Room 004, School of Arts and Sciences
Central Campus
The talk examines the myriad reconstitutions of the image of a revolutionary in post-colonial India. The speaker's focus on the figure of Bhagat Singh and his image and persona reconfigured from the 1930s to the 70s. I use print and visual materials along with cinematic and historiographical representations of Bhagat Singh to discuss his 'afterlife'. I argue that the image of Bhagat Singh that historians have engaged with generates a certain notion of revolutionary ontology which lends itself to certain kinds of histories but also elides the possibility of others. It is those lost or unattended histories, premised on an ontology different from that of Bhagat Singh, that I turn to.
Aparna Vaidik is Professor of History at Ashoka University. She has previously taught at Georgetown University, Washington DC and University of Delhi. Educated at St. Stephen’s College, Cambridge University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, she is author of 4 books: Revolutionaries on Trial, Waiting for Swaraj, My Son's Inheritance and Imperial Andamans. She is also a recipient of research grants from the British Academy, Andrew Mellon Foundation, Indian Council for Historical Research, and Charles Wallace India Trust.
