Notions of nationhood in Bengal : perspectives on Samaj, c. 1867-1905 / by Swarupa Gupta.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gupta, Swarupa.

Series:

Philosophy of history and culture ; v. 29.

Philosophy of history and culture, 0922-6001 ; v. 29

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bengal (India)--Intellectual life--19th century.

Bengal (India).

Bengal (India)--History--Autonomy and independence movements.

Bengal (India)--History--19th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (424 p.)

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book reopens the debate on colonial nationalisms, going beyond ‘derivative’, ‘borrowed’, political and modernist paradigms. It introduces the conceptual category of samaj to demonstrate how indigenous socio-cultural origins in Bengal interacted with late-colonial discourses to produce the notion of a nation. Samaj (a historical society and an idea-in-practice) was a site for reconfiguring antecedents and negotiating fragmentation. Drawing on indigenous sources, this study shows how caste, class, ethnicity, region and community were refracted to conceptualise wider unities. The mapping of cultural continuities through change facilitates a more nuanced investigation of the ontology of nationhood, seeing it as related to, but more than political nationalism. It outlines a fresh paradigm for recalibrating postcolonial identities, offering interpretive strategies to mediate fragmentation.

Contents:

Preliminary Material / S. Gupta

Introduction / S. Gupta

Chapter One. Nationalist Ideologues, Ideas And Their Dissemination / S. Gupta

Chapter Two. Recreating A Jati / S. Gupta

Chapter Three. Samaj And Perspectives On Unity / S. Gupta

Chapter Four. Caste, Class And Internal ‘Others’: ‘Lower Orders’ In Bengal / S. Gupta

Chapter Five. Contiguous Ethnicities / S. Gupta

Chapter Six. Sub-Regional ‘Essences’ And The Regional Self / S. Gupta

Chapter Seven. From Region To Nation: The Idea Of India / S. Gupta

Conclusion / S. Gupta

Bibliography / S. Gupta

Glossary / S. Gupta

Index / S. Gupta.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-40137-8

9786612401374

90-474-2958-3

OCLC:

644523694

Publisher Number:

10.1163/ej.9789004176140.i-414 DOI