What counts as ‘context’ for an event varies by colonial observer
Evidence
What was happening on Sumatra’s East Coast in 1876? Framings makes sense of events, but what constituted “context” varied by observer. What Valck was cognizant of during his brief assignment in Deli was not the “context” that military officials offered in subsequent reports based on later reconnoiters in the villages and forests abutting the estates. Nor was it the same context offered by Major Demmemi, the region’s military commander, whose focus and fears were riveted on the spread of insurgence from the Aceh War. Different perspectives yield different stories and causal arguments. In so doing they redefine the very breadth of “context” and the parameters of the “event.” — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1068
Categorization
- QUESTION: How does the author propose adjudicating among observers’ competing ‘contexts’ methodologically? Who gets epistemic authority?
- XREF: Methodological point resonates with the reader’s stated interest in different perspectives in colonial studies. — connects to: The same imperial expedition held wholly different meanings for each involved party; Competing colonial visions differed in how they cropped relevant knowledge; The administrative cribbing of reports determined which event readings became evidence
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1068