Indian Exceptionalism: Colonial Stereotypes and Postcolonial Realities

hamidm:

........ and don't pull a homi bhaba on me because if, for a while, the ruse of desire is calculable for the uses of discipline soon the repetition of guilt, justification, pseudo-scientific theories, superstition, spurious authorities, and classification can be seen as the desperate effort to 'normalize' formally the disturbance of a discourse of splitting that violates the rational, enlightened claims of its enunciatory modality.


I was literally ROFL. :-)

re # 49

Neembu.

Thanks. I am not too familiar with Appiah's work though I have read other scholars who comment on his work. I know his recent work on multiculturalism has fostered an engaging debate.

A quick response to your other question: there are many interesting initatives in many fields of art, literary and scholarly production that involve the kind of collaboration you speak of. I think South Asia Citizen's Web which has a weekly wire may be a good starting point. Magazines like the Little Magazine, Himal, Seminar may also be a good starting point.

Regards
Rohit Chopra

Re: # 23

Hamidm Sahib:

"........ and don't pull a homi bhaba on me because if, for a while, the ruse of desire is calculable for the uses of discipline soon the repetition of guilt, justification, pseudo-scientific theories, superstition, spurious authorities, and classification can be seen as the desperate effort to 'normalize' formally the disturbance of a discourse of splitting that violates the rational, enlightened claims of its enunciatory modality...."

What is this?

My head was already spinning out of control after reading Rohit and Neembu's mutual admiration society essay / dialogs.

Please stay with humor..

Re:#52

Leila Ahmed's point is very important.

Re: # 50

Leila Ahmed pointedly reminds readers that the field of Islam and women is in dire need of archival and reconstructionist scholarship BY women of Muslim descent, and yet, you'll see too many Muslim men being indifferent.

Re: # 41

nb, numbers are one aspect, but focusing on only that aspect serves to close the conversation rather than opening it to relevant exploration. why wouldnt anglo indians be a part of the discourse as are parsis, jews, jains, dalits, muslims, etc.?

Dalrymple criticizes Indian historians as follows:

(This is regarding the fact that no one had studied the Mutiny papers)

"For at a time when ten thousand dissertations and whole shelves of Subaltern Studies have carefully and ingeniously theorised about orientalism and colonialism and the imagining of the Other (all invariably given titles with a present participle and a fashionable noun of obscure meaning - Gendering the Colonial Paradigm, Constructing the Imagined Other, Othering the Imagined Construction, and so on ) not one Ph.D. has ever been written from the Mutiny Papers.."

i.e. all these "intellectual brahmins" refuse to do good old dirty archival work.

antihistory,

Re: # 40

Interesting! Have you read any of Anthony Appiah's work and if so, are there any concepts, theories that relate to some of the work that you are conducting?

I checked out your blog; looking forward to reading about your research and project work-it sounds worthy and exciting. I understand that you have collaborated with Vijay Prashad (who btw is read by Asian and African American scholars at my institution!). Would you mind writing a bit about how this piece fits into your work as a whole?

Finally, have there been collaborative efforts b/n various marginalized Indian communities at narrative making (ie. academia, grassroots social action, art projects, etc) that speak to your field?

Thanks for sharing your scholarship!

Rohit and Neembu just one word Sokal.

You social people should trying so hard to be intellectual! and get on with life.

Re: # 42

Once more stop being so considerate ...wheel O time. This young man is trying to get into the knickers of some bright young girl......and you are breaking all his arrows in the quiver.....he wrote this article to test the H2Os here.....stop muddying it so much......

Re: # 40
Now I know you are a real charlatan. If you know anything about Indian History, you would realise that the Anglos looked upon themselves as being british and a cut above the Indians. In fact they were and even today many of them are rather racist in their views. Please read up on your effing history before you start thinking....

When Independence was granted to Indian these guys ran in droves from the country - leaving some parts of it in dire straits. I should know it (and this is first hand stuff here). Once you turn yourself into a quisling then you should stop complaining.

Infact Post Independent India has been very accomodating to these idiots.

If you are an anglo stop whinning and get on with life you little twerp.

#43 got cut up by chowk....

wheel o time you olde coot (LoL)

with one bound you got yourself a lifetimes pass to keep visiting the hallowed portals of la-la-land of the sociologists.


Hamidm2 ya. you sock it to them.

#43 got cut up by chowk....

wheel o time you olde coot

Wheel O time you olde coot!

nb, excuse me, but it is very rude of you to inject some common sense in this uncommon dialogue.

We are learning about Indian Exceptionalism here. In any other country, a community like Anglo Indians would be part of all national discourse.

Re: # 27
so she'll be zipping around town collecting tickets and losing her licence?
neembu, Anglo-Indians are marginalised because they re a tiny, tiny community. The only people that probably even know they exist are Indians who went to Christian schools.