Winter, Holly (2022) Militaristic masculinity and material culture in the armies in India, 1840-1900. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Militaristic masculinity and material culture in the armies in India, 1840-1900

This thesis explores Anglo-Indian military men’s engagement with ‘militaristic masculinity’, a form of masculinity identified by imperial historians as hegemonic in Britain and India from the mid-nineteenth century. Associated with traits like bravery, daring, and militarism, physicality, resourcefulness and authority, militaristic masculinity was seen to be exemplified by soldiers adventuring and conquering in colonial contexts. Existing literature on militaristic masculinity has focused overwhelmingly on its representation in nineteenth century periodicals and adventure novels. However, there has been very little examination of militaristic masculinity outside of the pages of adventure fiction. This reflects the dominance of cultural histories in masculinity studies, and is also due to a mutual ‘lack of interest’ between military and imperial historians.

This thesis, in contrast, integrates imperial and military history to study how Anglo-Indian men subjectively experienced and embodied this masculine identity. It shows how the militaristic masculine ideal identified in cultural histories was negotiated, constructed, and performed by those who were thought to be its exemplars: soldiers. Specifically, it focuses on the lives of British men, hereafter referred to as Anglo-Indian men who served in the army that was known as the East India Company army (prior to 1861) and thereafter as the Indian Army (1861-1957). By focussing on these men as gendered subjects, whose identities were forged in the messy realities of colonial life, my thesis adds a vital social history dimension to the existing cultural history research on militaristic masculinity. Historians of masculinity have called for greater focus on how masculinities are ‘inhabited by individuals’. This thesis explores this by showing how men articulated militaristic masculine identities in the context of colonial India.

I engage with Anglo-Indian men’s experience with militaristic masculinity through a focus on material culture: the objects, clothing, weapons and equipment that men used and surrounded themselves with during their military service. Material culture methodologies have become popular tools for historians seeking insight into the lived experience of people in the past. Engaging with the material world of Anglo-Indian soldiers provides insight into a militaristic masculinity rooted in everyday interactions and experiences.

Through three main chapters that explore Anglo-Indian looting, domestic management, and army uniforms, my research contributes new depth to the study of militaristic masculinity not only by providing insight into how the ideal was interpreted and negotiated by military men in India, but also by demonstrating how men’s subjective experiences of the identity often departed significantly from its popular representations. I also show the importance of interactions with women and men from groups identified as the ‘martial races’ in shaping the articulation of this masculine identity. In doing so, my work embeds the construction of this identity firmly within the power structures and ideologies of an imperial setting, and, specifically, a military setting. It therefore provides a counter-point to existing metropolitan-centred analyses of the ideal.

By demonstrating how analysis of military men can enrich our understandings of gender in colonial India, my thesis demonstrates the value and necessity of integrating imperial and military methodologies in order to understand the dynamics of colonial identities and societies.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology D History General and Old World > DS Asia H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman U Military Science > U Military Science (General)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Anglo-Indians -- History -- 19th century, Anglo-Indians -- India -- 19th century -- Social life and customs, India -- History, Military -- 19th century, Masculinity -- India -- History -- 19th century, Masculinity -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century, Sociology, Military -- India -- History -- 19th century, Sex role -- India
Official Date:	January 2022
Dates:	Date Event January 2022 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of History
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Berg, Maxine, 1950- ; Earle, Rebecca
Sponsors:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) ; Royal Historical Society (Great Britain) ; Pasold Research Fund Ltd.
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	xiii unnumbered, 387 pages : illustrations
Language:	eng

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