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Writing local histories must be promoted: Panikkar

Staff Reporter

Globalisation tends to `fossilise cultures'

— Photo: T. Singaravelou

ADDRESSING ISSUES: Noted historian K.N. Panikkar (right) giving a lecture on writing local history at the French Institute here. The Director of the institute, Jean Pierre Muller, is also in the picture.

PUDUCHERRY: Eminent historian K.N. Panikkar stressed the need to promote writing local histories to help the democratisation of historical writing and using them as a tool to oppose globalisation, which he said, had tended to "fossilise cultures".

"Though I am the one ,who had been opposing the tendency of emphasising and focusing on fragmentation of historical writing, I had been the champion of local history particularly in the state in which our country was moving for the last six to seven years," he said in his keynote address at the inaugural of three-day workshop on local history writing at the French Institute here on Thursday.

Source of resistance

Personally, he looked upon local history writing as radicalisation and as a source of resistance. The inquiry into how a radicalisation process could be undertaken by focusing on local history and the question of resistance, which was necessary in our society today, could be of great use.

He said the trend of bringing out local history had already caught the imagination of many in Kerala. Over a dozen local history works had come out in the recent years, he added. One of the major impediments in bringing out local history is the lack of source (inputs and facts) compared to the abundance of source for writing national history. He suggested a few methodologies one could follow in writing local history.

He said one could live in a particular geographical region and talk to people about their traditions, accounts of events from the memory of those who had participated in the event, legends and collecting archeological and anthropological data.

Literary production in the country was facing a crisis with an over-importance given to individuals. The shift was to the individual rather than putting him in the social and cultural milieu. This trend was dangerous, he added.

Prof Panikkar, a champion of secular values, called upon progressive writers to ponder over the fact and also organise workshops at local-level to create awareness among people about the threat of communalism and fascism. Director of the institute Jean Pierre Muller also spoke at the workshop, in which around 50 people from Puducherry and Tamil Nadu participated.

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