Deepali Yadav - Visual Archives as Decolonial Methodology: Tracing the Patterns and Usages of British Bungalows in India

The talk will discuss shifting patterns of drawing-room spaces in English-style colonial bungalows to highlight how British officers skilfully deployed the public-private divide in India. This was not only done to transcend the official boundaries of an English officer, a side that he was unable to exhibit in all his public gentlemanliness, but also to privately indulge in the leisure and entertainment that could only be performed in the precincts of home. Thus, the talk discusses how the space of the drawing room became a haven for the dutiful sahibs (‘respectful title used by the natives of India in addressing an Englishman or other European’ in the nineteenth century) to play upon their nabobian desires (Anglicized version of the word Nawab used for Mughal princes, that referred to English officers acting like Mughal kings in the eighteenth century).

About the Speaker:

Dr. Deepali Yadav teaches English in the Department of English at Banaras Hindu University. Her areas of research include visual culture, humour, satire and British Empire studies in India. Her research is published in many internationally reputed journals, including the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics (Taylor & Francis), South Asian Popular Culture, Comedy Studies, etc. She has also co-edited a volume titled Digital Popular in India: Mainstreaming the Marginal (2023) with Palgrave Macmillan(Springer Nature Imprint). Dr Yadav is also a recipient of many prestigious international awards and fellowships, including the Durham University Fellowship, U.K (2025), British Council’s Charles Wallace India grant (2022), and Visiting Research Fellowship at CSRS, University of Victoria, Canada (2020)