Colonial Society and the Psychological Construction of Criminality In Bengal

Abstract

This article explores the construction of criminality psychologically in colonial Bengal, where rights of law, administration and literature met to form the image of the criminal native. The paper relies on colonial legal documents, literary sources and cultural literature to state that crime was not seen as a reaction to social, economic or political circumstances, but rather an innate moral and psychological characteristic of the colonized peoples. These constructions were further reinforced by the colonial literature, fiction, travel literature, and crime fiction in which characters of native origin were described as morally ambiguous, emotionally unstable, and inclined towards deviance whereas European characters were seen as rational and authoritative. The paper also examines internalization processes in the colonized subjects and illustrates the way that exposure to criminalized representations was repeated and decided the self-perception of the subjects, social behaviours and cultural consciousness. At the same time, it also underscores some of the manifestations of opposition and the counter-discourse that native authors, reformers, and other nationalist intellectuals created and challenged colonial crime definitions and provided alternative ways of ethical and psychological selfhood. This research brings into light the legacy of colonial criminalization on identity, social hierarchy and cultural memory in Bengal through a literary, historical and cultural lens, which is critical in understanding how power, narrative and psychology interact in a colonial setting.