Eleventh Global Studies Conference

Abstract

There are several important studies that discuss the diversity of India’s Ramayana tradition (Richman, 1991; Lutgendorf, 1991) and others that analyze the various political and social uses of this myth-historical sacred narrative (Gopal, 1991). However, there is a significant gap in the literature in the treatment of the Ramayana and its position within globalization. This paper seeks to address this gap by analyzing the uses and diverse subjectivities of the Ramayana in colonial, postcolonial, and neoliberal global contexts. Our approach is diachronic as we analyze translations of the narrative over time in the effort to explore the complex roles of translation, appropriation, and promotion of a cultural narrative in relation to varying waves of globalization. Our paper comprises three sections. First, we consult primary-source translations of the Ramayana by Christian missionaries and British colonial agents in the early and mid nineteenth century. In this section we discuss ways that these early works are used to represent India in the broader justification of British colonization of India. Next, we explore ways the Ramayana was interpreted and translated by Indian scholars in postcolonial India and further discuss how these works served to both reclaim the narrative and to promote a favorable image of Indian religion and culture to the world. Finally, we critique neoliberal globalization as we discuss how modern Indologists in the West have produced more recent translations of the Ramayana that serve to both appropriate and promote the narrative within the globalized contexts.