E-ISSN 2584-0525 clioquest@gmail.com +91-7051843946 SJIF 5.762

Jul-Dec (2023) | Vol.1 No.2

Contesting the Past Through Critical Historiography

Aqib Yousuf Rather ORCID

Assistant Professor, Department of History, Govt. Degree College Udhampur, J&K, India.

The paper explores the pervasive influence of ideological, political, colonial, religious, nationalist, racial, and gender-based biases in the construction of historical narratives. It challenges the long-standing myth of history as an objective discipline, revealing how dominant groups have historically shaped historical accounts to reinforce power structures and marginalize subaltern voices. The study traces these distortions from ancient religious and royal chronicles to modern colonial and nationalist histories, highlighting how memory, identity, and authority are encoded in historical storytelling. It emphasizes how emerging historiographical approaches—such as feminist history, subaltern studies, critical race theory, and postcolonial scholarship—have reclaimed suppressed narratives and challenged epistemological hierarchies. Contemporary interventions, including decolonization movements, inclusive curricula, and digital history, are analysed as efforts to democratize historical knowledge. However, these efforts are met with resistance, political backlash, and the risk of forming new orthodoxies. The article argues for a pluralistic, reflexive, and ethically engaged historiography that values diverse perspectives and promotes justice. It asserts that history must remain a contested and evolving space where marginalized voices can reframe the past to inform a more inclusive and equitable future. Through critical engagement, this work calls for a reimagining of historical practice as a democratic and transformative endeavour.
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Keywords
Historical bias decolonization feminist historiography nationalist narratives collective memory inclusive curricula digital history.
Cite this Article
Rather, A. Y. (2023). Contesting the Past Through Critical Historiography. Clioquest: Journal of Historical Research, 1(2), 1–10.
Rather, A. Y. "Contesting the Past Through Critical Historiography." Clioquest: Journal of Historical Research, vol. 1, no. 2, 2023, pp. 1–10.
Rather, A. Y. "Contesting the Past Through Critical Historiography." Clioquest: Journal of Historical Research 1, no. 2 (2023): 1–10.
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