"The Ban Formula : Non-Indian Authors and The Colonial State in the 1920s-30s" a Lecture by Dr. Devika Sethi at Indian Council of Historical Research, Third Floor, 35, Ferozeshah Road > 3:30pm on 25th June 2015

Time : 3:30 pm Add to Calendar 25/06/2015 15:30 25/06/2015 17:00 Asia/Kolkata "The Ban Formula : Non-Indian Authors and The Colonial State in the 1920s-30s" a Lecture by Dr. Devika Sethi Event Page : http://www.delhievents.com/2015/06/the-ban-formula-non-indian-authors-and.html Indian Council of Historical Research, Third Floor, 35, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi - 110001 DD/MM/YYYY

Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served Basis)

Venue : Indian Council of Historical Research, Third Floor, 35, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi - 110001
Venue Info : ichr.ac.in | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Mandi House (Blue Line and Violet Line)'
Area : Mandi House Area Events 

Event Description : Indian Council of Historical Research cordially invites you to a Lecture by Dr. Devika Sethi, Assistant Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences,  Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi on THE BAN FORMULA:NON-INDIAN AUTHORS AND THE COLONIAL STATE IN THE 1920S-30s.

Abstract:
In a colonial context, and against the backdrop of an anti-colonial movement, it is all too easy to see censorship of publications operating along racial lines, and to assume that only publications by Indian authors were subject to censorship. However, non-Indian authors  -- former colonial officials and soldiers, journalists, and missionaries -- writing in English on matters concerning India commanded audiences in their home countries in addition to being read by an influential section of the Indian population. Precisely because they escaped colonial stereotyping about ‘seditious natives’, non-Indian authors’ words carried a greater illusion of neutrality, and sometimes more weight. Their criticism of the colonial state or excessive approbation of nationalist leaders could less easily be dismissed as biased than that by Indians. By reconstructing the process of -- and the controversy over -- the banning of three such books by the colonial state in the 1920s-30s, this lecture will question commonly held assumptions about the conduct of censorship of publications in late colonial India.

Speaker: Devika Sethi teaches History at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi. She was awarded a PhD degree by Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2013 for her thesis titled 'Proscribing Ideas: Censorship in India, c. 1930-60'. She has previously taught at St. Stephen's College, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, and Gargi College, Delhi University. 

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