Evolution, Race and Public Spheres in India: Vernacular Concepts and Sciences (1860-1930)

This book explores how South Asians in British North India reinterpreted racial concepts through a diverse set of printed texts in Hindi and Urdu,between 1860 and 1930. It challenges the notion that imperial raciology is solely the domain of Western-educated elites and highlights the importance of scrutinizing vernacular dimensions of global entanglements. The book examines debates on civilization and civility,as well as the science of eugenics,and shows how colonized elites adopted and readapted racial concepts and theories.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 178 pages
Publication date: 31 March 2021
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This captivating book delves into a profound exploration of South Asian adaptations of race in vernacular languages. The focus is on a diverse array of printed texts, periodicals, and books in Hindi and Urdu, two of the major print languages of British North India, written between 1860 and 1930. Imperial raciology, a rapidly growing field of historical research, has primarily focused on the writings of Western-educated elites in English. However, the author's analysis of a wide range of Hindi and Urdu sources presents a more intricate and multifaceted portrayal of how South Asians reinterpreted racial concepts, thus emphasizing the significance of examining the vernacular dimensions of global entanglements.

Part I of the book revolves around the lively debates on civilization and civility that emerged in Hindi and Urdu periodicals, travelogues, geography books, and Hindi literature on caste. It poses the intriguing question of whether and to what extent these discussions evolved when authors appropriated racial concepts. Part II takes a closer look at the science of eugenics, focusing on popular genres such as early twentieth-century advisory literature on fit reproduction. It highlights how the knowledge promoted therein differed from eugenics, as the founders of the Indian eugenic movements endorsed it.

A captivating analysis of the ways in which colonized elites have adopted and readapted racial concepts and theories, this book holds immense interest for scholars engaged in Modern South Asian History, History of Science, Critical Race Studies, and Colonial and Imperial History. It sheds light on the complex and multifaceted ways in which race has been interpreted and reimagined within South Asian societies, contributing to our understanding of the region's rich historical and social landscape.

Weight: 349g
Dimension: 216 x 138 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367786625