Indian Exceptionalism: Colonial Stereotypes and Postcolonial Realities

antihistory,

Re: # 40

Interesting! Have you read any of Anthony Appiah's work and if so, are there any concepts, theories that relate to some of the work that you are conducting?

I checked out your blog; looking forward to reading about your research and project work-it sounds worthy and exciting. I understand that you have collaborated with Vijay Prashad (who btw is read by Asian and African American scholars at my institution!). Would you mind writing a bit about how this piece fits into your work as a whole?

Finally, have there been collaborative efforts b/n various marginalized Indian communities at narrative making (ie. academia, grassroots social action, art projects, etc) that speak to your field?

Thanks for sharing your scholarship!

Dalrymple criticizes Indian historians as follows:

(This is regarding the fact that no one had studied the Mutiny papers)

"For at a time when ten thousand dissertations and whole shelves of Subaltern Studies have carefully and ingeniously theorised about orientalism and colonialism and the imagining of the Other (all invariably given titles with a present participle and a fashionable noun of obscure meaning - Gendering the Colonial Paradigm, Constructing the Imagined Other, Othering the Imagined Construction, and so on ) not one Ph.D. has ever been written from the Mutiny Papers.."

i.e. all these "intellectual brahmins" refuse to do good old dirty archival work.

Re: # 41

nb, numbers are one aspect, but focusing on only that aspect serves to close the conversation rather than opening it to relevant exploration. why wouldnt anglo indians be a part of the discourse as are parsis, jews, jains, dalits, muslims, etc.?

Re: # 50

Leila Ahmed pointedly reminds readers that the field of Islam and women is in dire need of archival and reconstructionist scholarship BY women of Muslim descent, and yet, you'll see too many Muslim men being indifferent.

Re:#52

Leila Ahmed's point is very important.

Re: # 23

Hamidm Sahib:

"........ and don't pull a homi bhaba on me because if, for a while, the ruse of desire is calculable for the uses of discipline soon the repetition of guilt, justification, pseudo-scientific theories, superstition, spurious authorities, and classification can be seen as the desperate effort to 'normalize' formally the disturbance of a discourse of splitting that violates the rational, enlightened claims of its enunciatory modality...."

What is this?

My head was already spinning out of control after reading Rohit and Neembu's mutual admiration society essay / dialogs.

Please stay with humor..

re # 49

Neembu.

Thanks. I am not too familiar with Appiah's work though I have read other scholars who comment on his work. I know his recent work on multiculturalism has fostered an engaging debate.

A quick response to your other question: there are many interesting initatives in many fields of art, literary and scholarly production that involve the kind of collaboration you speak of. I think South Asia Citizen's Web which has a weekly wire may be a good starting point. Magazines like the Little Magazine, Himal, Seminar may also be a good starting point.

Regards
Rohit Chopra

hamidm:

........ and don't pull a homi bhaba on me because if, for a while, the ruse of desire is calculable for the uses of discipline soon the repetition of guilt, justification, pseudo-scientific theories, superstition, spurious authorities, and classification can be seen as the desperate effort to 'normalize' formally the disturbance of a discourse of splitting that violates the rational, enlightened claims of its enunciatory modality.


I was literally ROFL. :-)

"You social people should (quit) trying so hard to be intellectual! and get on with life."

"Sokol...."

Dash_Dot, I swear in the name of all that is unholy, there are at least SOME social people who are quite intelligent. And although I hate to drop names, I will do so this one (and last) time, only to save the reputation of a whole group of innocent people, despite Rohit bhai's best efforts on Chowk.

In an earlier incarnation I knew (fairly well) some folks in the sociology departments of Cornell and Stanford. Granted, these people were hardly grunt workers, being acknowledged leaders in their fields and their departments.

We are looking at a very very different kind of "social intellectualism" here.

Peace.

Re: # 54

anil mian,

......... and you went to harvard! ..... thank god my older kid didn't get in ! ..... maybe you can get saminasha or rohit bhabha to explain it - i don't have the foggiest idea ! :)

I'm starting to wonder when we're going to see the academic and or research work of some of the interactors here. Hamid, Anil, Doddy, Kaal, please feel free to submit your scholarship to chowk.com, with your credentials, etc. so that it can be evaluated.

Until then, show some self respect.

Re: # 55

I remember Samar to be one of the first cultural productions of its' kind in NYC.

Re: # 59

saminashah,

.... i have never claimed to be an academic or a researcher - i am just a lowly powerpointologist ......

... the only point i am trying to make is that if the common man cannot understand what the intellectuals are talking about, what good is it ? ....... should the common man just trust the intellectuals to think for them while they go about doing the grunt work ?......... why don't we all just bend over and let the denizens of this or that think tank or institute have at it !

.... but then you will protest and say, "no, no ..... we don't want to think for you guys; we are simply observing how you guys behave and trying to understand what motivates you to make a fool out of yourself; of course, we would like it very much if you behaved properly, like we want you to, but you don't have to" ..... horse puckey! ..... i think you guys are fascists and i don't want you anywhere near my kids!

***********

The problem with post colonial - post modern theory of Indian exceptionalism is that it tries to continue the theory that juxtaposes realities and facts and make them facts and realities.. I'm not going to say and neither agree that it is just the intellectual theorising of exceptionalisms (i.e colonial construction and later acceptance as post-colonial realities ) that leads to Shiv Sena and Hindu Muslim riots..

**********

Re: # 61

Perhaps if you read up on what this author is doing in his field rather than insulting him, his work and any one else who understands it, you might find that the "social science" and comparative cultures fields are not what you characterize them to be.

I have to say, its embarrassing to see how most of the interactors on his board are behaving. I'd try to couch my interactions with you in more positive terms, but frankly, I'm a bit tired of the same old carlin act.

Prof. Chopra, this is your board. Please continue to write at chowk; clearly your pieces being published here are at least one good move by chowk.com. I would apologize for the behavior of these chowkies, but I've come to realize that I'm not responsible for them, or anyone else's self esteem issues.

LOl, neembu ji, you are too quickly impressed with these 'professors.' :)

neembu, chowk is not an academic board. Most of us do not come to chowk to read up on what others are doing in their fields. Academic works or qualifications don't and shouldn't impress too many here. What concerns us here is specific ideas different interactors present before us.

From all that "Professor" chopra has written here (and he may have written pretty good stuff elsewhere), "professor" chopra comes across as a moron, a third-rate thinker who would be laughed out of any meeting of serious people.

Hope you won't take this personally on 'professor' chopra's behalf. One is referring merely to the ideas 'professor' chopra has presented here, not to him as a person or researcher in his field (where he may be an established great man, a thought leader, a path breaker, or what we in India call a 'Yug Purush.')