69 pages 2 hours read

Amitav Ghosh

In an Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tale

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1992

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Essay Topics

1.

How does Ghosh intertwine his personal narratives with historical events in In an Antique Land? How do the dual narratives reflect and differ from each other? How do they work in tandem to illuminate the text’s key themes and ideas?

2.

Examine the role of memory and forgetting in the book. How do the forgotten histories of people like Bomma challenge the way we think about historical narratives and their preservation?

3.

Ghosh reflects on his position as an anthropologist researching Egyptian society. How does In an Antique Land critique the traditional role of the anthropologist and historian? What sort of alternative does Ghosh present?