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Indography

Writing the "Indian" in Early Modern England

Palgrave Macmillan

Part of the book series: Signs of Race (SOR)

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Table of contents (17 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vii
  2. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Jonathan Gil Harris
      Pages 1-20
  3. Indology: Discovery, Ethnography, Pathology

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21
    2. How to Make an Indian

      • Bindu Malieckal
      Pages 23-42
    3. Looking for Loss, Anticipating Absence

      • Gina Caison
      Pages 43-56
    4. From First Encounter to “Fiery Oven”

      • Thomas Cartelli
      Pages 57-70
    5. Trafficking in Tangomóckomindge

      • Kevin Boettcher
      Pages 71-83
    6. Playing Indian

      • Karen Robertson
      Pages 105-115
    7. Tobacco, Union, and the Indianized English

      • Craig Rustici
      Pages 117-131
    8. Sick Ethnography

      • Jonathan Gil Harris
      Pages 133-147
  4. Indopoesis: Poetry, Drama, Romance

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 149-149
    2. Spenser’s “Men of Inde”

      • Marion Hollings
      Pages 151-168
    3. From Lunacy to Faith

      • James W. Stone
      Pages 169-181
    4. “Does this become you, Princess?”

      • Jeanette N. Tran
      Pages 197-207
    5. Playing an Indian Queen

      • Amrita Sen
      Pages 209-222
    6. Made in India

      • Carmen Nocentelli
      Pages 223-234
    7. “A Well-Born Race”

      • Sara Eaton
      Pages 235-248
    8. Afterword

      • Jyotsna G. Singh
      Pages 249-255

About this book

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Europeans invented 'Indians' and populated the world with them. The global history of the term 'Indian' remains largely unwritten and this volume, taking its cue from Shakespeare, asks us to consider the proximities and distances between various early modern discourses of the Indian. Through new analysis of English travel writing, medical treatises, literature, and drama, contributors seek not just to recover unexpected counter-histories but to put pressure on the ways in which we understand race, foreign bodies, and identity in a globalizing age that has still not shed deeply ingrained imperialist habits of marking difference.

Reviews

'In 1614, Samuel Purchas noted that India was a term that had begun to be used to describe 'all farre-distant Countries.' This volume is a careful, thought-provoking and wide-ranging analysis of the meaning, implications and consequences of that usage. It uncovers the astonishing diversity of peoples and locations signified by the term in early modern English writings. Even more important, it tracks the connections between the different 'Indians' forged through material as well as imaginative channels. 'India' and 'Indians' emerge as important points of entry into the early histories and discourses of globalization. An important and illuminating book.' - Ania Loomba, Catherine Bryson Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania

"The geographic miscalculation that persuaded Columbus to identify the New World as part of 'India' is at once so gross and so familiar that its imaginative consequences have never seemed to deserve serious consideration. The brilliant tessellation of essays that make up Indography show how mistaken that neglect has been. By opening a fascinating variety of perspectives on the many 'Indias' of the Renaissance imaginary, Gil Harris and his contributors promise to transform our understanding of early modern ethnography and its relation to the discourses of trade and empire." - Michael Neill, emeritus professor of English, University of Auckland

About the authors

Jonathan Gil Harris is a professor of English at George Washington University.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access