnalls Company, 32-35.
• Dixon, Thomas (1902). The Leopard's Spots - A Romance of the White Man's Burden 1865-1900.
• "Eurocentrism". In Encyclopedia of the Developing World. Ed. Thomas M. Leonard, Taylor & Francis, 2006, ISBN 0415976626.
• Greenblatt, Stephen (ed.). Norton Anthology of English Literature, New York 2006 ISBN 0-393-92532-3
• Kipling. Fordham University. Full text of the poem.
• Labouchère, Henry (1899). "The Brown Man's Burden".
• Mama, Amina (1995). Beyond the Masks: Race, Gender, and Subjectivity. Routledge, 1995, ISBN 0415035449.
• Miller, Stuart Creighton (1982). Benevolent Assimilation: The American Conquest of the Philippines, 1899-1903. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03081-9.
• Pimentel, Benjamin (October 26, 2003). "The Philippines; "Liberator" Was Really a Colonizer; Bush's revisionist history". The San Francisco Chronicle: D3.
• Sailer, Steve (2001). "What Will Happen In Afghanistan?". United Press International, 26 September 2001.
• Snodgrass, Chris (2002). A Companion to Victorian Poetry. Blackwell, Oxford.
• "The White Man's Burden." McClure's Magazine 12 (Feb. 1899).

Further reading

• Outline of Sanity Alzina Stone Dale; iUniverse, 2005.

v • d • e   Philippine Revolution (1896–1898)   Events Prelude: Gomburza · Katagalugan (Bonifacio) · Tejeros Convention · Republic of Biak-na-Bato · Biak-na-Bato Elections · Pact of Biak-na-Bato · Spanish-American War · Declaration of Independence · Malolos Congress · República Filipina · Negros Revolution · Treaty of Paris · Philippine–American War · Katagalugan (Sacay) · Moro Rebellion · Epilogue: Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916 · Philippine Independence Act · Commonwealth of the Philippines · Treaty of Manila · Republic of the Philippines Organizations American Anti-Imperialist League · Aglipayan Church · Katipunan · La Liga Filipina · La Solidaridad · Magdalo faction · Magdiwang faction  · Philippine Constabulary · Philippine Revolutionary Army · Pulajanes · Propaganda Movement Objects El filibusterismo · Flags of the Philippine Revolution · Kartilya ng Katipunan · Lupang Hinirang · Malolos Constitution · Mi último adiós · Noli Me Tangere · Flag of the Philippines · Spoliarium · The War Prayer  · The White Man's Burden People Juan Abad · Gregorio Aglipay · Baldomero Aguinaldo · Emilio Aguinaldo · Melchora Aquino · Juan Araneta · Andrés Bonifacio · Josephine Bracken · Dios Buhawi · Francisco Carreón · Ladislao Diwa · Gregoria de Jesús · Gregorio del Pilar · Marcelo H. del Pilar · George Dewey · Dominador Gomez · Papa Isio · Emilio Jacinto · León Kilat · Rudyard Kipling · Aniceto Lacson · Graciano López Jaena · Vicente Lukban · Antonio Luna · Juan Luna · Apolinario Mabini · Sultan of Maguindanao · Miguel Malvar · Arcadio Maxilom · William McKinley · Patricio Montojo · Simeón Ola · José Palma · Jose Ma. Panganiban · Mariano Ponce · Artemio Ricarte · José Rizal · Paciano Rizal · Macario Sakay · Sultan of Sulu · Martin Teofilo Delgado  · Manuel Tinio · Mariano Trías · Mark Twain ·