Why did the Subaltern Studies collective question the idea of a single national culture?

The Subaltern Studies collective, including scholars such as Ranajit Guha, questioned the concept of a single national culture primarily because it failed to account for the experiences and perspectives of non-elite groups.1

They argued that these marginalized populations do not share the same political space or cultural world as national elites. By challenging the notion of a unified national culture, the collective sought to expose how such narratives often reflect the interests of dominant groups rather than the diverse realities of the entire population.123

Furthermore, this critique is part of a broader rejection of "master narratives" in history. Subaltern theorists contend that the perceived unity of a nation was often an artificial construct imposed by imperialist powers or post-colonial elites. Consequently, they emphasized the existence of a "congeries" of national or tribal histories, arguing that the focus should shift toward the experiences of subordinated people rather than the conventional, elite-driven accounts of history.23