Making Britain

South Asian Visions of Home and Abroad

1870–1950

Making Britain is led by Professor Susheila Nasta (Open University), in collaboration with Professor Elleke Boehmer (University of Oxford) and Dr Ruvani Ranasinha (King’s College London), and research assistants Dr Sumita Mukherjee (Oxford) and Dr Rehana Ahmed (Open). We are working in partnership with the British Library and SALIDAA, and in consultation with leading scholars Dr Rozina Visram, Professor Lyn Innes, Professor Partha Mitter and Dr Deborah Swallow.

This 3-year project (2007–10), funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, examines South Asian contributions to Britain’s literary, cultural and political life in the period 1870–1950. Complicating the common perception that a homogeneous British culture only began to diversify after the Second World War, it explores how an early diasporic population impacted on British life and helped to form contemporary Britain’s cultural-political identities. Extensive archival research and an interdisciplinary approach will illuminate the diverse ways in which South Asian writers, artists, activists and professionals in Britain formed affiliations, groupings and solidarities to create a dynamic ‘contact zone’ at the heart of empire.

For further information, please visit:
www.open.ac.uk/arts/south-asians-making-britain/

To contact us, please email:
arts-making-britain@open.ac.uk