History as a site of contestation in 'The Red Year' and 'Mangal Pandey'

Abstract

This thesis explores an issue that historiography is a site of contestation based on the discussion of ‘The Red Year’ and ‘Mangal Pandey’, documentary and movie respectively. Both of these texts are about the same historical event, the Bengal Mutiny. The first one is produced by an English director, whereas the other one is a production of Indian cinema producers.Borrowing critical concepts from new historicists mainly Michael Foucault and Hayden White, this research explores how the first text still uses the partly colonial attitude towards the historical event that the Great Britain as colonizer was responsible for the event. On the other hand, the second text regards the historical event as the rise of Indian independence.The researcher has found that reading the history of the Bengal Mutiny is a contradictory subject as there are multiple perspectives to evaluate the particular event of history. One can find multiple narratives of the historical situation. Observing from a certain ideological point of view one can derive a certain meanings, while observing through other lenses meanings can be the other way round.Thus, the main purpose of this research is to show how the event of Bengal Mutiny cangive multiple meanings, looking through political, cultural, social, religious as well as historical point of view in connection to Indian Patriotism on the one hand and the event observed through the eyes of European norms and values such as in Tracy’s, ‘The Red Year’, embedded with colonial perspective on the other.