Britain's Anglo-Indians

The Invisibility of Assimilation

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Emigration & Immigration, Anthropology, History, British
Cover of the book Britain's Anglo-Indians by Rochelle Almeida, Lexington Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Rochelle Almeida ISBN: 9781498545891
Publisher: Lexington Books Publication: April 26, 2017
Imprint: Lexington Books Language: English
Author: Rochelle Almeida
ISBN: 9781498545891
Publisher: Lexington Books
Publication: April 26, 2017
Imprint: Lexington Books
Language: English

Anglo-Indians form the human legacy created and left behind on the Indian subcontinent by European imperialism. When Independence was achieved from the British Raj in 1947, an exodus numbering an estimated 50,000 emigrated to Great Britain between 1948–62, under the terms of the British Nationality Act of 1948. But sixty odd years after their resettlement in Britain, the “First Wave” Anglo-Indian immigrant community continues to remain obscure among India’s global diaspora.

This book examines and critiques the convoluted routes of adaptation and assimilation employed by immigrant Anglo-Indians in the process of finding their niche within the context of globalization in contemporary multi-cultural Britain. As they progressed from immigrants to settlers, they underwent a cultural metamorphosis. The homogenizing labyrinth of ethnic cultures through which they negotiated their way—Indian, Anglo-Indian, then Anglo-Saxon—effaced difference but created yet another hybrid identity: British Anglo-Indianness.

Through meticulous ethnographic field research conducted amidst the community in Britain over a decade, Rochelle Almeida provides evidence that immigrant Anglo-Indians remain on the cultural periphery despite more than half a century. Indeed, it might be argued that they have attained virtual invisibility—in having created an altogether interesting new amalgamated sub-culture in the UK, this Christian minority has ceased to be counted: both, among South Asia’s diaspora and within mainstream Britain. Through a critical scrutiny of multi-ethnic Anglophone literature and cinema, the modes and methods they employed in seeking integration and the reasons for their near-invisibility in Britain as an immigrant South Asian community are closely examined in this much-needed volume.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Anglo-Indians form the human legacy created and left behind on the Indian subcontinent by European imperialism. When Independence was achieved from the British Raj in 1947, an exodus numbering an estimated 50,000 emigrated to Great Britain between 1948–62, under the terms of the British Nationality Act of 1948. But sixty odd years after their resettlement in Britain, the “First Wave” Anglo-Indian immigrant community continues to remain obscure among India’s global diaspora.

This book examines and critiques the convoluted routes of adaptation and assimilation employed by immigrant Anglo-Indians in the process of finding their niche within the context of globalization in contemporary multi-cultural Britain. As they progressed from immigrants to settlers, they underwent a cultural metamorphosis. The homogenizing labyrinth of ethnic cultures through which they negotiated their way—Indian, Anglo-Indian, then Anglo-Saxon—effaced difference but created yet another hybrid identity: British Anglo-Indianness.

Through meticulous ethnographic field research conducted amidst the community in Britain over a decade, Rochelle Almeida provides evidence that immigrant Anglo-Indians remain on the cultural periphery despite more than half a century. Indeed, it might be argued that they have attained virtual invisibility—in having created an altogether interesting new amalgamated sub-culture in the UK, this Christian minority has ceased to be counted: both, among South Asia’s diaspora and within mainstream Britain. Through a critical scrutiny of multi-ethnic Anglophone literature and cinema, the modes and methods they employed in seeking integration and the reasons for their near-invisibility in Britain as an immigrant South Asian community are closely examined in this much-needed volume.

More books from Lexington Books

Cover of the book The Intertwining of Aesthetics and Ethics by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book U2 Above, Across, and Beyond by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Hidden Interests in Credit and Finance by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Broken Promises of Globalization by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Maine by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Philosophy and Working-through the Past by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Gabriel Marcel and American Philosophy by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Ibadan Market Women and Politics, 1900–1995 by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Socratic Charis by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Secular Spirituality by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book The History of Street Gangs in the United States by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Public Places by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Conceptual Aphasia in Black by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Trauma, Memory and Identity in Five Jewish Novels from the Southern Cone by Rochelle Almeida
Cover of the book Ecological Politics by Rochelle Almeida
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy