{"id":2210,"date":"2021-03-12T15:43:08","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T15:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/?p=2210"},"modified":"2021-03-12T15:43:10","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T15:43:10","slug":"project-proposal-the-welsh-subaltern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/2021\/03\/12\/project-proposal-the-welsh-subaltern\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Proposal: The ‘Welsh Subaltern’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This project will question to what extent was there a \u2018Welsh subaltern\u2019 in late 18th<\/sup> century Wales? This is addressed through the orientalist Sir William Jones\u2019s life, relevant spheres of influence and engagement with India and Wales. Jones provides a link between the Indian and potential Welsh subalterns. Comparing the similarities and differences between the two subaltern cultures helps to determine to what extent there was a Welsh subaltern. The project will further investigate the similarities and differences in the cultural revival movements of Welsh Celtic culture and the \u2018Indian Renaissance\u2019. Jones again is the connection having links to both movements. This will be useful in answering comparative questions including: who was behind these revivals? What was the purpose of them? And how were these subaltern cultural revivals perceived by the dominant culture of the metropole? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The working hypothesis of this project is that there was a \u2018Welsh Subaltern\u2019. Whilst sharing similar cultural characteristics with the Indian subaltern there are also substantial differences in the revival of the subaltern cultures and the purposes of their revival. For instance, it was in the interests of imperialism that the Indian revival took place to justify British colonial rule over the indigenous population through their own laws. Whereas, in the case of Wales, revivalism was a \u2018bottom-up\u2019 phenomenon which was based on the idea that Welsh culture and language was marginalised as English (a minority language in Wales) was used in legal and governmental arenas and generally looked down upon by anglicised upper-classes. However, it must be acknowledged that these were not necessarily \u2018English people\u2019 but rather \u2018anglicised Welsh people. Therefore, the Welsh subaltern, unlike the Indian subaltern, was not under colonial rule but was a marginalised group within Wales. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This project is based on the field of subaltern studies. Guha defined the subaltern as \u201ca name for the general attribute of subordination in South Asian society whether this is expressed in terms of class, caste, age, gender and office or in any other way\u201d.[1]<\/sup><\/a> According to Chakrabarty, Subaltern Studies aims to \u201cproduce historical analysis in which the subaltern groups were viewed as the subjects of history\u201d instead of being the objects of it.[2]<\/sup><\/a> Therefore, this project will apply this concept to the marginalised peasant community of Wales. Highlighting a community which is often looked over. Postcolonialism is essential to this project as Jones worked for the British Empire. Said\u2019s Orientalism<\/em> is useful in deconstructing the power hierarchies present in terms of the European attitudes to India. Reapplying this to the Welsh context perhaps highlights the subtle power discourses present which are not as obvious compared to their presence in colonial India. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned above, this project takes a comparative approach. As Bloch notes, it is foolish to look for connections likely don\u2019t exist.[3]<\/sup><\/a> This is most likely the case between the populations of the Welsh and Indian Subalterns with Jones serving as the only major connection. However, comparing the Indian subaltern with the Welsh peasant culture will help us to determine to what extent there was a Welsh subaltern. As Haupt and Kocka note \u201chistorical peculiarities only become clearly visible when one refers to comparable examples.[4]<\/sup><\/a> Furthermore, analysing the similarities and differences of these cultures could facilitate the discovery of suspiring connections and could increase the transnationality of the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This project will rely on lots of secondary literature, especially from Franklin and Cannon who have published extensively on Jones and his life\u2019s work. They heavily reference his letters and his works. Therefore, providing a springboard to Jones\u2019s work in Wales and India. The Asiatic Society will also be a fruitful source as it kickstarted enthusiasm for Indian studies in both Britain and India.[5]<\/sup><\/a> This will lead to sources about and from the Indian cultural revival, and especially in the earlier days of the society, give a particularly European view of Indian culture. This will exhibit the European and British reception to the Indian revival. Similarly, the Cymmodorion Society and other Celtic revivalist groups which Jones was involved in can similarly provide contemporary perspectives on Welsh culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bibliography<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bloch, Marc, Land and Work in Medieval Europe <\/em>(New York, 1966). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dipesh Chakrabarty, \u201cSubaltern Studies and Postcolonial Historiography\u201d, Nepantla: Views from South<\/em>, 1:1, (2000), pp. 9-32.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guha, Ranajit, Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India<\/em> (Durham, 1999).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kocka, J\u00fcrgen and Haupt, Heinz-Gerhard, \u201cComparison and Beyond: Traditions, Scope, and Perspectives of Comparative History\u201d, in Heinz-Gerhard Haupt an J\u00fcrgen Kocka (eds), Comparative and Transnational History: Central European Approaches and New Perspectives <\/em>(New York, 2009).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mukerjee, S., N., \u201cSir William Jones and the British Attitudes Towards India\u201d, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland<\/em>, 1\/2 (April 1964), pp. 37-47. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> Ranajit Guha, Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India<\/em> (Durham, 1999), p.35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/sup><\/a> Dipesh Chakrabarty, \u201cSubaltern Studies and Postcolonial Historiography\u201d, Nepantla: Views from South<\/em>, 1:1, (2000), p.15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/sup><\/a> Marc Bloch, Land and Work in Medieval Europe<\/em> (New York, 1966), p.68. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/sup><\/a> J\u00fcrgen Kocka and Heinz-Gerhard Haupt, \u201cComparison and Beyond: Traditions, Scope, and Perspectives of Comparative History\u201d, in Heinz-Gerhard Haupt an J\u00fcrgen Kocka (eds), Comparative and Transnational History: Central European Approaches and New Perspectives <\/em>(New York, 2009), p.4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/sup><\/a> S. N. Mukerjee, \u201cSir William Jones and the British Attitudes Towards India\u201d, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland<\/em>, 1\/2 (April 1964), p.47.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This project will question to what extent was there a \u2018Welsh subaltern\u2019 in late 18th century Wales? This is addressed through the orientalist Sir William Jones\u2019s life, relevant spheres of influence and engagement with India and Wales. Jones provides a link<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5wNtZ-zE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2210"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2211,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2210\/revisions\/2211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}