ABSTRACT

This article explores the emotion of friendship among merchant communities in early modern South Asia. Based on the autobiography of a Jain merchant, Banarasidas, it argues that friendship as an emotion was invoked in multiple social contexts, sometimes to reinforce normative boundaries, and other times to subvert them. Even so, friendship was always multivalent, and extended beyond dyadic relationships. The social outreach of friendship was crucial in reinforcing community and kin ties. In the case of merchant communities, friendship played a crucial role in trade and business activities and very often it was the sentiment of friendship that sustained business partnerships. Friendship also ensured trust among merchants, enabling the free flow of goods and services in early modern South Asia. The autobiography of Banarasidas, Ardhakathanaka is written in versified Braj language. In exploring the text for emotion history, I have also looked at the relationship between language and emotions. Written in a vernacular language, the text combines literacy with performativity and this, I argue, imbues the text with a specific language of emotions that is intense, sensorial and embodied. At the same time, the choice of genre and its relations with emotions is no less significant. Within an autobiographical genre, emotions serve as indices to the constitution of selfhood. The articulation of friendship in Ardhakathanaka allows Banarasidas to situate his social self within a thick web of intimate relationships. Focusing on Ardhakathanaka, this paper looks at the entangled relationship between the choice of language, style and genre, and the articulation of specific emotions. Even as emotions are not entirely constituted in and through discourse, I still wish to suggest that language and emotions are co-dependent entities.

摘要

本文探讨了现代南亚早期商人社区之间的友谊情感。根据Ja那教商人Banarasidas的自传，他认为友谊是一种情感，它在多种社会环境中被调用，有时是为了加强规范性界限，而有时是为了颠覆它们。即便如此，友谊始终是多重性的，并超越了二元关系。友谊的社会外延对加强社区和亲戚关系至关重要。就商人社区而言，友谊在贸易和商业活动中起着至关重要的作用，而友谊的情感往往是维持商业伙伴关系的关键。友谊还确保了商人之间的信任，从而在现代南亚早期实现了商品和服务的自由流通。Banarasidas自传，Ardhakathanaka是用多语言的Braj语言编写的。在探索情感历史文本时，我还研究了语言与情感之间的关系。我认为，文字是用白话语言编写的，结合了读写能力和表现力，这使文字充满了特定的，强烈的，感性的和体现的情感语言。同时，体裁的选择及其与情感的关系也同样重要。在自传体裁中，情感是自我构成的指标。在Ardhakathanaka中表达友情，使Banarasidas可以将自己的社交自我定位在厚厚的亲密关系网中。专注于Ardhakathanaka，本文着眼于语言，风格和体裁的选择与特定情感的表达之间的纠缠关系。即使情感不是在话语中或通过话语完全构成的，我仍然希望暗示语言和情感是相互依存的实体。