Imperial Selves

Negotiating Collectivity in Anglo-Indian Life-Writing
Erscheinungsjahr 2018
ISBN: 978-3-86821-759-9
Verlag: WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier

Buch, Englisch, Band 74, 278 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 225 mm, Gewicht: 512 g

Reihe: Studies in English Literary and Cultural History (ELCH) /Studien zur Englischen Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft (ELK)

The British Empire is indelibly part of British history, and its legacy still shapes British self-conceptions decisively. The heritage of British India in particular, the celebrated ‘Jewel in the Crown’, pervades various aspects of British everyday life and popular culture, ranging from language and food to music and movies. Exploring Britain’s imperial history is hence a crucial step in understanding the state of Britain today. Anglo-Indian life-writing – the autobiographies, memoirs, diaries, and letters of Britons who spent part of their lives in India – offers revealing insights into how the British conceptualised their relationship to the Empire at the time of their supremacy on the subcontinent between 1818 and 1947. Proceeding from the assumption that life in British India was regulated by an exceptionally tight system of norms and conventions, this study investigates how the British pinned their individual lives in India against various forms of collectivity, including social groups and their normative framework as well as the collective frames of narration.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lusin, Caroline

Inhaltsverzeichnis

TABLE OF CONTENTSI. INTRODUCTION        1 1. Anglo-Indian Life-Writing from 1818 to the Present        1 1.1 Lives and Life-Writing in British India        2 1.2 The Heritage of British India Today        5 1.3 Theoretical Approach, Structure, and Sources        8 2. Theorising Self-Narration and Collectivity        12 2.1 Habitualisation, Institutionalisation, and Social Role        14 2.2 Personal Identity, Collective Identity, and Cultural Memory        18 2.3 Self-Narration and Its Collective Frames        22 II. NEGOTIATING COLLECTIVITY IN ANGLO-INDIAN LIFE-WRITING        32 1. ‘With Pen and Pencil’: Paratext and Conceptual Framework        37 1.1 The Conflict of Public and Private        39        1.1.1 Strategies of Dissociation        40        1.1.2 The Author as Historical ‘Witness’        44 1.2 Configuring Anglo-Indian Identity        52        1.2.1 Institutional Identification        53        1.2.2 The Relationship to India        59 1.3 Genre Conventions and Narrative Structure        71        1.3.1 Conventionalised Plots and the Anecdotal Mode        72        1.3.2 Perspective Structure and Experiential Distance        89 2. ‘The Usual Assortment’: Social Life and Social Contacts        95 2.1 Social Interaction in Anglo-Indian Society        98        2.1.1 Hierarchy and the Individual        99        2.1.2 Community and Social Routine        108 2.2 Institutions, Codes, and Practices 122        2.2.1 Individual, Institution, and Social Role        125        2.2.2 Transgressive Women and Incorporated Wives        143 3. ‘The Exiles’ Line’: History, Tradition, and Continuity        157 3.1 Continuity and Family Tradition        158        3.1.1 Constructing Links to India        159        3.1.2 Autobiography and Family History        165 3.2 Cultural Memory, History, and the Canon        175        3.2.1 Remembering the Indian Mutiny        176        3.2.2 The Frame of European Literature and Culture        191 3.3 Communicating the Anglo-Indian Experience        199        3.3.1 Letters as Lifeline        199        3.3.2 The Editorial Paratext        207 III. ANGLO-INDIAN LIFE-WRITING THEN AND NOW        225 IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY        233 1. Primary Sources        233 2. Secondary Sources        243