Pamięć i niepamięć. Pamięć historyczna a indyjskie narracje autobiograficzne

The article investigates the relations between historical and autobiographical narratives in India with special attention to the Hindi language. In the early stage of autobiographical studies some Western researchers of the subject, like Gusdorf and Lejeune, emphasized the absence of the autobiography in the Orient. This approach was criticised as ethnocentric by post-colonial, subaltern and feminist scholars thus fostering a new theoretical perspective that led to a re-definition of autobiography, which was from then on perceived not exclusively as a written literary narrative but any narrative of life expressed through a variety of mediums (fine arts, performing arts, music, cinema etc.). In this paper the use of autobiographical narratives as a source for research on historical memory is discussed with focus on certain specific limitations of biographical writings. The autobiography is also explored as an expression of choice for the socially marginalised, in particular the dalits and women.