Of unpersons and persons
By: Palat, Madhavan K
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Material type: 
BookPublisher: Seminar Description: 743, Jul, 2021: p.76-80.Subject(s): Stalin
In:
SeminarSummary: Stalin was not being original when he chose to make an unperson of Trotsky. It has been common practice since the most ancient times. Victors have attempted to erase the memory of an opponent if the contest has been a zero-sum game culminating in total victory rather than compromise. It seemed possible to do so in the days when record keeping was not reliable or lasting in the manner it has become in modern times. If eradicating all traces of the enemy was not practical, the next best was, and still is, to disfigure their memory and image to the point of denying it any hope of a resurrection, as with Durga plunging the trident into Mahisha’s decapitated torso or St George spearing the squirming dragon. Along with such enduring works of art, the record of any event in the past is eternally disputed as inadequate, distorted, or shamelessly mendacious, and not all the research we do seems to settle a single question. – Reproduced
| Item type | Current location | Call number | Vol info | Status | Date due | Barcode |
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Articles
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Indian Institute of Public Administration | 743, Jul, 2021: p.76-80 | Available | AR125978 |
Stalin was not being original when he chose to make an unperson of Trotsky. It has been common practice since the most ancient times. Victors have attempted to erase the memory of an opponent if the contest has been a zero-sum game culminating in total victory rather than compromise. It seemed possible to do so in the days when record keeping was not reliable or lasting in the manner it has become in modern times. If eradicating all traces of the enemy was not practical, the next best was, and still is, to disfigure their memory and image to the point of denying it any hope of a resurrection, as with Durga plunging the trident into Mahisha’s decapitated torso or St George spearing the squirming dragon. Along with such enduring works of art, the record of any event in the past is eternally disputed as inadequate, distorted, or shamelessly mendacious, and not all the research we do seems to settle a single question. – Reproduced
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