25 Feb“It is important to put writers into perspective by understanding the context of the period in which they wrote”, were the opening remarks of Shri Pradip Mehra, Advisor to the UT Administrator, while inaugurating the 3-day 10th International Conference on ‘Contemporary Issues: Literature and Culture since 1980’ and the first Chandigarh Lit Fest organized by MELUS-MELOW (The Society for the Multi-ethnic Literature of the United States – The Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the World) in collaboration with Panjab University and Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi on the University Campus this morning.
Reminiscing about his days as a student of the English Department, Shri Mehra rued the fact that today classics were being overshadowed by ‘Pop Lit’, and that too one that catered to an increasingly diminishing reader constituency.
In his welcome address, Prof. G. Kataria, President, Melus-Melow, gave an overview of the work done by the non-profit organization, MELUS since its inception in 1973 and MELOW since 1998, for the promotion of world literature. Prof. Manju Jaidka, Secretary, MELUS-MELOW and Chairperson, Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi, introduced the theme of this year’s Conference.
The Keynote address was delivered by Prof. Harish Trivedi, Post-Colonial scholar and visiting Professor to many national and international universities. Focusing on ‘India, America and World Literature’, he spoke of the very meaning of the word “ethnic”, which comes into play “when you are not where you should be, when you are not where you belong”. But he also said that this was a definition that cannot be applied to literature, the buzzword in fact, being ‘World Literature’ and the need to be “ethically sensitive rather then ethnically sensitive”. “Today world is the circumference and the US is not the centre”, Prof. Trivedi said.
Parallel technical sessions were held across multiple venues wherein papers ranging from analytical treatise on classical literature, to film studies to media case studies, were presented.
Dr Dipankar Roy from West Bengal was the recipient of the Isaac Sequeira Memorial Award for the best paper presented at the last Conference held in Shantiniketan, Kolkatta.
Over 200 delegates, including 20 from abroad, are attending the conference.