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- Title
The Subaltern School of Historiography.
- Authors
Pervaiz, Naila
- Abstract
The Subaltern School of Historiography is an extension of Marxism. With its emergence began the written history of the people who were suppressed and ignored by the statist discourse. The Subaltern historians mainly criticized the Indian Nationalist and Orientalist Schools of history writing as these groups were representing the elitist history alone by ignoring the oppressed and the 'small voices' in India. They focused on the power-knowledge relationship and the marginalized sections of the society which had been ignored throughout the course of history writing. Most of the scholars of this school have their origin in Marxism. The school took its roots from two main names; Antonio Gramsci and Michel Foucault. Gramsci was the founder of Communist Party of Italy. He was of the view that working class should be given importance as revolutionary intellectuals originate from within rather than from above or outside it. Foucault gave importance to power and highlighted that power works through institutions which demand subjugation and obedience. This school was emerged in the late 20th Century with the efforts of Ranajit Guha. On the one hand, there are various critiques on this school as well. It gained popularity as it emerged as 'historiography of the protest' but it failed to play its due share in the writing of effective history of all the suppressed groups of the society. On the other, subaltern studies highlighted a range of themes like the role of indigenous resistance, etc. which had never been discussed earlier. Its significance cannot be denied as it has focused primarily on those who were never given any social status.
- Subjects
HISTORIOGRAPHY education; SUBALTERN
- Publication
Pakistan Journal of History & Culture, 2017, Vol 38, Issue 2, p21
- ISSN
1012-7682
- Publication type
Article