CALL FOR PAPERS

National Young Researchers’ Seminar on

 “Questioning Perspectives: the Local and the Global”

Under the UGC Special Assistance Programme (DRS Phase II)

Organised by

Centre for English Studies

School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies

Jawaharlal Nehru University

New Delhi – 67

17th-18th January, 2014

A nation state is, arguably, the most commonly held “centre” for large chunks of people. But this centre begins to cave in as we start questioning it, from within or from outside. The crisis of any national literature, in English or any native language is the question of what constitutes “nation” per se. To add to the complications of what constitutes an identity from within, there is a constant struggle of what is being imposed from the outside, the other world(s). This concern is as pertinent to India as it is to Kenya or Algeria or any other postcolonial nation. Taking off from here, one understands that there is a tussle between at least two different claims of representations of any identity - one from within and one from outside, one written through a more globally oriented perspective and the other through a more locally oriented lens.

If one focuses on the Indian literary scene, identity politics has been overwhelmingly influenced by the “new” diasporic writers, who have come to gain the dominant voice of what constitutes India and the Indian at large. For the last few decades, literary production and circulation in India has been dominated by writings in English, especially by the ones who have an overseas bearing, and their representation of India has been given (un)due importance in the global arena for quite some time now. But what has been worrying for the Indian academia is the exoticized image of India that often gets projected and fed to the outside world by such literatures. Is this situation peculiar to India, or is it a universal phenomenon, or rather, is it a postcolonial phenomenon? The vantage points through which we seek to question these identity formations today, and try and go beyond them, mark the constant tussle between the national and the international, the home and the world, the local and the global. Can one begin to locate “local” and “global” as two marginal entities in terms of the national identity politics? How do we understand the relationship between the two through the literature that they invade? The localization of literature can often act as a prism to view the world. Similarly, global perspectives open up new avenues for comprehending local realities. So the question is how do we acknowledge and comprehend some fundamental differences in the concerns and nature of representation in these different set of writings. Or do we live in a context which is inherently “glocal”?

The Centre for English Studies, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, JNU is pleased to invite research papers from young researchers for a seminar focussing on new research in these and associated fields. The seminar will be conducted on a panel-respondent model, where we hope to invite experts on the various focus areas to critique the papers presented. Papers of about 3000 words must be submitted in advance so that the concerned respondent will be able to formulate their critique so that the exchange of ideas in this area can be maximized. Given the format of the seminar, we are looking to engage with participants with research experience so that discussion may be taken to the next level, critically and creatively. The proceedings of the seminar will also be published.

Abstracts, of not more than 500 words, must be submitted by 30th November to <sap.ces@gmail.com> to be considered. Authors of abstracts selected for the Seminar will be notified about their acceptance by 10th December. The deadline for full papers will be 30th December. Papers can be structured around, though not restricted to, any of the following focus areas, or related fields:

World Literatures
Postcolonial Exotic
Nation and nationalism(s)
Theoretical Turns
Universalism and Nativism
Diaspora and Essentialism

Popular Representations/Media Politics