In his seminal work, The Rhetoric of Empire(1993), David Spurr attempts to analyze colonialism's discursive structures. He focuses on the rhetorical strategies used by various colonial powers, such as France, Britain, and Italy, to legitimize their conquest and administration of various Asian and African nations. In my presentation, I will be chiefly focusing on how the discursive structures of colonialism functioned in analyzing and categorizing the sites of resistance and acquiescence to British colonialism in India during the nineteenth century. There was often a difference between the portrayal of natural/native infrastructure and artificial/modern infrastructure regarding anti-colonial resistance. The natural/native infrastructure, such as in Philip Meadows Taylor's novel Seeta(1872), consisting of caves, waterfalls, ravines, and dilapidated structures, often served as sites of resistance to colonialism. In contrast, the homes of affluent Indians like Narendra and British-made forts and residential structures served as sites of acquiescence to colonial rule. Similarly, as Aishwarya Lakshmi argues in her seminal essay titled "The Mutiny Novel: Creating the Domestic Body of the Empire", the narrative of 'domestication' and 'creating gendered spaces' often suited the colonial purposes when it came to taming the natural and native infrastructure of India. The perspective of the 'picaresque' was often effectively employed to counter the sacred perceptions of native Indians regarding the natural and native infrastructure of India, whether it be ancient temples, waterfalls, caves, or ravines.

Authors:
Harisankar Anirudhan, Indian Institute of Technology, India

About the Presenter(s)
Mr Harisankar Anirudhan is a University Doctoral Student at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in India

See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule

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