The novels of Indian writerA. Madhaviah (1872–1925) are deeply ambivalent toward British Protestant missions in the Madras Presidency. The son of a Brahmin family from the Tirunelveli District in what is now the state of Tamil Nadu, Madhaviah had the opportunity to form close intellectual relationships with British missionaries and Indian Christian converts while studying for his B.A. at the Madras Christian College, completing his degree in 1892. Although he remained a Hindu throughout his life, Madhaviah's first English novel,Thillai Govindan(1903), praises some missionaries for their moral characters, naming in particular the Madras Christian College's principal, William Miller (1838–1923); however, the same novel also criticizes other unnamed Madras missionaries for extravagant lifestyles that squandered the money of unsuspecting supporters in Britain (64). Madhaviah's deep commitment to late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century Indian women's reform movements, including widow remarriage, the abolition of child marriage, and women's education, meant that he often agreed with British missionaries championing similar reforms in Indian society. However, his early novels also criticize the proselytizing activities of missionaries, particularly in educational settings. In his Tamil novelPadmavati Carittiram(1898, 1899) and English novelSatyananda(1909), Madhaviah exposes missionary attempts to take advantage of a young pupil's inexperience in an educational setting or to exploit a quarrel between pupil and family members to secure a conversion. Yet in contrast, Madhaviah's final English novel,Clarinda: A Historical Novel(1915), offers perhaps the most positive depiction of an Indian Christian conversion in his fiction. A historical novel that reimagines the life of a renowned eighteenth-century Marathi Brahmin woman convert living in Thanjavur, Madhaviah'sClarindaoffers Christian conversion as a liberating decision for the young Clarinda. Her conversion allows her as a widow to escape the patriarchal control of her abusive husband's family and to contribute to her community as a philanthropist and an early social reformer. While Madhaviah remained critical of certain conversion tactics, which could transgress ethical boundaries, Madhaviah also acknowledged that missionary goals for women's improved lot within society often intersected with his own convictions.

中文翻译：

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在 A. MADHAVIAH 的印度英语小说中综合印度教和基督教伦理（1915 年）

印度作家的小说A. Madhaviah (1872–1925) 在马德拉斯总统任期内对英国新教传教深感矛盾。Madhaviah 是现在泰米尔纳德邦 Tirunelveli 区一个婆罗门家庭的儿子，他在马德拉斯基督教学院攻读学士学位并完成学位时，有机会与英国传教士和印度基督教皈依者建立密切的知识关系1892 年。虽然他终生都是印度教徒，但玛达维亚的第一部英文小说，泰莱·戈文丹（1903 年），赞扬一些传教士的道德品格，特别提到了马德拉斯基督教学院的校长威廉·米勒（William Miller，1838-1923 年）；然而，同一本小说也批评了其他未具名的马德拉斯传教士，他们过着奢侈的生活方式，挥霍了英国毫无戒心的支持者的钱（64）。Madhaviah 对 19 世纪末和 20 世纪初印度妇女改革运动的坚定承诺，包括寡妇再婚、废除童婚和妇女教育，这意味着他经常同意英国传教士在印度社会倡导类似的改革。然而，他的早期小说也批评了传教士的传教活动，特别是在教育环境中。在他的泰米尔小说中Padmavati Carittiram(1898, 1899) 和英文小说萨提亚南达（1909 年），Madhaviah 揭露传教士企图利用年轻学生在教育环境中缺乏经验或利用学生和家庭成员之间的争吵来确保皈依。然而相比之下，玛达维亚的最后一部英文小说，克拉琳达：一部历史小说（1915 年），在他的小说中提供了对印度基督徒皈依的最积极的描述。一部历史小说，重新构想了一位住在丹贾武尔的著名 18 世纪马拉地婆罗门妇女皈依者的生活，Madhaviah 的克拉琳达为年轻的克拉琳达提供了基督徒皈依作为一个解放的决定。她的皈依使她作为寡妇摆脱了虐待丈夫家庭的父权控制，并以慈善家和早期社会改革者的身份为社区做出贡献。虽然 Madhaviah 仍然对某些可能超越道德界限的皈依策略持批评态度，但 Madhaviah 也承认，改善女性在社会中的命运的传教目标经常与他自己的信念相交叉。