The talk will explore how mesmerism facilitated cross-cultural exchanges between the U.K. and Calcutta during the latter half of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. Dr Barik will discuss how mesmerism often led to the collapse of racial boundaries and colonial hierarchies, and the kind of cultural adaptations that followed or how oriental fantasies and fetishes were reinforced through the trope of mesmerism. Mesmerism’s utility in health and healing practices in colonial Bengal, leading to the development of transnational networks will be specifically addressed; and how mesmerism was utilised to construct notions about colonial bodies, often keeping intact the gaze of the colonisers and how such bodies became the sites of contestations at the same time, will be critically examined. Almanacs, Government records, advertisements in the form of posters, pamphlets, etc, will be consulted as primary resources for the purpose of the talk.
