Manifestations of History - Frank Heidemann

Manifestations of History highlights the significant, yet underestimated, place of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in socio-cultural and historical studies of the Indian Ocean region. British penal colonialism, the Japanese occupation during the Second World War as well as the post-Independence migration of Partition refugees, repatriates and migrants from all over South Asia left a deep imprint on local society. These features render the islands an ideal sociological showcase for the study of historical manifestations. Multiple castes, classes, communities, religions, and languages reflect the social complexity of South Asia and reveal entanglements between the British Empire, the Indian nation-state, and destination countries of South Asian overseas migration. This volume contributes to interdisciplinary theorizing by bringing together research rooted in historical theory and scholarship stemming from ethnographic observation as well as macro-level studies of South Asian nation-states and micro-level studies of local communities in vivid and meaningful dialogue with each other. Challenging the analytical usefulness of Eurocentric perceptions of time-structured historical models as the only valid means of explaining the present, it explores alternative analytical avenues opened by a space-bound concept of history.