Memsahibs and ayahs during the Mutiny: In English memoirs and fiction

Drawing upon the personal accounts of British women who lived through the Mutiny (1857–58), this article argues that these accounts, being characterised by diversity, both supported and contradicted the official discourse of the British Raj. While the domestic spaces in the household were shaken by...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studies in people's history 2020-12, Vol.7 (2), p.159-170
Main Author: Sen, Sucharita
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Drawing upon the personal accounts of British women who lived through the Mutiny (1857–58), this article argues that these accounts, being characterised by diversity, both supported and contradicted the official discourse of the British Raj. While the domestic spaces in the household were shaken by the storm of the Mutiny, interpersonal relations sometimes transcended the animosity which the Mutiny had garnered. By bringing the contemporary British fiction into the spectrum of analysis, this article argues that the Mutiny fiction and personal accounts have a common chord in their portrayal of the loyalty of the native servants in the hour of crises for their employers. These relationships, however, also implied the status of white superiority over coloured subordination as also the memsahib’s special preserve of idleness.
ISSN:2348-4489
2349-7718
DOI:10.1177/2348448920951520