Interiors of Empire

Interiors of Empire uses the methods of design history and material culture studies to analyze the domestic and public interiors of the British and local middle class during the heyday of the British Raj. It contrasts that space within contemporary discourse with analysis of historical evidence, the varying uses of such space, and relevant social practices. Through detailed discussion of these texts, spaces, objects, and practices, this study locates the domestic interiors and public spaces of the empire in the history of the British colonization of India. The book discusses the imagined barrier of the domestic against the local environment, the intrusions of the local and the effects of this on the British in India, and assesses the westernization of domestic and public spaces of the empire.