Rescuing history from the nation : questioning narratives of modern China

287 Pages·1997·5.73 MB·English

by  Prasenjit Duara

RESCUING
HISTORY
FROM THE
NATION

RES(UIN~
HISTO RY
FROM THE
NATION
QUESTIONING NARRATIVES
OF MODERN CHINA
PRASENJIT DUARA
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
CHICAGO AND LONDON
THE University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 1995 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 1995
Printed in the United States of America
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 4 5 6 7 8
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-16722-0 (paper)
ISBN-10: 0-226-16722-4 (paper)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Duara, Prasenjit.
Rescuing history from the nation: Questioning narratives of
modern China / Prasenjit Duara.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. China—Historiography. 2. China—History—20th century.
3. Civilization, Oriental. I. Title.
DS734.7.D83 1995
951(cid:2).072—dc20 95-3205
CIP
øThe paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials,ANSI Z39.48-1992.
To my parents,
Ira Duara and Punya Prasad Duara

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
PART ONE
Introduction 3
1 Linear History and the Nation-state 17
2 Bifurcating Linear Histories in China and India 51
PARTTWO
3 The Campaigns against Religion and the Return of the
Repressed 85
4 Secret Brotherhood and Revolutionary Discourse in China's
Republican Revolution 115
5 The Genealogy ofFengjian or Feudalism: Narratives of Civil
Society and State 147
6 Provincial Narratives of the Nation: Federalism and
Centralism in Modern China 177
viii • CONTENTS
7 Critics of Modernity in India and China 205
Conclusion 229
References 237
Index 259
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THE OFFERING of gratitude for this book has forced me to reflect
upon the impossiblebutnecessary task ofidentifying the moment of
its conception. Ifeel deeply uneasy having to exclude mention of all
of those who helped me early on and indirectly and who are now
shrouded in the "prehistory" of this project-a phase I regard, be
fitting the theme of this book, as equally important as its history.
ButitiswithpleasureandgratitudethatIrecalltheyear1989-1990
spent at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC, perhaps
the first host of this project in recognizable form. Gratitude for the
wonderful research supportand access, for the kindness and friend
ship of Mary Bullock, the Asian Program Director, and the pleasure
of a reading circle made marvelous by historians from allover the
world, especially Jnaina Amado, Mercedes Villanova, David Ransel,
and Philip Scranton. The move to the Chicago faculty the next year
brought new meaning to the phrase "intellectual stimulation." Itbe
came, forgoodorfor worse, akind ofpermanentstate ofaffairs, and
thebooktookshapeinexchangeswithmycolleagues(manyofwhom
arecitedthroughout), inthelivelyworkshopsoftheCenterforTrans
cultural Studies (then known as the Center for Psychosocial Studies)
run by Benjamin Lee, and, perhaps most of all, in unending discus
sions with the graduate students. The extraordinary intellectual en
ergyofthesestudentsofChinafrom thevarious disciplines, whether
inclass, intheoffice, oratjimmy's, has, for me, beenbothintellectu
allyformative andpracticallyhelpful-astheyoftenbroughtrelevant
sources and information to my notice. I would particularly like to
thank my assistants, Lee Chiu-chin and Juliette Chung.