Confy @ Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru

National Conference

on

“Empires Writing Back:

Aboriginal and Regional Literatures across Continents and Cultures”

23 January 2018

Kristu Jayanti College (Autonomous), Bengaluru

Conference Concept:

CALIBAN: You taught me language, and my profit on 't

Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you

For learning me your language! (The Tempest Act I, Sc. 2)

The response of Caliban to Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest is an epitome of the colonised lashing back to their colonisers. This wave of writing back resulted from the questioning of the indigenous people regarding their (mis)-representations or exclusions from all sorts of narratives written by the colonisers and also for being rendered as the “Other” in one’s homeland. Writing has inevitably been regarded as a mark of superiority and to re-view and re-write one’s position in history, indigenous/ aboriginal people want to tell their version of the stories, in their own way with a purpose of their own. In the light of colonization the spotlight would also fall on the colonization that can arise between human relationships and the hegemonic repercussions it can have on individuals and their concept of self, paving the way for a particular niche in subaltern literature. This conference seeks to look into those native writings across continents and cultures full of richness and diversity. We welcome original, unpublished research papers related to aboriginal and regional literatures across continents and cultures.

The conference directorate invites papers related to the broad theme “Empires Writing Back: Aboriginal and Regional Literatures across Continents and Cultures” and the following sub-themes:

ANUVAD ANNUAL RESIDENCIES

Call for Submissions

AAAR Programme at NEIC, Silchar

ANUVAD ANNUAL RESIDENCIES

FOR THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES (2018)

SPONSORED BY THE NORTHEAST INDIA COMPANY, SILCHAR.

The Northeast India Company takes pleasure in announcing the 2018 edition of the Anuvad Annual Residencies for the Arts and the Humanities. The first edition was curated and hosted in Silchar from the 1st of February till the 16th of February 2017 and was attended by candidates from different parts of the world, each of them representing a different and distinct area of the arts and the humanities. Among the candidates last year were Mr. Noah Beck (Australia), Mr. William Sinton (The United States), Md. Shofiqul Ahmed (Bangladesh) and others.

The residencies are structured and curated so as to achieve two particular aims:

1) To facilitate a sharing of the selected candidates’ work and research with the academic community in and around Barak Valley.

2) To build a lasting relationship between the selected candidates and the audience at the workshops or lectures that they will be expected to produce and present at the culmination of the residencies.

This will undoubtedly pave the way, as we see it, for future collaborations and projects undertaken with or even without the direct involvement of The Northeast India Company.

LOCATION: THE NORTHEAST INDIA COMPANY STUDIO AND GALLERY, ELLORA COMPLEX, CLUB ROAD, SILCHAR, ASSAM

DATES: 2ND TILL 18TH JANUARY 2018 (Period of Residency)

10th November 2017 (Last date for submission of proposals)

15th November 2017 (Announcement of selections)

MODE OF SUBMISSION:

BY EMAIL ONLY AT aaarsilchar@gmail.com

CHIEF CURATOR:

ARJUN CHOUDHURI (PhD) (AUS),

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR,

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH,

GURUCHARAN COLLEGE,

SILCHAR, ASSAM, INDIA

EXTERNAL CURATORS:

BHASWATI CHAKRABORTY GHOSH

LECTURER IN ENGLISH (RETD.)

HIGHFIELD LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

BLACKPOOL, THE UNITED KINGDOM

SHAURI DEV (PhD) (OXON.)

FREELANCE ARTIST AND PHOTOGRAPHER

ERASMUS MUNDUS FELLOW

KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL, INDIA

TITLE OF RESIDENCIES:

Anuvad Annual Residency for Translation Work (One).

Seminar @ Govt Victoria College, Palakkad

My Visit to a City Library

Ahheyon Jang

CONTENTS:-

1) NAME & PLACE OF THE LIBRARY

2) DESCRIPTION OF THE LIBRARY

3) LIBRARIAN’S NAME

4) VARIOUS TYPES OF BOOKS AVAILABLE

1. NAME & PLACE OF THE LIBRARY

PLACE NAME:  Anna Centenary Library (ACC)

PLACE ADDRESS: Gandhi Mandapam Road, Kottur Gardens, Surya Nagar, Kotturpuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

                                

Origin of name: -

To commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. C. N Annadurai who is fondly called ANNA. Hence this library is named as Anna Centenary Library.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE LIBRARY

The entrance is quite wide. The Library building is located in a sprawling and sylvan campus. It is one of the biggest library buildings in this area and it really dominates the whole place by its imposing architectural structure. 

There are parking spaces for two wheelers and cars. There is a statue of PERARIGNAR ANNA for commemorating his centenary anniversary. Before entering the library, we cannot carry our bags, except for valuables such as money, laptop, jewelry, etc. There is a property counter. We can get a token and when we leave, we have to summit a token and receive bags.

 

PERARIGNAR ANNA STATUE & PROPERTY COUNTER

This building is made up of 8 floors - from ground floor to 8th floor.

The ground floor has an information desk and competitive exam section, reception, own book reading section, conference hall, BRAILLE room, etc. There is a computer for searching books and information. We can find one unique exhibit.

 

Each floor has restrooms. In ground floor, there are rooms for drinking tea and taking rest and also selling for text books.

We can use elevator, stairs, and from ground floor to 1st floor the escalator. There are many security cameras for absolute security in the library.

 Mostly information of each floor is in Tamil. But information in English is also available. You need to find out what sections are on the floor in advance.

Each floor is also equipped with a fire hydrant. There is CALL device that can be called in case of emergency. Basically, all the facilities of indoors and outdoors are nice and clean.

If you go to the indoors, the lighting is bright and good for reading books. There are also desks and stands. It maintains a cool and pleasant environment because of air-conditioners.

There are many chairs and tables where you can read books everywhere.

Call for Papers - Colloquium

Colloquium

[the Multidisciplinary Journal of the Arts Section,

The Bhawanipur Education Society College]

Call for Papers for Volume IV

Topic: Marginalization and Basic Human Values

The progress of human civilization in terms of thought as well as logical analysis has been a journey in problematizing the dialectics of questions related to order/ disorder and knowledge/ power since ages. In the present era of heterogeneity and relativity of perspectives, with rising emphases on particularities related to the concept of identity and fluidity of priorities and loyalties, the conflicts between the notional ‘centres’ and notional ‘peripheries’ have perhaps witnessed a huge increase in proportion. While safeguarding and fighting for one’s own cause/s, humanity and basic human values seem to have been neglected under either openly prejudiced and ‘traditionalist’ points of view or a professed garb of ‘progressive’ and ‘liberal’ patterns of mutual coexistence.

The fourth volume of Colloquium – the multidisciplinary, multilingual, peer reviewed Journal of the Arts Section, The Bhawanipur Education Society College seeks to explore the issue of Marginalization and Basic Human Values.

Articles addressing the issue are invited from teachers, scholars and researchers. The articles, not exceeding 2500 words, may be sent to colloquium.besc@gmail.com, positively by 25th October 2017.

Reading Challenge for Children @ BC, Chennai

British Council, Chennai

presents

Reading Challenge for Children!

Saturday, 21 October 2017 to Saturday, 16 December 2017

This October there’s something strange happening at the library – and that’s where the Animal Agents come in!

The Animal Agents love solving mysteries and they need your CHILD to help them crack their biggest case yet. From solving the case of the graffiti writing to the strange case of a missing lunch, children will join in the fun with the Animal Agents by reading along. As children read library books on the challenge, they will receive a host of stickers, some with mysterious smells. By collecting these clues in their detective folder, young readers will help the Animal Agents find out what's really been going on behind the scenes!

Join the Reading Challenge 2017 and help the agents uncover the truth. Reading for pleasure opens up a new world for children and engages their imaginative potential. Everything changes when we read!

Confy on Tribal Studies @ Tripura University

NATIONAL SEMINAR

On

IMPACT OF MODERNIZATION &

GLOBALIZATION ON TRIBAL SOCIETY

24, 25 NOVEMBER 2017

Jointly Organized by

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

TRIPURA UNIVERSITY

(A Central University)

Suryamaninagar, Tripura-799022, India

Tribal Research & Cultural Institute, Govt. of Tripura, Agartala.

Seminar e-mail: Seminaredu17@gmail.com

Funded by

Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India.

Sub Themes of the Seminar:

·        Conceptual and methodological understanding of Tribal Society.

·        Conceptual and methodological understanding of Modernization and Globalization.

·        Modernization and Cultural, Social, Occupational, Academic, Psychological, Religious and Moral aspects of tribal society.

·        Globalization and Cultural, Social, Occupational, Academic, Psychological, Religious and Moral aspects of tribal society.

·        Impact of Modernization on different Tribal Groups of Tripura.

·        Impact of Globalization on different Tribal Groups of Tripura.

·        Modernization and Gender aspects

·        Globalization and Gender aspects.

·        Public Policy, Entitlement and empowerment of the Tribes in the context of Globalization.

·        The role of institutions, including the interrelation between local communities, educational & training institutes, NGOs and the state

·        (various Government departments) to modernize and globalize the tribal society.

·        Vulnerability and challenges due to the pressure of Modernization and Globalization.

·

Date and Venue:

November 24th -25th, 2017 at Tripura University Campus, Suryamaninagar, Tripura.

Important Dates:

Last date of submission of Abstract: 10/11/2017

Last date for communication regarding acceptance of paper: 15.11.2017

Last date of submission of full paper: 17.11.2017

'Memory banks' of the Past...

Working with memory involves the recovery of the past experience that was forgotten or repressed by official historiography. 

Bernard Lewis pointed out, as early as 1975 that there are functions of ‘historiography as memory’. He distinguishes between:

1.      Remembered history

2.      Recovered history, and

3.      Invented history

One of the most thought-provoking considerations of the relation of history and memory is Peter Burke’s seminar article, ‘History as Social Memory’ (1989) which anticipated many later developments of cultural memory studies.

In this context, I was pleasantly surprised to find a critical piece on ‘The Struggle of memory over forgetting’ by Sadanand Menon, in The Hindu, Sunday Magazine, 15 October 2017.

It goes thus…

The struggle of memory over forgetting is a political thought. It is often used in circumstances of conflict and traumatic events where hegemonic forces actively connive in the erasure of memory to construct a brand new triumphal narrative. The kind of palpable erasures of the past that are so evident, say, in the new narratives around Palestine or Jaffna or Kashmir. For the ‘victim’ communities, holding on to their memory through devices like song, gesture, word and the photographic image (or film), becomes a mnemonics of resistance. The act of archiving here becomes integral to the politics of survival and defying a dominant discourse.

The possibility of referring to our cultural pasts in an unbiased way, without the baggage of prejudice or the weight of a master-narrative, is possible only when we have access to material from our past that has survived the vagaries of both time as well as deliberate doctoring and tweaking. In our times, this has become highly dependent on ‘ethical’ archives, which honestly retain, store and preserve all elements of cultural memory without ascribing undue weightage to this or that aspect. To take a recent example from Uttar Pradesh, the trick they have invented of producing tourism brochures or textbooks invisibilising the Taj Mahal.

Fragments of film

One of the potent ‘memory banks’ of the past hundred years has been cinema. India has been fully a part of that experience and is, at present, a country that annually produces the most number of films. We also boast of millions of film-crazy audiences in multiple languages who swear by the medium and support the roughly Rs. 15,000 crore industry. Yet, Indian cinema has tragically been unable to preserve its recent past in any meaningful way for the present or the future.

Yesterday, a hugely important week-long workshop on film conservation and preservation concluded in Chennai. Organised at the initiative of the Film Heritage Foundation, Mumbai, and with collaboration from the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), this workshop for 50 participants and involving over 20 international experts in the field, is part of a chain of such events triggered by a looming sense of crisis. Of the 1,700 Indian films of the silent era — from Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra in 1913 to Alam Ara in 1931 – only five or six are available today, and that too in fragments. Even Ardeshir Irani’s Alam Ara with the great Zubeida barely has a trace left, with almost the entire film in cellulose nitrate melted for its silver. But that’s too far back to travel. Works of contemporary masters, from Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak to Kumar Shahani, Mani Kaul, Aravindan and John Abraham have evaporated. Why, even Mani Ratnam is in search of his early iconic films.

Workshop on 'Translating Performance Texts'

Workshop on Translating Performance Texts

13 - 18 November 2017

Organized by Project Palagaan, CR & SS, UGC-UPE-II, Jadavpur University

in collaboration with CAS (Phase-III)

Dept. of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University

The problems encountered in translating a performance text call for an additional dimension as compared to traditional translation. The source text has to be transcribed in its original language in the first place. But Performative aspects of oratures become important parts of the final text. Thus the presence of the translator during the performance becomes important.

Project Palagaan has been performing extensive field research for the past few years to collect audio-visual forms and to transcribe them. This week-long translation workshop will look to encounter the problems associated with translating these texts. The workshop, through an extensive process of translation will look to cater questions like: What are the types of original texts in translating a performance text? How can a translator capture the performative aspects of a transcribed performance text? What are the processes through which a translator can differentiate between the literary and performative aspects of a performance text?

The week-long workshop will look to bring in translators, translation studies scholars and scholars interested in studying performance texts under a roof to address these problems. The workshop will end with a panel discussion on the process while the translated texts as well as critical insights on the process will be subsequently published in an edited volume.

Students, scholars, researchers and translation professionals are invited to send in a short statement of purpose in not more than 100 words stating why they want to participate in this workshop. A short bio-note is to be attached to the mail. All mails are to be sent to ju.projectpalagaan2@gmail.com within 30th October, 2017. There will be provision of a token daily allowance/ honorarium for all the participants. Outstation participants will be assisted in dealing with issues regarding accommodation.

Deadline: 30th October, 2017

Email: ju.projectpalagaan2@gmail.com

Contact: +919051765463 & +919432661243

நம் மொழியின் தொன்மையும் மேன்மையும்!

R. Aishwarya

தயவு செய்து இக்கட்டுரையை படித்து நம் வரலாற்றையும் நம் மொழியின் தொன்மையையும் மேன்மையையும் அறிந்துக் கொள்ளுமாறு தாழ்மையுடன் கேட்டுகொள்கிறேன்.

Name and Place of the Library:  Anna Centenary Library, Kotturpuram, Chennai

Description of the Library: Anna Centenary Library is Asia’s largest library. It is located in the state of Tamil Nadu, in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu. It was constructed at an estimate of Rs. 175 crores. It was inaugurated by Dr. Karunanidhi, our former Chief Minister, in honour of his mentor and our former Chief Minister Shri C. N. Annadurai.

This library is fully air-conditioned with 5,50,000 books. We are so proud to have this library in our state. This library was considered as “One of the milestones in Karunanidhi’s political life. It was very useful for the students who are taking all kinds of competitive exams. There are numerous articles and magazines on a variety of subjects for exams like IAS, IPS, IFS and TNPSC exams. A few of the magazines are: Competitive Success Review, Yojana, Thittam and Thamizharasu.

Librarian's  Name:   Ms. Vanaja, 2nd Floor, Tamil section.

Various Sections of the Library:

1.         Braille section -This section consists about 1500 braille printed books.

2.         Own-book reading section.

3.         Children section.

4.         Periodicals section.

5.         Tamil books section.

6.         English book section.

Tamil books section is in second floor of the library. This section contains about 1 lakh books in various departments.English book section contains about 4,50,000 books in 3rd to 7th floor. Braille books are in ‘A’ wing of this library. This library was daily visited by about 2,700 persons.

Third floor: General, Computer Science, Library and Information Science, Philosophy, Psychology, Ethics, Religion, Socialogy, Statistics, Political Science, etc.

Fourth floor: Economics, Law, Public Administration, Education, Languages and Linguistics, Literature, Folklore, etc.

Fifth floor: General Science, Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Earth Science, Geology, Fossils And Pre-Historic Life, Life Science (Biology), Plants(Botany), Animals (Zoology), Applied Science-Basic, Medicine & Health, etc.

Sixth floor: Engineering, Agriculture, Home And Family Management, Veterinary Science, Management & Public Relation, Acounting, Fine Arts, Architecture, Photo Graphy & Computer, Arts, Music, Sports, Games & Entertainment, etc.

Seventh floor: History, Geography, Travelogue, Biography & Government Oriental Manuscript Library.

நான் இந்த நூலகத்திற்கு சென்றதையே மிகவும் பெருமையாக கருதுகிறேன். நீங்கள் வகுப்பில், 'காலையில் சென்று மாலை வரை படியுங்கள் அங்கு எல்லா வசதிகளும் உள்ளது,' என்று சொன்னீர்கள். அதை வைத்து நான் என் மனதிற்கு எட்டிய கற்பனைகளுடன் சென்றேன்.

Workshop on Writing @ Trivandrum

The PG Department of English

Govt College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram

Invites you for a

Three-Day National Workshop

On

The Alchemy of Writing: Innovative Techniques and Practices

6 – 8 November 2017

Sponsored by the Directorate of Collegiate Education

Government of Kerala

Venue: Seminar Hall, Govt College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram

About the Workshop: The National Workshop on ‘Writing,’ is an attempt to focus on equipping teacher participants with the necessary skills needed to facilitate students to understand various kinds of writing styles for different purposes, to develop their own unique writing styles, how to conceptualise content matter and on honing writing skills in general.

There is no registration fee for the workshop. Those who wish to participate, please send in your name, designation, and official address to bk_kavi@yahoo.co.in on or before 04 November 2017.

Four Steps to Developing a Healthy Reading Habit!

The ‘Leaders for Tomorrow’ programme at Kanyakumari, [5, 6, 7 October 2017] saw hosts of committed students from all walks of life, gather in large numbers with zeal and enthusiasm, verve and vigor, to be shaped and carved, honed and refined, for a bright future of their choice.

All eyes were ardently attentive to Dr. Jesudoss Manalan, Librarian, Bishop Heber, who gave a motivating talk on the topic, ‘Love for Books and Developing One’s Reading Habit.’

Excerpts from his motivating talk –

'Reading is for the mind, as exercise is to the body.' 

I’ve never regretted the fact that I became a Librarian!

Whenever we get letters of compliments from our past students we feel delighted and happy. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.

I wish to tell you that, you should not only have a love for books, but also for fellow human beings.

We as Librarians, play a noble role in helping individuals to grow.

At Bishop Heber, we have more than 10, 000 students. Yesterday, (04 October 2017), 1170 students visited the library. They just have to swipe their card, and their entry is clocked. I am not worried about the 1170 students who checked in, yesterday. What about the remaining 8900 students? What about their reading habits? That’s the challenge! To bring the student to the library.

It’s a process! It’s a learning process! It’s a mental process!

It improves your power of concentration, refreshes your mind, sharpens your intellect, improves your spelling, strengthens creativity, promotes fluency, increases your imagination, stimulates intellectual thoughts, helps academic achievements, etc.

A good reader is therefore a good learner.

Habit, is when you do something over and over again.

Let reading become a daily habit for you – a routine behavior.

Home,

Schools & Colleges

and

Libraries

Are places that have a great responsibility in promoting reading habits amongst youngsters.

So create a conducive atmosphere for yourself right at your home/hostel/workplace to read books.

I tell students, ‘Please pay at least a casual visit to the library. You need not sit and read! Just pay a visit! There might be some serious learners, who might inspire you to read!’

Dr. Manalan outlined four steps towards developing a healthy reading habit.

'The World is Quiet Here!' A Docu' Tribute to the Library @ Heber

A lovelyyy YouTube documentary by a student, dedicated to the monumental Library at Heber, and to its carving patron Dr. Jesudoss Manalan, Librarian of Bishop Heber, [and winner of the Best Librarian Award]. Indeed, this video reminds us of the importance of the Library in the lives of every Learner transcending all ages and clime!

Well, YES! “The world is quiet here.”