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Joseph Conrad (1857—1924). The son of a Polish rebel, whose real name was Juseph Teodor Konrad Korzieniewski, made his mark in English letters as a master of the sea-novel. Just as Stevenson did, Conrad rebelled against the dull, selfish existence that the bourgeoisie led. A man of the sea, who rose from sailor
To captain in the British merchant navy, Conrad found what he looked for in the vivid life of adventure, in the romance of the sea and distant voyages.
The characteristics of his hero are those of a strong, energetic man, who opposes bourgeois society and looks for a happiness elsewhere. Conrad was much influenced by Russian literature which he knew well, especially by Dostoyevski and this influence can be well seen in the psychological analysis of his characters, which went much deeper than Stevenson's. Among his many works Lord Jim is considered outstanding It is the story of a young officer who is guilty of leaving his ship danger, with passengers on board. He spends his life trying to pay for this crime, far away from his country. The romance of strong, energetic characters, either dedicated to science or to adventure, that we find in the works of the neoromanticists of the period had a strongly defined humanist approach.
However, there were other writers of the period, whose praise of individual strength became a direct form of imperialist propaganda. Such was Rudyard Kipling (1865—1936). Kipling was the son of well-to-do parents, bom and brought up in India; his first impressions were those of India's countryside and people.
He introduced a new theme into English literature — that of the life of British people in the colonies. Kipling asserted white man's, the Englishman's, right to rule over the native population, calling it "a white man's burden". In his books, however, the idea of colonial expansion concealed by descriptions of beautiful exotic things. Admiration for strength and activity sounded as a call to submit the weaker peoples: it was heard in the songs of the British soldiers, who were sent by their government to conquer India. At the very beginning of his work as a writer Kipling created his famous poems dedicated to the soldier of the British empire. His best ones, from the point of view of their poetical value, were the Barrack Room Ballads, addressed to Tommy Atkins. (Tommy Atkins generalized name for the British soldier.) These poems were written in the form of songs that could be sung to popular music: they have catchy, rhythmical refrains and their form is the traditional one of English folklore songs. But the content is entirely new; it is clearly military and racial, which is quite alien to English folklore.
Among Kipling's best works are the Jungle Book, a collection of stories of the jungle, in most of which Mowgli, a child brought up by a pack of wolves, plays the major role. By means of a logical system of images, in very simple but carefully selected words, he constructs his stories of man's mastery over the alien forces of nature. He gives the jungle beasts Indian names that make the stories sound mysterious and exotic (Sheer Khan, Bagheera, Baloo, Kaa). Kipling was the first writer to get the Nobel prize for short stories.
10. Critical Realism of the Early XX century. J.Galsworthy, H.G.Wells, B.Shaw and their major works.
LITERATURE OF THE EARLY 20th CENTURY
The Boer War lasted from October 1899 to May 1902. The English suffered many difficulties and losses at the beginning of the war, but they came out of it victors. However, this victory did not improve the negative attitude of progressive people in England towards bourgeois ideology and culture, towards its social life and economic development. During the 1890s critical realism continued to develop in the works of many writers. One of them was George Meredith (1828—1909). He is considered to be a master of irony. In his novel The Egoist he drew a portrait of a typical representative of the upper strata of English society and revealed the egoism that ruled their lives.
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