Introduction Gender and Conversion in Colonial India

Abstract

Abstract This introductory chapter begins with a discussion on the concepts of conversion and gender, to establish the theoretical framework of this study on Indian Christian converts in the Madras Presidency. It argues that in the late 19th and early 20th century, a “discourse of respectability” emerged among Christian communities in the south of the Madras Presidency during the British Raj, which radically transformed the style of femininity to which Indian Christian women were expected to conform. This is followed by an overview of the chapters included in this volume.