‘A modern fable for all readers’
Feral Dreams, Stephen Alter’s new novel, takes the story of Kipling’s Mowgli forward in time and into fresh terrain
1What informed your decision to revisit Mowgli’s life?
The Jungle Books have been part of my imagination since childhood when my parents first read the stories to me and then later, when I began to read them myself. Having always had a fascination for wildlife, Mowgli’s world appealed to me on many levels. Initially, when I conceived of Feral Dreams, I thought I would rework the story of the man-cub as a children’s book, updating it but keeping the focus on younger readers. However, as I began the process of writing, it struck me that there were a number of adult themes and situations. So what I ended up with is a modern fable that I hope will entertain readers of all ages.
2
The law of the jungle, something Kipling propounded through Jungle Book, is often interpreted as a British imperialist projection. How far do you agree with this perception?
I’ve always been puzzled by the phrase “the law of the jungle” because it suggests a human, magisterial perspective on nature. In Kipling’s books there is certainly a colonial voice at the heart of the story imposing British ideas of morality and discipline on the Indian jungle. The whole idea of a wolf-child becomes a metaphor that’s loaded with imperial prejudices. In some ways, I hope that my book questions and overturns some of these colonial perceptions by giving Mowgli a different set of problems and opportunities.
3
A character in the book says that “the truth is that a child of his [Mowgli’s] age would have been more likely to be eaten in the wild by any number of predators, rather than nurtured”. What is your take on nature versus nurture?
Obviously, the idea that other creatures might adopt a foundling like Mowgli is absurd. Nevertheless, this primal story is part of the mythology of many cultures, from the character of Enkidu in the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh to Romulus and Remus in ancient Rome. The Ramayana and Mahabharata also recount divine and human beings exiled in the forest. This mythology provides a potent narrative for environmental conservation in our world today.
4Your parents and grandparents were missionaries. How much of the personal have you drawn from in Feral
Dreams?
Every work of fiction contains elements of the author’s own experience. In Feral Dreams, Mowgli ends up being adopted by an American missionary in India. Obviously, I was drawing upon my own memories of growing up within that community. At the same time, there is both a sense of nostalgia and alienation that I couldn’t avoid weaving into the story because of my ambivalence regarding missionary motives. As a counterpoint to the pieties and dogma that have never appealed to me, I introduced a character who is a “Christian dacoit,” partly because I wanted to tease my readers with that phrase.