47 – The In(ter)disciplined Archive

In this panel we aim to initiate a conversation in the field of South Asian Studies combining two specific nodes of enquiry: the (re)conceptualisation of the archive and the question of interdisciplinarity. The South Asian archive has become a question of investigation from the perspective of postcolonial and queer-feminist theory, and, particularly in light of the most recent changes in the politics of history-making in South Asia, it has been rethought in relation to power, (state) institutions and access, who / what is visible and who / what is buried (under papers or words). At the same time, recent studies have shown how the archive itself becomes a site of contestations, bringing forth the questions of relationality, violence, marginalisation – leading to the formulation of counter-archives (Appadurai 2003), away from the traditional, hegemonic instrument of the state. From anthropologists using archives as an ethnographic object (Stoller 2009) to sociologists of gender using the archive as a tool to criticise power, the social and cultural life of these repositories of knowledge have attracted a wider audience, not restricted to historical sciences alone. By adding to existing literature (for instance Mathur 2000, Lal 2011, Lambert-Hurley 2013), this panel invites scholars to (re)conceptualise, problematise and methodologically locate the archive from an interdisciplinary lens, enabling a conversation amongst un/conventional, alternative and emerging forms of knowledge production in the canon of South Asian Studies. As early academics, the convenors also want to bring together presenters from different stages in their career to further spark the flame of a critical discussion.

Convenors

Albrecht Jessica
- Tirthankar Chakraborty -