Session B-2: Disciplined History Vs. Popular Memory: the Writing of History in South Asia, 1800 to the Present
Session Number
B-2
Grade Level
Grade Level: 9-12
Start Date
1-3-2013 10:30 AM
End Date
1-3-2013 11:30 AM
Description
What is the connection between history and memory in South Asia? This presentation will discuss the historical background to this dichotomy: first of all, the institutionalization of history as an Enlightenment project; second, the impulses to history and memory - or truth and myth - in the twentieth century; and finally, the convergence of the two from the 1960s onwards. After giving some historical context, this presentation will then consider the historical method, and the oral tradition of storytelling specific to India. Does the scientific method of history writing privilege oral traditions prevailing in South Asian societies, and if so, why? This presentation will argue that due to the complex, shifting relationship between the individual and the state in South Asia, it is practically impossible to separate the two.
Session B-2: Disciplined History Vs. Popular Memory: the Writing of History in South Asia, 1800 to the Present
What is the connection between history and memory in South Asia? This presentation will discuss the historical background to this dichotomy: first of all, the institutionalization of history as an Enlightenment project; second, the impulses to history and memory - or truth and myth - in the twentieth century; and finally, the convergence of the two from the 1960s onwards. After giving some historical context, this presentation will then consider the historical method, and the oral tradition of storytelling specific to India. Does the scientific method of history writing privilege oral traditions prevailing in South Asian societies, and if so, why? This presentation will argue that due to the complex, shifting relationship between the individual and the state in South Asia, it is practically impossible to separate the two.