Abstract

Re-presenting the historically silenced subjects is among the trickiest negotiations a researcher has to enter, especially when working with ancient texts. This essay uses a quasi-experimental, reader’s-response approach to academic writing to spotlight the problem of “recovering” marginalized subjects from across cultures and (pre-) histories. The major thrust of the inquiry is the rhetorical challenge of representing silenced or marginalized subjects in revisionary work. Weaving together personal reflections and academic arguments, the essay presents the process of scholarly research as a heuristic for formulating arguments. The essay also proposes–and demonstrates–a process-based approach that takes into account researcher’s positionality.