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SUMMARY:Philology\, mythology and geology in colonial India - Joydeep Sen 
 (University of Kent)
DTSTART:20140210T130000Z
DTEND:20140210T141500Z
UID:TALK49823@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Natalie Lawrence
DESCRIPTION:I am currently working with Dr Pratik Chakrabarti on a project
  entitled 'An Antique Land: Geology\, Philology and the Making of the Indi
 an Subcontinent\, 1830-1920'. The aim is to consider the relationship betw
 een science\, culture and antiquity in India\, through focusing on how geo
 logy contributed to the development of new theories regarding Indian and w
 orld heritage. This paper relates to the initial part of the research\, el
 ucidating how 18th- and 19th-century philological studies of ancient mytho
 logy established critical methodological and interpretive frameworks for s
 tratigraphy and palaeontology in colonial India. The interaction of philol
 ogy and geology through the careers of Francis Wilford\, H.T. Colebrooke a
 nd Hugh Falconer\, the last of these associated with the famous discovery 
 of the Siwalik fossils in the 1830s\, created further important synergies 
 between concepts of sacred and secular geography\, and pre-history and his
 tory\, serving as the basis for notions of India as a cradle of human civi
 lisation. While these scholarly interventions were significant in their ow
 n time\, they also enable us to reflect on some of the practices of modern
  historical and scientific scholarship: how useful\, for example\, is 'geo
 mythology'?
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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