AHIS 22A10 - Narratives and Representations of the Past
Historical narratives are far from unified or neutral accounts of the past. Instead, they involve epistemological choices that frequently carry ideological and political implications.
This course explores how different communities construct, contest, and mobilize interpretations of the past. Focusing on the role of collective memory and historical
representation, we examine how the past becomes a central arena for political struggle, identity formation, and the defense of social cohesion. Rather than viewing history as a fixed or objective discipline, the course highlights its polyphonic and contested nature: how competing narratives co-exist, conflict, and evolve in different social and political contexts.
Through case studies and theoretical approaches, students will explore the diverse functions and uses of history: from nation-building and legitimizing power to the rise of
populist and nationalist discourses, and the shaping of political rhetoric and cultural memory. Through exploring the plurality and at times politicization of historical narratives, the goal of the course is to explore how collective memory is constructed and mobilized in different contexts, to engage with the epistemology of historical knowledge production and to investigate the role of historical discourse in contemporary conflicts, political identity and authoritarian trends.
Yuqing QIU
Cours magistral et conférences
English
Autumn 2025-2026
To validate the course, the student is expected to pass the following assignments:
1°) Semester-long group project (3-5 students) based on a case study of narrative and use of the past (50%).
2°) Presentation (40%)
3°) Class participation (10%)
At the end of the course, all members of the class are expected to:
1°) Understand the logic, background and forms of the various uses of the past.
2°) Develop a critical regard into the past and its discursive construction.
3°) Dissect and discuss historical writings and the production of historical knowledge.
Jack Goody, The Theft of History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
Prasenjit Duara, Rescuing History from the Nation: Questioning Narratives of Modern China (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995).
John Torpey (ed.), Politics and the Past. On Repairing Historical Injustices (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003).
Dipesh Chakrabarty, Provincializing Europe: Post-Colonial Thought and Historical Difference (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009).
Priya Satia, Time's Monster: How History Makes History (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2020).