4 -  Memory Of A Lost Past, Memory Of Rape : Nostalgia, Trauma And The Construction Of Collective Social Memory Among The Zo Hnahthlak

Anup Shekhar Chakraborty

doi:10.57054/icp.v11i2.5132

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2010): Identity, Culture and Politics: An Afro - Asian dialogue

Issue Published : December 21, 2010

4 - Memory Of A Lost Past, Memory Of Rape : Nostalgia, Trauma And The Construction Of Collective Social Memory Among The Zo Hnahthlak

https://doi.org/10.57054/icp.v11i2.5132

Anup Shekhar Chakraborty

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7386-549X

Corresponding Author(s) : Anup Shekhar Chakraborty

noreply@codesria.org

Identity, Culture and Politics, Vol. 11 No. 2 (2010): Identity, Culture and Politics: An Afro - Asian dialogue
Article Published : October 20, 2010

Abstract

Collective Social Memory is indeed the moving force of all narrations of identity, national or otherwise, displacement or movement, good times as well as bad times. In fact memories are objects that tumble out unexpectedly from the mind, linking the present with the past. The link between people, heritage, territory, and state is brought about strongly by the use of botanical metaphors. The Zo/Mizo or Zomi also use the metaphor of a tree to link up their rooted-ness with the claimed territory; the Zo/Mizo claim that their folksongs and folklores speaks of a grand tree- ‘Khampat Bungpui’ (Banyan tree) planted by their fore-fathers before they migrated from ‘Zopui’ village, west of Tiau valley in Myanmar. The memory of the ever blessed village ‘Zopui’ symbolic of the grandeur of Zo history serves the purpose of providing a unifying thread for the collection social memory of the Zo hnahthlak.
The horrors of the Insurgency and the Counter-Insurgency; the mass rapes of women and abuse of minors remain embedded in the social memory of the Zo/Mizo people.The paper attempts to accentuate the embeddedness of ‘Memory and Trauma’ on the vexing issues of identity among the Zo hnahthlak.

Keywords

Memory Lost Past Memory Of Rape Nostalgia Trauma Construction Collective Social Zo Hnahthlak

Anup Shekhar Chakraborty. (2010). 4 - Memory Of A Lost Past, Memory Of Rape : Nostalgia, Trauma And The Construction Of Collective Social Memory Among The Zo Hnahthlak. Identity, Culture and Politics, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.57054/icp.v11i2.5132

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References

Anderson, Benedict. (1983). (1991). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.
Barpujari, H.K. (1977). (Reprinted 1980). Assam in the days of the Company 1826-1858. Gauhati: LBS.
Basu Raychaudhury, Anasua. (2004). Nostalgia of ‘Desh’, Memories of Partition. Economic & Political Weekly. December 25-31, pp. 5653-5660.
Bose, Pradip Kumar. (1997). ‘Memory Begins Where History Ends’ in Ranabir Sammadar (Ed.). (1997). Reflections on the Partition of the East. New Delhi: Vikas Publications.p.85.
Butalia, U. (1998). ‘Muslims and Hindus, Men and Women: Communal stereotypes and the Partition of India’ in T. Sarkar and U. Butalia. (Ed.). (1998). Women and the Hindu Right: A Collection of Essays. New Delhi: Kali for Women.
Carey, B.S., & H. N. Tuck. (1896). (Reprinted 1976). The Chin Hills- A History of the people, our dealings with them, their customs & manners, & a Gazetteer of their country. Vol. I&II. Calcutta: Firma KLM Private Ltd on behalf of Tribal Research Institute, Aizawl, Mizoram.
Chakraborty, Anup Shekhar. (2008). ‘Manufacturing of Spaces: The ‘Others’ in Zo/Mizo Politics’ South Asian Journal of Socio-Political Studies (SAJOSPS). Vol.9 No.1, July-December. ISSN 0972-4613.
Chakraborty, Anup Shekhar. (2009a). ‘Regulating Citizenship: Politics of ‘Check-In’ and ‘Check-Out’’ in Refugee Watch Online (A Co-Publication of Refugee Watch), 18 February.
Chakraborty, Anup Shekhar. (2009b). ‘Where are ‘Our women’? Locating Women through the History of Proselytization in Mizoram’. Dharma Deepkia- South Asian Journal of Missiological Research issue on Mission In Contexts Of Violence And Uncertainty. Issue 30, Vol.13 No. 2 July-December. ISSN 0972-5970.
Chakraborty, Dipesh. (1996). Remembered Villages: Representation of Hindu-Bengali Memories in the Aftermath of the Partition. Economic & Political Weekly. Vol.31, No.32 August 10, p.2143.
Chatterjee, Suhas. (1985). Mizoram Under the British Rule. Delhi: Mittal Publications.
Chatterjee, Suhas. (1990). Mizoram Encyclopaedia. Vol. I. Bombay: Jaico Publishing House.
Chatterji, N. (1978). The Lushais 1878-1889. Aizawl: Tribal Research Institute.
Chenoy, Anuradha M. (2005). ‘Women and Breakdown of the Public Sphere’, Chapter 15 in Bhargava, Rajeev., & Helmut Reifeld. (Ed.). (2005). Civil Society, Public Sphere & Citizenship: Dialogues & Perceptions. New Delhi: Sage Publications/Konrad Adenauer Stifting.
Dev, S. Guru. (1996). Anatomy of Revolt: In the North East India. New Delhi: Lancer Books.
Fine, Gary Alan. (2001). Difficult Reputations: Collective Memories of the Evil, Inept, and Controversial. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Fine, Gary Alan. (2005). ‘Collective Memory’ in George Ritzer (Ed.). (2005). Encyclopedia Of Social Theory. Vol. I. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. pp. 116-117
Gardner, Katy., & Filippo Osella. (NA). ‘Migration, Modernity and Social Transformation in South Asia: An Introduction’, Chapter 1, pxi-x/viii in Filippo Osella & Katy Gardner. (Ed.). (NA). Migration, Modernity and Social Transformation in South Asia. (Contributions to Indian Sociology Occasional Studies 11). New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Goswami, B.B. (1978). “Out-group from the point of view of In-group: A Study of Mizos”, in S.M. Dubey. (1978). North East India: A Sociological Study. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. pp. 99-110.
Government of Mizoram. Statistical Handbook(s) of Mizoram. 1994; 1998; 2002; 2006; 2008. Aizawl: Directorate of Economics & Statistics.
Guha, Amalendu. (1977).(1988). Planter Raj to Swaraj: Freedom Struggle and Electoral Politics in Assam 1826-1947. New Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research.
Gupta, Jayanta. (2010). ‘’66 blitz a lesson on use of IAF’. Times of India. Kolkata: 09 April.
Halbwachs, Maurice. (1925) (1992). On Collective Memory. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Hluna, J.V. (2010). ‘Zoram Ni’. Zoram Today. Aizawl: 08 March.
Hobsbawm, E. and T. Ranger. (1983). The Invention of Tradition. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Khiangte, Laltluangliana (Ed.).(2002). Mizo Songs and Folktales (Indian Literature in Tribal Languages). New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. pp.62-65.
Lalchungnunga. (1994). Mizoram: Politics of Regionalism and national Integration. New Delhi, India: Reliance Publishing House
Lalrimawia. (1995). Mizoram: History and Cultural Identity. Guwahati: Spectrum Publicatons.
Lalthangliana, B. (1975) History of Mizo in Burma. Arts and Science University: Mandalay.
Lama, J.B. (2007). ‘The inside and out of Mizoram’s ethnic skirmishes’. Kolkata: The Statesman. 30, July.
Lewin, T. H. (1912). (Reprinted 1977). A Fly On the Wheel. Calcutta: Firma KLM on behalf of Aizawl: Tribal Research Institute, Aizawl.
Lowenthal, David. (1985). The Past Is a Foreign Country. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mackenzie, A. (1979) (Reprint 1981). The North-East Frontier of India. New Delhi: Mittal Publications.
Mackenzie, A. (1884). History of the Relations of the Government with Hill Tribes of the North-East Frontier of Bengal. Calcutta: (NA).
Malkki L. (1992). National geographic: the rooting of peoples and the territorialization of national identity among scholars and refugees. Cultural Anthropology. 7(1):24-44
Malkki, L. (1990). Context and consciousness: local conditions for the production of historical and national thought among Hutu Refugees in Tanzania. pp. 32-63
McCall, A.G. (1939). (1980). The Lushai Hills: District Cover. Aizawl: Tribal Research Institute.
McCall, A.G. (1949).(2003). Lushai Chrysalis. Aizawl: Tribal Research Institute.
Mukherjee, S.K. (1998). ‘Jewish Movement in the Hills of Manipur and Mizoram’ in M.N. Karna (Ed). (1998). Social Movements in the North- East India. New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company/NEICSSR, Shillong. pp.189-198.
Olick, Jeffrey and Joyce Robbins. (1998). “Social Memory Studies: From ‘Collective Memory’ to the Historical Sociology of Mnemonic Practices.” Annual Review of Sociology 24:105–40.

References

Anderson, Benedict. (1983). (1991). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.

Barpujari, H.K. (1977). (Reprinted 1980). Assam in the days of the Company 1826-1858. Gauhati: LBS.

Basu Raychaudhury, Anasua. (2004). Nostalgia of ‘Desh’, Memories of Partition. Economic & Political Weekly. December 25-31, pp. 5653-5660.

Bose, Pradip Kumar. (1997). ‘Memory Begins Where History Ends’ in Ranabir Sammadar (Ed.). (1997). Reflections on the Partition of the East. New Delhi: Vikas Publications.p.85.

Butalia, U. (1998). ‘Muslims and Hindus, Men and Women: Communal stereotypes and the Partition of India’ in T. Sarkar and U. Butalia. (Ed.). (1998). Women and the Hindu Right: A Collection of Essays. New Delhi: Kali for Women.

Carey, B.S., & H. N. Tuck. (1896). (Reprinted 1976). The Chin Hills- A History of the people, our dealings with them, their customs & manners, & a Gazetteer of their country. Vol. I&II. Calcutta: Firma KLM Private Ltd on behalf of Tribal Research Institute, Aizawl, Mizoram.

Chakraborty, Anup Shekhar. (2008). ‘Manufacturing of Spaces: The ‘Others’ in Zo/Mizo Politics’ South Asian Journal of Socio-Political Studies (SAJOSPS). Vol.9 No.1, July-December. ISSN 0972-4613.

Chakraborty, Anup Shekhar. (2009a). ‘Regulating Citizenship: Politics of ‘Check-In’ and ‘Check-Out’’ in Refugee Watch Online (A Co-Publication of Refugee Watch), 18 February.

Chakraborty, Anup Shekhar. (2009b). ‘Where are ‘Our women’? Locating Women through the History of Proselytization in Mizoram’. Dharma Deepkia- South Asian Journal of Missiological Research issue on Mission In Contexts Of Violence And Uncertainty. Issue 30, Vol.13 No. 2 July-December. ISSN 0972-5970.

Chakraborty, Dipesh. (1996). Remembered Villages: Representation of Hindu-Bengali Memories in the Aftermath of the Partition. Economic & Political Weekly. Vol.31, No.32 August 10, p.2143.

Chatterjee, Suhas. (1985). Mizoram Under the British Rule. Delhi: Mittal Publications.

Chatterjee, Suhas. (1990). Mizoram Encyclopaedia. Vol. I. Bombay: Jaico Publishing House.

Chatterji, N. (1978). The Lushais 1878-1889. Aizawl: Tribal Research Institute.

Chenoy, Anuradha M. (2005). ‘Women and Breakdown of the Public Sphere’, Chapter 15 in Bhargava, Rajeev., & Helmut Reifeld. (Ed.). (2005). Civil Society, Public Sphere & Citizenship: Dialogues & Perceptions. New Delhi: Sage Publications/Konrad Adenauer Stifting.

Dev, S. Guru. (1996). Anatomy of Revolt: In the North East India. New Delhi: Lancer Books.

Fine, Gary Alan. (2001). Difficult Reputations: Collective Memories of the Evil, Inept, and Controversial. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Fine, Gary Alan. (2005). ‘Collective Memory’ in George Ritzer (Ed.). (2005). Encyclopedia Of Social Theory. Vol. I. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. pp. 116-117

Gardner, Katy., & Filippo Osella. (NA). ‘Migration, Modernity and Social Transformation in South Asia: An Introduction’, Chapter 1, pxi-x/viii in Filippo Osella & Katy Gardner. (Ed.). (NA). Migration, Modernity and Social Transformation in South Asia. (Contributions to Indian Sociology Occasional Studies 11). New Delhi: Sage Publications.

Goswami, B.B. (1978). “Out-group from the point of view of In-group: A Study of Mizos”, in S.M. Dubey. (1978). North East India: A Sociological Study. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. pp. 99-110.

Government of Mizoram. Statistical Handbook(s) of Mizoram. 1994; 1998; 2002; 2006; 2008. Aizawl: Directorate of Economics & Statistics.

Guha, Amalendu. (1977).(1988). Planter Raj to Swaraj: Freedom Struggle and Electoral Politics in Assam 1826-1947. New Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research.

Gupta, Jayanta. (2010). ‘’66 blitz a lesson on use of IAF’. Times of India. Kolkata: 09 April.

Halbwachs, Maurice. (1925) (1992). On Collective Memory. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Hluna, J.V. (2010). ‘Zoram Ni’. Zoram Today. Aizawl: 08 March.

Hobsbawm, E. and T. Ranger. (1983). The Invention of Tradition. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Khiangte, Laltluangliana (Ed.).(2002). Mizo Songs and Folktales (Indian Literature in Tribal Languages). New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. pp.62-65.

Lalchungnunga. (1994). Mizoram: Politics of Regionalism and national Integration. New Delhi, India: Reliance Publishing House

Lalrimawia. (1995). Mizoram: History and Cultural Identity. Guwahati: Spectrum Publicatons.

Lalthangliana, B. (1975) History of Mizo in Burma. Arts and Science University: Mandalay.

Lama, J.B. (2007). ‘The inside and out of Mizoram’s ethnic skirmishes’. Kolkata: The Statesman. 30, July.

Lewin, T. H. (1912). (Reprinted 1977). A Fly On the Wheel. Calcutta: Firma KLM on behalf of Aizawl: Tribal Research Institute, Aizawl.

Lowenthal, David. (1985). The Past Is a Foreign Country. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Mackenzie, A. (1979) (Reprint 1981). The North-East Frontier of India. New Delhi: Mittal Publications.

Mackenzie, A. (1884). History of the Relations of the Government with Hill Tribes of the North-East Frontier of Bengal. Calcutta: (NA).

Malkki L. (1992). National geographic: the rooting of peoples and the territorialization of national identity among scholars and refugees. Cultural Anthropology. 7(1):24-44

Malkki, L. (1990). Context and consciousness: local conditions for the production of historical and national thought among Hutu Refugees in Tanzania. pp. 32-63

McCall, A.G. (1939). (1980). The Lushai Hills: District Cover. Aizawl: Tribal Research Institute.

McCall, A.G. (1949).(2003). Lushai Chrysalis. Aizawl: Tribal Research Institute.

Mukherjee, S.K. (1998). ‘Jewish Movement in the Hills of Manipur and Mizoram’ in M.N. Karna (Ed). (1998). Social Movements in the North- East India. New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company/NEICSSR, Shillong. pp.189-198.

Olick, Jeffrey and Joyce Robbins. (1998). “Social Memory Studies: From ‘Collective Memory’ to the Historical Sociology of Mnemonic Practices.” Annual Review of Sociology 24:105–40.