"They say ...": Indian talk back as Indiaspeak in Ralph Fitch's account of India in 1583
The account of a visit to India in 1583 by the Elizabethan leather seller, Ralph Fitch, is justly famous for the view it contains of India in the sixteenth century. Yet, the account has not been seen for the traces it has of Indians talking to Fitch in India, in the repeated intrusions of the phrase...
| Published in: | The sixteenth century journal |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sixteenth Century Journal Publ.
[2016]
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| In: |
The sixteenth century journal
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| IxTheo Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KBF British Isles KBM Asia |
| Further subjects: | B
Pamphlets
History
16th century
B TERMS & phrases B CROSS-cultural communication History 16th century B India Description & travel Early works to 1800 B East Indians Attitudes B English literature Early modern, 1500-1700 B Fitch, Ralph B Travel writing History 16th century |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | The account of a visit to India in 1583 by the Elizabethan leather seller, Ralph Fitch, is justly famous for the view it contains of India in the sixteenth century. Yet, the account has not been seen for the traces it has of Indians talking to Fitch in India, in the repeated intrusions of the phrase “They say.” This essay argues that snippets of street level Indian back talk make for a kind of Indiaspeak; these phrases are valuable for the reverse view they offer of the first English probing of India that led to the English colonization of the subcontinent over the next two centuries. In the absence of official Indian responses to the initial English contacts, the phrases allow us to see the protocolonial English observer observed, and through the character of their contents foretell the nature of the subsequent Indian struggle against English dominion. |
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| ISSN: | 0361-0160 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The sixteenth century journal
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