The Anglo-Indians: Transcolonial Migrants and the Dilemma of Identity

Abstract

With the British leaving India thousands of Anglo-Indians left for safe shores – Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. This paper traces the dilemmas of identity among these diasporic people from their origins in India, through the period of the British leaving India and India’s Independence and finally the dilemmas here in Australia. It looks at the relevance of the issue of whiteness and skin colour to the Anglo-Indian community. It explores Caplan’s conceptualisation of the Anglo-Indians as transcolonial migrants who have left India in the face of globalising influences. Finally, regarding the survival of this community, the loss of their homeland may result in the construction of a number of ‘little Anglo-Indias’ corresponding to the different experiences of Anglo-Indians in the places of their migration and keeping the link with the country of their birth.