Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters in this book. The book discusses a commentary on the textual practices employed by the nineteenth-century Bengali women to look back at the colonizer's society, and the resultant contribution to the asymmetric discourse on colonialism. To address the asymmetry, it takes into account different genres of literary narratives from the less represented side of the colony/metropole divide with the aim of representing the varying perspectives of Bengali women vis-a-vis their Western equivalent. The book illustrates a uniqueness in literary gazing. It focuses on biographies of women from all over Europe, however with special focus on England, which were meant to instill philanthropic inspiration in the hearts of Bengali women and refashion humanitarian activities on the Western 'model,' however keeping the requirements of the colonized society in mind. The book concludes with a chapter that shifts from personal gazing to collective gazing.