Historical Cognition and Nostalgia
At the time of emergence of majoritarian nationalism in India the debate on very existence of historical approach intensified . Though , history as a steam have always bone of contention for competitive ideology . As one know that like truth the neutrality in any area of life including natural science as well social science is relative . So , history is not an exception so , no –one can claim about neutrality ( absolute) about the history here, as like we. Then how a student of history as well as common people can decide about the right approach of history for themselves? But It is not so difficult to recognize the appropriate and scientific history writing.
First of all like the theory of in living organism , scientific history writing consider the changing of society as a evolution of society in space and time .Like living organism evolve from uni cell living organism to multiple complex living organism , a scientific approach in history discover the simplest form of society of hunter –gatherer developed to more complex modern society of the present world.
As , historical cognition provide insight to the students of history about the direction of the development of the society . To formulate it, we can say ,from past to future society develop from simple to complex.
But for the nostalgic approach, the history is not for understanding of society but escaping from the truth and hardship of present towards pleasant dreaming of past . so for a nostalgic ,humanity depreciate with the passing of time unlike the historical cognition that approves the appreciation of humanity with passing the time .
In today’s India the unhistorical approach of history is seen mainly in communal historians . Communal history writing from Hindus is nostalgic about ancient India as like communal Islamic history writing is nostalgic about medieval period when flags of Islam were being hoisted from morocco and Spain to Indonesia . both of communal historian negate the consistent development of human society in throughout history and thus negate the history itself .
Historical cognition or historical approach is cause and essence both of history .It believe in some how the objective explanation of objective reality , of past . It accept relative and comparative nature of history and so propagate profoundly that neutrality of history is a myth. What does it mean that neutrality is myth? In present, there are some social forces that are deprecating and other social forces that are appreciating . generally both these forces struggle to each other for prominence , and so a historian can’t bar himself from this struggle. He consciously or unconsciously has to choose his side in this struggle as This struggle is free from the will of society and historian.
It is interesting to look at the history writing about ancient India . At one side communal history writing points rosy picture of ancient India and on the other side historian belonging to social justice point the ancient society as highly injustice and regressive one. Both types of history writing do not represent individual but competing social groups of present India .
Thus historical cognition emancipate human brain from dogma, Provide foresightness , liberal , optimistic and progressive approach towards humankind . It assume that the golden age of human society is not in past but in future . Egalitarian society is waiting for ,and human should struggle for it .historical cognition neither make person hero nor it negate the impact of personal efforts in history . any protagonist of history ,though how might effective he be, could never be greater than his era itself . it teaches us that ‘ like as past never come as it never pass too’.
On the other side, nostalgic makes a parson community dogmatic , conservative, reactionary, narrow minded and pessimist . And so, it negates history itself . Evolution of society towards development is open truth today but nostalgic have their golden era in the graveyards of past . BE AWARE OF IT
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