Religious transactions in colonial south India: language, translation, and the making of Protestant identity

In: Palgrave studies in cultural and intellectual history

Abstract

"Religious Transactions in Colonial South India locates the "making" of Protestant identities in South India within several contesting discourses. It examines evolving attitudes to translation and translation practices in the Tamil literary and sacred landscapes initiated by early missionary translations of the Bible in Tamil. Situating the Tamil Bible firmly within intersecting religious, literary and social contexts, the book offers a fresh perspective on the translated Bible as a cultural object. It focuses on conflicts in three key areas of translation--locating a sacred lexicon, the politics of "standard versions" and categorizing genres--as discursive sites within which Protestant identities have been articulated by Tamils. By widening the cultural and historical framework of the Tamil Bible, this book is the first to analyze links between language use, translation practices and caste affiliations in the articulation of Protestant identities in India"--