Centre for Comparative Literature
School of Humanities, University of Hyderabad
National Seminar
On
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE IN INDIA: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
18th – 19th March 2015
Seminar Report
The Centre for Comparative Literature, School of Humanities, University of Hyderabad organized a two-day National Seminar on "Comparative Literature in India: Contemporary Issues" during 18- 19 March, 2015, Dr. J. Bheemaiah, Assistant Professor coordinated the national event. The Call for Papers was issued months back, which drew a huge response. Around 50 participants all over India sent their proposal for the seminar covering various aspects related to the study of Comparative Literature in India. Some 25 abstracts were selected for discussions during the seminar. The Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi and the University of Hyderabad extended financial support for the organization of the seminar.
The inaugural programme was conducted on 18th March 2015 at 10 am in the auditorium, School of Humanities. The Dean in charge, Prof. Panchanan Mohanty chaired the session. Prof. Tutun Mukherjee, Head, Centre for Comparative Literature welcomed the participants. Dr. J. Bheemaiah, coordinator of the seminar briefly explained the concept of the seminar. Prof. E. Haribabu, Acting Vice- Chancellor, University of Hyderabad graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. The inaugural address was given by Prof. Gangisetty Lakshminarayana, a well-known academician and former Vice-Chancellor of Dravidian University, Andhra Pradesh while the keynote address was delivered by Prof. Ipshita Chanda, an eminent comparatist who teaches at the Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Prof. Chanda focused on the contemporary trends of the discipline in relation to the Cultural Studies and other relevant fields.
Prior to the paper presentations, Prof. Nandini Bhattacharya of Department of English and Comparative Literature, Jammu Central University, Jammu delivered a plenary talk. It was chaired by Prof. Tutun Mukherjee. Prof. Bhattacharya did a detailed study and analysis of Robert Seeley's Ecce Homo: A Survey of the Lives and Works of Jesus Christ (1866) and Bankimchandra Chattopadhaya's Krishnacharitra (1886), both written some 150 years back.
The first session on Indian Literature was chaired by Prof. Sachidanada Mohanty of Department of English, UoH. The presenters and papers were Krishanu Adhikari: "Problematizing Nation through Politics of Representation: A Comparative Study of Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland and Samaresh Majumdar's Kaalbela", Hina Nandrajog: "Refractions of the Prism: Images of the Partition of India in Selected Literature" and Saidul Haque: "Can there be an Anthologized Canon of Indian Literature(s)?!" All the papers was well responded by the audience.
The next session was conducted on Theorizing Comparative Indian Literature under the chair, Prof. Shivarama Padikkal, the Centre for Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies, UoH. The presenters include Abhinaba Chatterjee: "The 'Indiscipline' of Discipline: Relevance of Comparative Literature in the Indian Scenario", Madhanala Shaila Prasad: "Pursuit of Comparative Literature in India and Enhancement" and Paromita Bose: "Global and Local: Comparative Analysis of Counter Texts". All the papers were presented well and discussed by the fellow participants.
The next session which focused on Comparative Texts was chaired by Prof. Garima Sreevastava, the Department of Hindi, UoH. The presenters inlude Nabanita Das & Avishek Rath: "Translation Reviews as an Unexplored Genre of Translation Studies: A Case Study of Selected Reviews of Indian Literature for the Past Five Years" and Subbaraju M: "Dalit and Non-Dalit Perspective: Comparing Select Telugu Short Stories". With this session the first day of the seminar ended.
The next day i.e. 19th March 2015, the session on Comparative Folk Studies and Poetry was chaired by Dr. Sowmya Dechamma, Centre for Comparative Literature. The presenters were Sarani Roy: "A Dialogue or a Monologue? The Politics of Re-Membering the Voices of the Folk in Colonial Bengal", Intaj Ali: "Comparative Methodology in the Context of Folklore Studies and Sreekanth Kopuri: "Fear and Silence: A Pinteresque Discourse in Jayanta Mahapatra's Poetry". This session initiated a lot of discussion on folk and related arts and their performances.
The following session which focused on Comparative Texts was chaired by Prof. Ipshita Chanda, the Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. The presenters include Panchali Mukherjee: "A Comparative Literary Study of Kabita Sinha's Eve Speaks to God and Margaret Atwood's Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing", Tejaswani K.: "Time: A Comparative Study of P. B. Shelley's Ozymandiaz and Ghalib's Bageecha-e-itfal Hai Duniya Meray Aage" and Vanisree M.: "Personification of Woman in Kamala Markandaya's Nectar in a Sieve and Shashi Deshpande's Small Remedies". This session initiated provocative discussions involving all the presenters and audience as well.
The next session titled Reading the Nation and the World was chaired by Prof. Rajinder Kumar Dhavan. The presenters were Balu Vijayaraghavan: "Representing Home as an Ideological Icon in the Home and the World" and Gopinath S.: "Autodiegetic Technique in Jane Eyre and Jasmine". With this session the formal paper presentation of the seminar got over and the next session was the valedictory programme.
The valedictory session was chaired by Prof. R. S. Sarraju, Head, Dept. of Hindi, UoH. Prof. R. K. Dhavan delivered his message as a special guest at the programme. . Prof. Tutun Mukherjee thanked the participants and audience. Dr. J. Bheemaiah gave convener's remarks. Then the certificates were distributed to paper presenters. A quick feedback was also taken from the participants about the seminar. The participants expressed their satisfaction at this national event. A formal vote of thanks was proposed specially to Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi for sponsoring two speakers and others who extended their support. The two- day national seminar was concluded with a grand success.
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