| ID | 159390 |
| Title Proper | Conversion, Memory and Writing |
| Other Title Information | Remembering and Reforming the Self |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Israel, Hephzibah |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Examining autobiographical statements left by South Asians converting to Christianity from the nineteenth century onwards, this article investigates the function of memory and literary narrative in three features common to several accounts: the translation of conversion accounts; the reconstruction of past events through narrative devices; and the re-formation of the Protestant individual conceived as part of a larger project of ‘reforming’ India as a state of progressive modernity. It argues that personal memory is inflected by conventions of writing about conversion, pressing into service specific tropes to exhibit the convert as ‘Protestant’. This economy of recall allowed converts to participate in wider public debates on religious and social reform by re-enacting conversion and confession in autobiography. |
| `In' analytical Note | South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies Vol. 41, No.2; Jun 2018: p.400-417 |
| Journal Source | South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 2018-06 41, 2 |
| Key Words | Christianity ; India ; Conversion ; Autobiography ; Memory ; Reform ; Translation ; Protestant |