The Pedagogical Function of Mary Sherwood's The History Of Little Henry and His Bearer In 'Heathen' Lands
Mary Sherwood's children's story The History of Little Henry and his Bearer (1814) was read in translated forms in non-western locales such as India, China, Burma, Malaysia, the Middle East, and Ceylon from the early to late nineteenth century. Previous scholars have engaged in textual ana...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
University of Wales Press
[2018]
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| In: |
The journal of religious history, literature and culture
Year: 2018, Volume: 4, Issue: 1, Pages: 58-78 |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Mary Sherwood's children's story The History of Little Henry and his Bearer (1814) was read in translated forms in non-western locales such as India, China, Burma, Malaysia, the Middle East, and Ceylon from the early to late nineteenth century. Previous scholars have engaged in textual analysis of this narrative to illuminate the missionary predicament in India or the shifting relationship between the colonizer and colonized during the early nineteenth century. This essay correlates the text to Sherwood's proselytizing activities whilst residing in India. It consequently argues Little Henry was principally designed to make fundamental adjustments to the mentalities of heathens in the subcontinent and instantiate a moral transformation within these subjects. The argument illuminates the ways in which Protestant transnational and trans-regional networks ensured the text's dissemination to various parts of Asia and the Middle East. It argues that the main reason that Little Henry was disseminated by missionaries was its suitability as an educational primer to teach literacy and then teach English as a foreign language. The article also proposes that the narrative, rather than subduing heathen subjects and reconciling them to their place, had the capacity to instantiate within them a desire for social mobility in some form. |
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| ISSN: | 2057-4525 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of religious history, literature and culture
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.16922/jrhlc.4.1.3 |