International Journal of Language & Literature

The Pharmakon of Second Language Learning in Kipling’s Kim
Maria D. Lombard

Abstract
The significance of learning and thinking in a second language (L2) reflects the communication strategies, difference, and parallels seen within Rudyard Kipling’s novel Kim. The main character of the novel, Kim, is caught in the colonial struggle of learning a language that is not his own, with great impact to his identity. Relevant social and cultural context impacts the learners of a second language and the use of their native or second language. Viewed synonymously with British Empire itself within the novel, the English language can be seen as politically, morally, and linguistically destabilizing to the sub-continental languages described in Kim. Equally, the many languages of India described in the novel can be seen as infiltrating the English language that Kipling and other British authors like E. M. Forster used to write their colonial-era novels about India. This article is a close reading of the novel, and offers theoretical and pedagogical discussion.

Full Text: PDF      DOI: 10.15640/ijll.v4n2a7