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Rites and Rights of Passage

Seeking a Diasporic Consciousness

New York University, USA, ak105{at}nyu.edu

This article explores the possibility, and constitution, of what might be called a diasporic consciousness among Indians in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Memorialized in diaspora stories about the betrayal of indentured laborers, and in concerns about acquiring proper knowledge with which to practice religious rituals, diasporic consciousness is an expression of Indo-Trinidadians' agency and is fundamentally political. Seeking to alleviate, or countermand, the vulnerability that betrayal and ignorance are perceived to foster, Indo-Trinidadians strive for potent visibility in nationalist ideology through narrative memorializations of injustice and practiced attainments of religious knowledge. In these efforts, rights and rites are mutually constitutive.

Key Words: betrayal • diasporic consciousness • Hindus • Muslims • religion • Trinidad

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