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Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

Abstract

This paper examines British-produced artworks that propagandized the idea of “Oriental despotism” and how this influenced the British public opinion of the colonial campaign in India. The focus of the paper is the colonial campaign against the Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan (1751–1799) and how the narrative of his reign was deemed despotic and his defeat therefore celebrated in British art. The construction of Tipu Sultan as an Oriental despot in British art and media was one of the greatest propaganda campaigns ever known. The central framework of analysis is the Oriental vs. Occidental perspective theorized by Edward Said. Said’s book Orientalism provides the guiding analytical framework for this paper. This paper examines and encompasses a number of artworks, such as the paintings The Storming of Seringapatam, by Robert Ker Porter, and Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultan Tipoo Sahib, by David Wilkie.

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