{"product_id":"9789766373948","title":"Mother India's Shadow Over El Dorado","description":"\"Multiple constructions of India, as homeland, have been central to the shaping of Indo-Guyanese identity. An imagined India – part fact, part fantasy – has continually woven into the Indo-Guyanese consciousness a rich, elevating perception of self: an antidote to the deflating image of the ‘coolie’ that lingered when the last Indian indentures were cancelled in 1920. \u003cp\u003eIn Mother India’s Shadow over El Dorado: Indo-Guyanese Politics and Identity, 1890s-1930s, Clem Seecharan reconstructs the circumstances surrounding the development of Indo-Guyanese nationalism. He assesses the impact of the Golden Age of the Ramayana; the glories of ancient India unearthed by British scholars\/administrators (Indologists); and Gandhi’s virtual deification in his campaign for India’s freedom. An India seen to be in revolt against imperial rule inspired several Indo-Guyanese intellectuals, such as Joseph Ruhomon, Peter Ruhomon and J.I. Ramphal, to popularise an image of Mother India that bolstered Indo-Guyanese self-esteem. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on a range of primary sources, the book presents a comprehensive picture of the ‘many Indias’ Indo-Guyanese (Hindus, Muslims and Christians) embraced in countering the ‘coolie’ stain, while seeking to belong in creole society. On the flip side, the consuming El Dorado syndrome in Guyana bred a discernible triumphalism among Indo-Guyanese, manifested in the Colonisation Scheme of the 1920s and the associated ideas of creating an ‘Indian colony’ or a ‘Greater India’ in Guyana. This kindled a resilient fear, among African-Guyanese, of Indian economic and political domination which still haunts the country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeecharan handles these complex issues lucidly and authoritatively. Mother India’s Shadow is indispensable in comprehending the smouldering ethnic insecurities of contemporary Guyana.\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ian Randle Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49990155337968,"sku":"9789766373948","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9789766373948","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}