The Colonial Periodical Press in the Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions, 2023
This chapter focuses on news circulation and politics in Konkani print from Goa and Bombay. It lo... more This chapter focuses on news circulation and politics in Konkani print from Goa and Bombay. It looks closely at three newspapers, the weekly O Luso-Concanim and Porjecho Adar (with a Portuguese section), and the weekly Ave Maria in Konkani. The analysis focuses on the working-class Catholic readers and writers in Goa and Bombay and the issues that concerned them over a period of seventy years. The study provides brief and introductory notes on working-class Catholic concerns from the earliest moment when Konkani newsmagazines were published until the takeover of Goa, Daman, and Diu by the Indian Union. Thus, the analysis focuses on the working-class Goan Catholic experience of politics and print under colonialism and in a moment of transition to decolonized nation-states.
Translation, Script and Orality: Becoming a Language of State, 2021
The essay attempts to discuss the issue of the controversy of scripts within the politics of the ... more The essay attempts to discuss the issue of the controversy of scripts within the politics of the Konkani language. It traces the roots of the conflict over scripts to the nineteenth-century political manoeuvres in Goa and Bombay. Chiefly focusing on recurring patterns in the manner in which different groups within Goa and Bombay articulated their positions, this essay also suggests a shift in the manner in which contemporary linguistic politics is imagined and articulated.
The master-servant, or broadly bhatcar-mundcar, relations are fundamental to Goan culture, histor... more The master-servant, or broadly bhatcar-mundcar, relations are fundamental to Goan culture, history, and society. While the interaction of these two broad socioeconomic groups, those who labor and those who do not, was and is fundamental to Goan politics, scholars have not yet evolved a methodological framework for understanding these relations. This absence, the paper claims, is a particularly serious problem for Goa studies, and one that can be tackled by thinking closely about categories such as bhatcar and mundcar. The terms bhatcar and mundcar are defined capaciously, making room for a range of servitudes and labor regimes as well as different ways in which the masters live as bhatcars and the servants as mundcars. This paper uses Vimala Devi's Monsoon to formulate broad generalizations about the master-servant relations in Goa. The paper engages with the historiography of labor and caste in South Asia as well as Goan historiography to deepen the understanding of labor relations and culture in Goan society.
This paper examines the representation of the Goan ayah in the recent history of Goa. Taking Damo... more This paper examines the representation of the Goan ayah in the recent history of Goa. Taking Damodar Mauzo's Karmelin (1981), a novel which portrays the life of a Goan woman who migrates to Kuwait for employment, as an entry point, I will attempt to discuss the various issues pertaining to the representation of the Goan ayahs found in the historical record. It is claimed that the figure of the Goan ayah was viewed with suspicion when they migrated from Goa to Bombay, to be employed as domestic helpers. I attempt to highlight how Goan men and a few upper-class Goan women, in Goa and Bombay, shared an anxiety that in the anonymity of the metropolis the Goan ayah might transgress various boundaries: sexual, religious, caste, moral, and societal. Following this logic, I argue that rather than being a complex narrative about Goan women, Karmelin is a reiteration of a form of representation that harbors suspicion and anxiety about the migrating woman. Karmelin places the figure of the Goan ayah as central in its storyline precisely because stories about the 'scandalous' behavior of the ayahs in the diaspora have been circulating in Goan society for many years.
Indian nationalist discourses in Portuguese India have a direct relation
with the political devel... more Indian nationalist discourses in Portuguese India have a direct relation with the political developments in British India. I use the terms ‘British India’ instead of ‘India’ and ‘Portuguese India’ instead of ‘Goa’ (and the territories of Daman and Diu on the coast of Gujarat), in order to critically re-think the writing of history from an Indian nationalist and post-colonialist perspectives. The post-colonial reality of Portuguese India under the Indian nation-state after 1961 does not readily fit into the imagination of Indian nationhood. Nor does it fit easily into the theoretical perspective emerging out of a reading of the British colonial archive. This is due to the fact that modes of colonialism of the Portuguese and the British differed from each other. Since the perspective of British India ultimately became the norm, there have been attempts to fit the ill-fitting history of Portuguese India into the British Indian mold. This has serious repercussions for understanding the history of Portuguese colonialism. It also has repercussions for understanding the political representation and identities of the various communities living in Portuguese India under Indian nationalism and the Indian nation-state.
~~~
Os discursos nacionalistas indianos na Índia portuguesa têm relação directa com os desenvolvimentos políticos na Índia britânica. Uso termos como ‘Índia britânica’ em vez de ‘Índia’ ou ‘Índia portuguesa’ em vez de ‘Goa’ (e os territórios de Damão e Diu, na costa de Gujarat), de forma a repensar criticamente a escrita da História segundo as perspectivas nacionalista indiana e pós colonial. A realidade pós-colonial da Índia portuguesa sob o Estado-nação indiano depois de 1961 não se encaixa de forma imediata no imaginário da nacionalidade indiana. Também não se encaixa facilmente na perspectiva teórica que emerge de uma leitura do arquivo colonial britânico. Isto deve-se ao facto de os tipos de colonialismo britânico e português diferirem um do outro. Desde o momento em que a perspectiva da Índia britânica se transformou em norma, houve tentativas de encaixar a história da Índia portuguesa no molde britânico. Isto tem sérias repercussões para a compreensão da história do colonialismo português. Também tem repercussões para a compreensão da representação política e das identidades das várias comunidades a viver na Índia portuguesa sob o nacionalismo indiano e sob o Estado-nação indiano.
The Colonial Periodical Press in the Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions, 2023
This chapter focuses on news circulation and politics in Konkani print from Goa and Bombay. It lo... more This chapter focuses on news circulation and politics in Konkani print from Goa and Bombay. It looks closely at three newspapers, the weekly O Luso-Concanim and Porjecho Adar (with a Portuguese section), and the weekly Ave Maria in Konkani. The analysis focuses on the working-class Catholic readers and writers in Goa and Bombay and the issues that concerned them over a period of seventy years. The study provides brief and introductory notes on working-class Catholic concerns from the earliest moment when Konkani newsmagazines were published until the takeover of Goa, Daman, and Diu by the Indian Union. Thus, the analysis focuses on the working-class Goan Catholic experience of politics and print under colonialism and in a moment of transition to decolonized nation-states.
Translation, Script and Orality: Becoming a Language of State, 2021
The essay attempts to discuss the issue of the controversy of scripts within the politics of the ... more The essay attempts to discuss the issue of the controversy of scripts within the politics of the Konkani language. It traces the roots of the conflict over scripts to the nineteenth-century political manoeuvres in Goa and Bombay. Chiefly focusing on recurring patterns in the manner in which different groups within Goa and Bombay articulated their positions, this essay also suggests a shift in the manner in which contemporary linguistic politics is imagined and articulated.
The master-servant, or broadly bhatcar-mundcar, relations are fundamental to Goan culture, histor... more The master-servant, or broadly bhatcar-mundcar, relations are fundamental to Goan culture, history, and society. While the interaction of these two broad socioeconomic groups, those who labor and those who do not, was and is fundamental to Goan politics, scholars have not yet evolved a methodological framework for understanding these relations. This absence, the paper claims, is a particularly serious problem for Goa studies, and one that can be tackled by thinking closely about categories such as bhatcar and mundcar. The terms bhatcar and mundcar are defined capaciously, making room for a range of servitudes and labor regimes as well as different ways in which the masters live as bhatcars and the servants as mundcars. This paper uses Vimala Devi's Monsoon to formulate broad generalizations about the master-servant relations in Goa. The paper engages with the historiography of labor and caste in South Asia as well as Goan historiography to deepen the understanding of labor relations and culture in Goan society.
This paper examines the representation of the Goan ayah in the recent history of Goa. Taking Damo... more This paper examines the representation of the Goan ayah in the recent history of Goa. Taking Damodar Mauzo's Karmelin (1981), a novel which portrays the life of a Goan woman who migrates to Kuwait for employment, as an entry point, I will attempt to discuss the various issues pertaining to the representation of the Goan ayahs found in the historical record. It is claimed that the figure of the Goan ayah was viewed with suspicion when they migrated from Goa to Bombay, to be employed as domestic helpers. I attempt to highlight how Goan men and a few upper-class Goan women, in Goa and Bombay, shared an anxiety that in the anonymity of the metropolis the Goan ayah might transgress various boundaries: sexual, religious, caste, moral, and societal. Following this logic, I argue that rather than being a complex narrative about Goan women, Karmelin is a reiteration of a form of representation that harbors suspicion and anxiety about the migrating woman. Karmelin places the figure of the Goan ayah as central in its storyline precisely because stories about the 'scandalous' behavior of the ayahs in the diaspora have been circulating in Goan society for many years.
Indian nationalist discourses in Portuguese India have a direct relation
with the political devel... more Indian nationalist discourses in Portuguese India have a direct relation with the political developments in British India. I use the terms ‘British India’ instead of ‘India’ and ‘Portuguese India’ instead of ‘Goa’ (and the territories of Daman and Diu on the coast of Gujarat), in order to critically re-think the writing of history from an Indian nationalist and post-colonialist perspectives. The post-colonial reality of Portuguese India under the Indian nation-state after 1961 does not readily fit into the imagination of Indian nationhood. Nor does it fit easily into the theoretical perspective emerging out of a reading of the British colonial archive. This is due to the fact that modes of colonialism of the Portuguese and the British differed from each other. Since the perspective of British India ultimately became the norm, there have been attempts to fit the ill-fitting history of Portuguese India into the British Indian mold. This has serious repercussions for understanding the history of Portuguese colonialism. It also has repercussions for understanding the political representation and identities of the various communities living in Portuguese India under Indian nationalism and the Indian nation-state.
~~~
Os discursos nacionalistas indianos na Índia portuguesa têm relação directa com os desenvolvimentos políticos na Índia britânica. Uso termos como ‘Índia britânica’ em vez de ‘Índia’ ou ‘Índia portuguesa’ em vez de ‘Goa’ (e os territórios de Damão e Diu, na costa de Gujarat), de forma a repensar criticamente a escrita da História segundo as perspectivas nacionalista indiana e pós colonial. A realidade pós-colonial da Índia portuguesa sob o Estado-nação indiano depois de 1961 não se encaixa de forma imediata no imaginário da nacionalidade indiana. Também não se encaixa facilmente na perspectiva teórica que emerge de uma leitura do arquivo colonial britânico. Isto deve-se ao facto de os tipos de colonialismo britânico e português diferirem um do outro. Desde o momento em que a perspectiva da Índia britânica se transformou em norma, houve tentativas de encaixar a história da Índia portuguesa no molde britânico. Isto tem sérias repercussões para a compreensão da história do colonialismo português. Também tem repercussões para a compreensão da representação política e das identidades das várias comunidades a viver na Índia portuguesa sob o nacionalismo indiano e sob o Estado-nação indiano.
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with the political developments in British India. I use the terms
‘British India’ instead of ‘India’ and ‘Portuguese India’ instead of
‘Goa’ (and the territories of Daman and Diu on the coast of Gujarat),
in order to critically re-think the writing of history from an Indian
nationalist and post-colonialist perspectives. The post-colonial
reality of Portuguese India under the Indian nation-state after 1961
does not readily fit into the imagination of Indian nationhood. Nor
does it fit easily into the theoretical perspective emerging out of a
reading of the British colonial archive. This is due to the fact that
modes of colonialism of the Portuguese and the British differed from
each other. Since the perspective of British India ultimately became
the norm, there have been attempts to fit the ill-fitting history of
Portuguese India into the British Indian mold. This has serious repercussions for understanding the history of Portuguese colonialism.
It also has repercussions for understanding the political representation
and identities of the various communities living in Portuguese
India under Indian nationalism and the Indian nation-state.
~~~
Os discursos nacionalistas indianos na Índia portuguesa têm relação
directa com os desenvolvimentos políticos na Índia britânica. Uso termos
como ‘Índia britânica’ em vez de ‘Índia’ ou ‘Índia portuguesa’ em
vez de ‘Goa’ (e os territórios de Damão e Diu, na costa de Gujarat),
de forma a repensar criticamente a escrita da História segundo as
perspectivas nacionalista indiana e pós colonial. A realidade pós-colonial
da Índia portuguesa sob o Estado-nação indiano depois de 1961
não se encaixa de forma imediata no imaginário da nacionalidade indiana.
Também não se encaixa facilmente na perspectiva teórica que
emerge de uma leitura do arquivo colonial britânico. Isto deve-se ao
facto de os tipos de colonialismo britânico e português diferirem um
do outro. Desde o momento em que a perspectiva da Índia britânica
se transformou em norma, houve tentativas de encaixar a história
da Índia portuguesa no molde britânico. Isto tem sérias repercussões
para a compreensão da história do colonialismo português. Também
tem repercussões para a compreensão da representação política e das
identidades das várias comunidades a viver na Índia portuguesa sob
o nacionalismo indiano e sob o Estado-nação indiano.
with the political developments in British India. I use the terms
‘British India’ instead of ‘India’ and ‘Portuguese India’ instead of
‘Goa’ (and the territories of Daman and Diu on the coast of Gujarat),
in order to critically re-think the writing of history from an Indian
nationalist and post-colonialist perspectives. The post-colonial
reality of Portuguese India under the Indian nation-state after 1961
does not readily fit into the imagination of Indian nationhood. Nor
does it fit easily into the theoretical perspective emerging out of a
reading of the British colonial archive. This is due to the fact that
modes of colonialism of the Portuguese and the British differed from
each other. Since the perspective of British India ultimately became
the norm, there have been attempts to fit the ill-fitting history of
Portuguese India into the British Indian mold. This has serious repercussions for understanding the history of Portuguese colonialism.
It also has repercussions for understanding the political representation
and identities of the various communities living in Portuguese
India under Indian nationalism and the Indian nation-state.
~~~
Os discursos nacionalistas indianos na Índia portuguesa têm relação
directa com os desenvolvimentos políticos na Índia britânica. Uso termos
como ‘Índia britânica’ em vez de ‘Índia’ ou ‘Índia portuguesa’ em
vez de ‘Goa’ (e os territórios de Damão e Diu, na costa de Gujarat),
de forma a repensar criticamente a escrita da História segundo as
perspectivas nacionalista indiana e pós colonial. A realidade pós-colonial
da Índia portuguesa sob o Estado-nação indiano depois de 1961
não se encaixa de forma imediata no imaginário da nacionalidade indiana.
Também não se encaixa facilmente na perspectiva teórica que
emerge de uma leitura do arquivo colonial britânico. Isto deve-se ao
facto de os tipos de colonialismo britânico e português diferirem um
do outro. Desde o momento em que a perspectiva da Índia britânica
se transformou em norma, houve tentativas de encaixar a história
da Índia portuguesa no molde britânico. Isto tem sérias repercussões
para a compreensão da história do colonialismo português. Também
tem repercussões para a compreensão da representação política e das
identidades das várias comunidades a viver na Índia portuguesa sob
o nacionalismo indiano e sob o Estado-nação indiano.