The Nautch Girls of India British Rule and its

Transcript:The Nautch Girls of India British Rule and its:
The Nautch Girls of India British Rule and its Social and Economic Impacts on the Dance Girls of India 2015 Reynolds Faculty Symposium Ghazala Hashmi Professor of English Overview of Presentation The background and history of the nautch girls in India The relevance of the nautch girls within the dramatic political reshaping of the Indian subcontinent from the 18th century onward A brief history of the English East India Company Discussion of the ways in which British cultural hegemony shaped the East Indian’s own perceptions of the nautch girls and also devalued their role in the preservation and transmission of cultural artifacts such as high poetry, sophisticated manners, and dance traditions The Argument British colonial rule deliberately targeted and disrupted the role of cultural players within Indian feudal society in order to create political instability. The undermining efforts of the East India Company were supported by three major elements of expanding colonial rule: the arrival of Christian missionaries on the subcontinent in the late 19th century the increased migration of English women in the late 19th century the social sensibilities of Victorian England Orientalist assumptions about the sexuality and sexual behaviors of non-European peoples At significant cost to themselves, East Indian communities assimilated the reductive values of the colonizer, participating in what some theorists have termed “the colonization of the mind.” The Nautch Girls of India Background Cultural values and traditions Roles in High Society Early Colonial Perspectives Contributions to Literary and Linguistic Traditions The Ghazal a highly-structured, lyrical poem sung out loud, typically within an organized, public performance languages of the ghazal include Urdu, Farsi, Turkish, and Pashto renowned poets include Rumi, Hafiz, and Ghalib Other Essential Contributions of the Nautch Girls Tameez Good manners A sense of decorum An ability to discern Demonstration of good judgment Tehzeeb Culture Refinement of thought, action, and words Cultured sensibility Courtliness (linguistic equivalent of Castiglione’s sprezzatura) The East India Company History, Structure, and Power The English “Nabob” Consequences and Impacts on the Modern World: The rule of the Company Man Forerunner to companies such as British Petroleum (BP) and colonizing monopolies characterized by political domination and control of resources Lingering Influences of Colonial Attitudes Case Study: Pakeezah, an Indian film released in 1972 Pak means “pure” or to make clean an object that was once unclean. Pakeezah reflects orientalist assumptions about the nautch girl, that she is unclean, a prostitute, and a