The Representation of the Figure of the Devadasi in European Travel Writing and Art from 1770 to 1820 with Specific Reference to Dutch Writer Jacob Haafner
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The Representation of the Figure of the Devadasi in European Travel Writing and Art from 1770 to 1820 with specific reference to Dutch writer Jacob Haafner an exegesis & The Pagoda Tree a novel by Claire ScoBie BA (Hons) CamBridge Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctorate of Creative Arts at University of Western Sydney, Sydney FeBruary 2013 Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text, I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. Signed, Claire Scobie. 14 February 2013 Authority of Access The thesis may be made available for loan after 14 February 2013 and limited copying in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor Gail Jones for her unwavering support from the start. Her wise insight and enthusiasm for my project have been invaluable throughout my candidature. I am fortunate to have had such a generous and understanding supervisor. Thanks also to Professor Ivor Indyk as a steadying hand and to Dr Mridula Chakraborty’s input in the early stages. It’s been a great privilege to be part of the University’s Writing and Society Research Group. Throughout my scholarship, I have benefitted from the range of seminars and particularly valued the time on the Creative Ecologies Retreat and with fellow post-graduates at Varuna. I am grateful to Nirmala Lakshman for assisting with foreign language elements of the text and to VR Devika for her advice on cultural aspects of the novel. I also greatly appreciate the scholarly discussions I’ve had with Joep Bor over the years. Thanks to Melinda Jewell for proofreading the exegesis. On a personal note, I would like to thank Suzanne Leal for telling me to keep going when I thought I couldn’t and most of all, to my husband Aden, for his encouragement, patience and belief throughout. Note on Citations This thesis follows the Chicago 15th B Style by implementing shortened citations in footnotes. Please refer to the bibliography for full reference details. Table of Contents Table of Illustrations .............................................................................................................................. ii Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................... iii Exegesis ...................................................................................................................... 1-107 The Representation of the Figure of the Devadasi in European Travel Writing and Art from 1770 to 1820 with specific reference to Dutch writer Jacob Haafner ........... Illustrations of the Devadasi and Nautch Girl ............................................................... 2-9 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 10 Methodology and Process ................................................................................................ 17 Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................... 23 Pictorial Representations of the Devadasi and Nautch Girl in European and Indian art .............................................................................................................................................. Chapter 2 .......................................................................................................................... 42 Representations of Difference in Eighteenth-century Travel Writing and Jacob Haafner within his Literary Context ......................................................................... Chapter 3 .......................................................................................................................... 70 Multiple Representations of the Devadasi in the Writings of Jacob Haafner and his Contemporaries .................................................................................................... Conclusion and Provocations ....................................................................................... 92 Complete Bibliography .................................................................................................. 100 Novel ..................................................................................................................... 109-468 The Pagoda Tree .......................................................................................................... Part 1: Tanjore 1765 ....................................................................................................... 112 Part 2: Madras 1773 ....................................................................................................... 254 Part 3: Madras 1778 ....................................................................................................... 372 Part 4: Madras 1786 ....................................................................................................... 444 Coda ............................................................................................................................... 466 Notes and Sources .......................................................................................................... 469 Further Reading .............................................................................................................. 471 i Table of Illustrations Illustrations of the devadasi and nautch girl ............................................................ 2-9 Figure 1 ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Tilly Kettle, Hindu Temple Scene 1770-71 .................................................................. Figure 2 ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Tilly Kettle, Dancing Girls (Blacks) 1772 ................................................................... Figure 2i ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Close-up of Dancing Girls (Blacks) ............................................................................. Figure 3 ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Tilly Kettle, Dancing Girl with a Hookah in Faizabad 1772 ...................................... Figure 4 ......................................................................................................................................................... 5 Captain Crockatt, A Nautch, Native Dancers at Nizugapatahi Coast of Coromandel East Indies 1801 ........................................................................................................... Figure 5 ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Charles D’Oyly, A Dancing Woman of Lucknow Exhibiting Before an European Family 1810 ................................................................................................................. Figure 5i ....................................................................................................................................................... 6 Close-up of A Dancing Woman of Lucknow Exhibiting Before an European Family Figure 6 ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 Anonymous Thanjavur artist, A Nautch Girl and Musicians c. 1805 .......................... Figure 6i ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 Close-up of A Nautch Girl and Musicians ................................................................... Figure 7 ......................................................................................................................................................... 8 Anonymous Thanjavur artist, Hindoostany Natch also inscribed Kunchinee (dancing girls) c.1828. .................................................................................................. Figure 8 ......................................................................................................................................................... 9 Jacob Haafner, A devadasi from the front 1811 .......................................................... ii Abstract This thesis examines the figure of the devadasi, or temple dancer, a familiar trope in European travel literature and art from 1770 to 1820. Comprised of two parts, the critical component of the work analyses the representation of the figure of the devadasi through a close reading of a selection of eighteenth-century texts. Historically specific and anchored within travel writing and post-Saidian Orientalist theory, I argue that despite the limitations of these accounts, in both form and content, they shed light upon the complex cross-cultural interactions of the period. The texts range from travel accounts,