Ringvorlesung "What can Postcolonial Studies do?": Vortrag "(Self-imposed?) Epistemic Injustice and the Making of a Disciplinary Subject"

In this talk, a North American classics professor born to Indian immigrant parents wrangles with the cultural insecurity that drew her toward the Western canon. Miranda Fricker’s concept of “epistemic injustice” proves a useful lens on classical philology’s devaluation of some archival voices as sources rather than knowers. Do we postcolonial subjects, as scholars, further enact “hermeneutical injustice” upon ourselves and our ancestors? Do postcolonial attempts at hermeneutic equality ultimately re-traumatize and objectify the victims of colonialism? This talk interweaves examples from ancient Rome and the modern Indian diaspora to raise questions that concern us all.

Guest lecturer Nandini Pandey is an Associate Professor of Classics at Johns Hopkins University working on race and diversity in ancient Rome as it pertains to modernity. Aside from her academic interests in Latin literature, political and intellectual history, and their global receptions, she advocates for a more socially relevant, inclusive study of antiquity