Writing a singular past: Mon history and ‘modern’ historiography in Burma

Abstract

The historiography of the Mons of Burma reflects the larger intellectual world in which Mon scholars have been schooled and trained. Under British colonialism, British scholars introduced a number of ideas and practices related to history. These included ways of viewing and evaluating sources and concepts of ethnicity. Local intellectuals, including Mon scholars, have made these colonial inheritances part of their own historiographical practices. A result is that Mon scholars often project anachronistic readings on to their own past.