Abstract
Representations of the subcontinent in the British theater were distinct from depictions in novels and poems in that, they gave India a physical presence through sceneography and the physical bodies of the actors. Moreover, while novels and poems of this period could be read aloud to a group, they were more often than not aimed at an individual reader. This is in contrast to stage productions, which were mostly performed to a collective audience and had an interactive element with spectators responding to the action before them and in turn shaping the performance. Theatrical depictions of India were often aimed at garnering a nationalistic response from their audience in relation to conflicts with depicted colonial “others.” When representing colonialism, plays could deploy staging technologies to reinforce the illusion of British colonial control and racial superiority or to sometimes inadvertently, or intentionally, parody the colonial endeavor. Thus, in addition to engaging in a textual analysis of the plays, this chapter will analyze the visual aspects of the plays and how various audiences responded to contemporary productions.
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Notes
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© 2012 Ashok Malhotra
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Malhotra, A. (2012). Performing the “Civilizing Mission” on the British Stage. In: Making British Indian Fictions. Palgrave Studies in Cultural and Intellectual History. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137011541_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137011541_4
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