Ranajit Guha
Ranajit Guha | |
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Born | Siddhakati, Calcutta University | 23 May 1923
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Ranajit Guha (23 May 1923 – 28 April 2023) emerged as a prominent Indian historian and a seminal figure among the early architects of the
Biography
Guha, born on 23 May 1923 in
Engaging in political activism during the 1940s, Guha affiliated with the
In 1959, Guha embarked on a migration to the United Kingdom, securing a fellowship at the University of Manchester to complete his doctoral thesis.[6] In 1962, he assumed the position of a Reader in history at the University of Sussex.[7] Noteworthy is his departure from Sussex in 1981, as he accepted a position at the Australian National University, where he concluded his distinguished career, retiring in 1988.[6]
Research
Subaltern Studies Group
Commencing in the 1980s, Guha played a pivotal role in pioneering an alternative approach to the study of South Asia and the Indian subcontinent. His discernment of the inadequacies within the prevailing historical studies of that era prompted a departure from the predominantly elitist methodology then prevalent. This departure served to mitigate elitist biases within the domain of
Guha's seminal work, Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India, is widely acclaimed as a classic in its field.[9][8] Moreover, his inaugural statement in the initial volume of Subaltern Studies delineated the group's agenda, specifically defining the "subaltern" as the "demographic difference between the total Indian population and all those whom we have described as the 'elite'."[10] The term "subaltern" was strategically borrowed from Antonio Gramsci, the Italian Marxist philosopher, to underscore the significance of elevating the voices of the marginalized classes.[8] This analytical lens, hitherto absent from mainstream studies, prompted the group to scrutinize the dynamics of class, gender, and caste-based subordination in shaping the historical narrative of the region.[11]
Among his notable proteges were sociologists and historians Partha Chatterjee, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and Dipesh Chakraborty.[6] Guha exhibited prolificacy in his writings, contributing fairly in both English and his native Bengali language.[3]
Personal life
Residing in Purkersdorf, Austria, situated on the periphery of the Vienna Woods, Ranajit Guha shared his abode with Mechthild Guha (née Jungwirth), a German-born scholar distinguished in the field of subaltern studies. The couple first encountered each other at the University of Sussex in the early 1960s, a period during which Guha attained prominence, subsequently relocating to the Australian National University, where their scholarly endeavors persisted.[12]
Regrettably, Guha passed away on 28 April 2023, at his residence within the Vienna Woods in Austria, a mere three and a half weeks before reaching the milestone of his centenary.[13]
Select bibliography
Author
- A rule of property for Bengal : an essay on the idea of permanent settlement, Paris [etc.] : Mouton & Co., 1963, New edition: Duke University Press, ISBN 0-8223-1761-3
- Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1983, New edition: Duke Univ Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8223-2348-6– a classic of Subaltern Studies
- Guha, Ranajit, "History at the Limit of World-History" (Italian Academy Lectures), Columbia University Press 2002
- An Indian Historiography of India: A Nineteenth Century Agenda & Its Implications. Calcutta: K.P. Bagchi & Company. 1988.
- Dominance without Hegemony: History and Power in Colonial India, Harvard University Press, 1998
- The Small Voice of History, Permanent Black, 2009
Editor
- (with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak), Selected Subaltern Studies, New York: Oxford University Press, 1988
- A Subaltern Studies Reader,1986–1995, Univ of Minnesota Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8166-2758-4
Articles
Select works about Guha
- Sathyamurthy, T. V. (1990). Indian peasant historiography: A critical perspective on Ranajit Guha's work. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 18(1), 92–144. doi:10.1080/03066159008438445
- Arnold, David; Hardiman, David. (1994). Subaltern Studies VIII: Essays in Honour of Ranajit Guha. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
See also
- Subaltern Studies
- Partha Chatterjee
- Dipesh Chakrabarty
- Gyanendra Pandey
- Gayatri Spivak
- David Arnold
- Sudipta Kaviraj
- Gyan Prakash
References
- ISBN 978-81-7930-688-8. Archivedfrom the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
- ISBN 0-8166-2759-2.
- ^ a b c d Mukherjee, Somak. "Ranajit Guha, India's oldest living historian, starts his 100th year with a dazzling legacy". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 5 March 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ "Oral history interview with Ranajit Guha | Archives at Tufts". archives.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ a b c "Historian Ranajit Guha Passes Away". The Wire. Archived from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ Damodaran, Vinita (23 June 2023). "Obituary: Professor Ranajit Guha". The University of Sussex. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
- ^ a b c "Ranajit Guha passes away: The Subaltern School and Guha's contributions to South Asian Studies". The Indian Express. 29 April 2023. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ Biswas, Amrita (2009). "Research Note on Subaltern Studies". Journal of Literature, Culture and Media Studies. p. 200.
- ^ Guha, Ranajit (1982). "On Some Aspects of the Historiography of Colonial India". Subaltern Studies. pp. 1–8.
- from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- University of Heidelberg. Archived(PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
- ^ "নিম্নবর্গের ইতিহাস সাধনার অন্যতম পথিকৃৎ রণজিৎ গুহের জীবনাবসান" (in Bengali). Anandabazar Patrika. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.