UC San Diego

As a medium of nationalism in colonial and postcolonial contexts, heritage has been explored by many scholars (Guha-Thakurta 1992; Mathur 2007; McGowan 2009; Mitter 1994), and yet, the impact of such discourses on the lives of living art practitioners and artisans has been rarely examined. This dissertation concerns a pan- Indian artisan caste called Vishwakarma, who practice a traditional art and straddle global markets, national ideologies, and rural lives. Exploring hegemonic discourses that circulate through nationalistic ideology, neoliberal markets, and caste politics, and based on two years of ethnographic research in Swamimalai and Chennai in South India, archival research at government and museum archives, and a detailed survey of Hindu aesthetic philosophy, this project contributes an interdisciplinary and vernacular reframing of the politics of heritage.

Following the efforts of the Indian national movement during the rule of the British Raj, the Government of India constructed a discourse on the state’s heritage based upon the traditional arts and crafts of South Asia. Handicrafts have, since then, been a neoliberal expression of nationalism, and artisans are the living repositories of such knowledge and practice. Vishwakarma sculptors in the Tamil town of Swamimalai have historically made bronze Hindu idols for temples, but now also produce these icons for the handicrafts market. While government bureaucracy discourages caste identity, governmental museums and the handicrafts market valorize “authenticity” defined through religious traditions. Furthermore, the smuggling of temple antiques has attracted unfavorable attention from the police and media, and brought increased scrutiny to the sculptors, who are suspected of complicity. This dissertation examines how Vishwakarma and other caste sculptors navigate what they see as contradictory discourses from the government and society, which spotlight them alternatively as “authentic” but also untrustworthy. I argue that while the state’s use of hegemonic discourse parallels Foucault’s theories, Vishwakarma sculptors themselves use mythmaking and historical story telling, as theorized by Ricoeur, to push back against what they feel are unfair characterizations of their caste and professions. Additionally, I demonstrate that these sculptors respond to their perceived marginalization by asserting an artisan identity and ethical personhood rooted in Hindu aesthetic theory.