Indian Cultures as Heritage: Contemporary Pasts PDF
Preview Indian Cultures as Heritage: Contemporary Pasts
INDIAN CULTURES AS HERITAGE Also by Romila Thapar in Aleph On Nationalism The Public Intellectual in India The Past As Present: Forging Contemporary Identities Through History ALEPH BOOK COMPANY An independent publishing firm promoted by Rupa Publications India First published in India in 2018 by Aleph Book Company 7/16 Ansari Road, Daryaganj New Delhi 110002 Copyright © Romila Thapar 2018 All rights reserved. The author has asserted her moral rights. The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by her, which have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from Aleph Book Company. ISBN: 978-93-84067-35-9 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. CONTENTS Preface Introduction: Defining Cultures 1. Cultures as Heritage 2. Heritage: The Contemporary Past 3. Time Before Time 4. Science as Culture 5. Women Decoding Cultures 6. The Culture of Discrimination 7. Knowledge as Heritage Epilogue Acknowledgements References and Further Reading PREFACE The questions that I asked when I was putting together this book were many and they revolved around the broader issues of heritage and culture. Some were questions that are generally not asked when heritage and culture are under discussion. Three centuries ago the definition of both was clear and uncomplicated. But now there are a range of definitions that recognize the many cultures that make up a society and the multiplicity of its heritage. My attempt here is to consider just a few among the many, merely to suggest that there is much that we miss out when we speak of culture as it was defined in earlier times. Both culture and heritage require a context that refers them to their past or the present, so that they can be recognized as representing what we perceive as patterns of living, patterns that we are now beginning to concede give a direction to cultures. Their links may not be visible to historians. Or, possibly, my concern was with searching for the context of cultures—even if I was considering just a few—and in no particular order. This too underlines the connectedness. My focus, therefore, is on contexts rather than on objects. As it had been said, objects have an aura. I would argue that seeing each in its context heightens that aura. But this may again be just the obsession of an historian. My other argument in this book is that we have in the past often thought of culture as single, as representing everyone in that singularity. For this singularity we have generally selected, or at least given it pride of place, the pattern of living and thinking of the elite. ‘High’ culture was what made for civilization, and the ‘rest’ did not matter too much. But now we know that in searching for the contexts of cultures, much comes from a hierarchy of sources, from high all the way down, and has to be acknowledged. My concern in this book is with a few of the many varied contexts that give an identity to cultures. My argument is not that every item of what we call culture has to be taken through a span of contexts, but that it might be worth investigating whether there are contexts other than the obvious ones. In writing this book, I have drawn partly on some lectures that I have given in recent years to diverse audiences, and partly on published essays. These I have revised and rewritten in the last few months. My intention was to select a few themes and consider how they may be viewed as having contributed to the articulation of Indian cultures. I would like to thank David Davidar and Aienla Ozukum at Aleph for their helpful comments and reactions to the text. Romila Thapar New Delhi December 2017
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