Abstract

Although not a professional historian, the author raises several issues pertinent to the state of history today. Qualifying the ‘non-historian’ as an ‘able’ interventionist in historical studies, the author explores the relationship between history and theory within the current epistemological configurations and refigurations. He asks how history transcends the obsessive ‘linguistic’ turn, which has been hegemonizing literary/discourse analysis, and focuses greater attention on historical experience and where history stands in relation to our understanding of ethics, religion and the current state of global politics that underlines the manipulation and abuse of history.

Ranjan Ghosh teaches in the Department of English at the University of North Bengal, India. He is widely published in leading international journals such as Oxford Literary Review, History and Theory, Parallax, Rethinking History, Comparatist, Comparative Drama, South Asia, SubStance, symploke, Angelaki, and others. He is author/editor of many books, including Globalizing Dissent (Routledge, 2008), Edward Said and The Literary, Social, and Political World (Routledge, 2009), Making Sense of the Secular (Routledge, 2012). His website is: http://www.ranjanghosh.com.

“[A] fascinating account of Indian historical consciousness and of how India relates to its past.” • From the Foreword

“Enhanced with an extensive bibliography and a comprehensive index, ‘A Lover's Quarrel With The Past’ is informed, informative, thoughtful and thought provoking, making it a highly recommended study for academicians and non-professional general readers with an interest in history and the representation of history.” • Midwest Book Review

“Ghosh has written an original, intriguing, even passionate book and, for the most part it is written in an appealing style, with interesting images and quirky turns of phrase… Ghosh has sent us news from the frontline of the memory wars in India. No end to this argument is yet in sight. His book is a call for tolerance and sanity and doing history responsibly.” • Newsletter of the International Institute for Asian Studies

“Ranjan Ghosh has written an original and important work…The quality of the thinking and argument is very high…Ghosh has managed to construct the book in a very clever way so as to bring together an exact and engaging meditation on current state of the philosophy and theory of history and an important historiographical examination of how India relates to its past.” • Ethan Kleinberg, Wesleyan University

“This is an outstanding and remarkable book, beautifully written and meticulously structured. The main virtue of the text is that it operates on several levels, allowing for a wide readership without sacrificing profundity and originality… [I]t integrates theoretical acumen with a profound meditation on love and the nature of emotional and affective relations. It is distinguished from anything else in its field but is not negatively polemical.” • Claire Colebrook, Penn State University