Languages of Difference in the Portuguese Empire. The Spread of “Caste” in the Indian World

This essay discusses the circulation of the language of caste in the Indian world in the context of the Portuguese Empire. Caste is an inevitable word in the moment of considering the Indian social system as well as when comparing it with European/Western societies. Since it was a word initially bro...

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Autores:: Barreto Xavier, Ângela

Tipo de recurso:: Article of journal

Fecha de publicación:: 2016

Institución:: Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Repositorio:: Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Idioma:: spa

Description
Summary:	This essay discusses the circulation of the language of caste in the Indian world in the context of the Portuguese Empire. Caste is an inevitable word in the moment of considering the Indian social system as well as when comparing it with European/Western societies. Since it was a word initially brought by the Portuguese to the Indian world, it is relevant to ask whether the Portuguese played an important role in its transformation into such a relevant social category. Six of the most important sixteenth-century narratives about the Portuguese presence in India as well as treatises, letters, legal documents, vocabularies and dictionaries of the early-modern period will be under scrutiny in order to identify the variations of the word “casta”, its circulation in Estado da Índia, and beyond it. The analysis of these sources will also permit an understanding of how Portuguese colonial experience shaped the future meanings of “casta”, and therefore, the ways “casta” shaped Indian society (and not only).

Languages of Difference in the Portuguese Empire. The Spread of “Caste” in the Indian World

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