Paper short abstract:

Madhaviah’s biographical novel “Clarinda” narrates the life story of a women on the threshold between Hindu and Christian traditions, torn between Indian and European worldviews. The paper analyses the authors vision for society and individual and how his ideals are woven into the literary fabric.

Paper long abstract:

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries authors in the Tamil speaking area of India shaped the awareness for a peculiar Tamil identity and simultaneously grappled with the encroaching ambivalent European 'modernity'. A. Madhaviah (1872-1925) is one of the important writers, who adopted European literary forms like the the biographical novel to voice their critique of Indian society and project their ideals. Madhaviah's English novel "Clarinda" (1915) narrates the life story of a historical figure, a Brahmin widow who converted to Protestant Christianity in the late 18th century. Madhaviah juxtaposes the traditional Brahmin society of Tanjavur with colonial circles of European soldiers and Christian missionaries. Clarinda overcomes problematic ideas and practices of both Hindus and Christians and thus becomes a model for a humane and enlightened woman. Beginning with a short exploration of the historical and literary context of author and novel, the paper will pinpoint the ideal Madhaviah propagates for the individual and for society at the crossroads of the colonial and religious encounter. The focus of the paper will be on the analysis of literary means and strategies the author employs in "Clarinda" to construct a persuasive biography-centered narrative in which the significance and value of gender, caste, and religion is redefined. Of particular interest will be the question what role Christianity and conversion play for the Hindu writer. Arguably, Madhaviah's ideal is neither tied to Christianity nor to Hinduism, but he propagates to get orientation from the most noble ideas of both traditions.

Paper short abstract:

Creating a semi-fictionalized Catholic priest forced to admit defeat in his attempt at converting the Nalavas of Jaffna, Dalit author K. Daniel asks what really changes when ‘conversion’ occurs, arguing that a deeper revolution is needed than the Church’s in order to eradicate the ‘scourge’ of caste.

Paper long abstract:

Revered to this day by Roman Catholics of Sri Lanka's Jaffna Peninsula for his Tamil scholarship, prowess in Saiva Siddhanta, and evangelical zeal, Fr. Saminatapillai Gnana Prakasar (1875-1939), has been widely hailed as the 'Apostle to the Untouchables' (though a Vellala himself in a largely Karaiyar Church) for having successfully brought large numbers of downtrodden Nalavas to the baptismal font. While respecting the integrity of this Catholic paragon, Dalit author K. Daniel asks what really changes when 'conversion' occurs, finding that very little actually does, and then using his quasi-historical novel to advocate Marxism as a more profound source of revolution than the Church's, for eradicating the scourge of caste once and for all. Imagining that a religion affords a 'once-and-for-all' solution, when the Church itself perpetuates caste (through communalized worship)—that is the mirage Fr. Gnana Prakasar must eventually see through, as Nalava converts exchange one form of caste-based exploitation for a Christian facsimile (serfdom under Vellala domination, for cheap labor at the hands of unpitying Catholic Karaiyar fishing contractors). Based on the Colombo (1993) edition of Kanal (Mirage), our discussion focuses in part on the specifics of an undeservedly-obscure artifact from a local literature; more broadly, it asks how a literary resource such as Kanal might illuminate not only the figure at its heart (Fr. Gnana Prakasar), but also the author himself (K. Daniel, a Catholic turned Marxist), and whether it might be helpfully construed as a kind of caste 'biography' (that of the Nalavas).

Paper short abstract:

In colonial Chhattisgarh, American missionaries working among the low-caste Satnamis reworked the biography of the Satnamis' deceased guru in order to portray him as a forerunner of Christianity and encourage conversion to the faith. This paper analyzes the history of this missionary mythologizing.

Paper long abstract:

In the nineteenth century, in what is now the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Guru Ghasidas inspired a movement of religious reform among the low-caste, leather-working Chamars who, with his encouragement, began to call themselves "Satnamis." Some years after his death, American missionaries began working among the Satnamis. As they did, they began, with the help of inventive converts, to rework the biography of Ghasidas, publishing and promoting accounts which portrayed him as a kind of John the Baptist figure, predicting the coming of missionaries and encouraging his followers to embrace their Christian faith. Many of the details of the biography they created were almost certainly mythical, and yet the biography came to be considered a factual account, even among many non-Christian Satnamis. Counter to Orientalist stereotyping, therefore, in this case it was the American missionaries, and not their Indian interlocutors, who were engaged in the creation and perpetuation of myth.

Paper short abstract:

The early medieval Tamil Srivaisnava tradition engaged in a creative project to weave in a diverse community through its hagiographies. A study of these tales of the Alvars, saints revered by the tradition, reveals deep social fractures that were sought to be papered over.

Paper long abstract:

The Srivaisnava tradition, a living religious tradition in modern Tamil nadu and parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, reveres twelve saints called Alvars who are placed between the 6th to 9th centuries CE. It has generally been believed that these were all historical figures since there are poetic compositions in Tamil attributed to all twelve of them. However, a careful study reveals that many of these compositions are not signed but are merely ascribed to some saint, whose name does not exist outside the hagiographical tradition. Indeed, the hagiographies, composed between the 11th and 14th centuries, are clearly far removed from the time of the saints, and have undoubtedly introduced many mythical elements into the 'life-stories' if not actually constructed them from imagination.

An examination of these accounts of the lives of the Alvars reveals that they served a number of crucial purposes for the emerging Srivaisnava community. Some of these concerns were communitarian, ie, relating to the issue of accommodation of devotee-members belonging to diverse castes, or drawing potential followers away from the Buddhist or Jaina faiths which were competitors for patronage in the contemporary environment. Royal patronage of the Buddhists and Jainas was clearly an important politico-social concern for the preceptors of the community. A third strand that emerges is theological. The Srivaisnava soteriological vision was communicated not only through discourses and commentaries on the hymns of the Alvar saints, but woven by the early medieval, brahmanical hagiographers into the very tales of the Alvars.

Paper short abstract:

This paper looks at the hagiography of a leader from the Dalit community who lived in early 19th century Bengal. Beginning a religious sect that has, over two centuries, resulted in a powerful political movement , the paper explores the dynamics between the religious and the political as revealed by the hagiography, written in mid-twentieth century, of the founder Harichand Thakur.

Paper long abstract:

Harichand Biswas, popularly known today as Harichand Thakur, was born into the lowly Chandal community in early 19th century Bengal. His wisdom and vision guided the community towards education, social dignity, and a well-organised caste group, even as he inspired them with a faith that came to be known as the Matua dharma.

Conceived in opposition to idolatry, ritualistic Hinduism and Brahminical hegemony, members of the Matua sect rejected the generic name Chandal and gave themselves the name of Namasudra. In the rapidly changing circumstances of the late-19th century, the Matua faith spread across the demarcations of the lower castes, inspiring many and growing to one of the strongest religious movements in Bengal.

My paper will attempt to read the fairly recent hagiography of this religious leader in the light of the last two centuries. The colonial and post-colonial politics of numbers, along with the modern discourses of egalitarianism, identity and religion, have shaped the Matua sect, and consequently the biography of Harichand Thakur, revealing the diverse pulls that a religious sect faces. The construction of Harichand's hagiography, reveals the intimate associations that exist between the worldly and the divine, with the Matua sect poised delicately between a religious and a political identity in modern Bengal.

Paper short abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to raise issues relating to the writing of biographies of missionaries in India during the colonial period. The speaker will focus on his own experience of writing a biography of James Long of Bengal, 1814-87.

Paper long abstract:

Issues in the Writing of Missionary Biography: James Long of Bengal, 1814-87

The purpose of this paper is to raise issues relating to the writing of biographies of missionaries in India during the colonial period. The speaker will focus on his own experience of writing a biography of James Long of Bengal (1814-87). A long-term study involving visits to England, Ireland, Bengal and Russia facilitated the discovery, reading and interpretation of a wide range of varied sources, and research into the ideas and issues affecting the subjects life. One of the purposes of the project was not only research into the details of Long's life, but also the gaining of a thorough understanding of religion, social conflict and colonialism in India during the nineteenth century. Indeed, every biographer should know and understand the context that at times can be extremely wide. Linked with this study were other issues that face missionary biographers. These include the location of the missionaries' educational records, the interpretation of candidates' papers (if they exist) and a knowledge of the purpose and structure of missionary agencies and propaganda. A reading of a missionaries' life through published material including obituaries, sometimes tells us more about those who controlled information than it does about the subject,while the missionary's unpublished comments in missionary and non-missionary sources, and views expressed in private correspondence, these sources may give us a better idea of the individual's basic concerns, feeling and motivation.

Paper short abstract:

This paper shows how the biographies and autobiographies of first generation converts came to create normative individuals in a climate of 'representational excess' where they were often viewed as 'aberrations'.

Paper long abstract:

Christianity's arrival in Bengal coincided with imperial interests and hence has been the 'natural' suspect. Meanwhile, the nineteenth century with its premium on print had encouraged a new and powerful voice of dissent in the form of the satire. This new form,which heavily relied on 'aberration' for humour, in its myriad forms established Christianity as an undesired departure. These representations were constantly reproduced and their 'representational excess' was largely incommensurate with the actual number of conversions. Autobiography/biography (associated in the Indian context with the nineteenth century) is a form that relies on charting exemplary characters. Reacting to the representations that were consumed in the literary market of the day, missionary biographers of native converts took to fashioning heroes and in the process creating a parallel normative universe. This paper will seek to examine a few autobiographies and biographies of first generation converts in nineteenth century Bengal inter-texually. How do these tellings and re-tellings respond to the construct of the 'Christian convert' as the 'aberration'? In their layered response in the form of biographies and autobiographies do the converts themselves instead create new normativities? How does this 'representational excess' in effect create a dialogue between the two apparently disjointed forms of satire and the auto/biography?

Paper short abstract:

The proposed paper examines Protestant conversion autobiographies from late nineteenth-century India to analyse how Protestant converts chose to construct new religious identities rhetorically. I aim to investigate the textual, rhetorical resolution of ‘religious crises’ through the autobiography.

Paper long abstract:

The proposed paper examines Protestant conversion autobiographies from late nineteenth-century India to analyse how Protestant converts chose to construct new religious identities. Locating autobiography in an interdisciplinary context, I will investigate the genre as a key element in new understandings of cultural identity. Religious conversion is an experience that seems particularly suited to autobiographical writing because the central focus of conversion, the supposed awakening to a sense of true self-knowledge, anticipates the conversion of lived experience into textual self-representation. Thus, the self-directed, often self-conscious programme of self-reform, and the decision to convert, fits well with the idea of the enactment of self-choice in the very writing of autobiography.

I view autobiography as resulting from a complex set of interrelated historical and cultural factors. I will examine how autobiography allowed for new organisations of the self by which a convert identifies him/herself as a stable and independent object. In particular, I am interested in the rhetoric that surrounds conversion narratives. With examples from various published autobiographies, this paper aims to investigate the textual, rhetorical resolution of 'religious crises' through the autobiography. I will analyse the language in which conversion is interpreted and conceived and what literary devices are used by the convert to construct conversion experiences as 'genuine'. I will also discuss the role of paratexts and translation in the construction, circulation and consumption of these autobiographies.