E. M. FORSTER - A PASSAGE TO INDIA
Monday, 24 May 2021 14:15
OUTCOMES
- Situate the novel in the context of British Imperialism in India and discuss Forster's depiction
of the politics of the Raj (lecture 1-2)
- Discuss Forster's representation of 'personal relations' and friendship, particularly in relation
to questions of race and religion (lectures 2-5)
- Explain the way the novel deconstructs Western discourses/conceptions of reality -
Christianity, Romanticism, rationalism, language itself
- Identify and discuss the modernist aspects of the novel (lecture 5)
BACKGROUND + HISTORY - NOVEL ABOUT FAILED RELATIONS
- P.33 Mahmoud Ali: Is it possible to be friends with an Englishman?
- Chapter 3 "The bridge Party": kites fly overhead
- Hindu-Muslim animus
- Chapter 39 Dr Aziz and Cyril Fielding friends?
- Pessimistic? Cautiously and realistically optimistic?
- 3 parts
○ 1 - Mosque
○ 2 - Caves
○ 3 - Temple
- Title: Stanza 3 of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (first ed. 1855)
- Break up of Anglo-Indian relations:
○ Indian National Congress (Mahatma Ghandi + Non Co-Operation Movement; salt
boycott, textile strikes etc)
○ 1919 Amritsar Massacre (hartal [mass protest] led to mass shooting)
- Muslim relations
○ Khilafat movement (1919-1942)
Recognize old Sultan
, ○ All-Indian Muslim League
Bengal (E) and Punjab (NW)
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
- Indian Independence (Partition): Aug. 14, 1947
○ Last Viceroy (aka Governor-General): Lord Louis Mountbatten
○ Hindus: 80% population
○ Muslim: largest minority
- How did India end up this way?
○ Muslim India, "British" India (last millennium)
○ Mughal Empire (early 16C) - love for artistry
Babur
Akbar
Aurangzeb
Jahangir
Shan Jahan - built Taj Mahal for wife's tomb
○ (British) East India Company (EIC)
- How did Britain structure India:
○ DO's (District Officers) used as magistrates, revenue collectors, policemen - preferred
over traditional Indian functionaries:
Monday, 24 May 2021 14:15
OUTCOMES
- Situate the novel in the context of British Imperialism in India and discuss Forster's depiction
of the politics of the Raj (lecture 1-2)
- Discuss Forster's representation of 'personal relations' and friendship, particularly in relation
to questions of race and religion (lectures 2-5)
- Explain the way the novel deconstructs Western discourses/conceptions of reality -
Christianity, Romanticism, rationalism, language itself
- Identify and discuss the modernist aspects of the novel (lecture 5)
BACKGROUND + HISTORY - NOVEL ABOUT FAILED RELATIONS
- P.33 Mahmoud Ali: Is it possible to be friends with an Englishman?
- Chapter 3 "The bridge Party": kites fly overhead
- Hindu-Muslim animus
- Chapter 39 Dr Aziz and Cyril Fielding friends?
- Pessimistic? Cautiously and realistically optimistic?
- 3 parts
○ 1 - Mosque
○ 2 - Caves
○ 3 - Temple
- Title: Stanza 3 of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (first ed. 1855)
- Break up of Anglo-Indian relations:
○ Indian National Congress (Mahatma Ghandi + Non Co-Operation Movement; salt
boycott, textile strikes etc)
○ 1919 Amritsar Massacre (hartal [mass protest] led to mass shooting)
- Muslim relations
○ Khilafat movement (1919-1942)
Recognize old Sultan
, ○ All-Indian Muslim League
Bengal (E) and Punjab (NW)
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
- Indian Independence (Partition): Aug. 14, 1947
○ Last Viceroy (aka Governor-General): Lord Louis Mountbatten
○ Hindus: 80% population
○ Muslim: largest minority
- How did India end up this way?
○ Muslim India, "British" India (last millennium)
○ Mughal Empire (early 16C) - love for artistry
Babur
Akbar
Aurangzeb
Jahangir
Shan Jahan - built Taj Mahal for wife's tomb
○ (British) East India Company (EIC)
- How did Britain structure India:
○ DO's (District Officers) used as magistrates, revenue collectors, policemen - preferred
over traditional Indian functionaries:
