Analysing the Role of Memory in Oral History with respect to Urvashi Butalia’s The Other Side of Silence
Partition historiography of India based on oral narratives has tried to break the silence of affirmation created by the History of India. By adding plurality to the voices of the narrator, Urvashi Butalia through her book The Other Side of Silence (1998) shatters the authoritarian voice of a single...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Boibhashik
2023-12-01
|
| Series: | Sanglap: Journal of Literary and Cultural Inquiry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://sanglap-journal.in/index.php/sanglap/article/view/250 |
| _version_ | 1797338449822351360 |
|---|---|
| author | Chaithanya V |
| author_facet | Chaithanya V |
| author_sort | Chaithanya V |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Partition historiography of India based on oral narratives has tried to break the silence of affirmation created by the History of India. By adding plurality to the voices of the narrator, Urvashi Butalia through her book The Other Side of Silence (1998) shatters the authoritarian voice of a single historian. Memory of the survivors and the witnesses of the ‘great’ partition of 1947 is used as the sole defense to prove that history is a dialogue between the past and the progressively emerging future. Butalia’s work of non-fiction is therefore an account of the experiences narrated orally by survivors, who are now caught between the two national identities- one created by the memories they cherish before partition and the other stamped on them after the trauma of partition. The essay aims to present the challenges faced by this oral account of history, narrated through the faculty of individual memories with all its fallacies. It therefore eliminates the elevated status enjoyed by History as a branch of literature. It further discusses in detail the reliability of memory as a source of information. Ironically, the essay also helps to prove that historiography is just another method of storytelling embedding within itself opinions, individual interests and preferences. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:31:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d219a5e587154e12b13b8dc57fcf7659 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2349-8064 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:31:23Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Boibhashik |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sanglap: Journal of Literary and Cultural Inquiry |
| spelling | doaj.art-d219a5e587154e12b13b8dc57fcf76592024-01-31T04:27:32ZengBoibhashikSanglap: Journal of Literary and Cultural Inquiry2349-80642023-12-0110151410.35684/JLCI.2023.10101250Analysing the Role of Memory in Oral History with respect to Urvashi Butalia’s The Other Side of SilenceChaithanya V0St Teresa’s College, Ernakulam, IndiaPartition historiography of India based on oral narratives has tried to break the silence of affirmation created by the History of India. By adding plurality to the voices of the narrator, Urvashi Butalia through her book The Other Side of Silence (1998) shatters the authoritarian voice of a single historian. Memory of the survivors and the witnesses of the ‘great’ partition of 1947 is used as the sole defense to prove that history is a dialogue between the past and the progressively emerging future. Butalia’s work of non-fiction is therefore an account of the experiences narrated orally by survivors, who are now caught between the two national identities- one created by the memories they cherish before partition and the other stamped on them after the trauma of partition. The essay aims to present the challenges faced by this oral account of history, narrated through the faculty of individual memories with all its fallacies. It therefore eliminates the elevated status enjoyed by History as a branch of literature. It further discusses in detail the reliability of memory as a source of information. Ironically, the essay also helps to prove that historiography is just another method of storytelling embedding within itself opinions, individual interests and preferences.https://sanglap-journal.in/index.php/sanglap/article/view/250memory and historypartition historiographyoral narrativeshistory of emotionsubaltern history |
| spellingShingle | Chaithanya V Analysing the Role of Memory in Oral History with respect to Urvashi Butalia’s The Other Side of Silence Sanglap: Journal of Literary and Cultural Inquiry memory and history partition historiography oral narratives history of emotion subaltern history |
| title | Analysing the Role of Memory in Oral History with respect to Urvashi Butalia’s The Other Side of Silence |
| title_full | Analysing the Role of Memory in Oral History with respect to Urvashi Butalia’s The Other Side of Silence |
| title_fullStr | Analysing the Role of Memory in Oral History with respect to Urvashi Butalia’s The Other Side of Silence |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analysing the Role of Memory in Oral History with respect to Urvashi Butalia’s The Other Side of Silence |
| title_short | Analysing the Role of Memory in Oral History with respect to Urvashi Butalia’s The Other Side of Silence |
| title_sort | analysing the role of memory in oral history with respect to urvashi butalia s the other side of silence |
| topic | memory and history partition historiography oral narratives history of emotion subaltern history |
| url | https://sanglap-journal.in/index.php/sanglap/article/view/250 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chaithanyav analysingtheroleofmemoryinoralhistorywithrespecttourvashibutaliastheothersideofsilence |