The Balms of White Grief: Indian Doctors, Vulnerability and Pride in Victoria, 1890–1912

Abstract

This article uses the 1898 manslaughter trial of two Indian medical practitioners in Victoria, Australia, as a lens to explore the settler colonial politics of medicine. Whereas imperial and colonial historians have long recognised the close and complex interrelationship of medicine and race, the emotional dimensions to care-giving have been under-appreciated – as has the place of the emotions within wider histories of sickness and health. Yet, this case studies shows, grief, vulnerability, catharsis and pride shaped the practice of medicine infin-de-siecleVictoria. In particular, I argue that, like other emotions, grief does racial work.