Hylozoic Anticolonialism:

Abstract

Imperial ideology identified “science” and “progress” as the prerogative of the “West,” while “religion” and “spirituality” were located in the “East.” Yet, in practice, these neat dichotomies were far more difficult to sustain. Science and religion were braided together by spiritually inquisitive scientists as much in the West as in the East. Various strands of hylozoic thought that undermined the dichotomy of matter and spirit were located in the liminal space between these orthogonal categories. One such strand of hylozoism, engendered in electromagnetic ideas, was articulated in the early science fiction of authors like Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Dinendrakumar Ray, a Bengali novelist, inserted this science-fictional hylozoism into his translations of the novels of the Australian author Guy Boothby. By selectively adapting and blending Boothby’s international plot lines with Lytton-like electromagnetic hylozoism, Ray was able to craft a “hylozoic anticolonialism” that resonated emphatically with the thought of Sri Aurobindo, a revolutionary nationalist turned neo-Hindu spiritual master.