Idioms Of Improvement: vidyasagar and cultural encounter in Bengal

Two hundred years after his birth, kvarcandra Vidyasagar remains a
compelling figure in the history of modern Indian social change. The most widely
acclaimed reformer of the nineteenth century after Rammohun Roy, Vidyasagar
is renowned as both a Sanskrit pandit and an innovative modern thinker, Revered
and reviled for his role in promoting the marriage of Hindu widows, he was also
responsible for establishing new patterns in education, literature, and publishing.
His response to the challenges and opportunities of colonial modernity has
inspired poets and vexed interpreters; he remains the focal point for pressing
discussions on power, privilege, and cultural hegemony. Idioms of Improvement
seeks to fathom this ocean of learning (vidyā-sāgar) by focusing on the
convergence of Sanskritic and European cultural norms within Vidyāsāgar's
distinctive Bengali worldview.
Unlike other colonial reformers, Vidyāsāgar held religious discourse and theology at arm's length. While this fact has charmed
his secularist admirers and infuriated the keepers of Hindu orthodoxy, neither camp has been able to provide a convincing,
integrated account of his worldview in this regard. Idioms of Improvement offers suchan account, making the case for a religious
dimension to Vidyāsāgar's worldview that can explain both his impatience with orthodoxy and his respect for dharma. As
one compelling species of liberal Hindu modernity, this worldview deserves careful explication and on-going critical reflection.