Ancient, Modern historiography & Fiction - 2
Original Source: https://www.jeyamohan.in/197250/ Date: 23-Mar-2024 The short-stories collection "Padaiyal" is a historical fiction like that of "Aayiram Ootrukkal". They are stories from the period of Nayaks - Marathas. I am writing this article to explain about why such historical fictions are written, how to approach them and the relationship between these fictions and history. All of us have this hallucination that history is an absolute entity like a thing that exists and that it comprises of truths that have been entirely established. Because, we read history as such in our institutions. History is a discussion forum. But it is provided as a collection of information. Only when we realize that historiography is an ideological space where myriad histories are written, can we proceed with further discussion. Ancient communities like India are deeply rooted in ancient historiography. Modern historiography is two centuries old here. Modern historiography is taugh