Writing Post-Orientalist Histories of the Third World: Perspectives from Indian Historiography

Abstract

To ask how the "third world writes its own history" appears, at first glance, to be exceedingly naive. At best, it reaffirms the East-West and Orient-Occident oppositions that have shaped historical writings and seems to be a simple-minded gesture of solidarity. Furthermore, in apparently privileging the writings of historians with third-world origins, this formulation renders such scholars into "native informants" whose discourse is opened up for further disquisitions on how "they" think of "their" history. In short, the notion of the third world writing its own history seems to reek of essentialism. Seen in another way, this formulation can be construed as positing that the third world has a fixed space of its own from which it can speak in a sovereign voice. For many, this notion of a separate terrain is rendered problematic by the increasing rapidity and the voracious appetite with which the postmodern culture imperializes and devours spaces.In view of the above objections, it appears hazardous to even pose, let alone answer, the question as to how the third world writes its own post-Orientalist history; and, given the fire drawn by well-intentioned attempts to locate this third-world voice, 1 such an enterprise seems positively foolhardy.

A Critical Psychology of the Postcolonial

“…The psychology of resistance thus enabled would not necessarily hence be one a pristine, pure or decolonized state of mind, but would refer rather to an assertion of presence -or voice -that had been previously muted and not given the space in which to speak. 9 In this respect we find a convergence of theorization on behalf of a variety of postcolonial theorists who focus on the necessity of creating the cultural, historical and material conditions under which the subaltern can come forward and speak for him or herself (in this respect, see Guha, 1988;Guha & Spivak, 1988;Prakash, 1990Prakash, , 1992Said, 1993;Spivak, 1988Spivak, , 1996. A whole new vista of speculative possibilities thus for the theorization of resistance.…”

Responding to the West : Essays on Colonial Domination and Asian Agency

“…It may thereby set out to destabilise the Western discourse of modernity. It also explores the connection and interaction between coloniser and colonised, and catches their respective constituent roles (Slater 1998;Prakash 2000).…”

“Na Índia é que é!”: a construção de “Índias Incríveis” em Varanasi e Goa por migrantes associados a estilos de vida

“…"The West" was characterised by rationality, progress, quantification and secularism whereas India came to represent a spiritual return to a superior past, characterised by unity and harmony (Halbfass 1988: 69-83). Obviously, orientalism in the Indian context is very much connected with the imperial project (see Saïd 1993) and it has been criticised also from a postcolonial perspective (Prakash 1990(Prakash , 1994.…”