Analyze the role of memoirs and oral narratives in constructing the history of the partition of India.
Oral narratives, memoirs, diaries, family histories, first-hand written accounts all these help us understand the trials and tribulations of ordinary people during the partition of the country. These people viewed Partition in terms of the suffering and the challenges of the times. For them, it was not a mere constitutional division or just the party politics, it meant an unexpected change in life between 1946-50 and beyond. It even required psychological, emotional, and social adjustments. Memories and experiences shape the reality of an event. One of the strengths of personal reminiscence is that it helps us grasp experiences and memories in detail. It enables historians to write richly textured, vivid accounts of what happened to people during an event such as Partition. It is impossible to extract such information from government documents. Oral history also allows historians to broaden the boundaries of their discipline by rescuing from oblivion the lived experiences of the poor and the powerless.
