GOA IS A REGION WHICH COULD BE A USEFUL CASE-STUDY Academics talk about him with awe; after all he has built up a solid reputation in the field of Indo-Portuguese history. Michael N. Pearson, who has been researching the Indian Ocean and India's colonial experience from Australia, is the author of *The Portuguese in India* and other books. In reviewing one book, the New Delhi-based newspaper 'The Hindustan Times' said: "One wishes that all religions of the east had such sympathetic farangis."
Born in New Zealand in 1941, he has a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, USA, and between 1970-75 taught at the University of Pennsylvania. >From 1975-2001 he was at the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, Australia. After a recent visit to Goa, FREDERICK NORONHA interviewed the prominent historian: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- How would you describe your latest mission to Goa? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This was a quite short visit unfortunately, only a bit over a week. And it included Christmas and New Year, which you Goans take seriously! But it was great to spend time again at the Xavier Centre, and to meet old and new friends.... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Could you give us a brief on the team, and what work you'll did? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The team consists of myself, Professor Stephen Muecke and Dr. Devleena Ghosh. We have a research grant for five years to undertake a cultural study of the Indian Ocean world. Stephen and Devleena are both at the University of Technology, Sydney. I retired from the University of New South Wales in mid 2001, and am now an Adjunct Professor at UTS, as well as being Professor Emeritus at UNSW. Our visit last December was really a reconnaissance, trying to identify who could be useful, and what lines of research we should undertake. We did some very useful interviews in Goa, and also in Mumbai, and some of us at least hope to be back in India again this year. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- What do you'll hope to achieve, by what time-frame? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- We hope to build on existing studies of the Indian Ocean, including my own book called 'The Indian Ocean', published by Routledge in London in 2003. We see these as foundational, providing a useful framework and chronology. Now we plan to take a more Cultural Studies approach to the lives of people living on and near the ocean. Our grant has another four years to go. During this time we will certainly be publishing articles and book chapters, and probably an edited collection. We also hope to collaborate with scholars in India and other Indian Ocean countries, and to run a major conference in about three years time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For those of our readers who know you as a historian, could you sketch your trajectory since retirment? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I retired in mid-2001, and then completed my book on The Indian Ocean. I've also been to major conferences in Delhi, Florence and Washington DC. Given my past work, and my involvement in the Indian Ocean Project, I will be doing more research and writing on this over the next few years. I hope to be able to visit more areas around the Indian Ocean coast, and especially some of the islands. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- What are the active history projects you're now involved with, specially in fields that are anyway related to Goa? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Besides the above, I am tempted to use Goa as a case study when we write about general trends, just because it is an area I have been visiting since 1968, an area I know well and where I have many useful friends and contacts. For example, if we were writing about environmental problems, or the impact of tourism, or the decline of traditional fisherfolk, or changing patterns of employment at sea, Goa would in each case make an appropriate focus for a detailed study. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Your work in Indo-Portuguese history is seen as having widespread relevance to societies like ours. Do you think Goa and India adequately took note of your work? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I like to think so. My first book, *Merchants and Rulers in Gujarat*, had an Indian edition, as did my survey of *The Portuguese in India*. The second book especially is I think quite well known in India and in Goa. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- As a historian who broke major ground in early Indo-Portuguese historiography in the post-colonial era, what do you see as your major contribution related to Goa or the Estado da India? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Our mutual friend Teotonio de Souza once very kindly said that my work "will stand out as the best effort on the part of a non-Indian historian to do justice to the Indian component of Indo-Portuguese history." Certainly this is what I have wanted to achieve when I write about the Portuguese in India; to locate them in the Indian context in which they operated and by which they were constrained. This is a deliberate attempt to counter the triumphalism, and even racism, of much Portuguese writing on their empire. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- How would you like to be remembered as younger historians in the field of Indo-Portuguese history? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- As one who produced some useful work, but which of course is always ready to be improved and corrected. FOOTNOTE: Dr Pearson can be emailed at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa, India f r e d @ b y t e s f o r a l l . o r g Ph 832.2409490 / 832.2409783 Cell 9822 122436 Phone calls: preferably from 1300 to 0500 (IST) Try landlines is mobile is temporarily unavailable JUST OUT: Goa photos http://www.goa-world.com/fotofolio --------------------------------------------------------- ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
