Description
Manohar Social and Cultural Dimensions of Indian Indentured Labour and its Diaspora Past and Present by Maurits S Hassankhan Lomarsh Roopnarine Radica Mahase
"This volume is divided in four parts. Part 1 analyses narratives of Indian women and labour during and after indenture in India, Suriname and Sri Lanka. The chapters provide new insights on how women were treated in predominantly patriarchal plantation systems. Moreover, they pay attention to the women who were left behind while their spouses migrated overseas for employment. There is a body of literature on the Indian Diaspora in Europe and North America that has focused on issues relating to assimilation, accommodation, identity formation and remittances. However, the chapters in Part 2 probe deeper into the hidden aspects of Hindustani life in the Netherlands. The intensive ethnographic research reveals how the immigrant group has faced the problem of mental health, alcoholism, depression, suicide, emotional loss and educational achievements. Part 3 consists of three articles dealing exclusively with religion, arts and identity in Suriname. Two articles compare ‘blues’ with ‘birhá’ (biraha), a form of traditional music brought from India to Suriname. The other essay is on body markers of different ethnic groups in Suriname, as identity markers. The final article in this section deals with the position of churches and religions in Suriname’s history. The three chapters of Part 4 focus on the cultural legacy that was transported from India to the Caribbean. It has remained rich and the musical instruments continue to exist until today. One article looks at the Indo-Caribbean in general while two focus specifically on aspects of culture in Trinidad and Tobago. "