Read Intersections Colonial and Postcolonial Histories: A Subaltern History of the Indian Diaspora in Singapore : Gradual Disappearance of Untouchability 1825-1965 in MOBI, DJV
9781138955899 1138955892 Untouchable migrants made up a significant proportion of Indian labour migration into Singapore in the 19th and 20th centuries. During this period, they were subject to forms of caste prejudice that powerfully reinforced their identities as untouchables overseas. Today, however, untouchability has disappeared from the public sphere, replaced by other notions of identity, leaving unanswered questions as to how and when this occurred. This book takes this "disappearance" as a starting point to examine a history of untouchable migration and identity negotiation amongst Indians who arrived in Singapore between its modern founding as a British colony in the early 1800s through to its independence in 1965. It argues that practices of untouchability evolved in close relation to the growth of translocal solidarities amongst migrants, their responses to life overseas in a plural colony, and the spread of transnational ideologies and movements. Untouchable identity was negotiated in relation to the development of competing Indian and Tamil identity discourses in Singapore during the colonial period, the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and the post-war period of decolonisation. Addressing the broader cultural impact of South Asian migration into polyglot societies in Southeast Asia and the negotiation of diasporic consciousness amongst heterogeneous migrant groups, the book also deals with historiographical themes such as the overcoming of subaltern "silence" in the historical archive and the role of quotidian histories in national history narratives. It will be of interest to academics reseraching Singaporean, South Asian and Southeast Asian history., Untouchable migrants made up a substantial proportion of Indian labour migration into Singapore in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During this period, they were subject to forms of caste prejudice and discrimination that powerfully reinforced their identities as untouchables overseas. Today, however, untouchability has disappeared from the public sphere and has been replaced by other notions of identity, leaving unanswered questions as to how and when this occurred. The untouchable migrant is also largely absent from popular narratives of the past. This book takes the "disappearance" as a starting point to examine a history of untouchable migration amongst Indians who arrived in Singapore from its modern founding as a British colony in the early nineteenth century through to its independence in 1965. Using oral history records, archival sources, colonial ethnography, newspapers and interviews, this book examines the lives of untouchable migrants through their everyday experience in an overseas multi-ethnic environment. It examines how these migrants who in many ways occupied the bottom rungs of their communities and colonial society, framed transnational issues of identity and social justice in relation to their experiences within the broader Indian diaspora in Singapore. The book trances the manner in which untouchable identities evolved and then receded in response to the dramatic social changes brought about by colonialism, war and post-colonial nationhood. By focusing on a subaltern group from the past, this study provides an alternative history of Indian migration to Singapore and a different perspective on the cultural conversations that have taken place between India and Singapore for much of the island's modern history.
9781138955899 1138955892 Untouchable migrants made up a significant proportion of Indian labour migration into Singapore in the 19th and 20th centuries. During this period, they were subject to forms of caste prejudice that powerfully reinforced their identities as untouchables overseas. Today, however, untouchability has disappeared from the public sphere, replaced by other notions of identity, leaving unanswered questions as to how and when this occurred. This book takes this "disappearance" as a starting point to examine a history of untouchable migration and identity negotiation amongst Indians who arrived in Singapore between its modern founding as a British colony in the early 1800s through to its independence in 1965. It argues that practices of untouchability evolved in close relation to the growth of translocal solidarities amongst migrants, their responses to life overseas in a plural colony, and the spread of transnational ideologies and movements. Untouchable identity was negotiated in relation to the development of competing Indian and Tamil identity discourses in Singapore during the colonial period, the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and the post-war period of decolonisation. Addressing the broader cultural impact of South Asian migration into polyglot societies in Southeast Asia and the negotiation of diasporic consciousness amongst heterogeneous migrant groups, the book also deals with historiographical themes such as the overcoming of subaltern "silence" in the historical archive and the role of quotidian histories in national history narratives. It will be of interest to academics reseraching Singaporean, South Asian and Southeast Asian history., Untouchable migrants made up a substantial proportion of Indian labour migration into Singapore in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During this period, they were subject to forms of caste prejudice and discrimination that powerfully reinforced their identities as untouchables overseas. Today, however, untouchability has disappeared from the public sphere and has been replaced by other notions of identity, leaving unanswered questions as to how and when this occurred. The untouchable migrant is also largely absent from popular narratives of the past. This book takes the "disappearance" as a starting point to examine a history of untouchable migration amongst Indians who arrived in Singapore from its modern founding as a British colony in the early nineteenth century through to its independence in 1965. Using oral history records, archival sources, colonial ethnography, newspapers and interviews, this book examines the lives of untouchable migrants through their everyday experience in an overseas multi-ethnic environment. It examines how these migrants who in many ways occupied the bottom rungs of their communities and colonial society, framed transnational issues of identity and social justice in relation to their experiences within the broader Indian diaspora in Singapore. The book trances the manner in which untouchable identities evolved and then receded in response to the dramatic social changes brought about by colonialism, war and post-colonial nationhood. By focusing on a subaltern group from the past, this study provides an alternative history of Indian migration to Singapore and a different perspective on the cultural conversations that have taken place between India and Singapore for much of the island's modern history.