Confy @ BITS, Goa

Region/Nation/Trans-Nation: 

Literature-Cinema Interface

January 31-Feb 2, 2019

 BITS Pilani, Goa

Call for Papers 

This conference traces the various modes of engagement that exist between some of the globally dominant literary and cinematic forms, without limiting itself to the age-old domain of adaptation. It tries to locate these engagements and negotiations across three geopolitical formations and locations of culture, namely region, nation and trans-nation. These three locations work as contact zones where the literature-cinema interface manifests in various forms. With the emergence of transnationalism and comparative film studies as methods in cinema studies, multiple modes of literature-cinema negotiation are becoming increasingly evident with cinema studies borrowing concepts such as ‘world literature’ and ‘comparative morphology’. In the Indian/South Asian context, these locations are entangled with issues such as the language question, regional nationalisms, the crumbling idea of a federal republic with an increasingly stronger unitary governance, linguistic identity politics as manifested in popular cinemas and literatures, translational politics and the formation/development of certain national centres for the production of various modes of translation, India’s cultural/literary/cinematic negotiations with the trans-nation before and after globalization/economic liberalization etc. 

With contemporary India as its primary site of inquiry, the conference moves towards inter-continental geopolitical engagements without considering Indian regional/national and literary/cinematic questions in isolation. Apart from thematic and ideological associations with the trans-nation, it involves participants beyond the borders of the Indian nation (from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), transforming itself into a discursive space where the conceptual apparatus meets with the narratives that inform and shape the former. Narratives from the margins will also significantly feature in the conference, with panels and plenaries on and from the Indian North-East. Moreover, a panel and a plenary will be devoted to Goa and its distinctive history of colonial and postcolonial politico-cultural engagements as manifested in indigenous literature and art.

Possible topics for presentation might be, but are not limited to, the following:

Transnationalism as Method

Comparative Cinema Studies and the transnational question

South Asia’s Cultural Engagement with the ‘West’

Cultural/Literary/Cinematic Migration within South Asia 

Idea of India and the Language Question

Linguistic Identity Politics in South and North-East India

North-East India and the Politics of Translation

South Korea’s Cultural Penetration into the Indian North-East

Goa’s legacy as an erstwhile Portuguese colony

Goa’s engagement with other Portuguese colonies (Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique)

Goa as a contact zone of culture

Histories of colonial, anti-colonial and postcolonial cultural negotiations in Goa

The Un-Indian Space/Region: Goa’s challenge to the Hindu Nation 

National and Transnational Cultures in South Indian Cinemas 

Regional Militancy in National (Popular) Cinema

Trans-Nation and Indian Modernity

Trans-Nation/Translation

Subtitling/Fan-Subbing/Dubbing/Remake as Cultural Translation

Internet Sharing in the Age of Post-Cinema

Formative Years of Film Industries and the Cultural and Literary Translation(s)

From Adaptation to Cultural Translation and Beyond

State and Non-State Actors in translation

Select conference proceedings will be published as a co-edited volume for the publication of which Oxford University Press (OUP) will be approached. 

We would like to invite abstracts for individual presentations and/or panels from Comparative and English literary studies/Cinema and Media studies/New Media studies/South Asian studies scholars. Interested speakers/presenters may mail a 250 word abstract along with a brief bio-note to lci2019@goa.bits-pilani.ac.in. 

Registration and other Details

A registration fee of INR 3500 (for outstation participants) or INR 2500 (for local scholars) must be paid. This fee includes registration, conference kit, working lunch, tea and snacks for three days and participation certificate, but does not cover accommodation in Goa. Participants are supposed to find their own accommodation; conference committee can help with suggestions regarding places nearby though. We cannot offer bursary/travel grants as we expect the participants to be supported by their respective home institutions. 

Participants who are willing to attend the conference dinner hosted on the penultimate night need to pay INR 1000 additionally. 

Deadlines

Submission of abstracts: September 30, 2018

Notification of Acceptance: October 15, 2018

Completion of Registration: November 15, 2018 

Submission of full paper: November 30, 2018 

Plenary Speakers

Mariano Mestman (Universidad de Buenos Aires & CONICET, Argentina- TBC)

Fakrul Alam (East West University, Bangladesh) 

Kanchuka Dharmasiri (University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka)

Supriya Chaudhuri (Jadavpur University)

M. Asaduddin (Jamia Millia Islamia- TBC) 

Ravi S. Vasudevan (CSDS, New Delhi) 

Moinak Biswas (Jadavpur University)

Kaushik Bhaumik (Jawaharlal Nehru University) 

GJV Prasad (Jawaharlal Nehru University) 

Asha Kuthari Chaudhuri (Gauhati University)

Contact Details

Amitendu Bhattacharya

Assistant Professor in English

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

K. K. Birla Goa Campus

NH 17 B, ZuarinagarGoa, India. 403 726

Telephone: +91-832-2580296

Mobile: +91-8378841351

http://universe.bits-pilani.ac.in/goa/amitendub/profile