When I call Audrey Truschke—the American historian whose book Aurangzeb: The Life and Legacy of India’s Most Controversial King, has been at the receiving end of controversy since it was first published in 2017—on the morning of Independence Day, there’s not a hint of strain in her voice. I’d anticipated some, considering the ‘whirlwind’ two weeks she had just spent in India—touring three cities, seven public events, “and one regret (Hyderabad)”, according to her tweet a few hours before she left for Europe. “Happy Independence Day!” she chirped, instead.Truschke’s short biography on Aurangzeb blew up in the faces of right-wing extremists last year because of its scholarly, albeit humanising, account of the Mughal emperor and his importance in 17th century politics. The book has been aimed, from the beginning, as a ‘rebuttal’ of the conventional narrative around the 16th century figure as a religious bigot, and has since been the soft target for many a troll, which, Truschke has observed, is not limited to just the Hindu right right now. During her India tour, her lecture in Hyderabad was cancelled following letters of protests to the state police.A Truschke ignoramus only needs to go to her Twitter handle, which has, over the last one year, transformed into a battleground over Indian history and historiography, and Hindu myths. In April this year, her tweet about Sita admonishing Rama for being, among other things, a “misogynist pig” in Valmiki’s Ramayana, was met with immense outrage.Just before leaving India, Truschke indulged VICE with a glimpse into how she developed a thick skin against online trolls, why dissent is essential, and, most significantly, why social media matters despite it all.VICE: How did your relationship with social media begin?
Audrey Truschke: I originally cultivated a professional presence on social media several years back to further my career. Initially the response was tepid. Most academic work is of interest to other scholars, and only a small sliver of the academy at that. I later found Twitter and Facebook to be helpful platforms for me, based in the United States, to reach an audience in India. I also think that, generally, social media is important in 2018. The information available on social media platforms shapes public opinion and spurs actions in the real world. I agree with criticisms of social media, such as that Twitter is limiting and forces us to trim down our scholarly ideas to bite-sized pieces. Nonetheless, I think that scholars ignore the power of social media at our peril. In the Indian context, we cannot afford to completely cede this crucial territory to those who promote mythologies about the past above history.How do you see social media as a space for dissent?
I think social media is, in some ways, a good space for dissent, but it cannot replace dissent in the public sphere made by things like protests and personal, physical appearances. I will give you an example: I was disinvited from giving a lecture in Hyderabad, originally scheduled on August 11, 2018, and it was suggested by some of my followers on social media that I do a Facebook Live instead. That is not an acceptable alternative. Online dissent cannot replace the presence of diverse voices on the ground in India.Social media thrives on real-time events, where temporary histories are created; they come and go overnight. How do you deal with the transient nature of these spaces? Or rather, how do you see your way through the din?
I often try to harness an ephemeral interest in current events and use that to direct people to historical questions and historical events. Sometimes it works.How do you see the problem of fake news?
I sometimes remind my students that “fake news” is a polite way of saying lies. We should call out lies and falsehoods for what they are. We should also arm people with critical thinking tools that they can use to sort fact from fiction. In fact, fake news is not new. It is present in historical sources too. Historical sources from Mughal rule, for instance, sometimes misrepresent facts and even outright lie. We use historical methods and critically reading skills to tackle these issues. There is an overlap between the tools historians use to make sense of the past and the ones people can use to sort through the morass of conflicting, often politically-motivated claims in the present.You’ve often addressed criticism on social media, especially around “sensitive” Indian histories, with supreme nonchalance.
I do not expect everyone to agree with me. After all, scholars disagree amongst ourselves all the time, and those disagreements are often quite productive. But scholars agree on a set of tools and methods for reconstructing history and analysing texts and past events. We then come up with theories and arguments about the past, which are always subject to rethinking and questioning.Trolls do something else entirely. They start with an unquestionable belief in what they wish had happened in the past and then set out to cherry-pick evidence and use any argument, no matter how specious, to justify their views. This is a mismatch of methods and goals. I try to convince the middle-ground of the value and richness of scholarly approaches to the past.Lastly, would ever attempt a historical narrative that extends to, say, fiction, or—keeping with your engagement with social media—a podcast or a TV series. What would be your choice of alternative methods to disperse your research and scholarly findings?
That’s an excellent question. I do listen to podcasts on history. For instance, I use bits of Sunil Khilnani’s Incarnations: India in 50 Lives, produced for the BBC, in my teaching. I think I should consider doing more with alternative methods of communicating about Indian history. I will say—If Karan Johar would like me to consult on his upcoming film Takht [reportedly based on the struggle between Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb for the throne in Delhi], I could be persuaded.Follow Pallavi Pundir on Twitter.
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Audrey Truschke: I originally cultivated a professional presence on social media several years back to further my career. Initially the response was tepid. Most academic work is of interest to other scholars, and only a small sliver of the academy at that. I later found Twitter and Facebook to be helpful platforms for me, based in the United States, to reach an audience in India. I also think that, generally, social media is important in 2018. The information available on social media platforms shapes public opinion and spurs actions in the real world. I agree with criticisms of social media, such as that Twitter is limiting and forces us to trim down our scholarly ideas to bite-sized pieces. Nonetheless, I think that scholars ignore the power of social media at our peril. In the Indian context, we cannot afford to completely cede this crucial territory to those who promote mythologies about the past above history.
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I think social media is, in some ways, a good space for dissent, but it cannot replace dissent in the public sphere made by things like protests and personal, physical appearances. I will give you an example: I was disinvited from giving a lecture in Hyderabad, originally scheduled on August 11, 2018, and it was suggested by some of my followers on social media that I do a Facebook Live instead. That is not an acceptable alternative. Online dissent cannot replace the presence of diverse voices on the ground in India.Social media thrives on real-time events, where temporary histories are created; they come and go overnight. How do you deal with the transient nature of these spaces? Or rather, how do you see your way through the din?
I often try to harness an ephemeral interest in current events and use that to direct people to historical questions and historical events. Sometimes it works.How do you see the problem of fake news?
I sometimes remind my students that “fake news” is a polite way of saying lies. We should call out lies and falsehoods for what they are. We should also arm people with critical thinking tools that they can use to sort fact from fiction. In fact, fake news is not new. It is present in historical sources too. Historical sources from Mughal rule, for instance, sometimes misrepresent facts and even outright lie. We use historical methods and critically reading skills to tackle these issues. There is an overlap between the tools historians use to make sense of the past and the ones people can use to sort through the morass of conflicting, often politically-motivated claims in the present.You’ve often addressed criticism on social media, especially around “sensitive” Indian histories, with supreme nonchalance.
I do not expect everyone to agree with me. After all, scholars disagree amongst ourselves all the time, and those disagreements are often quite productive. But scholars agree on a set of tools and methods for reconstructing history and analysing texts and past events. We then come up with theories and arguments about the past, which are always subject to rethinking and questioning.Trolls do something else entirely. They start with an unquestionable belief in what they wish had happened in the past and then set out to cherry-pick evidence and use any argument, no matter how specious, to justify their views. This is a mismatch of methods and goals. I try to convince the middle-ground of the value and richness of scholarly approaches to the past.Lastly, would ever attempt a historical narrative that extends to, say, fiction, or—keeping with your engagement with social media—a podcast or a TV series. What would be your choice of alternative methods to disperse your research and scholarly findings?
That’s an excellent question. I do listen to podcasts on history. For instance, I use bits of Sunil Khilnani’s Incarnations: India in 50 Lives, produced for the BBC, in my teaching. I think I should consider doing more with alternative methods of communicating about Indian history. I will say—If Karan Johar would like me to consult on his upcoming film Takht [reportedly based on the struggle between Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb for the throne in Delhi], I could be persuaded.Follow Pallavi Pundir on Twitter.