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Journal of Interdisciplinary History 34.1 (2003) 137-138



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Children of Colonialism: Anglo-Indians in a Postcolonial World. By Lionel Caplan (New York, Berg, 2001) 261pp. $68.00 cloth $22.50 paper

Children of Colonialism marks a welcome addition to a growing body of scholarship on the many creole communities that emerged as a result of European imperialism. Caplan focuses on the colonial past and postcolonial present of Anglo-Indians—persons descended from both European and Indian ancestors—in Madras since the eighteenth century. He situates his work at the interface of historical, anthropological, and sociological methodology. This detailed case study of one locality, however, is firmly anchored within broader Indian developments, as well as in its global context. Caplan convincingly charts the shifts in British policies and attitudes toward this hybrid group throughout the Indian subcontinent prior to the end of empire and also notes comparisons with British and other European powers' treatment of métis communities elsewhere. Moreover, he highlights how, in the wake of decolonization, ongoing emigration (mainly to Australia and Britain) in tandem with changes in Indian politics and society altered the composition, outlook, and identity of those who remained in Madras.

Caplan's work has many additional strengths: He carefully distinguishes between the Anglo-Indians' self-perception and their stigmatization by the British over time, emphasizing both the socioeconomic divisions pervading a community commonly depicted as undifferentiated by outside observers, as well as the gender-specific nature of both Anglo-Indian stereotypes and realities. Children of Colonialism illuminates how Christianity, family structure, language, food, dress, marriage customs, and other cultural practices, such as the giving and receiving of charity, have combined to distinguish Anglo-Indians from both Britons and Indians during and after the colonial period. But Caplan also stresses the impossibility of completely isolating Anglo-Indians from either the colonizers or the (once) colonized, given the continual "border crossings" between these groups as a result of intermarriage and other forms of social mixing.

Although this book has much to recommend it, Caplan's approach to both using and conveying his evidence is problematical. He draws upon an impressive range of written sources, but the oral material that he gathered during his fieldwork may well be his richest vein. Out of the 10,000 to 15,000 Anglo-Indians estimated to live in Madras today, Caplan claims to have become acquainted with approximately 350 households, or 1,500 persons; throughout this book, the fruits of his visits to churches, schools, homes, and other venues are readily apparent.

Central as his use of oral testimony is to this project, in many respects, it constitutes a missed opportunity. Each chapter begins with several excerpts from recorded conversations, but we learn nothing about the identity of the speakers, the nature of Caplan's interactions with them, or the timing of the accounts. Moreover, at many other points throughout the book, a more thorough contextualization and analysis of [End Page 137] the oral testimony would have grounded Caplan's interpretations better. Instead, it is often unclear whether he considers his oral material to constitute "factual" evidence or, more promisingly, to reflect the mindset of particular individuals whose views stem from their distinct gender, class, generational, and occupational identity, as well as a specific historical moment. Greater care about the presentation and evaluation of this invaluable set of interactions would have added considerably to this important study. As it stands, much of what makes spoken testimony both colorful and suggestive is tantalizingly absent.

 



Elizabeth Buettner
University of York

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