Discovering ‘Religion’: Nineteenth Century Colonial Attitudes Towards Religious Identity and Difference in Southeast Asia
Noor FA, Hedges P (2023)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2023
Journal
DOI: 10.1080/07256868.2023.2282969
Abstract
This paper seeks to show how the example of colonial writings in Southeast Asia display, but also complicate, some already identified patterns in how religion, and the world religions paradigm (WRP), alongside such discursive terms as ‘superstition’, were applied to the religious practices and worldviews of indigenous Southeast Asians through the nineteenth century. Such figures as Sir Stamford Raffles and John Crawfurd, amongst others, from both the British and American colonial enterprise, are examined in terms of how both Islam and other forms of religiosity are framed in their writings. The paper focuses upon merchants, adventurers, and officials rather than scholars in terms of how they framed these traditions in their writings, and developed influential ways of representing this region and its peoples, which was also created in the process of so-called ‘discovery’. The imbrication of race, religion, and civilisation is critically discussed, alongside how mercantile pragmatics also played into the formation of categories.
Involved external institutions
Singapore (SG)How to cite
APA:
Noor, F.A., & Hedges, P. (2023). Discovering ‘Religion’: Nineteenth Century Colonial Attitudes Towards Religious Identity and Difference in Southeast Asia. Journal of Intercultural Studies. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2023.2282969
MLA:
Noor, Farish A., and Paul Hedges. "Discovering ‘Religion’: Nineteenth Century Colonial Attitudes Towards Religious Identity and Difference in Southeast Asia." Journal of Intercultural Studies (2023).
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