The Bengal Connection: Transnationalising America in The Namesake and The Tree Bride
TL;DR: In this article, a reading of The Namesake and The Tree Bride as diasporic novels that transnationalise the host culture by inscribing the ethnicity and history of Bengal on to the cultural topography of America is presented.
Abstract: A reading is presented of The Namesake and The Tree Bride as diasporic novels that transnationalise the host culture by inscribing the ethnicity and history of Bengal on to the cultural topography of America. This interpolation is contextualised both in terms of the 'Bengal connection' — the now occluded saga of Bengal's rich commercial and intellectual contacts with New England from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries — and the changing paradigms of immigrant socialisation from the melting pot to multiculturalism and beyond. The inference drawn is that the non-Eurocentric and non-Atlantic 'Bengal connection', which may be taken as emblematic of other such strands in American society, not only troubles monologic myths of 'Americanness', but simultaneously interrogates the sufficiency of the 'Atlantic' template as the marker of a multi-ethnic nation. A suggested alternative is Tagore's 'vernacular nationalism' that admits intrinsic otherness as integral to its conception of national identity.
Citations
More filters
88 citations
Journal Article•
86 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The Passing of the Great Race as discussed by the authors was one of the first books published by eugenicist Madison Grant, who claimed that the Nordic race was at risk of extinction and advocated for the creation of laws in the US to decrease the population of people he considered inferior.
Abstract: In 1916, eugenicist Madison Grant [4] published the book The Passing of the Great Race; or The Racial Basis of European History, hereafter The Passing of the Great Race, where he claimed that northern Europeans, or Nordics, are biologically and culturally superior to the rest of humanity. Charles Scribner’s Sons in New York City, New York, published the volume. Grant claimed that the Nordic race was at risk of extinction and advocated for the creation of laws in the US to decrease the population of people he considered inferior. According to Grant’s biographer Jonathan Spiro, Grant’s book synthesized a range of racist and pseudoscientific eugenics [5] claims in prose that was accessible to the public. In the US, The Passing of the Great Race was praised by politicians, including former presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge, and cited as justification for laws that restricted immigration based on ethnicity and nationality. Adolf Hitler referred to The Passing of the Great Race as his Bible, and during the Nuremberg Trials in the 1940s, Nazi leaders who were prosecuted for war crimes committed during World War II presented the book as evidence that eugenics [5] did not solely originate in Germany but rather had deep roots in the United States.
42 citations
36 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Middleton's book is divided into two parts: the first is a narrative of seventeenth-century settlements, arranged chronologically and by region; the second examines the eighteenth century (with some referencing back to the earlier period), by way of a series of discrete thematic studies.
Abstract: topics and, of necessity, uneven coverage. Middleton does not escape these pitfalls, and the result is ultimately a disappointing book which promises more than it delivers. The book is divided into two parts: the first is a narrative of seventeenthcentury settlements, arranged chronologically and by region; the second examines the eighteenth century (with some referencing back to the earlier period), by way of a series of discrete thematic studies. Although it might be argued that this approach provides both a chronological and thematic framework, overall the effect is somewhat disorientating, as if the author elected to abandon his adopted method at half way in favour of a different structure. This impression is reinforced by the rather pedestrian tenor of the first part, starting with the obligatory \"age of exploration\" and moving predictably through the histories of the various colonies down to the wars of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Little is added to what we already know and at times his description exhibits a dated and overly simplistic quality. Chapters on early Virginia and Maryland, for example, focus far more on conventional political description (pp. 3~3^> 73~79)> t n a n on the social and economic conditions underpinning settlement which have attracted the cutting edge of scholarship over the last twenty years. Social, economic and cultural issues are discussed in the second part of the volume. The switch to a thematic approach is welcome, but a serious problem emerges with the selection and organization of material: nine chapters, divided into a numerous sub-headings, covering an array of different topics effectively renders sustained analysis impossible. Middleton is relatively more successful where he devotes an entire chapter to a particular theme, for example, chapters 12 and 13 on Afro-American and Indian society, but frequently he is compelled to condense his account to such a degree that he is able to do little more than provide the briefest of summaries (see chapters 8 to 11). It is difficult to escape the conclusion that Middleton might have done better to opt for a single approach (preferably thematic), and to have informed the narrative with a clear organizational and conceptual framework. While sixthformers and first year undergraduates might find a number of chapters helpful in providing a basic introduction to the field, particularly in Part II, they will probably benefit most from consulting the bibliography at the end of the book.
1 citations
References
More filters
Book•
01 Jan 1983
TL;DR: In this paper, Anderson examines the creation and global spread of the 'imagined communities' of nationality and explores the processes that created these communities: the territorialisation of religious faiths, the decline of antique kingship, the interaction between capitalism and print, the development of vernacular languages-of-state, and changing conceptions of time.
Abstract: What makes people love and die for nations, as well as hate and kill in their name? While many studies have been written on nationalist political movements, the sense of nationality - the personal and cultural feeling of belonging to the nation - has not received proportionate attention. In this widely acclaimed work, Benedict Anderson examines the creation and global spread of the 'imagined communities' of nationality. Anderson explores the processes that created these communities: the territorialisation of religious faiths, the decline of antique kingship, the interaction between capitalism and print, the development of vernacular languages-of-state, and changing conceptions of time. He shows how an originary nationalism born in the Americas was modularly adopted by popular movements in Europe, by the imperialist powers, and by the anti-imperialist resistances in Asia and Africa. This revised edition includes two new chapters, one of which discusses the complex role of the colonialist state's mindset in the development of Third World nationalism, while the other analyses the processes by which all over the world, nations came to imagine themselves as old.
25,018 citations
[...]
01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: The postcolonial and the post-modern: The question of agency as discussed by the authors, the question of how newness enters the world: Postmodern space, postcolonial times and the trials of cultural translation, 12.
Abstract: Acknowledgements, Introduction: Locations of culture, 1. The commitment to theory, 2. Interrogating identity: Frantz Fanon and the postcolonial prerogative, 3. The other question: Stereotype, discrimination and the discourse of colonialism, 4. Of mimicry and man: The ambivalence of colonial discourse, 5. Sly civility, 6. Signs taken for wonders: Questions of ambivalence and authority under a tree outside Delhi, May 1817, 7. Articulating the archaic: Cultural difference and colonial nonsense, 8. DissemiNation: Time, narrative and the margins of the modern nation, 9. The postcolonial and the postmodern: The question of agency, 10. By bread alone: Signs of violence in the mid-nineteenth century, 11. How newness enters the world: Postmodern space, postcolonial times and the trials of cultural translation, 12. Conclusion: 'Race', time and the revision of modernity, Notes, Index.
18,201 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: The postcolonial and the post-modern: The question of agency as mentioned in this paper, the question of how newness enters the world: Postmodern space, postcolonial times and the trials of cultural translation, 12.
Abstract: Acknowledgements, Introduction: Locations of culture, 1. The commitment to theory, 2. Interrogating identity: Frantz Fanon and the postcolonial prerogative, 3. The other question: Stereotype, discrimination and the discourse of colonialism, 4. Of mimicry and man: The ambivalence of colonial discourse, 5. Sly civility, 6. Signs taken for wonders: Questions of ambivalence and authority under a tree outside Delhi, May 1817, 7. Articulating the archaic: Cultural difference and colonial nonsense, 8. DissemiNation: Time, narrative and the margins of the modern nation, 9. The postcolonial and the postmodern: The question of agency, 10. By bread alone: Signs of violence in the mid-nineteenth century, 11. How newness enters the world: Postmodern space, postcolonial times and the trials of cultural translation, 12. Conclusion: 'Race', time and the revision of modernity, Notes, Index.
14,727 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1987
TL;DR: A certified borderlandsla frontera the new mestiza that has actually been created by still puzzled how you can get it? Well, simply read online or download by signing up in our website below.
Abstract: borderlandsla frontera the new mestiza by is just one of the very best seller books in the world? Have you had it? Not at all? Foolish of you. Now, you can get this fantastic book just below. Discover them is format of ppt, kindle, pdf, word, txt, rar, as well as zip. Just how? Just download and install or even review online in this website. Now, never ever late to read this borderlandsla frontera the new mestiza. Searching for the majority of sold book or reading resource worldwide? We offer them all in format kind as word, txt, kindle, pdf, zip, rar and also ppt. one of them is this certified borderlandsla frontera the new mestiza that has actually been created by Still puzzled how you can get it? Well, simply read online or download by signing up in our website below. Click them. This is really going to save you time and your money in something should think about. If you're seeking then search around for online. Without a doubt there are several these available and a lot of them have the freedom. However no doubt you receive what you spend on. An alternate way to get ideas would be to check another borderlandsla frontera the new mestiza. GO TO THE TECHNICAL WRITING FOR AN EXPANDED TYPE OF THIS BORDERLANDSLA FRONTERA THE NEW MESTIZA, ALONG WITH A CORRECTLY FORMATTED VERSION OF THE INSTANCE MANUAL PAGE ABOVE.
5,812 citations
Book•
08 Mar 1993
TL;DR: The Black Atlantic as mentioned in this paper is a culture that is not specifically African, American, Caribbean, or British, but all of these at once; a black Atlantic culture whose themes and techniques transcend ethnicity and nationality to produce something new and, until now, unremarked.
Abstract: "Whilst others scarcely put a toe in the water, in The Black Atlantic Gilroy goes in deep and returns with riches." Guardian Afrocentrism, Eurocentrism, Caribbean Studies. To the forces of cultural nationalism trapped in their respective camps, this bold book sounds like a liberating call. There is, Paul Gilroy tells us, a culture that is not specifically African, American, Caribbean, or British, but all of these at once; a black Atlantic culture whose themes and techniques transcend ethnicity and nationality to produce something new and, until now, unremarked. Challenging the practices and assumptions of cultural studies, The Black Atlantic also enriches our understanding of modernism.
5,132 citations