ABSTRACT
The focus of this chapter is on the unique volume of essays by Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Why I Mourn for England. Published as the last English book of his long writerly career, this volume brings together all of Chaudhuri’s major articulations of his grievances against the colonial metropolis and its approach to the colonised subjects. Indeed, this book is perhaps the most comprehensive documentation of the fascinating role played by any anglicised Indian as a critic of the British colonial rule in India. Interestingly, this collection, even though it criticises the colonial metropolis, cannot be categorised as an example of the empire writing back to dismantle the colonial project. Chaudhuri’s articles here not only announce the historical inevitability of empire formation but also strongly advocate its moral necessity. It is in this context that the chapter explores the nuances of Chaudhuri’s argument that England, having taken up the mantle of civilising the parts of the world it colonised, reneged on its promise and refused to accept in its rank as equal citizens those who came forward to anglicise themselves.
