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Travelling between journalism and literature: kipling’s art in crossing fixed textual borders

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The paper explores Kipling’s art and craftsmanship as a storyteller, whether one is talking about real/factual news reporting or imaginary stories. The main focus falls on Kipling’s experience both as a journalist and a writer in order to problematize the blurring line that sometimes divides these two genres of narrative regarding their commitment to telling the truth. Three texts were chosen for this purpose: “The Sutlej Bridge”, a news article published by the Civil and Military Gazette (1887); and two tales “The Man Who Would Be King” (Wee Willie Winkie, 1888) and “The Bridge Builders” (The Day’s Work, 1898). From a thematic perspective, these narratives are linked, on the one hand, by the act of construction — the construction of bridges or empire-building — and, on the other hand, by the role of the journalist in reporting what he sees and/or listens to. The analysis demonstrates that fiction/literature can often supersede in scope and depthness factual accounts of reality, thus aiming to reach higher levels of truthfulness.
Resumo: O artigo explora a arte e mestria de Kipling como contador de “histórias”, sejam elas reais/factuais ou imaginárias. A sua experiência como jornalista e escritor é o nosso objeto de análise no sentido de problematizar a ténue linha divisória que, por vezes, separa os dois géneros de narrativa no que respeita o seu compromisso com o contar a verdade. Escolhemos para o efeito três textos: “The Sutlej Bridge”, um artigo publicado pelo jornal Civil and Military Gazette (1887); e os contos “The Man Who Would Be King (Wee Willie Winkie, 1888) e “The Bridge Builders” (The Day’s Work, 1898). A unir estas narrativas, do ponto de vista temático, temos, por um lado, o ato da construção — a construção de pontes ou a construção de impérios — e, por outro, o papel do jornalista em relatar o que vê e/ou o que ouve. A análise demonstra que a ficção/literatura pode muitas das vezes ultrapassar em dimensão e profundidade as narrativas do real, alcançando assim níveis superiores de veracidade.

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Journalism Literature Constructivism British empire Jornalismo Literatura Construtivismo Império britânico

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SIMÕES-FERREIRA, Isabel - Travelling between journalism and literature: kipling’s art in crossing fixed textual borders. “Revista Anglo-Saxónica”. Lisboa: Centro de Estudos Anglísticos da Universidade de Lisboa/University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies. ISSN 0873-0628. Série III, nº 13 (2017), pp. 45-58

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Centro de Estudos Anglísticos da Universidade de Lisboa/University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies

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