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Other People's History History 301 APPROACHING THE PAST: OTHER PEOPLE’S HISTORY Prof. Alexander Bevilacqua Spring 2019 “The True Picture of One Pict,” from Theodor de Bry, America (1590). Wednesdays, 1:10 to 3:50 p.m. Griffin 1 Office phone: 413-597-5023 [email protected] Office hours: Monday 2-4 p.m. 1 From antiquity to the present, most historians have chosen to write about their own community, whether they have defined it by ethnicity, nationhood, language, or creed. Only a minority has chosen instead to record the history of a group of which it is not a member. This seminar asks: what does it mean to write other people’s history? We will consider, first, the motivations that might lead someone to dedicate their lives to studying a foreign culture. What practical challenges are involved? What languages, archives and forms of knowledge does the historian have to master, and how is this achieved (or not achieved)? Further, we will inquire: what unique problems and opportunities emerge? What mental categories mediate the inevitable comparisons that arise in the study of other people’s history? What kind of histories can be written this way? What kind cannot? Throughout, we will take seriously the ethical challenges and opportunities of this peculiar historiographic position. Finally, we will debate what lessons can be drawn for our own practice as historians. Authors to be read will range from antiquity to the present and include Herodotus, al-Biruni, José de Acosta, and Edward Gibbon among others. REQUIREMENTS. Active participation in all seminar discussions is the most important component of this class. In addition, students, working in pairs, will moderate the discussion of individual readings throughout the semester (the readings you can choose to moderate are marked with a ♦). The other requirements are six response papers (2–3 double-spaced pages) that you can write on weeks of your choosing, though three must be written before spring break. You will be asked to read one of these papers aloud in the course of the semester. Your final paper (7–8 pp.) will expand on the themes of one of your response papers, and require you to consult relevant scholarship in Sawyer Library. WRITING ASSIGNMENTS. Your goal in writing the response papers is not to make an argument about the readings so much as to explain them and to relate them to one another. This exercise will help you understand the readings. You may correct or amend your paper as the seminar discussion unfolds, but you must hand it in at the end of class. Each week, one student will be selected to read their paper out loud. The papers will be returned by the following Monday. GRADING SCHEME. 25% Attendance and participation, including discussion moderation 60% Six response papers (2–3 pp.), three before spring break; three after 20% Final paper (7–8 pp.) 2 BREAK. We will aim to take a 10-minute break in the middle of class. Class periods will run roughly from 1:10-2:30pm and 2:40-3:50 pm. REQUIRED BOOKS. Six books are required for this class (see below). All other readings will be available in the course reader. José de Acosta, Natural and Moral History of the Indies. J. E. Mangan, ed. Raleigh, NC, 2002. Marc Bloch, The Craft of the Historian: Reflections on the Nature and Uses of History and the Techniques and Methods of Those Who Write It. New York, 1964. Al Biruni, India. E. Sachau, trans. New York, 1971. Herodotus, The Histories. R. B. Strassler, ed. New York, 2009. Barrington Moore, Jr., The Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. Boston, 1966. Jürgen Osterhammel, The Transformation of the World: A Global History of the Nineteenth Century. P. Camiller, trans. Princeton, 2014. EXTENSION POLICY. Response papers need to be turned in at the end of class and will not be accepted late. The final paper will be due at the end of reading period, and no extension requests will be accepted. Any delays on the final paper will be penalized at 1/3 of a grade per day. For further accommodations, please present a letter from the Office of Accessible Education. ATTENDANCE. You are permitted a maximum of one (1) absence in the course of the semester with no detriment to your participation grade. You do not need to present an excuse or documentation, though e-mailing the instructor in advance is encouraged. Frequent absences can lead to failure in the course. CITATION PRACTICES. You might find it useful to consult the online resource Writing with Sources as well as the Williams guide to academic integrity. These guides will help you to evaluate and cite sources correctly and avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is an equally serious offense whether committed by design or by mistake. Protect yourself from this risk with good note-taking and citation skills. The consequences of plagiarism at Williams are serious. 3 I expect you to be familiar with the Williams Honor Code, but if you have questions about how it applies to your work in this class, I’d be delighted to discuss that with you. OFFICE HOURS. Office hours are times when I am regularly available for you to come and see me. We can meet to discuss anything relating to the course, whether intellectual or practical. A sign-up sheet on my door will allow you to sign up for a slot. If you have a conflict with my office hours, e-mail me and we will find a time to meet. HEALTH AND ACCESSIBILITY. Students with disabilities of any kind who may need accommodations for this course are encouraged to contact Dr. G.L. Wallace (Director of Accessible Education) at 597-4672. Also, anyone who is experiencing mental or physical health challenges is encouraged to contact me at any time and to speak with a dean. The deans can be reached at 597-4171. ELECTRONICS POLICY. No laptops or tablets are allowed in class. Please switch off your phones or put them in airplane mode. 4 Calendar of Readings and Meetings Week 0: Introductory meeting Wednesday, January 30 at 7:30 p.m. Week 1: The Historian’s Craft Wednesday, February 6 * Bring completed questionnaire to class Anthony Grafton, Joseph Scaliger (1983), 1-8 [8 pages] Marc Bloch, The Historian’s Craft (1949; posthumous), entire [197 tiny pages] PART I: A BRIEF HISTORY OF OTHER PEOPLE’S HISTORY Week 2: Beginnings Wednesday, February 13 Herodotus, Histories, on Persians (book I), Egyptians (book II) and Scythians (book IV), 3–203, 281-364 [283 pages] ♦ Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, vol. 2, pp. 129-62; idem, Letter to Ren An [28 pages] ♦ Siep Stuurman, “Herodotus and Sima Qian: History and the Anthropological Turn in Ancient Greece and Han China,” Journal of World History 19 (2008), 1-40 [40 pages] Week 3: Other People’s Religion Wednesday, February 20 Al Biruni, India (11th c. CE), 1-134 [134 pages] Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddima, 11–43, 91–122 [63 pages] 5 ♦ Franz Rosenthal, “Al-Biruni Between Greece and India” (1976) [12 pages] Week 4: The Old World and the New Wednesday, February 27 José de Acosta, Natural and Moral History of the Indies (1590), books V–VII (Peru and Mexico), 250–449 [199 pages] Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, Nueva Coronica y buen gobierno (c. 1615), pp. 57- 90; 249-269 [63 pages] ♦ Anthony Grafton, “José de Acosta: Renaissance Historiography and New World Humanity,” in The Renaissance World, pp. 166–190 [25 pages] Week 5: Enlightenment Historiography Wednesday, March 6 Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–1785) volume VI, pp. 205–363 (chs. 50–51); vol. VII, pp. 21–75 (ch. 52) [212 pages] ♦ Bevilacqua, Republic of Arabic Letters (2018), ch. 6, 167–199 [28 pages] Week 6: Age of Empire Wednesday, March 13 James Mill, History of British India (1817), preface + book II (“On the Hindus”), selections: “Manners of the Hindus;” “The Arts;” “General Reflections” [180 pages] ♦ Jane Rendall, “Scottish Orientalism: From Robertson to James Mill,” The Historical Journal (1982) [26 pages] SPRING BREAK 6 Week 7: New Horizons Wednesday, April 3 Bronislaw Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922), 1–104; 393–427; 509–527 [158 pages] Malinowski, A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term (1967; posthumous), pp. 3-16; 80–89; 107-114; 120–123; 155–158; 272-279 [45 pages] [Please note: this source contains extremely offensive language. We will make a collective decision how to handle this prior to our April 3 class meeting.] ♦ Annette Weiner, Women of Value, Men of Renown: New Perspectives in Trobriand Exchange (1979), xvi-xxi + 1-24 [30 pages] PART II: THEORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY Week 8: Visualizing Other People Wednesday, April 10 *Chapin Library session with Dr. Anne Peale* Lynn Hunt, Margaret Jacob, and Wijnand Mijnhardt, Bernard Picart and the First Global Vision of Religion (2010), 1–13, 139–287 [161 pages] ♦ Sanjay Subrahmanyam, “A Roomful of Mirrors: The Artful Embrace of Mughals and Franks” in Ars Orientalis (2010), 39–83 [44 pages] Week 9: The Comparative Moment Wednesday, April 17 Barrington Moore, Jr., The Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World (1966), selection of four chapters (200 pp.) 7 ♦ Marc Bloch, “Toward a Comparative History of European Societies” (1925), 494–521 [28 pages] ♦ William Sewell, “Marc Bloch and the Logic of Comparative History,” History and Theory (1967), 208–218 [11 pages] Week 10: The Critique of Comparison Wednesday, April 24 ♦ Dipesh Chakrabarty, “Provincializing Europe” (2000), 27–46 [19 pages] Edward Said, Orientalism (1978), 1–92 [92 pages] Gayatri Spivak, “Can the Subaltern Speak?” (1983), 66–104 [38 pages] Week 11: New Directions, I: Global Wednesday, May 1 Jürgen Osterhammel, The Transformation of the World: A Global History of the Nineteenth Century (2014), selection of four chapters (200 pp.) ♦ William H.
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