Textbook Controversies and the Demand for a Past

Public Lives of Indian History

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4494881
AutoresJanaki Nair (0000-0001-9102-1592, Jawaharlal Nehru University, autor correspondente)
Ano2016
Volume82
Fascículo1
Páginas235-254
Data de publicação2016-10-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoHistory Workshop Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1363-3554 • E-ISSN: 1477-4569
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/hwj/dbw023
OpenAlexW2484616720
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas11

This article has arisen out of a growing sense of disquiet about the relatively unexamined gulf between the practice of academic history – in universities, journals and conferences, scholarly publications, and largely in English – and the thriving production of histories which arise out of a demand for a past in community, regional, or caste forums, usually in several Indian languages. Although this gulf is as old as the development and institutionalization of history itself, the academic historian has cherished the hope, we now know in vain, that the protocols of her evidentiary practice will eventually triumph over heterogeneous, multiple historical productions. Yet the thriving public life of history in India is in inverse proportion to the dwindling interest in and development of academic history across India today. Recent debates and discussions about school textbooks allow us to return to the troubled relationship between these worlds of history writing, which will be critical to a meaningful response to the challenges faced by academic history in India over the years.

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