Why did Rudyard Kipling’s literary reputation decline after World War I?

Following World War I, Rudyard Kipling’s reputation as a serious writer declined primarily because he was widely perceived as a jingoistic imperialist. His staunch support for British imperialism and his conviction regarding a "civilizing mission" for white men were increasingly out of step with the more liberal intellectual climate of the era.1

As he aged, Kipling became an increasingly isolated figure, and his later literary works—which became more compressed, elliptical, and somber—often lacked the broad popular appeal of his earlier, more accessible stories. While his critical standing suffered during his lifetime due to these political prejudices, his work has since seen a resurgence of interest from postcolonial critics, who analyze his writing as both symptomatic and critical of imperialist attitudes.1