HISTORY 621: PROBLEMS IN ASIAN HISTORY: SUBALTERN SUBJECTS AND "POSTCOLONIAL" HISTORIES
Sanjay Joshi
Meeting Time: Mon. 2.00-4.30 PM
LA 206
Location: LA 203
Phone: 523-6216
Office Hours: Wed. and Fri. 10.15-12.15
Sanjay.Joshi@nau.edu
Web Page: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6/
Description, Background, and Objectives
The Subaltern Studies project originally emerged as a result
of dissatisfaction among scholars with the ways in which traditional historiography
erased histories of subordinated groups in South Asian society. Over time
however, Subaltern Studies has become intellectual hot property
across the world and also developed a broad interdisciplinary following.
Much of the current global interest in Subaltern Studies comes from
the ways the project intersects with, and contributes to, a larger "postcolonial"
critique. Historians and scholars from a variety of disciplines today regularly
cite Subaltern Studies in their work, or use the Gramscian category
of "subaltern" as it has been deployed by Ranajit Guha and other members
of the Subaltern Studies collective. Has "postcoloniality" enhanced
or attenuated the agenda of the Subalternists and historiography in general?
This is the basic question that the course hopes to explore.
The "postcolonial" turn in Subaltern Studies, while contributing
to its immense popularity within the realms of western academe, has also
generated its share of critiques and disagreements. A number of scholars
have questioned the premises, implications, as well as the results which
the "postcolonial" turn has produced in "Subalternist" historical writings.
These critiques of the
Subaltern Studies parallel, though are not
identical to, the sorts of questions being raised about postcolonial writing
in the humanities, liberal arts and social sciences more generally. By
tracing the history of this historiographical intervention, through exploring
the changing nature of the the
Subaltern Studies project, the course
provides an opportunity to evaluate the significance of "postcoloniality"
in a specific historical and historiographical context.
Prerequisites
The course is open to graduate students from a variety of disciplines. A background in South Asian history or culture is not a pre-requisite. But given that much of the course does deal with historical and historiographical questions relating to South Asia, some understanding of South Asian history and culture will necessarily accompany our efforts to understand the debates surrounding "subalternity." Familiarity with current debates in cultural theory or social and cultural history, particularly as they relate to the colonial and post-colonial contexts, is however desirable.
Readings
We cover a substantial amount of reading in this course. All required, additional, and recommended texts have been ordered at the NAU Bookstore. In addition to these, students will be required to read certain articles for assessing the historiographical debates concerning the "Subalternists." These have been collected in a course packet available at the NAU Bookstore, and can also be put on reserve at the library, or be otherwise made available to all students.
Required Texts
Jawaharlal Nehru. Discovery of India.
Sunil Khilnani. The Idea of India.
Ranajit Guha and Gayatri Spivak ed. Selected Subaltern Studies.
Ranajit Guha ed. A Subaltern Studies Reader, 1986-1995.
Gyanendra Pandey. Construction of Communalism in Colonial North India.
Partha Chatterjee. Nation and Its Fragments.
Shahid Amin. Event, Metaphor, Memory.
Lata Mani. Contentious Traditions.
A COURSE PACKET of readings.
In addition you will need to read and report on at least ONE
of the following texts.
Additional Readings
Ashis Nandy. The Intimate Enemy.
Ranajit Guha. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in India.
Saurabh Dube. Untouchable Pasts.
Ranajit Guha. Dominance Without Hegemony and Other Essays.
Partha Chatterjee ed. Texts of Power.
Mrinalini Sinha. Colonial Masculinity.
Mary John. Discrepent Dislocations.
Amitav Ghosh. In An Antique Land.
David Hardiman. Coming of the Devi.
Sudipta Kaviraj. Unhappy Consciousness.
Finally, there are two books that I recommend
for BACKGROUND reading. We will not discuss these directly in class, but
they may provide useful background material - one for the empirical background
of South Asian history, and the other a basic introduction to ideas about
"postcoloniality"
Recommended Readings
Leela Gandhi. Postcolonial Theory.
Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal. Modern
South Asia.
Assignments and Evaluation
Students will be required to write one
formal paper, write regular one page assignments on the readings, and make
at least one oral presentation to the class based on the readings for the
week AND (one of) the additional readings indicated for the week.
Paper
The final paper for this class should be a substantial historiographical review between fifteen and twenty pages in length. For this paper, students may focus on either:
a. The changing intellectual and/or political
concerns of any one of the Subaltern Studies scholars. OR
b. How particular historical themes (e.g. nationalism, ethnic ("communal") conflict, or questions of gender) are dealt with in the corpus of "Subalternist" writings. OR
c. Evaluate the contributions, significance,
and/or the problems associated with using some
SPECIFIC contribution
of the Subaltern Studies approach in the historiography of another
region of the world (or the theoretical/empirical literature of another
discipline) with which they are familiar.
This paper is due December 10th,
and will count towards 45% of the course grade. A typed proposal for this
paper, outlining the topic as well as a preliminary bibliography, is due
by October 25.
Regular Reviews
Students will be expected to write a weekly
one-page review of SEVEN of the readings between Weeks Three and Twelve
(that is, September 20 through November 22, inclusive). The review should
provide an overview of the theme of the week's readings, pose one substantive
question relating to this theme, and provide an answer in outline form.
Students should be prepared to elaborate on the outline orally in class.
These will count towards 30% of the course grade. The reviews are due on
the FRIDAY BEFORE CLASS, and IN NO CASE WILL REVIEWS BE ACCEPTED AFTER
CLASS DISCUSSION OF MATERIALS.
Oral Presentation
Each student will make an oral presentation
of around fifteen minutes on at least one occasion through the semester.
The presentation will need to incorporate both the week's regular readings,
AND report on the additional reading text assigned for that week.
Students may choose any of the weeks for which additional readings have
been assigned, and weeks and texts will be allocated on a "first come,
first served" basis!! I strongly urge the students scheduled to make the
presentation to meet with me the week before the class presentation. The
oral presentation will count towards 15% of the course grade.
10% of the total grade will be based on
my subjective evaluation of the students' participation in the seminar.
The grading scale will be as follows:
90% + = A; 80-89% = B; 70-79%
= C; 60-69% = D; below 60% = F.
Provisional Course Schedule (subject
to modification)
August 30 Course Introduction.
September 13 Histories of India: Imagining the Nation
Readings
Jawaharlal Nehru. Discovery of India.
(Focus on Chapters One, Three, Four, Seven, Eight)
Sunil Khilnani. The Idea of India.
September 20 Subaltern Studies: The Historiographical Context
Readings
Foreword, pp. v-x Selected Subaltern Studies (SSS)
Ranajit Guha, "Preface" and "On Some Aspects of the Historiography of
Colonial India," SSS.
Nehru: Selections of your choice, preferably parts that you did not
read last week.
September 27: Searching for the Subaltern
Readings (From SSS.)
Gautam Bhadra, "Four Rebels of 1857."
David Arnold, "Touching the Body: Perspectives on the Indian Plague."
Gyanendra Pandey, "Peasant Revolt and Indian Nationalism."
From Subaltern Studies Reader (SSR)
David Hardiman, "Origins and Transformations
of the Devi."
Additional Reading
David Hardiman. Coming of the Devi.
October 4 Writing the Subalterns
Readings (From SSS.)
Ranajit Guha, "Prose of Counter Insurgency."
Gyanendra Pandey, "Encounters and Calamities."
Shahid Amin, "Gandhi as Mahatma."
Dipesh Chakrabarty, "Conditions for Knowledge of Working Class Conditions."
Additional Reading
Ranajit Guha. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in India.
October 11 Early Critiques and Responses
Readings
Rosalind O'Hanlon, "Recovering the Subject: Subaltern Studies and Histories
of Resistance in Colonial South Asia." Modern Asian Studies 22,
1, (1988):189-224. (CP)
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, "Subaltern Studies: Deconstructing Historiography."
(SSS)
Gautam Bhadra, "Mentality of Subalternity."
(SSR)
Ranajit Guha, "Introduction." (SSR)
David Arnold. "The Colonial Prison." (SSR)
Additional Reading
Ashis Nandy. The Intimate Enemy.
October 18 Subaltern Studies and Postcolonial Criticism
Readings
Sanjay Seth, Leela Gandhi, and Michael Dutton, "Postcolonial Studies:
a beginning..." Postcolonial Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1: 7-11. (CP)
Gyan Prakash, "Subaltern Studies as Postcolonial Criticism." American
Historical Review
99, 5 (December 1994).
(CP)
Dipesh Chakrabarty, "Postcoloniality and the Artifice of History: Who
Speaks for 'Indian' Pasts? (SSR)
Gyanendra Pandey, "In Defense of the Fragment: Writing About Hindu-Muslim
Riots in India Today." (SSR)
Florencia Mallon, "The Promise and Dilemma
of Subaltern Studies." American Historical Review 99, 5 (December
1994). (CP)
Fredrick Cooper, "Conflict and Connection:
Rethinking Colonial African History." American Historical Review
99, 5 (December 1994) (CP)
Additional Reading
Ranajit Guha. Dominance Without Hegemony and Other Essays.
October 25 Colonialism and Postcoloniality
Readings
Pandey, Construction of Communalism.
Additional Reading
Partha Chatterjee ed. Texts of Power: Emerging Disciplines in Colonial Bengal.
PAPER PROPOSALS DUE
November 1 Postcoloniality and the Nation
Readings
Partha Chatterjee, Nation and Its Fragments.
Additional Reading
Sudipta Kaviraj. Unhappy Consciousness.
November 8 Gendered Subalterns
Reading
Lata Mani, Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India.
Ranajit Guha, "Chandra's Death." (SSR)
Additional Reading
Mrinalini Sinha. Colonial Masculinity.
OR
Mary John. Discrepant Dislocations.
November 15 Problems of Postcoloniality
Readings
Sumit Sarkar, "The Decline of the Subaltern in Subaltern Studies"
in his Writing Social History. Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1997.
(CP)
Ram Guha, "Subaltern and Bhadralok Studies." EPW August 19, 1995:
2056-58; "Beyond Bhadralok and Bankim Studies." EPW February 24,
1996: 495-96. (CP)
Anita Chakravarty, "Writing History." EPW December 23, 1995:
3320. (CP)
Arvind N. Das, "The Poor Man's Subaltern Studies," Biblio: February
1996: 16-17. (CP)
Dipesh Chakrabarty, "Radical Histories and the Question of Enlightenment
Rationalism: Some Recent Critiques of Subaltern Studies. Economic
and Political Weekly (EPW) April 8, 1995: 751-59. (CP)
Dipesh Chakrabarty, "Minority Histories and Subaltern Pasts." EPW
February 28, 1998: 473-79. (CP)
Additional Reading
Saurabh Dube. Untouchable Pasts.
November 22 Re-Writing Subaltern History
Reading
Shahid Amin. Event, Metaphor, Memory.
Additional Reading
Amitav Ghosh. In An Antique Land.
November 29 Course Review
and Paper Presentations
December 6 No Class: Write your papers!
FINAL PAPERS DUE FRIDAY DECEMBER 10