Poets Writing the New History of Manipur

This paper explores the role of poetry as an alternative historiography in the context of political violence and marginalization in Manipur, Northeast India, with a focus on the works of poet Robin S. Ngangom. It argues that in a region often excluded from dominant national narratives, poetry becomes a form of counter-memory that resists state-sanctioned histories and hegemonic structures of knowledge. Drawing upon Michel Foucault’s concepts of subjugated knowledge and counter-memory, the paper examines how Ngangom’s poetry functions as a political and historical archive — not through grand narratives or official documentation, but through deeply personal and affective responses to conflict, grief, and loss. The paper thus situates Ngangom as a poet-historian whose work transcends literary aesthetics and participates in the urgent political task of remembering. In doing so, it posits that poetry in conflict zones like Manipur is not only a cultural expression but a form of resistance, remembrance, and radical truth-telling.