2020-2021

Tema 49. Construcción y administración del Imperio colonial

británico en los siglos XVIII y XIX. J. Conrad y R. Kipling.

Topic 49. Construction and administration of the Colonial

British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries. J. Conrad and
R. Kipling.
© 2021, Granada, by Stephen Pearse Hughes. All rights reserved. Any copying or
distribution, partial or otherwise, may not be undertaken without the express authorisation
of the author.

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Construction of the British Empire
2.1 The beginnings of the Empire
2.2 The 18th and 19th centuries
2.3 Administration of the Empire
3. Representative authors
3.1 Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
3.2 Representative works by Kipling
3.3 Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)
3.4 Representative works by Conrad
4. Pedagogical and curricular considerations
5. Conclusions
References
1. Introduction
The British Empire, which has been the largest in world history, had colonies across Europe, Africa, Asia
and America. So extensive was the territorial claim that this group of countries and colonies had become
famous as the Empire on which the sun never sets, and the effects of the existence of such an empire
can still be felt around the world today, for good and for ill. Despite any possible animosities caused by
territorial occupations, the British still enjoy a great deal of popularity in many of the nations that they
had previously invaded. Aside from any potential approval, the legacy of the British Empire still has
global reverberations, particularly in terms of the spread of the English language, parliamentary politics
and systems of governance and law.
The history of the British Empire is an important area of study for a number of reasons. Knowledge
of the historical events can help those with an interest in English-speaking countries to more fully
understand the reasons behind certain cultural manifestations. At the same time, the examination of
the lives and times of individuals during the period can provide opportunities for meaningful
communicative activities, tasks and projects. Finally, the contribution of important authors from the
time, such as Conrad and Kipling, have heavily influenced literature and narratives and even in cinema
production. A film version of Kipling’s The Jungle Book, released in 2016, for example, was among the
most successful movies of the year. In that sense, the treatment of biographical facts and an
approximation to their writings could provide additional cultural enrichment for students and, in some
cases, directly linked to current popular cultural phenomena.
This topic, then, will focus on British colonial rule during the 18th and 19th centuries and will also
examine the lives and some of the major works of the above-mentioned authors. At the same time, a
number of pedagogical and curricular considerations will be examined in the light of current and future
legislation (Consejería, 2016; 2020; 2021a; 2021b; MECD, 2015). The focus here will be on ways in which
this historical period and the writings of the authors might be approached in a meaningful and
motivating way in a contemporary English class.

2. Construction of the British Empire

This section will briefly discuss the British Empire from its beginnings to its end. The main focus, however,
will be on the 18th and 19th centuries. There are arguably two stages of the British Empire: 1600-1870,
which constitutes the major developments in terms of the creation of the empire and 1870-1914, which
deals with the decline of the empire. As discussed below, however, fractures within the empire were
already clearly visible throughout the 19th century and contributed to its dismantlement.

3
2.1 The beginnings of the Empire
From the 16th Century onwards, Britain had invaded several other lands and its rule lasted for 500 years.
As previously mentioned, the British had a number of important sea routes which, among other aspects,
were vital for trade and in order to protect them, it took possession of numerous territories which were
scattered throughout the world. The Empire joined parts of the world which were previously
unconnected, it produced many opportunities for trade and introduced new products and resources to
countries; it also exploited resources and produced enmity and upheaval.
In the 16th century, this colonisation was relatively slow; it was in the 17th and 18th centuries when
colonisation began in earnest. During the 17th century England set up its first colonies in North America,
Barbados and the Bermudas; Kingston was founded in the Bermudas and the English East India Company
took control of Bombay.

2.2 The 18th and 19th centuries

The 18th Century represented one of the most profitable times for British colonialism and was witness
to further expansion By the year 1700, there were already 13 British colonies on the Eastern coast of the
USA. The sugar plantations on the Caribbean islands and the slaves from West Africa represented a
major source of income for Britain and for that reason, substantial amounts of money were spent
defending existing colonies and in colonising potential rival areas.
In the second half of the 18th century, however, American colonies began to rebel against British
control. The turning point of the struggle took place in 1781 during the American War of independence,
when General Washington and an allied army placed a siege on Yorktown. In 1783, the British Parliament
declared an end to the war in America.
Among other colonisations and settlements during the 18th century, the British captured Gibraltar
and it controlled several territories in Canada; James Cook claimed the eastern coast of Australia and
British power was increasing in places such as Sri Lanka, Malta and Malaysia.
With America lost, attention turned more firmly to the newly claimed land of Australia. From the
late 18th century, Australia was primarily used as a convict colony, partially as a result of the fact that
Britain had lost one of the destinations for prisoners, many of whom would have been sent to America.
However, while it had an important role as a convict colony, it soon began to become an important
destination for British and Irish emigrants. The industrial Revolution in Britain meant that there was a
massive surge in population. People in industrialised areas had very small and poor living conditions and
the size of the population started to become a problem. Emigration to a new, spacious land, then, would
have been attractive to those wishing to escape from these conditions and at the same time, relieved
the problem of overcrowding in Britain. The introduction of sheep farming in Australia made the country

4
more profitable and economically attractive and from the 1820s onward, the expansion throughout
Australia continued and over 4 million Britons immigrated to Australia during the 19th century.
Australia, however, was not the only focus of attention, however. The British presence in India had
been extending across the continent for two centuries and traders now looked to the country to enhance
trade possibilities. In 1757 a series of Indian army commanders and other important Indian dignitaries
overthrew the national leaders. During the 19th century the British reinforced its control and rule over
India and, with the influence of the East India Tea Company, it was able to have an increased amount of
influence over the rest of Asia. By this time New Zealand also formed part of the British Empire and
Britain also claimed large areas of Africa and was in control of Hong Kong and the Suez Canal.
These final stages of British colonialism, also known as the New Empire, from 1870 to 1914, were
marked by a significant increase in overseas trade and by the growth of British industry. At the same
time, there were increased attempts by the British to control politics in the colonies.
By the 20th century, the British Empire was gradually being dismantled and the new threats posed
by Germany during the first World war, meant that it was no longer possible for Britain to “defend” all
of its colonies.

2.3. Administration of the Empire

As indicated by Mitchell (2014) the British colonies abroad were originally administered by the Secretary
of State for War along with the Board of Trade. These bodies tended to focus on their own interests
rather than those who were subjected to colonisation. At the same time, given the administrators duties
both in terms of colonies and war, full attention could not be given to many countries that formed part
of the Empire. This situation was particularly visible at the end of the 18th century and start of the 19th
century, when the British Government were engaged with the war with France and interest in colonial
affairs was generally absent on the part of ministers, including successive Prime Ministers.
During this period, the Colonial Office began to deal with a number of important issues. First among
these issues was that of addressing the question of the slave trade, which was abolished in 1807; slavery
itself was abolished in 1833. In addition, some efforts were made to improve the conditions of
indigenous peoples. The introduction of improved communications between Britain and the colonies, as
well as the establishment of a civil service, contributed to more effective forms of colonial
administration. Between the years of 1815 to the early 1900s, the majority of British colonies were
granted some sort of internal government, although most of the concessions were made to white
colonies.
A number of colonies had argued with or fought against Britain for their independence. In the
previous century the United States had gained their independence from Britain, signing their Declaration

5
of Independence in 1776. Over the next century, other events were to effect the make-up of the empire.
These events included:
• 1840: the creation of the province of Canada
• Early 1900s: independence for New Zealand and Australia
• Late 1800s and early 1900s: rebellions in Ireland which eventually led to the creation of a
Free State for 26 counties

Essentially, by the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century, the Empire was
divided into two parts: countries which were under direct rule from London and those parts of the
empire which were self-governed. Around this time, a series of meetings called Colonial Conferences
were organised in an attempt to improve links with self-governing territories. It would appear, however,
that these attempts would not be effective in holding the Empire together.

3. Representative authors
The 18th and 19th centuries represented a period in which writings in the English language flourished.
Daniel Defoe has been attributed with having begun the English Novel with Robinson Crusoe (1719) and
Moll Flanders (1722). Many important classical works, spanning from Swift, Blake, Coleridge, the
Brontës, Austen and Dickens, to name but a few, were to have a lasting impact on the prose, poetry and
drama.
An important element for several authors involved life in British colonies. The expansion of the
British Empire meant that it was fundamentally linked to other countries and cultures and part of
Britain's identity was defined in terms of its colonies. The Empire was to become an important topic for
many writers, who depicted lifestyles and living conditions, curiosities and anxieties. Two such authors,
Rudyard Kipling and Joseph Conrad, are discussed below.

3.1 Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Rudyard Kipling, one of the most popular prose and verse writers between the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, is closely associated with the British Empire. Kipling was born in 1865 in Bombay (Mumbai),
India, where his father worked as Principal at the Jejeebhoy School of Art and industry. He spent the first
six years of his life in India and then went to England, where he attended school. There is a contrast
between his childhood years in India, which are described as being ‘idyllic’ and the time spent in England,
where he attended boarding school and was later in a foster home, where he was physically abused.
This left him emotionally scarred and with a strong sense of betrayal.

6
 Kipling was later to write ‘Stalky and Co’, which was a series of short stories set in a boarding school
based on those schooldays. One of the main characters, Beetle, is based on Kipling and the stories
contain many elements, such as bullying and vilence, that he had suffered as a pupil.
After his school experience in England, Kipling returned to India in 1882 and worked as a journalist,
where he wrote about life in the India. In the limited spare time that he had, he wrote many poems and
short stories, several of which became successful. The ‘Barrack-Room Ballads’ was one collection of
songs and poems which won him fame after his return to England in 1889. This collection depicted the
British Army in India, it was written in vernacular dialect and contained some of Kipling’s most famous
poems, including ‘Gunga Din’. This was followed by the completion of several other successful short
stories. Indeed, Kipling influenced the rapid development of the short story in Britain and, as Malcom
(2009) suggests, this can be illustrated in the complexity and sophistication of his story The Mark of the
Beast in 1891, which is a supernatural story ‘of complex imperial adventure’ set in north India.
After a trip to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India, he later married Carrie Wolcott, the
sister of an American friend. and, he settled with Carrie in Vermont. There he wrote two of his most
famous works: Captains Courageous and the greater part of the two Jungle Books and Kim as well as the
famous poems If and Recessional.
In 1899 Kipling returned to England alone. That year he published the previously mentioned Stalky
and Co. The same year, his one-year-old daughter Josephine, died, which had a profound effect on the
author.

3.2 Representative works by Kipling

The two writings discussed here include the first ‘Jungle Book’ and the poem ‘If’, which are among his
most popular works. In the first case, The Jungle Book is a series of stories that tells the story of Mowgli,
a child who is raised by wolves in the jungle in India, and at the same time gives voices to a series of
animals that live in the jungle. Mowgli struggles throughout the story with his human identity. At first
he is accepted by the other animals as a wolf and learns about the personalities of different animals in
the jungle; when he meets humans, however, he is confounded and dismayed by their greed and
destructiveness. This and other themes are continued in other stories belonging to the Jungle Book,
which also includes the famous story about a mongoose, Riki-Tikki-Tavi. The Jungle Book while very
popular already, became even more popular with the advent of the Disney animated film of the same
name, and once again with the Hollywood blockbuster in 2016.
One of Kipling’s most famous poems, 'If', was written in 1910. The poem was inspired by British
colonist Leander Starr Jameson, who was a prominent figure in the Jameson Raid, which was a failed
uprising by colonists in Johannesburg uprising. It is a poem written in the form of advice from a father

7
to his son. It is one of the most popular and beloved poems in Britain and, in addition to expressing the
virtues of responsible adulthood and ‘the ideal man’, it is often seen to represent certain typical
characteristics of British stoicism and the “stiff upper lip”.

3.3 Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)

Joseph Conrad was considered to be one of the greatest novelists in the English language, despite the
fact that he was not fluent in English. His style was unique in English literature, arguably, perhaps,
because he brought distinctly non-English elements into play in his works.
Conrad was born in December 1857 in the Russian occupied Polish Ukraine. His father was a writer
and translator and had completed translations by Victor Hugo and Shakespeare but his family, as part of
the Polish noble gentry, were under constant surveillance by those close to the Russian occupiers and
his father was exiled to Siberia, accused of plotting against the Russian government. When his parents
died of tuberculosis, he came under the protection of his uncle from Cracow in Poland. His childhood,
then, was marked by the struggle of his Polish homeland and several members of his family showed
patriotic conviction. The political turmoil which he had to endure, however, proved to be very disturbing
for Conrad as a boy and as a young man and this bears through in his novel Heart of Darkness (discussed
below).
When he was 17 he travelled to Marseilles and became a sailor. He began to learn English at the age
of 21, when he signed up on an English ship. Several years later he became a British citizen. In 1890 he
took the command of a steamship in the Congo but the time he spent in Africa affected his health and
he had to return to England to recover. His multiple experiences, primarily from his early life and the
struggles of his native Poland, along with his time spent at sea and in the countries he had visited, helped
hm to create a series of short stories and novels that dealt with both European colonialism and the
darker aspects of the human soul.

3.4 Representative works by Conrad

Conrad began his first novel, ‘Almayer’s Folly’, in 1889 and finished it in 1894. This story deals with greed
and the desire for money and power in the Dutch East Indies. Almayer is a businessman who dreams of
finding gold in a hidden mine. This novel was not as well received by critics as his later work, although
Conrad’s depiction of Almayer’s daughter, Nina as a strong female character has been given a certain
degree of attention.
After ‘Almayer’s Folly’, Conrad began to write a number of books and short stories in rapid
succession. These often deal with ambiguity in human nature and contain plots related to life at sea.
One example of this is ‘The Nigger of Narcissus’ (1897). This is Conrad’s first major novel and it deals

8
with a black sailor who died of tuberculosis. It is based on a shipmate of Conrad’s, who similarly died on
a voyage at sea. The title is obviously problematic in modern times and in America, it was changed to
‘The Children of the Sea’. Another example is ‘Lord Jim’ (1900), which tells of a man called Marlow’s
attempts to discover the story of Jim from several sources. Certain techniques, such as the
fragmentation of time and the juxtaposition of non-chronological events was just one of the innovations
of the novel.
Around this time, the short story was closely linked to British imperial ideology, however, as Malcom
(2009) indicates, Conrad was critical of such an ideology and in his publications of ‘An Outpost of
Progress’ (1898), for example, he shows a high degree of hostility towards the colonial project.
After these publications, Conrad was to publish a further three novels in the same decade which
were to be considered among his best writings. The first of these was Conrad’s celebrated novel Heart
of Darkness, which he began writing in 1898 and published in 1902. This short novel also has Marlow as
narrator and details his journey into the Belgian Congo; this journey has a parallel metaphorical journey
into the heart of darkness of humankind. Marlow appears to be a guest on the ship and works as an
ivory transporter. The story tells of how Marlow witnesses the shocking consequences that European
trading has had on the natives, who are treated like animals. The novel ultimately deals with the
potential of the human heart to be dark and evil.
In this novel, it is also important to mention how Conrad provides a bridge between the Victorian
age and modernism. On the one hand, it portrays traditional Victorian society, where women are
relegated to household roles and morality features prominently. At the same time, however, it brings
into play the themes of isolation and alienation which characterise modernist literature.
The theme of negative traits of the human heart are also treated in Conrads (1904) novel
‘Nostromo’. This is the complex story of an imaginary South American Republic, Costaguana. Again
foreign exploitation is an important focus of the novel as the author deals with the effects of human
greed on fellow human beings. This is markedly a political novel and the political setting is that of a
nationalist revolution in reaction to foreign intervention and exploitation. The story is complex in its
inclusion of narrative devices such as flashback and flashforward. Nostromo is presented as an Italian
expatriate who is treated as incorruptible by his employer Captain Mitchell and who entrusts him with
a substantial quantity of silver. In the end, however, Conrad shows that almost no one is incorruptible.
While Conrad continued to write about travel, he also continued to explore the world of politics and
political intrigue. This can be seen in his publication ‘The Secret Agent’ (1907). The novel, which is set in
London, tells of a secret agent called Verloc, who has a group of friends, including Stevie, who are
anarchists and terrorists fighting for the proletariat and who plan to blow up the Greenwich
Observatory. At the time of writing, terrorism was present both in Britain and the USA; this included

9
bomb attacks and assassination attempts of Presidents and Prime Ministers. This book would also
appear to portray the first suicide bomber in English literature.
While the novel was not particularly well received at the time, it has come to be considered as one
of Conrad’s finest works and, indeed to have a large degree of relevance to our times. The novel was
one of the most widely read books in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York and is considered
to be a book which foretells the state and nature of terrorism as seen in the 20th and 21st Centuries.

4. Pedagogical and curricular considerations

The recently published Companion Volume to the Common European Framework (CoE, 2020) highlights
the key role played by pluricultural competence in language learning. Here, we are reminded that
languages and culture are not isolated components and that it is important for learners to enhance their
capacity to deal with ‘otherness’ and to be able to act as intercultural mediators.
In this sense, the history of the British Empire and the intercultural manifestations that arise
from its existence are all areas which are relevant to English language teaching and learning. The cultural
component alone provides a rich area of information and intercultural awareness which may be easily
employed in fulfilment of the objectives established in legislation for language education. Within current
and future regional curricular legislation, sociocultural and sociolinguistic concerns are integrated in
every skill and at every stage (Consejería, 2016; 2020; 2021a; 2021b). Similarly, as indicated in Order
ECD/65/2015 (MEC, 2015) the sociocultural component has a fundamental role to play in the
development of linguistic and communicative competence. This component essentially covers two
areas: cultural knowledge and intercultural awareness.
Indeed, students must be able to understand and critically appreciate different cultural
manifestations and at the same time be able to express themselves creatively using different 'artistic
and cultural codes'. These skills may be obtained through the use of projects and task-based learning,
which have the potential to develop not only linguistic and cultural competence, but, indeed, all of the
remaining key competences as well. Here, possible related topics for tasks and projects could include:
• The life and times of authors
• Forms of slavery, discrimination and cultural clashes
• Adapted versions and synopsis of stories and novels
• Exploitation of film extracts
• Design of travel brochures

Of course, any activities, tasks or projects conducted in this area would need to fulfil the criteria of
appropriateness to student age, language level and interests (see Newby et al, 2007; Harmer, 2012); but
the wealth of material available here means that there is a great potential for finding activities to suit all
levels within secondary education.
10
5. Conclusion
Given the strong focus there is today on the need for mutual intercultural awareness, respect and
understanding, the development of tasks and projects based on the British Empire could prove to be an
important authentic forum for the development of linguistic and cultural competence in addition to
other key competences. The skills and knowledge attained throughout the process of working on areas
related to a wide variety of contexts can help students to move away from a narrow view of English
speaking countries and open their perspectives to different traditions, practices and even varieties of
the language. The great diversity of historical events and literary works that were present during these
two centuries of the British Empire provides an opportunity for students to engage in purposeful and
meaningful tasks and allows for the development of several key competences, including, but not limited
to, those related to linguistic and cultural competence.

Legislation
Consejería (2016). Orden de 14 de julio de 2016, por la que se desarrolla el currículo correspondiente al
Bachillerato en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
Consejería (2020). INSTRUCCIÓN 9/2020, de 15 de junio, de la Dirección General de Ordenación y Evaluación
Educativa, por la que se establecen aspectos de organización y funcionamiento para los centros que
imparten Educación Secundaria Obligatoria.
Consejería (2021a). ORDEN de 15 de enero de 2021, por la que se desarrolla el currículo correspondiente a
la etapa de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
Consejería (2021b). ORDEN de 15 de enero de 2021, por la que se desarrolla el currículo correspondiente a
la etapa de Bachillerato en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
MECD (2015). Orden ECD/65/2015, de 21 de enero, por la que se describen las relaciones entre las
competencias, los contenidos y los criterios de evaluación de la educación primaria, la educación
secundaria obligatoria y el bachillerato.

References
CoE (2020). Common European Framework of reference for languages: learning, teaching,
assessment. Companion volume with new descriptors. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Harmer, J. (2012). Essential teacher knowledge: Core concepts in English language teaching.
Harlow: Pearson.
McIntyre, W.D. (2009). A Guide to the Contemporary Commonwealth. New York: Palgrave.
Malcom, D. (2009). The British and Irish Short Story Handbook. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Mitchell, K. (2014). Administrators of the British Empire. https://history.blog.gov.uk/
Newby, D. et al.(2007). European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages. Graz: European
Centre for Modern Languages.

11