Trans-Colonial Modernities in South Asia

The generation of national cultures in colonized areas of Asia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries has most often been traced to the cultural-textual production of emerging 'middle-class' elites. This book presents cutting-edge interpretations of the emergence of Asian nationalism, calling special attention to the realms of 'national' science, religion, and philosophy. Promoting the comparison of 'traditional' scholars and elites in a trans-colonial, trans-national context, this unique book focuses on the formation of national identities that appropriated elements of colonial administration, ideology, and structure, as these were grafted onto ideas of nationhood that themselves cut across various religious, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural boundaries. The articulation of such discourses as Pan-Islamic, Pan-Arab, or South and Southeast-Asian nationalism is emphasised, and the book covers a variety of geographical regions, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. To the fore will be the examination of religious and scientific scholarship within the traditions of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, as well as in lesser-studies languages such as Sanskrit, Hindi/Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Malay, and Chinese.Providing new insights into the negotiation and re-interpretation of Western knowledge and modernity and the genealogy of the concept of 'the nation', this book will be of interested to a wide academic audience across different subject areas, including Asian and Middle East Studies, intellectual and colonial history and religious studies.