John Solomon (University of New South Wales)

John Solomon
Doctoral Candidate
School of History and Philosophy
University of New South Wales
AUSTRALIA

email: john.solomon@unsw.edu.au

Description of work:

I am a current history PhD student working on my doctoral thesis entitled, 
"Identity Evolution in a Diaspora Community: The Gradual Disappearance of 
Untouchability in Singapore, 1819-1970". This thesis seeks to use the 
changing significance of caste identity amongst Tamil immigrants in 
Singapore as a trope through which to explore the ways in which the Tamil 
diaspora in Singapore has negotiated new identities amidst an evolving 
cultural relationship with India. My research interests include the Tamil 
diaspora, caste identity, Indian penal transportation, the Indian National 
Army, the transnational spread of Dravidian politics, 19th century 
missionary ethnography, Indian society in Singapore/Malaysia and 
Japanese-Indian collaboration during the Second World War.

Publications: 
"Tamil Cultural Separatism and the decline of Pan-Indian identity in 
Singapore: 1856-1965", South Asia: The Journal of South Asian Studies, 
(accepted for publication).