Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge

by Bernard S. Cohn

Bernard Cohn's interest in the construction of Empire as an intellectual and cultural phenomenon has set the agenda for the academic study of modern Indian culture for over two decades. His earlier publications have shown how dramatic British innovations in India, including revenue and legal systems, led to fundamental structural changes in Indian social relations. This collection of his writings in the last fifteen years discusses areas in which the colonial impact has generally been overlooked. The essays form a multifaceted exploration of the ways in which the British discovery, collection, and codification of information about Indian society contributed to colonial cultural hegemony and political control.

Cohn argues that the British Orientalists' study of Indian languages was important to the colonial project of control and command. He also asserts that an arena of colonial power that seemed most benign and most susceptible to indigenous influences--mostly law--in fact became responsible for the institutional reactivation of peculiarly British notions about how to regulate a colonial society made up of "others." He shows how the very Orientalist imagination that led to brilliant antiquarian collections, archaeological finds, and photographic forays were in fact forms of constructing an India that could be better packaged, inferiorized, and ruled. A final essay on cloth suggests how clothes have been part of the history of both colonialism and anticolonialism.

Genres: History, India, Anthropology, Nonfiction, Theory, Victorian, Asia

200 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 1996

Reviews

[C. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating collection of essays. It's a classic analysis of the ways in which colonial forms of knowledge were manifested. As another reviewer says, the essay on clothes is a revelation, especially what Cohn writes about clothes that were intended to ward off disease. The Indian climate, landscape, and air was dangerous to the British in a way analogous to the cultural danger. These are masterful.

[Xi Xi · Rating 3 out of 5]

simple reading for beginners like me.

[Akshita R Aares · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Academic read)

[Mandeep Kalra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dense but definitely worthwhile read, chock-full of trenchant insights. Cohn deftly melds history and anthropology in a series of essays to show how the British, while ostensibly attempting to understand and describe the lands they had just conquered, really constructed an India to fit their Orientalist discourse. The legacy of their actions continues to be felt in post-colonial South Asia. With his dexterous use of the theories of Edward Said and Michel Foucault as well as his own penetrating analysis, Cohn helped pioneer the field of colonial knowledge.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

While his theme of empire as a cultural phenomenon is fascinating, Bernard Cohn's book is painstakingly difficult to read. Cohn argues that the British took control of India by classifying space, codifying information, making separations between public and private spheres and standardizing languages. All of his main points are well supported, however he tends to rely too heavily on huge, clunky quotations.

[Dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over the years, I've read bits and pieces of this wonderful collection of essays. They never disappoint, even if I haven't quite found the time to read them start to finish.

[eliza! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tech and Empire #4: my favorite so far. I really enjoyed Ch 2 on language, translation, and command, but was a tad disappointed by the museology section. I def agree with the revisionist critiques that the role of indigenous knowledge systems is somewhat more complicated than in Cohn's approach here, but appreciated the sections on Col Mackenzie's assistants

[Satya Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book introduces great information about the codifying of knowledge and use of language as a means of control but at the cost of a very difficult, hard to parse read. Best read in tandem with Said's Orientalism, but I would recommend this book to be read slowly so it can be properly absorbed, as the information within it is more than plentiful, but at times incredibly dry.

[amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly excellent chapter on cloth and clothes.

[Revanth Ukkalam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worthy introduction to colonialism and its capacity and need to know. But where are the informers?

[DM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic for a reason.

[Punjab · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most genuine work on colonialism. It digs deep into the colonial archive to explore the changing and constructing knowledge forms in India.