Representations of Indian Muslims in British Colonial Discourse

This study questions current views that Muslims represented a secure point of reference for the British understanding of colonial Indian society. Through revisionary readings of a wide range of texts, it re-examines the basis of the British misperception of Muslim 'conspiracy' during the 'Mutiny'. Arguing that this belief stemmed from conflicts inherent to the secular ideology of the colonial state, it shows how in the ensuing years it produced representations ridden with paradox and requiring a form of descriptive segregation.

'...a welcome addition to the field of post-colonial literature on South Asia. It provides an overview of key British colonial texts, elaborating specifically the context in which the Mutiny took place. Arguably its most important contribution is to open fresh avenues for studying the effects of colonial discourses on contemporary social and political identity construction among Muslims in India,South Asia generally and the world today.' - Faris Nasrallah, SOAS, University of London, South Asia Research

Autorentext
ALEX PADAMSEE Lecturer in Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.

Inhalt
Introduction PART I: 'NOT AT HIS BEST IN INDIA' Indian Muslims and India Identification and Disavowal in Colonial Representations The 'Heroic Self-Denial' of 'Christian Rulers' PART II: 1857: RAISING THE GREEN FLAG Introduction The Pre-'Mutiny' Discourse on Indian Muslims A Writer of 'The Known and the Knowable' Fantasy and Civilian Identity Forms of Prophylaxis in Civilian 'Mutiny' Accounts Some Preliminary Conclusions PART III: THE INDO-MUSLIM 'STRANGER' Sorting 'The Inside' from 'The Outside' 'A Wild and Ardent Faith': Testing Oppositions in the Post-'Mutiny' Discourse Conclusion Notes Bibliography