The Art of Enlightenment...

Lalit Kala Akademi Regional Centre, Chennai,

and

Cholamandal Centre for Contemporary Art

organise

‘Film Festival on Visual Art — from the collection of Dorothea Machingal’

On

06, 07 August 2016

A total of 10 films will be screened as part of the festival days. This includes Never Sorry – Ai Weiwei by Alison Klaymen, which won the Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and Rembrandt Fecit 1669 by director Jos Stelling, which recreates the end of a genius with authenticity.

The line-up on the first day includes BBC documentaries on artists such as Antony Gormley, best known for his monumental sculpture Angel of the North; Chris Ofili, who installed a paradise-like garden with a glass dome for the Venice Biennale in 2003; Anthony Caro, who is known to have led a revolution in sculpture in Britain in the early 1960s; and Anish Kapoor, one of Britain’s most accomplished and popular sculptors. Apart from the documentaries, they will also screen a bio-pic on the Greek painter of the Spanish Renaissance, El Greco.

Belsey on 'New theories arriving from Paris by the planeload' :-)

Dear II MA Students, 

This is in continuation of the discussions we had in class on Terence Hawkes and Catherine Belsey.

Well, Catherine Belsey’s Preface to the Second Edition is quite a compelling 'read of sorts'! I've reproduced below, excerpted passages from the Preface she has written to her wonderful book Critical Practice and a few 'passage-excerpts' from Chapter 1 as an appetiser :-)

Just read through these excerpts to see her awesome felicity of expression, and how she convinces her reader to partake of her vibrant thoughts on Criticism and Theory, in such an endearing way.

Now here we go…

Writing the first edition of Critical Practice was a learning experience for me. New theories were arriving from Paris by the planeload, giving rise to heated debate. They seemed to change everything we thought about culture in general, but there was only one way to find out what difference they made to the practice of reading in particular.

At that time the principal influences were Roland Barthes, whose scintillating S/Z represented my first encounter with post-Saussurean criticism, and Louis Althusser, who made clear that the educational institution was a place where cultural values were both inculcated and contested. Jacques Lacan was there, at least in the first instance, as an influence on Althusser. Michel Foucault was beginning to be there too, but not pre-eminently as a commentator on fiction or the literary institution. We did not yet know that his term, ‘discourse’, would come in English to mean everything cultural, and nothing in particular. Jacques Derrida had not at that time made much impact in the UK: I was under the impression that, in contrast to the Marxism of Althusser and Pierre Macherey, Derridean deconstruction was predominantly formalist. I could hardly have been more wrong: the logic of deconstruction has the effect of dismantling the founding assumptions of Western philosophy in its entirety.

Times have changed, and Critical Practice needs updating to take account of what we know now. Knowledge is like that: our current understanding will, no doubt, be superseded in its turn. To keep that temporal relativity in view, I have not tried to eliminate all elements of the period flavour of the first edition. But I have erased what would now mislead readers, and I have added a chapter on the critical implications of deconstruction, without seeing any reason to set it against the politics of Althusser and Macherey. Hasn’t Derrida himself acknowledged the contribution of revolutionary political analysis in Specters of Marx?

A Beatles Tribute.! In the city..!!

Yes! it's a pleasant surprise for all ye Beatles' fanzzz [including lukey boyyy!!!]

Mellow Circle presents ‘Beatles Forever’, a show in tribute to the rock band. It is directed by Prince ‘Sunny’ Abraham who was part of Disney India’s Beauty and the Beast.

The show will feature popular Beatles songs interspersed with audio visuals that will provide an insight into the lives and times of the band.

Proceeds from the show will go towards the running of Prathyasha, Mellow Circle’s home of hope for children with HIV. The show is to be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, 06 August and Sunday, 07 August 2016 at The Museum Theatre, Egmore.

Donor passes priced at Rs. 5,000 (admit 2), 1,000, 600 and 300 are available at Bookmyshow.com and Eventjini.com. For reservations, call 2822 6619.

Travel Stipends to Toronto for Graduate Students

Empire, Colonialism, and Famine in Comparative Historical Perspective

Toronto, October 28, 2016

*Travel stipends available (August 16 deadline)

The Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC) announces its conference Empire, Colonialism, and Famine in Comparative Historical Perspective, to be held at the University of Toronto on October 28, 2016.

Travel grants are available (up to $800.00 Canadian) to support scholars in deepening their understanding of colonialism and famine through engagement with leading scholars in the field. Priority will be given to graduate students. Please see the application procedure below and on the HREC website:  www.holodomor.ca

Note that awardees will be eligible for funding to attend a larger conference on the same topic to be held in Kyiv, Ukraine, in the spring of 2017.

Is Deconstruction passé ???

Dear Students,

I 'really really badly badly' wish you read Professor Spivak’s latest ‘one-of-its-kind’ Interviews, that she gave to Steve Paulson recently.

PC: LARB

'An academic superstar - a prolific scholar and co-founder of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University, now in her mid-70s, Spivak maintains the busy schedule of a globe-trotting intellectual'. Steve caught up with her shortly after she traveled to Lagos and before speaking engagements in London and Paris. Their chat ranged over a variety of subjects, on many things close to her heart: her translation of Derrida’s book, her views on her famous essay on the Subaltern, on deconstruction as critical intimacy NOT critical distance, on the hidden biases of the Western Intellectual tradition, on her studies, on her love for everything Indian, on wearing multiple hats, real education as an ethical practice, on her favourite theoretician Gramsci and finally on the crisis of the humanities today.

Well, as one of Spivak’s most ardent, craziest and devoted of fans, I find this interview quite a departure from her usual ‘ivory chair-types’, in that, this interview is simply ‘lovely’! [for want of a better word!]

A Gayatri Spivak is a Gayatri Spivak is a Gayatri Spivak Spivak Spivak! J

Do read this interview HERE,

and also

don’t forget to read HERE my transcript of her plenary talk in Assam, which I had the good fortune to be a part of, and transcribe it too!

In addition, you might also love reading Spivak’s wonderful article titled ‘Many Voices’ HERE.

I could find a lot of interesting correlations and ‘praxis-connect’ between the interview given to Steve and the talk that she gave in Assam. So here’s to you from Spivak’s Plenary talk.

A mythical trek of 'unearthy delights' it really was!

A memorable trek of awesome proportions... that will remain unfaded in our memories for a longgg longgg time to come!

Our trek team!

After we had narrowed down on our prospective trekkers, with only one prime condition – please assure yourself that you are medically fit for the arduous yet adventurous trek! – eighteen prospective trekkers had finalized their readiness to get into ‘trek-mode’, - and that includes one Research scholar from VIT- Vellore, two ladies - PhD research scholars from University of Madras, six MCCians, and four trek-enthusiasts each from Anna Nagar and Mogappair respectively, and last but not the least, this blogger – who is also the Asst Coordinator of the trekking expedition.

Ms. Deepa, the Coordinator of the trek, is a dynamic entrepreneur too! She has her own online Apparel Management Company and is an established multitasker of sorts! Her little daughter Phia was the cynosure of all eyes, and she instantly got into the best of vibes with me - her rufus uncle! (Well, by the time the trek was over, she called me over to her and said, you are my best uncle ever! Ha ha.. that’s a lovely compliment at that!)

this is waterfall-pool One!

Even as we started off exactly at six in the morning, and went around picking our trekkers at their allotted destinations, we could see – to our consternation - high above us, thick dark rain clouds hovering all over us, threatening to burst at the seams at any given point of time!

We were getting really worried!

All the more because, a trek with rain coats and umbrellas would be the last thing a trekker hopes for!

Even as we were crossing Pichatur town and entered Arai village, that borders the wonderful lush-green trekking mount, the sky was still overcast!

And to our sweet surprise, throughout the day it remained so, which made our trek all the more memorable!

The trek trail, winding through beautiful cascading waterfalls, sylvan and pristine jungles, crystal-clear streams etc etc etc… was literally an ‘unearthy sight’ for mortals like us to behold! At first sight, it looked like we had entered some mythical world of yore – with no pathways in sight – and yes! Your google maps or GPS navigation et al have no use whatsoever, here! No tower signals from base camp even! So literally you are cut off from the rest of the madding crowd before you embark on your once-in-a-life-time adventure of sorts!

Smooth, glistening, slimy, rounded pebbles of all hues n shades even at a depth of ten to fifteen feet within the pools, was clearly visible to the naked eyes in the crystal clear streams that flowed throughout the trek pathway!

Pool One, that came after an arduous yet adventurous trek, was for two youngsters to freak out - one was phiya n the other was rufus! And so did the others!

Since phia was an adept swimmer, she joined me in the deep waters – sometimes as deep as forty feet – and phia was literally freaking out amongst the watery cum slippery rocks that carried the waters down with such beautiful intensity n awe..!

Interesting Facts on the Nobel Prize in Literature

Awards: 108 Prizes to 112 Laureates

Awarded women: 14

Shared prizes: 2

Number of Nobel Prizes in Literature: 108 Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded since 1901.

It was not awarded on seven occasions: in 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1943.

Number of Nobel Laureates in Literature

112 individuals have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature from 1901-2015.

Youngest Literature Laureate

To date, the youngest Literature Laureate is Rudyard Kipling,best known for The Jungle Book, who was 42 years old when he was awarded the Literature Prize in 1907.

Oldest Literature Laureate

The oldest Nobel Laureate in Literature to date is Doris Lessing, who was 88 years old when she was awarded the Prize in 2007.

Female Nobel Laureates in Literature

14 women have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was the first woman to be awarded in 1909. Selma Lagerlöf was awarded five years before she was elected to the Swedish Academy, the Nobel Prize awarding institution responsible for selecting Nobel Laureates in Literature.

UGC-Sponsored National Seminar

The All-time 'Famous Forty' Nobel Laureates in Literature

No.	Year	Important Nobel Laureates
1.	1907	Rudyard Kipling
2.	1913	Rabindranath Tagore
3.	1923	William Butler Yeats
4.	1925	George Bernard Shaw
5.	1927	Henri Bergson
6.	1929	Thomas Mann
7.	1930	Sinclair Lewis
8.	1932	John Galsworthy
9.	1934	Luigi Pirandello
10.	1936	Eugene Gladstone O'Neill
11.	1938	Pearl Buck
12.	1946	Hermann Hesse
13.	1948	Thomas Stearns Eliot
14.	1949	William Faulkner
15.	1950	Bertrand Russell
16.	1953	Sir Winston Churchill
17.	1954	Ernest Miller Hemingway
18.	1957	Albert Camus
19.	1962	John Steinbeck
20.	1964	Jean-Paul Sartre
21.	1969	Samuel Beckett
22.	1971	Pablo Neruda
23.	1973	Patrick White
24.	1976	Saul Bellow
25.	1982	Gabriel García Márquez
26.	1983	William Golding
27.	1986	Wole Soyinka
28.	1992	Derek Walcott
29.	1993	Toni Morrison
30.	1995	Seamus Heaney
31.	1996	Wislawa Szymborska
32.	1999	Günter Grass
33.	2001	Sir V S Naipaul
34.	2003	John M. Coetzee
35.	2005	Harold Pinter
36.	2006	Orhan Pamuk
37.	2007	Doris Lessing
38.	2012	Mo Yan
39.	2013	Alice Munro
40.	2014	Patrick Modiano

While doing an in-depth study of a literary figure, the clue for an effective and involved reading is to try summing up the essence of his/her oeuvre in a maximum of five points.

For example, if you take up Rudyard Kipling for study, the essence (including his USP) of his oeuvre could be summed up thus –

A List of Books/Articles on Postcolonial Theory

Dear Students, 

Please find in the link HERE, an admirable List of Important Books / Articles on Postcolonial Theory, Compiled by Dr. V. S. Joseph Albert, with added inputs from Samuel Rufus.

With all best wishes,

Rufus

International Conference on Environmental Leadership

International Conference on

Environment Leadership for Academicians

in cooperation with

Environmentalist Foundation of India

ONE-DAY SUMMIT

29.07.2016, 9.30 a.m. - 2.30 p.m.

Goethe-Institut Auditorium

Registration on first-come, first-served

Goethe-Institut Chennai | Max Mueller Bhavan

the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany has

created an Excellency project

“Water | City | Chennai – the future in our hands”

to create a dialogue on urban water.

“Water | City | Chennai – the future in our hands”

Eco-Tourism beckons you...

Wanna be an eco-tourist? visiting fragile, pristine, and relatively undisturbed natural areas, seeking authentic local experiences and connect with fellow eco-conscious travellers?

Our trekking/camping team goes regularly on trekking/camping adventure trips on the last Saturdays of every month in a team of 20 to 25 members.

Tada Falls

This month, [on the last Saturday - 30 July 2016] we have decided to go to Tada Falls / Ubbalamadugu Falls in Andhra Pradesh.

If you wanna join us, after assuring yourself that you are medically fit for the same, mail me at rufusonline@gmail.com rightaway!

However, this trek can't be done by children and the elderly. If you are above 23 years of age, and medically fit for a daunting yet exciting and fun-filled trek, decide now.

We also plan on camp fires and campfire cooking too!

Well, Tada Falls is located 92 km from Chennai, in Varadaiahpalem mandal of Chittoor district on the border of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

MIDS Workshop - July 2016

Topic: Non-Violence in Relations and Non-Injury in Modes of Thinking: 

Transforming the Subjective and the Objective and the Calling of Transpositional

Speaker: Ananta Kumar Giri, Professor, MIDS

Chairperson: Godavarish Mishra, Professor, 

Dept. of Philosophy, University of Madras

Date: Thursday, 21-07-2016, 3:00 P.M.

Venue: ADISESHIAH   AUDITORIUM, MIDS

All are cordially invited!

The Woods and the Floods! Reminiscences...

Planting tree saplings and gardening are my favourite pastime. Whenever I get a wee bit of that precious extra time, I take along a spade, cudgel, shovel etc, in ‘garden-work clothes’ and with a wonderful friend for company – shaktimaan in tow…

Yes, we call him shaktimaan for the myriad and marvelous ways in which he helps all and sundry in the lovely little neighbourhood of ours.

Green Drive...!

He’s a retired officer from the Secretariat, Chennai, and his love and fondness for helping his society is unparalleled.

He would accomplish any work assigned to him in no time!

During the Chennai floods, his work was way beyond ordinary, and he was also honoured by the Rotary for that!

And well, our sapling-planting-drive usually happens for four days a month – shaktimaaan has his handy almanac (kinda panjaangam) to show the time the rains come – and we gear ourselves for this favourable season of the month, in advance!

When we go on our 'sapling-planting' drive, most of our friendly neighbours accompany us to do their ‘little might’ that they could possibly offer - a kinda team effort!

And yes! our team has never said a NO to anyone who comes asking for tree-saplings to be planted in or around their residential areas, so much so that, our team is quite popular for our society-oriented initiatives!

We each chip in with a minimum of Rs.1,000 per month for our social initiatives. Sakthimaan gives the highest! Most of the money is invested on good fencing for tree-saplings – tree guards, and other paraphernalia!

[Well, yes, if you stay in or around Nolambur or Mogappair West, do give us a call or even mail us! We would help you plant the best saplings for your kind of soil – and give you saplings too free of cost! The only duty expected of you is that, you promise to guard the sapling till she nourishes herself well enough to become an adorable tree!!!]

‘Tree-sapling plantings’ apart, we also have a host of lovely and interesting people all around our house as wonderful neighbours. One among them is an Excise officer, who would spend time with all of us – describing his adventures in the ‘customs’ domain, every other day. He extols MCC as hoo hoo haa haa, and myself in turn, would express curiosity in his adventures as Customs Officer. One fine evening, for over 90 minutes, he was going on and on, talking about his adventures in Customs to Sakthimaan, Ammachi, and a couple of equally ardent and enthusiastic listeners that includes myself! He is just around forty years! The fire in his eyes, the passion in his demeanour and the vibrancy in his talk was very much palpable when he was describing his work experience in the sea, checking huge vessels for customs clearance, and airports, to check cargo containers for clearance.

Elocution Contest 2016

Shriram Ilakkiya Kazhagam, the literary wing of Shriram group, is organising Thirukkural Elocution Contest 2016, the annual state-level competition from July 30 to August 28 for school and college students.

The preliminary rounds will be held in the city on July 30 at Dr. MGR-Janaki Arts and Science College for Women, R.A. Puram.

The contestants will be divided into four groups: juniors, seniors, super seniors and college. Institutions can send two entries from each class. Last date for registration is July 23.

Application forms can be collected from No. 145, Santhome High Road, Mylapore or downloaded from www.shriramchits.com. For details, call 4021 4100.

Books on Canadian Literature

Dear Friends, Blog readers and Well-wishers, 

I am glad to announce the publication of our next two books: the first one is titled Current Trends in Canadian Literature: A Critical Appraisal, co-authored with Ms. Remya Vincent, Assistant Professor of English, and an expert on Canadian Literature. The next book, co-authored with Dr. S. Armstrong is titled Explorations in Canadian Literature. A sneak preview of both the books are given below. The books will be released this month-end, at the University of Madras, Chennai.