Sati in Britain, 1850-1900: An Evolving Site of Memory

Abstract

This dissertation offers an exploration of sati, an Indian practice of widow burning, as an evolving site of memory in the period between 1850 and 1900 in Britain. The study shows how sati evolved into a resource for articulating a range of social and cultural issues in Britain, thereby shaping these discourses. In its analysis, the dissertation highlights the bidirectional flow of influence between the colonizer and the colonized. By drawing on insights from memory studies and postcolonial studies, it offers a fresh perspective on the intricate and often overlooked impact of the colonized culture on the formation and transformation of cultural narratives within the colonizing society. Specifically, it expands the conversation on sati by exploring its influence across a range of British discourses, utilizing a wide array of previously unexamined materials such as articles, essays, opinion pieces, and news articles from various British periodicals and newspapers. This approach shifts the focus from how Britain influenced the discourse of sati to how sati shaped variety of discourses in Britain. Therefore, this dissertation is a notable addition to postcolonial studies. Chronologically structured, each chapter focuses on a distinct period within the nineteenth century, spotlighting the dominant discourses shaped by sati and vice versa. The first chapter, covering 1850 to 1870, examines how it was employed in a diverse set of discourses, particularly highlighting how it became a resource to articulate various forms of subjugation of women and advocating for state intervention. The second chapter, encompassing the 1870s, brings into focus how sati became central to discourses on women’s agency, analyzing representations of Indian widows in the context of British reforms and critiquing the constraints on British womanhood. The final chapter investigates the role of sati in the last two decades of the century, showing how it was employed to articulate the promotion of educational reforms for women in both Britain and India. Together, all the chapters offer an exploration of the ways in which sati evolved as a memory site and influenced a variety of different discourses.