Colonial Law in India and the Victorian Imagination

Colonial Law in India and the Victorian Imagination explores the relationship between the shared cultural logic of law and literature in nineteenth-century India, using original archival research to shed new light on Victorian literature. Leila Neti approaches the legal archive in a literary fashion, revealing the common turns of imagination that motivated both fictional and legal narratives.

Format: Hardback
Length: 230 pages
Publication date: 22 April 2021
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Colonial Law in India and the Victorian Imagination is a groundbreaking work that delves into the intersection of law and literature in the 19th century, particularly focusing on the Indian subcontinent and the Victorian era. By employing original archival research, the book offers a fresh perspective on Victorian literature, shedding light on the ways in which legal systems and cultural norms interacted during this period.

The book is organized into several chapters, each exploring the relationship between the shared cultural logic of law and literature. It examines how the legal system shaped colonial sociality and how literature responded to these legal frameworks. Leila Neti, the author, approaches the legal archive in a distinctly literary fashion, attending to nuances of voice, character, diction, and narrative. She also traces elements of fact and procedure, reading the case summaries as literary texts to reveal the common turns of imagination that motivated both fictional and legal narratives.

What emerges from this innovative approach is an innovative political analytic for understanding the entanglements between judicial and cultural norms in Britain and the colony. The book bridges the critical gap in how law and literature interact within the colonial arena, providing a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics that shaped this period.

One of the key insights of Colonial Law in India and the Victorian Imagination is the way in which legal systems and cultural norms intersected to create a complex web of power and oppression. The book highlights the ways in which colonial laws were used to justify the exploitation and subjugation of indigenous peoples, while also examining the ways in which literature responded to these legal frameworks. For example, the book discusses the role of legal cases in shaping the representation of indigenous peoples in Victorian literature, particularly in the works of Rudyard Kipling and Joseph Conrad.

Through its analysis of legal archives and literary texts, Colonial Law in India and the Victorian Imagination offers a rich and nuanced understanding of the 19th century. It provides a valuable contribution to the field of colonial studies, as well as to the study of law and literature more broadly. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of these two fields, as well as in the history and culture of the Indian subcontinent.

Weight: 602g
Dimension: 159 x 235 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108837484