BOOKS OF THE WORLD| British Writers Were Racist?

Hello, how are you? Here I am with a new episode of our podcast about human rights and other interesting topics. It's a pleasure to be here again, sharing stories and experiences with you.

This series is a journey through literature without borders. In each episode, I dive into a book, an author, or a literary movement from different parts of the world. Because books are passports too, and every story carries us closer to new cultures, languages, and ways of seeing life. 

After reading and analyzing several works of English literature, specifically those written in the 19th and early 20th centuries, coinciding with the expansion of the British Empire, it could be said that there are authors whose works, on the surface, seem to denounce imperialist actions, but are quite the opposite. Today I'm talking about Rudyard Kipling and Roald Dahl.

It often happens that we see authors as idols who don't make mistakes, but analyzing their lives, beyond their work, we see that the author of "The Jungle Book" had his own controversial political ideas, a product of the deeply classist and colonialist society of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in which he lived.

The same is true for Roald Dahl, whose museum in the UK has condemned the writer's "undeniable" racism and lamented racism "directed at any group or individual" due to his antisemitic views about the Jewish people.

That’s the end of today’s episode. Thank you so much for joining me on this literary journey. Until next time, may the stories you read take you further than you ever imagined. 

If you have any comments or suggestions for future episodes, I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Patricia López Muñoz

Student of English Studies

Higher Technician in Sociocultural Animation

Specialist in Immigration

Higher Technician in Social Integration