BHUM 12A16 - Subjectivity in Indian History

This seminar attempts to look at important periods of Indian history through the lens of literature. Subjectivity, which is studied through the idea of Dharma, is described by Aurobindo Ghosh a political thinker who was one of the main activists of the Indian independence Movement as, "the law of the inner workings by which [the divine nature] grows in our being", he writes in reference to Indian Political History that : “The true law of [human] development and the entire object of our social existence can only become clear to us when we have discovered […] what man has been in his past physical and vital evolution, but [also] his future mental and spiritual destiny and his place in the cycles of Nature. This is the reason why the subjective [or literary] periods of human development must always be immeasurably most fruitful and creative”. Thus, he underlines the importance of subjectivity in comprehending historical events. A similar idea is echoed in literature by Sisir Das, who expounds that, “The exposure to the European concept of history created a tension within the Indian psyche which manifested itself splendidly in history novels and plays.” The author describes the approach of the Indian mind, which does not structure time in a scheme where that neatly sliced into the past, the present and the future, as being quite unable to grapple with the unidirectional construction of historical events in literary writings, as narratives were not written with the goal to transcribe facts and events but rather to sustain the perception of racial memory. This is the approach that will be explored in this seminar that traverses the same period as the Silk Road lectures of the fall seminar.

Mahi AGARWAL

Séminaire

English

Spring 2023-2024

The assignment will consist of a short story (45%) and interactive presentations based on class readings (45%). Participation being an important part (10%), I will encourage students to keep the classroom as screen-free as possible.