Warrior Gentlemen: Gurkhas in the Western Imagination [Hardcover]

Lionel Caplan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1571818529 | ISBN-13: 978-1571818522 | Publication Date: February 1995

Of late, there has been a growing interest in how non-Western peoples have been and continue to be depicted in the literatures of the West. In anthropology, attention has focused on the range of literary devices employed in ethnographic texts to distance and exoticize the subjects of discourse, and ultimately contribute to their subordination. This study eschews the tendency to regard virtually all depictions of non-Western "others" as amenable to the same kinds of "orientalist" analysis, and argues that the portrayals found in such writings must be examined in their particular historical and political settings. These themes are explored by analyzing the voluminous literature by military authors who have written and continue to write about the "Gurkhas", those legendary soldiers from Nepal who have served in Britain's Imperial and post-Imperial armies for more than two centuries. The author discovers that, instead of exoticizing them, the military writers find in their subjects the quintessential virtues of the European officers themselves: the Gurkhas appear as warriors and gentlemen. However, the author does not rest here: utilizing a wealth of literary, historical, ethnographic sources and the results of his own fieldwork, he investigates the wider social and cultural contexts in which the European chroniclers of the Gurkhas have been nurtured.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lionel Caplan, born in Montreal, is Professor of South Asian Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. He has maintained an ongoing research interest in Nepal since he first did fieldwork there in 1964-65 but has also worked among Indian Christians in South India. His publications include Land and Social Change in East Nepal (1970) and Class and Culture in Urban India (1987)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Berghahn Books (February 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571818529
• ISBN-13: 978-1571818522
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,092,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #70 in Books > History > Asia > Nepal

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A thorough background to an intriguing topic, June 28, 2009

By 

Dennis Burns "taubada" (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Warrior Gentlemen: Gurkhas in the Western Imagination (Hardcover)

This book is very readable, and suitable for both the general or academic reader. It provides a solid background of in-depth knowledge about the intriguing 200-year old relationship between the men of Nepal and the British Raj. It also covers the gurkhas' relationship from 1947 to 1995 with the UK government. It differs from other sources in that it deals with both sides of the relationship: both the British and the "gurkha"perspectives. Caplan's work does, however,need to be updated to cover the important developments since 1995 up to,and including especially,the recent profound changes in 2009.