National Seminar Brochure on Thinking through Gandhi: Examining a Century and a Half of Literary and Cultural Discourse

20-21 NOVEMBER 2019 CALL FOR PAPERS Two-day National Seminar on Thinking through Gandhi: Examining a Century and a Half of Literary and Cultural Discourse organized by The Department of English KARIM CITY COLLEGE JAMSHEDPUR

Acclaimed historian, Ralph Buultjens, in the year 1984, wrote of M.K. Gandhi: \"Thirty-five years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ there was no indication that Christianity would emerge as one of the great spiritual forces of history. Around 450 BC, three decades after the death of Confucius, nobody could have predicted how influential his ideas would eventually become. And around 1915, thirty years after Karl Marx, the communist movement seemed doomed to be an inconsequential political aberration. Perhaps, then we are too near Gandhi to evaluate his impact on history.\" As we remember, honour, celebrate, and pay homage to the Father of the Nation on his 150th birth anniversary this year, we are perhaps no better equipped in temporal terms to assess the influence of his ideas. However, from the vantage point of a hundred and fifty years, it is amply clear that no public figure of the twentieth century had as significant an impact on the affairs of his day as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The undisputed leader of one of the greatest anticolonial revolts of his time, the name of Gandhi remains ideologically woven into every strand of twentieth century Indian socio-cultural life, and though he was greatly averse to the idea of a ‘Gandhism’ and to that of leaving his cult behind him, seven decades after his death he continues to be resurrected in political, literary, and cultural discourse, and to have an unprecedented afterlife, both within the nation and without. Though never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in his lifetime despite being nominated five times for it, the United Nations in the year 2007 decided to honour Gandhi by declaring his birthday as the ‘International Day of Nonviolence’. An inspiration to such impressive minds as Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela, the legacy of Gandhi, however, remains hotly contested. Both admirers and detractors abound and ideological debates continue to actively flourish with Bapu at the centre, richly proving Nehru’s words that Gandhi’s influence also extends “to those who disagree with him and criticize him.” The Department of English || Karim City College Jamshedpur 2 National Seminar on Thinking through Gandhi: Examining a Century and a Half of Literary and Cultural Discourse

As part of the global celebrations of 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi, the Department of English, Karim City College, Jamshedpur, extends a warm invitation to scholars and academics nationwide to deliberate on the impact, influence, and relevance of the persona, thought, and contribution of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi through a critical examination of the literary and cultural discourse stemming from him in the last one century and a half. The Two-day National Seminar looks forward to reviewing the life and afterlife of Gandhi through his presentations and representations in literary and popular culture in India and abroad, and invites papers for the following deliberative sessions: SESSION I : GANDHI WRITING M.K. Gandhi was a prolific writer. Ambidextrous, he could write with both hands though he usually preferred his left. A tireless journalist, author, orator, translator, and letter-writer, Gandhi’s writings stagger not merely by their bulk but by the immense wealth of the ideas that they offer, and the clarity and precision with which they are expressed. This session invites papers that focus on Gandhi’s imagination, philosophy, political thought, socio-cultural principles, religious values, and his inimitable stylistic approach through an avid textual engagement with Gandhi’s writings. The Department of English || Karim City College Jamshedpur 3 National Seminar on Thinking through Gandhi: Examining a Century and a Half of Literary and Cultural Discourse

SESSION II: WRITING GANDHI 4 Though Gandhi was no creative writer himself, the creative literary output of his era was distinctly marked by his ideological influence, and literature from every linguistic pocket of India bears traces of a Gandhian consciousness. While much has been said of Gandhi’s influence on Indian Writing in English, Gandhi as theme, motif, character, or ideology permeates literature in most Indian languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, and Assamese, to name just a few. This session looks forward to examining representations of Gandhi in literature, both from India and abroad. SESSION III: GANDHI IN CINEMA National and international cinema, over the years, has played a pivotal role in interpreting Gandhi for the popular imagination. From historical reconstructions of Gandhi’s role in national politics, to analyses of his assassination, to imaginative transcreations of his life, cinema has been one significant sphere where Gandhi has been repeatedly de-mahatmized and viewed as a representative of the ordinary humanity that he stood for, life-long. This session invites papers that deal with national and global cinematic representations of Gandhi in any form. The Department of English || Karim City College Jamshedpur National Seminar on Thinking through Gandhi: Examining a Century and a Half of Literary and Cultural Discourse

SESSION IV: GANDHI IN The following thematic areas, POPULAR CULTURE though in no way restrictive, are The resurrection of Gandhi in and through popular culture in the last two decades or suggested so has been overwhelming. Gandhi has featured in comic and graphic novels; in Gandhi and Nation classical and rap songs; in MTV episodes Gandhi and History and Youtube videos; and in caps, khadi Gandhi and Politics fashionwear, souvenir mugs, pens, Gandhi and Economics keychains and t-shirts to the extent that Gandhi and Religion our youth literally wear Gandhi on their Gandhi and Philosophy sleeves. He has been idolized, idealized, Gandhi and Ecology lampooned and continues through every Gandhi and Geography creative engagement, to be imagined in a Gandhi and Children’s Literature myriad new ways. This session looks Gandhi and Indian Writing in English forward to papers that enthusiastically Gandhi and Indian Literature engage with representations of Gandhi in Gandhi and World Literature popular culture. Gandhi and Stylistics Gandhi and Postcolonial Theory Gandhi and Subaltern Theory Gandhi and Gender Theory Gandhi and Translation Gandhi and Journalism Gandhi and Diaspora Gandhi and Cinema Gandhi and Iconography The Department of English || Karim City College Jamshedpur 5 National Seminar on Thinking through Gandhi: Examining a Century and a Half of Literary and Cultural Discourse

IMPORTANT SUBMISSION DATES GUIDELINES 05 SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACT Abstracts and papers should attempt to engage textually with the writings of Gandhi or his literary November 2019 and cultural representations. Abstracts of a diffuse nature or those that propose to deal tangentially 06 NOTIFICATION OF rather than concretely with the subject will not be ACCEPTANCE entertained. Abstracts and papers should be in English. However the organisers may allow papers November 2019 of exceptional importance in Hindi and Urdu also. Mail your abstract, in 400/500 words, typed in 12 15 SUBMISSION OF font size of New Times Roman with a line space of FULL PAPER 1.5, on [email protected] latest by 5th November 2019. Acceptance of abstract will be November 2019 informed through mail till 6th November. Send your full length paper of 2000/2500 words till 15th November 2019. Selected papers will be published through a renowned publishing house. Virtual presentation will be allowed on special request. In such cases the participants should send the recorded video of their paper latest by 15th November. All references should be made in the latest MLA format. Plagiarised abstracts or papers will be rejected. The Department of English || Karim City College Jamshedpur 6 National Seminar on Thinking through Gandhi: Examining a Century and a Half of Literary and Cultural Discourse

REGISTRATION FEE 7 Includes conference kit, tea and lunch during the days of the conference. It does not include accommodation. 1000/- INR Faculty Members and Others On Spot Registration 1500/- INR 500/- INR Research Scholars and Students On Spot Registration 750/- INR Kindly deposit the registration fee through NEFT in the account of Karim City College with bank account number 07631000010033 (IFSC PSIB0000763) of Punjab & Sindh Bank, Sakchi Branch, Jamshedpur latest by 15th November 2019. Accomodation has to be arranged by the participants. Jamshedpur offers moderate to high range accomodation facilities. Our organising team will be pleased to assist you for accommodation. The Department of English || Karim City College Jamshedpur National Seminar on Thinking through Gandhi: Examining a Century and a Half of Literary and Cultural Discourse

CHIEF GUEST Tushar Arun Gandhi The Department of English || Karim City College Jamshedpur 8 National Seminar on Thinking through Gandhi: Examining a Century and a Half of Literary and Cultural Discourse

MEET THE TEAM Dr. Neha Tiwari Co-Convener Dr. M. Zakaria Dr. Basudhara Roy Principal & Patron Co-Convener A. K. DASH Member S. M. Yahiya Ibrahim Saket Kumar Convener Member The Department of English || Karim City College Jamshedpur 9 National Seminar on Thinking through Gandhi: Examining a Century and a Half of Literary and Cultural Discourse

ANY QUESTIONS? Please write to us on [email protected] Contact Details Accomodation : Saket Kumar (+91-9631199900 Online Registration : Mahfoozul Haque (+91-9430109227) THANK YOU! For more details, contact S. M. Yahiya Ibrahim (Convener) +91-9431759629 Dr. Neha Tiwari (Co-Convener) +91-9835777769 and Dr. Basudhara Roy (Co-Convener) +91-7909020230 [email protected] visit: https://karimcitycollege.ac.in