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Abstract: The article examines the problems of intertextual relations between R. Kipling's story The Man Who Would Be King (1888) and the lyrics by the British rock band “Iron Maiden”, bearing the same title (2010). The authors explore the influence of social, political, cultural, colonial and post-colonial backgrounds on these texts. Looking into the ideological and literary foundations of both works of art, they argue that Kipling and the “Iron Maiden” suggest their own interpretations of the common archetypical images – including an antique hero, biblical character, secret society member, trickster, militant educator and repentant sinner. The article analyzes the ambiguity of the authors’ interpretations of characters in both works, with an emphasis on the lyrics of “Iron Maiden”, drawing examples from ancient ‘classical’, pagan, Mesopotamian, Old and New Testament mythologies. The au- thors of the article comment the departure of “Iron Maiden” from Kipling’s concept – particularly, his irony and critical vision of the leading characters as bearers of the imperial ideology and the idea of “the white man’s burden”, for whom a trip to an unknown country turns into a colonial invasion. The lyrics of “Iron Maiden” offer a different perspective of their character’s progress – he is crossing the mountain border out of his pride; from the very start showing his contempt for the Terrestrial, attracted by the beauty of the Celestial, he starts a metaphorical ascent to himself – to realize his own worthlessness and the fatal loss of the human essence in himself. The article focuses on “Iron Maiden”’s lyrical empathy with a lost soul, emphasizing the idea of fate and the inevitability of punishment, heavenly penance and salvation through repentance. In many ways, such a turn might be explained by the peculiar aesthetics of heavy metal as a contemporary music genre. The article highlights that the correlation of the images by Kipling and “Iron Maiden” with the universal archetypes does contribute to their fuller intertextual dialogue and actualizes the bond between the “grand” literature and the rock poetry, revealing the creative, critical and educational potential of both.

About the author(s) :

Boris M. Proskurnin
Perm State National Research University (Perm, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5077-1650

Andrei L. Khokhryakov
Perm State National Research University (Perm, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3391-5632

Publication Timeline:

Date of receipt: 17.03.2024; date of publication: 31.03.2024

References:

Sources
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