DIMAPUR, Oct 29 NNN: A galaxy of intellectuals have started conglomerating in Nagaland’s commercial hub Dimapur since this evening to participate in a national seminar on the theme, “Recovering the Oral Histories of North-Eastern India”.
Earlier, when contacted by Newmai News Network, Dr Sentila Yanger, who is the convenor of Nagaland chapter of INTACH informed that about 25 resource persons from Tezpur University, North Eastern Hills University (NEHU), Mizoram University, Manipur University and elsewhere besides from Nagaland will be participating in the two-day event.
These 25 resource persons will be presenting their papers in the seminar on the North East India region oral histories.
Meanwhile, according to seminar’s concept note of Dr Peter D’Souza, Director of Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), the proposed national seminar at Dimapur on “Recovering the Oral Histories of North-East India” will address various issues and concerns relating to the subject and suggest a well-coordinated approach towards understanding, documenting and safeguarding this rare treasure of national heritage. The seminar will also re-examine the discourse of development, and the politics of identity and representation, the IIAS Director added.
“It is a well-known fact that the North-East region of India is home of immense ethnological diversity, with a number of cultural heritages, including both tangible and intangible aspects. In the North-East, arguably, oral traditions, histories and the verbal arts constitute the majority of these cultural expressions, which shape collective memory, perception and representation amongst the indigenous communities of the region,” the concept note stated while adding, “It is indeed oral knowledge which has guided the destinies and lifestyles of social groups in the region- be it folktales and folklore, belief systems, life and death rituals, agricultural practices, music, dance, theatre and other social narratives that has been pursued, practiced and transmitted down generations. Inherent in this knowledge are genealogical accounts of clan groups- their origin myths, migration stories and cosmologies, all of which vary from community to community, but also determine inter-community interaction and wider historical development of the North-Eastern region”.
It then said then said that while the oral history of the region, especially in the absence of a structured written histories in a modern sense, continues to be the main window to understand the past and the present of the region and its people, there is a shrinkage of this vast cultural space in the face of the fast changing social, economic and cultural scenario of the region, brought about by rapid urbanization and the other paraphernalia of modern development. “Without dismissing the inevitable and at times beneficial nature of modern change, it is also important to recognize that an age-old oral knowledge base is becoming eroded and marginalized, commensurate with great cultural, historical and intellectual deprivation. It is also important to recognize and engage with the politics that can underlie changes .
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/oral-history-of-ne-india/
