Epistemic Wounded Attachments
Recovering Definitional Subjectivity Through Colonial Libraries
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7796944 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Harleen Kaur (0000-0002-4090-3672, Arizona State University), P S Kehal (0000-0001-7699-6906, University of Wisconsin–Madison) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 203-224 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History and Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2656 • E-ISSN: 1468-2303 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/hith.12299 |
| OpenAlex | W4362736949 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 10 |
Postcolonial theorizing on empires and subjects focuses on governance and infrastructure as relevant geographies of relation. However, when governance‐driven knowledge production migrates from colony to metropole, what postcolonial subjectivity formations are recovered from colonial archives, particularly if these archives are structured by epistemic difference? We theorize a wounded attachment to a colonial library, or the construction of subjectivity through colonial archival recovery, as a means of transforming a colonial library of governance into an academic discipline. Through the case study of Sikh studies, a discipline originating out of colonial governance of Sikhs, we argue that epistemic difference is transformed into epistemic distancing as a tool by which scholars pursue legibility to the Euro‐American academy. We contextualize the ongoing investment in measures of academic legibility (for example, objectivity, distance, and validity) as how area and region are tied to the production of universal knowledge; these measures result in the elision of embodied knowledge as a valid framework for intellectual pursuit
Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Colonialism · Corporate governance · Distancing · Epistemology · Knowledge production · Legibility · Management · Objectivity (philosophy · Relation (database · Sociology · Subjectivity · Visual arts · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Computer Science · History · Philosophy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Studies and Diaspora
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |