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On Singularity and the Event: Further Refections on the Ordinary
Veena Das
Caroline Humphrey opens her majestic !!" essay on #Reassem$ling
%ndividual Su$jects& 'reproduced in the present volume( su$se)uent
re*erences as R%S+ $y the classic statement: #Certain ,inds o*
anthropological e-perience seem to re)uire the conceptuali.ation o*
singular analytical su$jects: individual actors /ho are constituted as
su$jects in particular circumstances0 'p0123+& She goes on to
characteri.e these circumstances as *ollo/s 4 #the advent o* ne/
regimes( convulsions /rought $y /ar( schisms o* *ormer social /holes(
and( in general( the overturning o* accepted patterns o* intelligi$ility
and the advent o* radical ne/ ideas0 'p0 123+& 5hese are the ,ind o*
events that % characteri.ed as #critical events& 'Das 6772+ 4
Humphrey8s *ormulations o* /hy such events lead us to singular
analytical su$jects is deeply thought*ul and inspiring0 9s a seminal
contri$ution to the shaping o* these de$ates and( indeed to /hat
Foucault calls e)uipment in the sense o* veridical regimes o*
anthropology 'Ra$ino/ !!7+( Humphrey8s /or, challenges us to thin,
o* the relation $et/een su$jectivation and eventali.ation( at $oth
conceptual and empirical levels0 5he most impressive achievement
here is the manner in /hich Humphrey *ormulates the pu..les that
arise in her ethnography in the course o* her long term engagement
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/ith the ethnography o* %nner ongolia0 % admire the succinct
discussion $ut there is also a thin line o* di;erence in Humphrey8s
reading o* the issue o* singularity( event( and the ordinary( and my
understanding o* these concepts that /eaves itsel* in and out o* our
agreements0 9s the eld locations lead to
di;erent con>gurations o* these concepts0
Humphrey ta,es the French philosopher 9lan
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others $ut also $y onesel*0 9s /e shall see later( the ordinary does not
simply disappear *rom these events as evident in the /ay certain
concepts such as the ,armic conse)uences o* vo/s ta,en $y ancestors
or
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undi;erentiated collectivity such as #a$ducted /omen& or #victims& or
#survivors& Humphrey is care*ul to note that the historical actions she
is tal,ing a$out are not a$out great men versus collective su$altern
su$jects( $ut a$out ho/ 'in my /ords+ might one $e incited or invited
to $ecome a su$ject0 % /ant to as, in response( in /hat manner might
one thin, o* su$jects as singular $ut not sovereign 'though the issue o*
non4sovereign agency does not >gure as an analytical issue in R%S+ or
o* agency and patiency as t/o poles around /hich eventali.ation and
su$jectivation might $e made to turn % /ill o;er some o* my
ethnography *rom the /or, % have done among the ur$an poor in Delhi
to as, ho/ /e might thin, o* the everyday through the opposite
movements o* ascent and descent Could one say that Humphrey
/ants to privilege the *ormer and % am more attracted to the latter
5hese movements o* ascent and descent are not the same as the ideas
o* transcendence and immanence 4 /e can ta,e the *ormer t/o
concepts as possi$ilities o* the everyday rather than thin, o* descent
as immersion and ascent as escape *rom the everyday( % /ant to as, i*
a distinctive anthropological understanding o* the ordinary might $e
generated through such an analysis y o/n refections in this matter
have $een productively challenged $y the continuous attention to the
event and its relation to su$jectivation that Humphrey and others have
dra/n attention to = so /hat % have to say here is a *urther step in my
thin,ing o* the ordinary0
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For starters( let us consider Humphrey8s *ormulation o* the relation
$et/een the everyday and the event and the theoretical sta,es o*
anthropology in this relation0 Humphrey /rites, 9nthropology has
mostly privileged the everyday and the repeated rather than ruptures0
9nd although there is a vast literature on the person and the sel*( it has
only rarely attempted to theori.e the su$ject in situations o* innovation
or improvisation0 'R%S( p0 1?3+(
9lthough Humphrey ta,es the privileging o* the everyday in
anthropology *or granted( this notion /ould only hold i* routines(
ha$its( and traditional maps o* social action /ere seen to $e
unpro$lematic and the everyday /as invested /ith the )uality o* a
#ta,en4*or granted& given entity0 %n such a rendering( the everyday is
opposed to innovations( improvisations and ruptures0 y o/n vie/ o*
the matter( ho/ever( is that anthropology has rather too hurriedly
e)uated the everyday /ith routine and unthin,ing repetition = these
are indeed characteristic o* the everyday $ut much depends on ho/
/e thin, o* these categories( *or neither is routine( a matter o*
mechanical action( nor repetition( the matter o* return to sameness
'Das !6+0 9 di;erent theoretical tradition o* the everyday 'e0g Freud(
Cavell( 9ustin( Aittgenstein+ /ould see the everyday as haunted $y the
possi$ilities o* s,epticism( a scene o* trance and illusion( and( o* the
uncanny or it /ould point to the *ragility o* human action as evidenced
in 9ustin8s discussion o* e-cuses and in*elicities 'Das !6B+0 % have
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tried to capture this idea o* the everyday /hen % say that under many
conditions( maintaining the everyday $ecomes an achievement 'Das
!!3+0 Ahile some might readily concede this point in the conte-t o*
poverty( vulnera$ility and violence( its implications *or our
understanding o* ha$it and disposition as concepts is rarely spelt out0
Ahile the idea o* ha$it as sedimentation o* previous e-perience is /ell
integrated into anthropological theory 4 *ollo/ing especially
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Cavell( the #eventual everyday0& Simultaneously % am interested in
e-ploring the threats to the su$ject through the >gure o* the spectral
/hen it 'the su$ject+ $ecomes a shado/ o* the real or ghost4li,e0
Interrogating theEvent
%n this section % propose to analy.e the particular event a$out
revolution and counter4revolution that produces the theoretical
refections on singular analytic su$jects in Humphrey8s paper and her
analysis o* the un*olding o* the event as a series o* #decisions0& % /ill
then contrast this mode o* reasoning on the relation $et/een the event
and the everyday /ith another mode o* reasoning dra/n *rom my o/n
ethnographic e-perience and as, ho/ the sources /e have access to
a;ect the /ay /e thin, o* the everyday and the event0
5he historical e-ample Humphrey analy.es is ta,en *rom the rad Aest
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propagate revolutionary ideas a$out e)uality and *reedom( contesting
the *eudal hierarchies and entrenched customs0
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attracted the lamas to a ne/ vision o* society Ae /ill leave aside *or
the moment the )uestion o* /hat other *orms o* politics 'e0g0 a$out
ongolian nationalism+ /ere $raided into this moment *or i* the
allegiance to these revolutionary ideas /as as compelling as Humphrey
contends( it is diJcult to see ho/ the revolution could have $een
$etrayed so soon a*ter0 %nstead( let us see /here Humphrey8s
discom*ort /ith
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$ecome so0 5o this end( % ma,e a preliminary proposalL that
individuality as an acta$le4on capacity /hich may $e attained through
decision the Kplumping *or8 a speci>c /ay o* $eing a person( i* only
temporarily( and $y prioritizing the ,eeping at hand o* divergent
multiplicities in an emotionally cogent( internally shuMe4a$le array o*
possi$ilities0 'R%S( p0 1?1+0&
9t one level then Humphrey is content to thin, o* the revolutionary
episode as a
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%t is here that an interesting contradiction reveals itsel*( *or( in o;ering
her ethnographic insights *rom the realm o* divination in /hich to
plump *or a realm o* action is not $ased on reasoning $ut on the *aith
one might put on chance( Humphrey ends up o;ering a *ar more *atal
criticism o* cation o* it0 %n *act Humphrey ac,no/ledges that
there are collective *orces that e-ceed the individual so that the reason
*or a decision might not $e *ound in the individual $ut in the interstices
o* events and individuals as mirrored singularities0 Here /e get to the
notion that the point o* singularity inde-es the *act that % am $oth an
actor and one /ho is acted upon = singularity might then $e thought o*
as the point at /hich multiplicities have $een temporarily recomposed
and resolved into a singularity = $ut *rom /hich ne/ possi$ilities might
emerge0 5his opens the /ay to loo, at everyday li*e as $oth the
ground o* one8s e-perience and that on /hich /or, must $e
per*ormed so that one8s *ull allegiance cannot $e assumed to one8s
culture as it is given0 %n other /ords % am suggesting that su$jectivation
might $e seen as the e;ort to $e a/a,ened to one8s e-istence $ut this
may re)uire a deeper d/elling in the everyday rather than an escape
*rom it0
%t is perhaps /orth spending a little more time on the picture o* the
everyday in the /or, o*
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delity to the event or
you remain in the situation and you are $ut #$ipeds /ithout *eathers(
mere acculturated ants0& '
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language that has $een used to perpetrate enormous violence against
the non$elieversNthose /ho did not $elieve in the miracle o* Christ or
those /ho did not $elieve in the miracle o* the communist revolution(
or even ends up justi*ying it on the grounds that such violence is
necessary *or the higher good0
% have o*4course no diJculty in accepting that /hat % called critical
events 'Das 6772+ cannot $e comprehended /ithin the availa$le
categories at the time o* their occurrence( $ut % am not sure /hy such
events cannot $e negative( as /ere many o* the events % e-amined in
my $oo, Critical Events0 %t is in this conte-t that % thin, gure o* >delity $ut also other
>gures every $it as innovative( al$eit negative( ta,e their place& '!!6:
vii+0
gure o* >delity narrate the event
retrospectively as one in /hich there /as a leap o* *aith /hereas( i* /e
/ere to distinguish $et/een the time o* the event and the time o*
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telling /e /ould >nd much greater hesitation and dou$t that mar,s the
time o* the event0 9 mode o* philosophi.ing that /as not so committed
to the Christian 'especially rotestant+ notion o* the auline moment as
the model *or action that opens up the space *or the ma,ing o* the
su$ject might $e much more receptive to the /ay that even dramatic
events have roots in the everyday0
The Everyday and Modes of ubjectivation
% move no/ to o;er some ethnographic e-amples to as, ho/ this
relation $et/een action and su$jectivation might $e investigated on
the terrain o* the everyday0 %n a recent attempt to see /hat it means to
generate philosophical concepts *rom /ithin ethnography rather than
ta,e concepts to arise *rom some rari>ed *orm o* thin,ing( % too, three
di;erent scenes o* the everyday that % called: ma,ing a /orld
inha$ita$le /hen /ords are li,e /ild horses and /ithdra/ing one8s
/ords *rom the /orld 'see Das !6B+0 u-taposing these three di;erent
scenes in /hich everyday li*e un*olds( my aim /as to capture the
character o* everyday li*e such that its routines and repetitions /ere
sho/n to contain lethal possi$ilities( as /ell as the potential to criti)ue
e-isting institutions and to ma,e one8s /orld inha$ita$le0 %
summari.ed this plethora o* possi$ilities as testimony to the dou$le
character o* the everyday as the site o* routines( ha$its( and
conventions as /ell as the scene o* disorders( dou$ts and despair0 %n
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Cavell8s rendering this dou$le register o* the everyday is e-pressed in
the /ay s,epticism shado/s the ordinary through the most ordinary
idioms o* ,inship and the domestic 4 he contends that the attempt to
reduce s,epticism to an intellectual pu..le constitutes nothing less
than a denial o* the threats contained in everyday li*e 'Cavell 6737(
67""+ 0 Second( $elonging does not mean that /e give allegiance to
our culture as it stands( $ut rather out o* the disappointments o*
everyday li*e arise the la$orious processes o* criti)ue and re*orm o*
everyday li*e0 Finally( % might state that to understand ho/ the
everyday a$sor$s the event is to pay close attention to the manner in
/hich people might engage the open credit o* survival = so that %
strongly contest the idea contained in
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that o* a horse( lies not in its *ragile $ody $ut in his stu$$orn
determination to remain /hat he is: something other than a
mortal $eing0 'ed slums&( #unrecogni.ed slums&( #unauthori.ed coloniesregulari.ed colonies& = each o* these residential categories carriesdi;erent legal guarantees and rights relating to housing( /ater(electricity and se/age removal0
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criminality0 Iet they also have a sense o* the rightness o* their actions(
/hich give them the voice to contest the notion that $y occupying land
illegally or $y getting electricity or /ater through irregular means they
have $ecome #thieves&0 %n a remar,a$le per*ormance in 9ustin8s
'67?+ sense( one o* the leaders( Sanjeev Gupta( /ho lived in a lo/4
income unauthori.ed colony( /as a$le to $ring a$out a shi*t o*
perspective in an oJcial o* the Electricity Company /ho had accused
him o* $elonging to a colony o* thieves0 %n a remar,a$le series o*
meetings Sanjeev Gupta contested the oJcial8s understanding and
declared = #Sir( /e /ill /ipe out this stigma *rom our colony0& 5he
oJcial8s vision changed 4 he could no/ see /hat it /as to $e denied
elemental needs in the ur$an conte-t0 5hrough his interaction /ith
Gupta he /as a$le to conceptuali.e himsel* di;erently *rom an accuser
to an accused = it /as not that #they& /ere stealing electricity( it /as
that #/e = the company& /as not responding to their urgent pleas0
5hus( instead o* his earlier statement that in e;ect stated that the
company could not supply them electricity $ecause they /ere living
on land illegally occupied( and $ecause they /ere #a colony o* thieves&
he came to as, his superiors i* the ethics o* commercial action /ould
re)uire them to create the conditions o* possi$ility in /hich inha$itants
o* unauthori.ed colonies /ho live on occupied land might >nd it
possi$le to trans*orm themselves *rom #thieves& into #responsi$le
consumers0& 9s % sho/ed in my /riting on this issue( even a*ter
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recognition o* their ethical responsi$ilities da/ned on them( the paths
o* e-pression and action that this opened up /ere not simple as each
step in this conversion *rom thieves into responsi$le consumers
re)uired e;orts o* map ma,ing in the area( getting agreements *or
installation o* electricity meters( and literally hundreds o* interactions
/ith government oJcials to get the map o* the area approved 'Das
!6B0+ 5here /as no single decision moment $ut there /as a slo/ shi*t
in understanding o* /ho they /ere and an a/,/ard /a,ing together
$et/een di;erent constituents on the path to a slo/ overcoming o*
many o$stacles0
5he ,ind o* political su$jectivities that /ere produced in the area
through staging o* imaginary dialogues /ith >gures o* po/er as /ell as
through the processes o* engaging state oJcials /ere not o* the
revolutionary ,ind $ut through the /or, on the everyday( the
inha$itants o* these localities sho/ed the a$ility to move *rom seeing
themselves as clients o* po/er*ul patrons /hose votes could $e $ought
*or a $ottle o* alcohol or a *e/ rupees( to political actors0 Even though
their names /ill not $e *ound in the archival records e-cept as
#masses& or #the lumpen proletariat& or the #slum d/ellers& they
achieved something very important *or the li*e o* the neigh$orhood0
Iet( as % argued earlier 'Das !6B+( /ithin these local /orlds the person
himsel* or hersel* creates di;erent versions o* the sel* as he or she
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acts over di;erent terrains0 For instance Sanjeev Gupta could at some
time imagine himsel* telling o; the most po/er*ul politicians and at
another time he ended up see,ing protection through the very net/or,
o* political $osses he despised $ecause as he said /ryly( he had no
desire o* $ecoming a #hero&( re*erring to threats o* violence he had
received0 9s Giovanni da Col '!!3+ /rites o* the
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#decision event& to compose himsel* 'she uses the masculine pronoun
and % thin, /ith reason+ as a ne/ sel* in /hich earlier versions o* the
sel* are completely discarded0 #So /hat % /ould li,e to suggest is a
distinction $et/een the more or less ordinary circumstances in /hich
individual people ,eep a variety o* alternative positions in play( and a
particular moment 'the decision4event+ /hen they open themselves to
a radically di;erent composition o* the sel*( a s/itch that has a lasting
e;ect and involves the most signi>cant = $ut not all = /ays in /hich
that person conceives o* her or himsel*0 Such a jump implies( as %
mentioned earlier( a >ssure( a void( a space o* the un,no/n0 'R%S( p0
136+0&
Clearly *or Humphrey( the ma,ing o* the su$ject can happen only i* the
ordinary is someho/ overcome = as ction or an illusion( that the illusion is
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rather all these tremendous intellectual constructions that ma,e the
/ay /e thin, and live loo, li,e an illusion0 5his is /hat Aittgenstein
/as trying to ma,e room *or. 'as cited in nd several older
concepts such as those o* genealogical connections( ,armic pasts and
*utures( reincarnation( memories o* past $irths and *ul>llment o*
prophecies that re*rame the events o* Shira$8s li*e so that the actions
he too, are seen as not having arisen *rom ' or only *rom+ his o/n
intentions0 Humphrey sees these events as the rise o* #ne/ness&
$ecause though the concepts are old ( she says( they are applied to a
ne/ situation in an innovative /ay0 #Aith the idea o* reincarnation(
Shira$ /as no/ seen as a joint person = Do$don4Shira$ counted as one
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= and his act $ecame the justi>a$le and necessary response to the
,illing o* Do$don ?6 years $e*ore0 9lso( at least *or Shira$ himsel*( the
su$ject created $y the event( a ne/ time /as initiated( regulated $y
the logic o* retaliation and prophecy0 His Kmad8 state o* mind is no/
understanda$le as a state o* utmost dread( since just as he had $een
destined to ,ill Dagdan Da @ama( the lama8s ghost /ould surely ta,e
vengeance on him0 'R%S( p0 131+&
Humphrey leaves us here /ith a very interesting )uestion0 %* the
ma,ing o* the su$ject is so strongly tied to innovation and ma,ing o*
ne/ness( ho/ is one to distinguish $et/een projection o* /ords and
concepts to ne/ situations that is part o* the /ay in /hich /e live our
everyday lives and the rise o* ne/ness
What gives life to our !ords"
Ahat are the ordinary conditions under /hich /ords come to $e
applied to ne/ situations %nstead o* thin,ing o* the ordinary as
unremar,a$le( let us( instead( as,( /hat ma,es it possi$le *or di;erent
conte-ts to $e stitched together: ho/ does ne/ness arise % ta,e t/o
crucial passages *rom Aittgenstein that allo/ us to see these issues in
a di;erent light than that o* the simple opposition o* everyday li*e and
event0
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#So you are saying that human agreement decides /hat is true
and /hat is *alse& = %t is /hat human $eings saythat is true
and *alse and they agree in the language they use0 5his is not
agreement in opinions $ut in *orm o* li*e0 'Aittgenstein 6721(
paragraph B6+ L
Ahat determines our judgment( our concepts( and reactions( is
not /hat one man is doing no!( an individual action $ut the
/hole hurly $urly o* human actions( the $ac,ground against
/hich /e see any action0 'Aittgenstein 67?3( paragraph 2?3+0
5his idea o* a *orm o* li*e has a signi>cant impact on /hat /e might
call Aittgenstein8s picture o* culture $ecause it sees convention as not
something static( merely agreement in opinions( $ut as achieved in the
conte-t o* the hurly $urly o* human actions0 So /e are led to thin, o*
the comple-ity o* the ordinary through the *ragility o* human
agreements to /hich Aittgenstein points0 %n a justly *amous paragraph(
Cavell '67?7+ e-plains /hat it means to thin, o* this *ragility o* the
ordinary:
Ae learn and /e teach certain /ords in certain conte-ts( and
then /e are e-pected( and e-pect others( to $e a$le to project
them into *urther conte-ts0 othing insures that this projection
/ill ta,e place 'in particular( not the grasping o* universals nor
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the grasping o* $oo,s o* rules+( just as nothing insures that /e
/ill ma,e( and understand( the same projections.5hat on the
/hole /e do is a matter o* our sharing routes o* interest and
*eeling( modes o* response( senses o* humor and o*
signi>cance and o* *ul>llment( o* /hat is outrageous( o* /hat is
similar to /hat else( /hat a re$u,e( /hat *orgiveness( o* /hen
an utterance is an assertion( /hen an appeal( /hen an
e-planation = all the /hirl o* organism Aittgenstein calls #*orms
o* li*e&0 Human speech and activity( sanity and community( rest
upon nothing more( $ut nothing less( than this0 %t is a vision as
simple as it is diJcult( and as diJcult as it is 'and $ecause it is+
terri*ying0&0 ' p02+
5he agreement that Cavell then points to sho/s that language and the
/orld are not e-ternal to each other $ut have an internal relation0 5hus
the issue is not /hether /e understand the meaning o* /ords $ut i* /e
understand each othera$out /hen an utterance is a re$u,e or an
assertion or a jo,e0 5his agreement does not arise *rom the *act that
/e share the meanings o* the /ords /e use or have the same opinion
a$out it $ut $ecause in learning a language /e learn a *orm o* li*e0 %t is
this mutual implication o* language and li*e that inducts us into the
unstated criteria that /e can apply to ne/ situations that arise0 5he
*orms o* li*e give the con>dence /ith /hich one can project /ords in
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the *uture /ith some assurance that they /ill $e received in a spirit o*
one8s /anting to $e understood = *or( i* our /ords cannot $e received
$y another they cannot $e understood either0
o/ Humphrey8s point in dra/ing attention to Shira$8s madness is to
say that the e-pected projections did not happen or /ere not received
in the manner e-pected0 9s she says( #Ahy did Shira$ = as the solider
must have e-pected = not calmly inspect the head to chec, it /as
Dagdan8s( pay o; the ,iller( and go a$out his $usiness 5he person's+
he had $een $e*ore as a singular individual = perhaps particularly that
*rom early childhood /hen he had $een $rought up as a
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completely unevent*ul0 9s she moves *rom event /ith a capital E to
/hat she calls a decision event in the ordinary fu- o* li*e( some o* the
dangers o* everyday li*e reveal themselves as in Shira$8s sudden
aversion to violence 'a very nd the e-traordinary idea that
/ords have li*e /hich is /hat allo/s them to e-press thoughts and to
stitch conte-ts $ut that /e might also $e vulnera$le to language( *or
our /ords may $ecome dead shells0
Ae might say: in all cases( /hat one means $y #thought # is
/hat is alivein the sentence0 5hat /ithout /hich it is dead( a
mere se)uence o* sounds or /ritten shapes0 'Aittgenstein
67?3( paragraph 6B1+0
Or suppose /e /ere to spea, o* a something that distinguishes
paper money *rom mere printed slips o* paper and gives it its
meaning( its li*e 'Aittgenstein 67?3( paragraph6B1+0
%t loo,s as i* a sentence /ith e0g0 the /ord #$all& in it already
contained the shado/ o* other uses o* this /ord0 5hat is to say(
the possibility o* *orming those other sentences0 = 5o /hom
does it loo, li,e that 9nd( under /hat circumstances
'Aittgenstein 67?3( paragraph61"+
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5he notion that /ords have li*e then relates to my ac,no/ledgement o*
the presence o* the other 'to /hom does it loo, li,e that+ /ho must
$e a$le to receive my /ords and o* a conte-t that is in place 'under
/hat circumstances+0 Aords might $ecome dead /hen the conte-ts in
/hich they could $e received disappear or they might $ecome( in a
*amous analogy *rom Aittgenstein( li,e /ild horses( /ho have to $e
$rought home0 Aittgenstein and Cavell ma,e us acutely a/are o* the
*ragility o* everyday li*e and its potential *or generating madness( a
state o* vertigo in /hich one might *all as did Shira$0 %n such a state
one might utter the /ords $ut li*e has $een drained out o* them0
Else/here % have e-plored ho/ narration o* events a*ter deadly
violence might carry precisely this a;ect o* /ords $ecoming *ro.en
slides 'Das !!3+0
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over a t/o4year period in Vidya8s li*e $ut % had ,no/n the *amily *or
several years0
Vidya /as the eldest daughter in a *amily composed o* her parents( her
paternal grandmother( and her t/o younger si$lings0 She /as
considered a very $right student and the *amily seemed to have
delighted in her play*ul /ays /hen she /as little0 9round the time she
turned seventeen and /as in eleventh grade( Vidya $ecame the o$ject
o* close surveillance $y her *ather and her grandmother0 % am not sure
i* there /as any particular event that triggered this response0 ant girl /ho ans/ered $ac,( /as secretive( and
resented having to do so many household chores0 % heard *rom
neigh$ors that her *ather /as o*ten $eating her up0 On the sur*ace her
grandmother /as *ull o* pity *or VidyaNpoor girl( her *ather $eat her so
mercilesslyN$ut she /ould simultaneously manage to convey that the
/orld /as a dangerous place *or gro/ing girls /ho hardly ,ne/ ho/ to
distinguish good *rom $ad that the environment o* the neigh$orhood
/as #$ad&N#ahaul $harab haiNand i* a girl lost her *ooting once(
there /as nothing to redeem her 'an o$li)ue re*erence to desire in
young girls and the dangers they pose to *amily reputationNthe stu;
o* soap operas on %ndian television+0
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%t /as true that ahangirpuri ( /here the *amily lived( /as getting the
reputation o* $eing a /ild place0 5here /ere a num$er o* cases o*
elopement( /hich parents o*ten re*erred to as #a$ductions0& Violence
/as al/ays in the air( as >st>ghts could )uic,ly turn into lethal attac,s
/ith ,nives0 Girls o*ten complained to me that the groups o* young
men /ho hung around in street corners passed le/d comments and
that they could not move around *reely *or *ear o* $eing teased or
harassed0
Vidya had $ecome completely /ithdra/n0 5he /omen in the
immediate neigh$orhood /ere very /orried a$out her *ather8s
uncontrolled rage0 Her o/n mother( /hile o*ten visi$ly upset( could not
articulate any opposition to her hus$and or mother4in4la/0 Ahereas a
man might claim rights over his /i*e to even hit her( according to the
norms o* Hindu patriarchy( a daughter must al/ays $e thought o* as a
gi*t( /ho is only temporarily in her *ather8s house( and thus is to $e
cherished and loved0 %t is not that this stated norm is al/ays *ollo/ed0
eglect o* *emale children is common0 ant and /ay/ard $ut that she /as
possessed $y some unnamed spirit /ho made her say things /hich she
/as not in control o*0 5his /as an interesting /ay o* ac,no/ledging the
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*ather8s authority /hile re*raming the event /ithin a di;erent narrative
structure0 5hus instead o* saying that the *ather8s rage /as the sign o*
a demonic possession( it $ecame the daughter8s $ehavior that /as
made to stand in need o* e-planation0 9ccording to the local
understandings o* availa$le trajectories o* healing( local diviners and
e-orcists /ere consulted( $ut these strategies did not /or,( though
they allo/ed Vidya8s *ather8s anger to $e cooled some/hat0 Vidya
agreed that a*ter her school >nals she /ould su$mit hersel* to an
e-orcism at the *amous
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/hen it comes to gendered speech( as % have descri$ed else/here too
'Das !!3+0 % noticed that Vidya8s mother /as not a$le to spea, or
o;er any other version o* the events in the presence o* Vidya8s
grandmother( so dominating /as the voice o* the older /oman0 5here
/as no )uestion o* my $eing a$le to >nd Vidya alone and tal, to her in
the tiny( cro/ded t/o rooms in /hich they all lived0
Right a*ter the state4level school4leaving e-amination /as over( Vidya
/as ta,en to ve minutes in
the doctor8s oJce they came $ac, armed /ith lithium to $e ta,en *or
si- /ee,s( a*ter /hich the #patient& /as to report *or *urther evaluation
and adjustment o* medications0
9*ter the end o* the long summer( the results o* the state4level
e-aminations /ere announced0 Vidya had passed /ith glo/ing results(
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securing a >rst division0 Given the dismal state o* teaching in many
government4run schools( this /as a miracle0 %n a class o* >*ty children
she /as the only one to have passed /ith such high mar,s0 Iet i* she
/anted to continue her studies at a pu$lic university such as the
niversity o* Delhi( she could do so only as a non4collegiate student
since admission to regular classes demands more than "! percent
mar,sNsuch is the discrepancy $et/een demand and supply0 Despite
her success in the e-aminations( the $ureaucratic processes o* getting
*orms and >ling the application /ere too intimidating *or Vidya8s
parents( and they did not trust her to go to college $y hersel*0
Fortunately( they agreed to accept my help( and % /as a$le to get her
admission process as a non4collegiate student completed0 %
accompanied Vidya to the college to introduce her to the college
environment and give her some con>dence that she could navigate the
demands o* the /ee,end classes that /ere o;ered to the students0
On our /ay home % o;ered to ta,e her to a ca* /here /e could have a
snac,( and the girl /ho had avoided me through the last t/o years
$urst out /ith her story in response to a simple )uestion o* /hether
she /as *eeling $etter0 #
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chat /ith a *riend( then % /ould get a $eating0 %* % /anted to study late
at night( then % /as /asting electricity0 %* % /anted to $orro/ a $oo,
*rom a *riend and needed to go to her house( my *ather /ould accuse
me o* $ra.enly trying to meet a $oy*riend0 % /as al/ays the accusedN
no proo* o* anythingNjust suspicion( accusationsN$ut you ,no/ % am
very stu$$orn Pziddi0+ % said /hatever you can do to meNdo itNyou /ill
not $rea, my resolve to study0& % as,ed /hat happened at the
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craved and allowed her to move on with her life. In other cases of mental illness
I have studied it was often the illness that craved recognition, whereas in Vidyas
case mental illness was a fiction created within the network of relations that kept
Vidyas fathers anger in abeyance. Here /e can see that even a ne/
concept such as that o* a psychiatric diagnosis receives li*e( $ecomes
mo$ile through $eing put into play /ith already *amiliar concepts such
as those o* demonic possession( or #tension0& The intensities of the battles
around her education waned as her younger sister grew to a college going stage
showing a much slower shift in subectivities than any dramatic event could
capture.
Clearly neither the notion o* culture nor o* everyday li*e can $e ta,en
as given once and *or all0
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im$i$ed *ully = they gesture po/er*ully to/ard the processes through
/hich % learn to ma,e /ords o* my culture my o/n $ut also to con*ront
/hat % regard as my culture( /ith /hat is my imagination o* my /ords
and my li*e0
For Aittgenstein( the process o* coming to o/n one8s e-perience is
neither a simple act o* resistance to the norms o* one8s culture nor an
act o* simple acceptance = rather it is through an education that one
learns /hat is going to $e the shape o* agreements and attunements
to one8s culture0 %t *ollo/s that against the claims that Aittgenstein
/as a conservative( a deeper reading o* &hilosophical Investigations
suggests that claims to one8s culture rest on $eing a$le to >nd one8s
voice /ithin it $oth as a gi*t and also a re$u,e0 Vidya8s /ords ( #
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anthropological ,no/ledge and the picture o* thin,ing in anthropology0
%* /e thin, o* theory not as a net/or, o* concepts that is put on a fu-
o* data as a >sherman puts his net on the s/irling /aters o* a river( $ut
as generated *rom /ithin our ethnographic engagements( then /e
should e-pect di;erences to arise that cannot $e settled through
criteria o* rightness or /rongness0 %nstead( perhaps our sensi$ilities are
honed( just as those o* our respondents( through the ,notting o* our
auto$iographies /ith those o* the individuals /e come to ,no/ /ithin a
*orm o* li*e0 y sense o* the depths in the everyday encounters in
/hich % s/im and the thic,ening o* concepts through everyday
encounters in my >eld/or, is not unrelated to the succor and threats
in the everyday that made up my o/n sense o* $eing( o* learning ho/
to inha$it the /orld and ho/ to leave it0 From that perspective % am
content to thin, that my picture o* /riting is rather li,e that o* oe8s
declaration that all he is doing is recounting some household events0
Humphrey too participates in this vision o* anthropological ,no/ledge
on and o; in her paper = % dare to suggest then that the higher realms
to /hich she is attracted as going $eyond the everyday might $e
turned around to reveal that they might actually $e seeded in the
everyday
(eferences
0
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9ustin( 0@0 67?0 )o! to *o Things !ith Words0 Cam$ridge( 90
Harvard niversity ress0
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ountain in
Iunnan rovince&0 Inner 'sia7'+: 62=130
Das( Veena0 67720 Critical Events+ 'n 'nthropological &erspective on
Conte#porary
India2 Delhi: O-*ord niversity ress0
Das( Veena0 !!30 Life and Words+ 3iolence and the *escent into the
1rdinary0
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Troubled Times(.Anthropological Theory"Vol. @B0C-