Music, Art, Science and the Decolonisation of History. Roundtable on Sanjay Seth’s Beyond Reason: Postcolonial Theory and the Social Sciences (2021)

Abstract

To disseminate the stimulating discussion that took place in May 2023 as part of the Immaterial Festival in Évora, Práticas da História presents the debate from the conference "Music, Art, Science and the Decolonization of History". The session was moderated by Luís Trindade (University of Coimbra) and featured a lecture by historian Sanjay Seth (Goldsmiths College, University of London). Following the lecture, interventions were made by musicologist João Pedro Cachopo (researcher at CESEM / NOVA FCSH – IN2PAST) and art historian Mariana Pinto dos Santos (researcher at IHA / NOVA FCSH – IN2PAST).

The public will find a series of reflections that Seth, prompted by Luís Trindade (IHC – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST), shared based on his book Beyond Reason: Postcolonial Theory and the Social Sciences. His discussion focused on the codes of History and how the discipline can learn from art and music, and vice versa.

In his lecture, Seth highlights the various ways of understanding what can be investigated in each respective area, with Cachopo and Santos engaging in dialogue during their interventions. These discussions revolve around conceptions of the past that establish parameters for evaluating time, what is alive or not, and what is part of the present or has potentially ceased to exist.