Masks of Conquest: Literary Study and British Rule in IndiaA classic work in postcolonial studies, Masks of Conquest describes the introduction of English studies in India under British rule and its function as an effective form of political control abetting voluntary cultural assimilation. Gauri Viswanathan demonstrates how the literary text functioned as a mirror of the ideal Englishman and became a mask of exploitation that camouflaged the material activities of the colonizing British government. In her new preface, she argues that the curricular study of English can no longer be understood innocently or inattentively to the deeper contexts of imperialism, transnationalism, and globalization in which the discipline first articulated its mission. Masks of Conquest illuminates the transcontinental movements and derivations of English studies, revealing the disciplineÕs origins are as diffuse as its future shape. |
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Alexander Duff Anglicists argument Asiatic Journal authority belief Bengal Bible Brahmin Britain British administrators British India British rule Calcutta Review caste character Charles Trevelyan Christian claims classes classical colonial subjects concept critical culture discipline Duff's East India Company effect England English education English language English literary English literary study English literature English studies Eric Stokes European Evidence Hinduism Horace Wilson human ideology Indian curriculum Indian Education Commission Indian literature influence institutions intellectual James Mill knowledge literary education literary instruction literary study Macaulay Madras ment mind missionary Missions modern Monier Monier-Williams moral motive Muslims native nature object Oriental Herald Oriental learning Oriental literature Orientalists Parliamentary Papers philosophy poetry political position postcolonial practice principles produced questions reader reading religion religious Report response Sanskrit schools secular sentiment social taught teaching texts theory tion tradition truth University Utilitarian Western