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Imaginations of India have been an important ingredient of the German literary and media landscape since the end of the 18th century. Though they are highly diverse, these images are equally often emotionally charged and situated somewhere between euphoric glorifications and deprecating condemnations. When Germany and India were celebrating the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, the time had come to investigate why Germans until today, even in the so‑called age of information, have so diverse perceptions of India. By reference to the three dominant German images of India, this article seeks to understand the various factors that influence our perception of another culture.

In 2006 the German Association for Asian Studies became host to the ongoing working group "Modern South Asia" (Arbeitskreis "Neuzeitliches Südasien"). This was the first such platform for scholars in Germany working on Modern South Asia that strived to link them beyond disciplinary boundaries. The reasons for this relatively late endeavor of interdisciplinary networking are manifold, and are discussed in depth in the article. Among other reasons, explanations are to be found in the particular history of institutionalized research on South Asia in Germany — meaning Indology. This discipline has been dominated by a focus on Old Indian languages, literatures, philosophies, and religions since its establishment at the beginning of the 19th century. Despite German scholars from other disciplines — mainly History and the Social Sciences — developing selective research projects related to modern South Asia from the mid-20th century onward, these new academic interests would barely lead to an institutionalization of Modern South Asian Studies. Only from the 1990s onward did this gradually change, with the economic liberalization of India, emerging trade relations between Germany and that country, the new geopolitical relevance of the region post-9/11, and overall increased media attention being given to the region in Germany. Accompanying these developments, a growing number of research groups in a variety of disciplines emerged to conduct research on a diverse range of current social, political, economic, or environmental phenomena in South Asia — developments manifested also by an enlarged number of South Asia-oriented funding initiatives. The transformation of research related to South Asia in recent years has thus brought out a new mode of interdisciplinary knowledge production, one driven particularly by young scholars.

In 2006 the German Association for Asian Studies became host to the ongoing working group "Modern South Asia" (Arbeitskreis "Neuzeitliches Südasien"). This was the first such platform for scholars in Germany working on Modern South Asia that strived to link them beyond disciplinary boundaries. The reasons for this relatively late endeavor of interdisciplinary networking are manifold, and are discussed in depth in the article. Among other reasons, explanations are to be found in the particular history of institutionalized research on South Asia in Germany — meaning Indology. This discipline has been dominated by a focus on Old Indian languages, literatures, philosophies, and religions since its establishment at the beginning of the 19th century. Despite German scholars from other disciplines — mainly History and the Social Sciences — developing selective research projects related to modern South Asia from the mid-20th century onward, these new academic interests would barely lead to an institutionalization of Modern South Asian Studies. Only from the 1990s onward did this gradually change, with the economic liberalization of India, emerging trade relations between Germany and that country, the new geopolitical relevance of the region post-9/11, and overall increased media attention being given to the region in Germany. Accompanying these developments, a growing number of research groups in a variety of disciplines emerged to conduct research on a diverse range of current social, political, economic, or environmental phenomena in South Asia — developments manifested also by an enlarged number of South Asia-oriented funding initiatives. The transformation of research related to South Asia in recent years has thus brought out a new mode of interdisciplinary knowledge production, one driven particularly by young scholars. (Asien/GIGA)

Diese Arbeit zeichnet Transformationen unter den Santal in Bangladesch nach. Hierfür wird die hegemoniale Machtausübung über die Santal sowie ihren Kampf um eine eigene Identität untersucht und der Einfluss externer Kräfte, einschließlich der epochalen Ereignisse der Kolonisation und Dekolonisation und die tief greifenden Auswirkungen der Evangelisierung. Das spätere Entstehen des nationalistischen Staates Bangladesch enthielt ein Erbe politischer Vormachtstellung, das es ermöglichte, die Santal weiterhin zu beherrschen. All diese periodischen Ereignisse und die beteiligten Akteure haben die Fragen der Identität der Santal polarisiert. Um den hegemonialen Machtstrukturen entgegenzutreten, demonstrieren die Santal ihre Macht in periodischen wie in alltäglichen Ereignissen. Mithin sind die zentralen Themen dieser Forschung die Identität der Santal und ihre Kämpfe um deren Konstruktion durch die Linse der Rechte. In der Tat versehen die Santal ihre Traditionen und rituellen Praktiken durch deren Ausübung wie durch Neuerfindungen mit politischen und rationalen Bedeutungen und laden dazu ein, die Macht der Subalternen zu überdenken.

Diese Arbeit zeichnet Transformationen unter den Santal in Bangladesch nach. Hierfür wird die hegemoniale Machtausübung über die Santal sowie ihren Kampf um eine eigene Identität untersucht und der Einfluss externer Kräfte, einschließlich der epochalen Ereignisse der Kolonisation und Dekolonisation und die tief greifenden Auswirkungen der Evangelisierung. Das spätere Entstehen des nationalistischen Staates Bangladesch enthielt ein Erbe politischer Vormachtstellung, das es ermöglichte, die Santal weiterhin zu beherrschen. All diese periodischen Ereignisse und die beteiligten Akteure haben die Fragen der Identität der Santal polarisiert. Um den hegemonialen Machtstrukturen entgegenzutreten, demonstrieren die Santal ihre Macht in periodischen wie in alltäglichen Ereignissen. Mithin sind die zentralen Themen dieser Forschung die Identität der Santal und ihre Kämpfe um deren Konstruktion durch die Linse der Rechte. In der Tat versehen die Santal ihre Traditionen und rituellen Praktiken durch deren Ausübung wie durch Neuerfindungen mit politischen und rationalen Bedeutungen und laden dazu ein, die Macht der Subalternen zu überdenken.