Question
"The hold of the nationalist imagination on our colonial past is such that anything inadequately or improperly nationalist is just not history."
Which of the following statements best reflects the author's opinion?
Official answer and solution
- Official answer
- B
- From
- Official GATE 2017 answer key
Solution
Analyze the core assertion of the quotation and identify the option that accurately paraphrases its central claim.
The quoted passage states:
"The hold of the nationalist imagination on our colonial past is such that anything inadequately or improperly nationalist is just not history."
Break down the author's argument:
- "The hold of the nationalist imagination on our colonial past": Nationalism acts as a dominant lens or perspective through which the colonial era is constructed and evaluated.
- "anything inadequately or improperly nationalist is just not history": Historical events and narratives that do not align with the nationalist narrative are rejected or dismissed from being recognized as history.
This means that understanding of history is mediated and selected through a nationalist framework - in other words, history is viewed through the filter of nationalism.
Evaluate the other options:
- Option (A) is a literal misreading of the phrase "nationalist imagination".
- Option (C) is an extreme and unsupported assertion not made by the author.
- Option (D) reverses the author's critique into a prescriptive recommendation.
Thus, option (B) best captures the author's opinion.
B
The answer is the one in the official GATE answer key. The solution is this site's own explanation.
Source
- Paper
- GATE 2017 Computer Science and Information Technology (CS) Session 1
- Question
- 61 of 65, printed as GA Q.61
- Section
- General Aptitude
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