Approaches and Visions of History

Paper Code:

24HIS 221

Credits:

Contact Hours:

75.00

Max. Marks:

100.00

Objective:

This course empowers students to explore the diverse traditions of historiography across Ancient, Medieval, and Modern periods, highlighting key pioneers in each tradition. They will engage in critical analysis of the post-modernist approach to history, scrutinizing its methodologies and implications. Moreover, students will discern various approaches to history, with a special focus on historical writings pertaining to India, thereby gaining insight into the multifaceted nature of historical interpretation. Through this comprehensive study, students will develop a nuanced understanding of the evolving landscape of historiography.

Course Outcomes:

Course

Outcome (at course level)

Learning and teaching strategies

Assessment Strategies

Course Code

Course Title

24HIS 221

Approaches and Visions of History

(Theory)

CO42-Examine the concept and types of Historiography.

CO43-Compare and contrast various traditions of Historiography of Medieval period.

CO44-Assess tradition of Modern Historiography with a focus on Positivist – Ranke, Annales School.

CO45-Analyze the history of Post-Modernist Approach to History and its Impact on historiography

CO46-Assess and corelate the approaches to History like Nationalist, Marxist, Cambridge and Subaltern.

CO47-Contribute effectively in course-specific interaction

Approach in teaching:

Interactive Lectures, Discussion, Tutorials, Reading assignments, Power Point Presentation

Learning activities for the students:

Self-learning assignments, Effective questions, Seminar presentation

Quiz, Solving problems in tutorials, Class Assignment, Classroom Interaction, Power point presentation and There will be a mid-term examination (C.A Test) when two units of the course are completed, Semester End Examinations.

15.00

Unit I:

Tradition of Historiography-Ancient

Ancient: Greaco –Roman, Chinese and Indian

15.00

Unit II:

Tradition of Historiography- Medieval

Medieval : Arabic and Persian.

15.00

Unit III:

Tradition of Historiography -Modern

Modern: Positivist – Ranke, Annales School (Marc Bloch, Lucien, Febvre, Fernand Braudel)

Unit IV:

Post Modernist Approach to History

Michel Foucault and Medieval : Arabic and Persian.Jacques Derrida; Impact on historiography

Unit V:

Approaches to Indian History

Imperialist approach- James Mill , Vincent Smith Nationalist Approach- R.G.Bhandarkar, J.N.Sarkar Marxist Approach- D.D.Koshambhi, R.S.Sharma ,Irfan Habib Subaltern Approach- Ranjit Guha

Essential Readings:

Shreedharan, E. A Textbook of Historiography 500 BC to AD 2000, Orient Blackswan.
G C Pande (ed.): Itihas-Swaroop evam siddhanth (in Hindi), Jaipur
William Dray: Perspectives on History
C. Behan McCullah: The truth of History
The logic of History (Putting Postmodernism in Perspective)

References:

Satish K Bajaj : Recent Trends in Historiography, New Delhi,1998
Ranjeet Guha (ed.): Subaltern Studies, Vol.1,2,3&4,Oxford University Press,New Delhi,1982
V S Pathak: Ancient Historians of India,a study in historical biographies, Gorakhpur,1984
U N Ghoshal : Stud
ies in Indian History and Culture
V S Agrawala :Itihas Darshan (in Hindi), Varanasi
Buddha Prakash: Itihas Darshan (in Hindi), Lucknow, 1962
G A Cohen :Karl Marx’s Theory of history:Adefense (Oxford 1978)
M G Murphey : Our Knowledge of the Historical Past(Indianapolis 1973)
S Clark :”The Annales Historians” , in Q Skinner ed.The Return of Grand Theory In The Human Sciences (Cambridge 1985)
Traian Stoianovitch: French Historical Method: Thae Annales Paradigm (Ithaca, New York, 1976)
Maurice Aymard and harbans Mukhia, eds.,French Studies in History (New Delhi 1988)
Peter Burke ed.,A New Kind of History: From the Writings of Lucien Febvre(London 1983), Essays 1,2 and 3.
Mark Foster: Foucault, Marxism and History
Hayden White: “Foucault Decoded: Notes from Underground”. History and Theory,12,1973.