Counterhistory functions to disinter truths that power has deliberately concealed

Evidence

The historical discourse that appears at this point can therefore be regarded as a counterhistory that challenges Roman history for this reason: in this new historical discourse, the function of memory acquires a whole new meaning. In Roman-style history, the function of memory was essentially to ensure that nothing was forgotten—or in other words, to preserve the law and perpetually to enhance the luster of power for so long as it endured. The new history that now emerges, in contrast, has to disinter something that has been hidden, and which has been hidden not only because it has been neglected, but because it has been carefully, deliberately, and wickedly misrepresented. Basically, what the new history is trying to show 1s that power, the mighty, the kings, and the laws have concealed the fact that they were born of the contingency and injustice of battles. — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 89

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines counterhistory at its core: memory as excavation of deliberately buried truth rather than preservation of power’s luster.
• XREF: Directly parallel to genealogical method in later biopolitics readings and to how subaltern/Islamophobic counter-narratives work. — connects to: Scholarly discipline functions as a technology of power that makes hidden material visible — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 341; Power remakes the Orient through expedient knowledge that erases real histories; Totalitarianism’s ideal subject cannot distinguish fact from fiction or true from false (+15 more)
• QUESTION: How does this deliberate-misrepresentation model of memory map onto construction-of-the-Other readings in the Islamophobia field?

Related

• History’s task is to detect the ruses and lies that mask power’s origins (similarity 0.85)
• Counter-history’s style is an erotic passion and relentless denunciation of power. (similarity 0.82)
• Counterknowledge is defined negatively against established scholarly knowledges. (similarity 0.80)
• Historical narratives function as disguised lessons in constitutional law (similarity 0.79)
• Historico-political discourse claims partisan truth that functions as a weapon, excluding juridical universality (similarity 0.78)
• Coupling buried scholarship with disqualified knowledges gives critique its strength (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• History’s task is to detect the ruses and lies that mask power’s origins #corroborates (0.92) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 89
• Historical narratives function as disguised lessons in constitutional law #contradicts (0.74) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 141
• Objectivist truth served as philosophy’s safeguard against the intoxication of power #qualifies (0.72) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 2943