Call For Publications: Breaking New Grounds: Perspectives on Recent Indian English Fiction (Collection of Essays):

Call For Publications:

Indian English writing, from its infancy, has been preoccupied with representing the nation. This national dimension of Indian English writing is undoubtedly its most distinctive feature. Indian English novels as a postcolonial genre emerged out of the colonial encounter, and it is only natural that “its concern has been with that equally postcolonial entity, the nation-state” (Priyamvada Gopal, 2009). India as a postcolonial nation is a classic case of the history-nation confluence.  Writers have been much beholden to this confluence as both history and nation come together to shape what political scientist, Sunil Khilnani terms, after Nehru, “the idea of India” (Khilnani, 1983). This national dimension of Indian English writing is undoubtedly its most distinctive feature. The 1980s witnessed a boom in these nation-centric narratives or “nationsroman” (Joshi, 2004). Largely revisionist in nature, the novels of the Rushdie-generation regarded the task of representing India and Indian history as a huge project.

But in more recent novels that have emerged after the fading of pan-Indian nation-centric trope in the texts of the Rushdie generation, the engagement with the nation and pan-national history has become much more diffused. This diffusion in the engagement with the pan-Indian dimension in the more recent works of Indian English fiction has taken diverse lines of development. On the one hand, a large number of novels have emerged that have sought to focus on the micro stories of regions and people which did not find a place in the earlier epic narratives of the nation. Unlike mainstream Indian English writings, these novels are written with settings in small towns of India, and they deal with the issues and problems most urgent and real to these regions and people. They show a keen sense of place or rootedness. The nation remains an integral concern of the writers. The younger and recent writers, though not rejecting the national altogether, seem to be moving away from pan-Indian nation-centric engagement to a more localized engagement with history, politics and Indian society. This concern with local allegiance and people seems to be increasingly the dominant tendency of recent Indian English novels.

Another significant development to this diffused approach towards history and nation is the growing urge of Indian English writers to tackle the issues of globalization and ramifications of economic liberalization. Indian English writing is now strongly embedded in the global frame, and it is now engaged in asking questions like “what shape does ‘India’ take fifty or more years after the independent nation-state officially came into existence on the world stage? How are older narratives of nation being rewritten or replaced by new ones that seek to break, remould or interrogate the former in the face of migration and globalization? Who owns ‘the past’ and what is the writer’s responsibility in relation to it?” (Gopal 2009). Apart from these broad trends, we can discern other new tendencies and thematic and ideological concerns in the new generation of writers. This new body of Indian English fiction in the new millennium have started dealing with such diverse issues as small-town life (The Bus Stopped and The Thing about Thugs by Tabish Khair, The Romantics by Pankaj Misra), gender transgressions ( Ratika Kapur’s The Private Life of Mrs Sharma), patriarchy and female desire (Anuja Chauhan’s Battle for Bittora), small histories (Alka Saraogi’s Kalikatha: Via Bypass, Aminuddin Khan’s A Shift in the Wind) fantasy (Meluha series by Amish Tripathi), Dalit life (Manu Joseph’s Serious Man), global terrorism, 9/11 and Indian Diaspora (Transmission by Hari Kunzru, Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos, The Disappearance of Seth by Kazim Ali), friction between old and new cultures (Saraswati Park by Anjali Joseph), drugs and underbelly of big cities (Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil and Eunuch Park by Palash Krishna Mehrotra), ethnicity, ethnic relations, insurgency and issues of identity, belonging and history of migration (e.g. fiction from the northeastern part of India by writers such as Siddhartha Deb, Daisy Hassan, Anjum Hassan, Janice Pariat, Dhruba Hazarika etc.), insurgency and political conflicts (Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir, graphic novel by Malik Sajad), child abuse and violence (Hush by Prateek Thomas, another graphic novel) among others.

 The editors of this proposed book are seeking contributions that shed fresh light on these new developments in Indian English fiction in the new millennium. The book envisages critical engagements with writers and texts that veer away from the usual focus on the writings of the Rushdie generation. Some of the writers and works mentioned above have received little critical attention. The proposed book, therefore, seeks to collect critically rigorous essays adopting different theoretical and thematic angles which will not only boost interests in these writers but also instil a new vigour and dimension to the study of Indian English fiction. Apart from the mentioned writers and texts, proposals are welcome from other writers who have started writing in the new millennium.

Abstracts (maximum 400 words) and short biographical notes should be sent to the co-editors Dr. Arindam Sarma (dr.arindam.sarma@gmail.com) and Himakshi Kalita (himakshisarma.kalita@gmail.com) by January 31, 2018.

If selected, the final papers will have to be submitted by March 30, 2018. The papers should follow the latest MLA style of parenthetical sources and works cited format.

Works cited:

Joshi, Priya. In Another Country. New Delhi: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004.

Gopal, Priyamvada. The Indian English Novel: Nation, History, and Narration. Oxford: OUP, 2009.

Khilnani, Sunil. The Idea of India. New Delhi: Penguin, 1983. 

Contact Info: 

Editors: Dr. Arindam Sarma (dr.arindam.sarma@gmail.com) and Himakshi Kalita (himakshisarma.kalita@gmail.com) 

Dr. Arindam Sarma

Assistant Professor

Department of English, Chaiduar College, P.O. Gohpur, Assam, India.

&

Himakshi Kalita 

Assistant Professor (Dept. of English)

Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Viswavidyalaya, Nagaon, Assam, India.

Contact Email: dr.arindam.sarma@gmail.com

CFP Books/Journals:Postcolonial British Generations

Call For Papers:

“My name is Karim Amir, and I am an Englishman born and bred, almost.

I am often considered to be a funny kind of Englishman,

a new breed as it were,

having emerged from two old histories.”

(Hanif Kureishi: The Buddha of Suburbia)

The process of human migration is as old as humanity, however, migration as we know it in a contemporary context has strong ties with the colonial past of the Western world, as colonisation, conquering, forming empires were one of the most massive processes of European history. Even if former Empires vanished in the 20^th century, the consequences, mindsets and socio-cultural heritage of the colonial past are still present. One of these components of the colonial heritage is migration, resulting from the displacement left and felt after the disintegration of imperial structures.

Though migration is a worldwide phenomenon, one of the countries and cultures most affected by the loss of the Empire and the intensifying migration in the aftermath of the imperial heritage is Great Britain. Their colonial enterprise and imperial domination ended and resulted in an increasingly multicultural and multiethnic society.

As a result of the decades that have passed since the beginning of modern migration, various multicultural and multi-ethnic environments have developed, and today we have the chance to examine the experiences of multiple generations of migrants; not only as a consequence of passing time, but also of post-colonial, diaspora, multicultural arts practiced by various generations of (im)migrants. The experience of migration, the challenges of settling down, fitting in and assimilating into a culture or keeping to one’s roots, cultures and languages– although often thought to be a homogeneous phenomenon – show not only individual differences, but elicit varying responses and strategies in different generations of (im)migrants.

While reading, watching, experiencing such pieces of art, a multitude of questions may arise. How many generations does it take to blend into a culture as someone having outlandish origins? Is there such an urge present in different generations at all? How do different generations of immigrants approach their cultural heritage? Are their examples of taking pride in being a(n) (descendant of) an immigrant? For how long is the offspring of immigrants considered as an n^th-generation immigrant? How long does the “us vs. them” narrative haunt contemporary societies? What are the attitudes (and do they show variations among different groups) towards the colonial past of Britain? How can the history of the Empire be revisited and possibly rewritten?

The 2018 Autumn issue of in esse: English Studies in Albania is inviting contributions that approach the above questions from an interdisciplinary point of view as represented in the fields of British literature, film and popular culture.

Topics for contributions may include but are not limited to:

·       migrant narratives

·       diaspora experiences

·       issues of cultural heritage(s)

·       problems of identity and identification

·       assimilation and/or embracing roots

·       multiculturalism

·       multi-ethnicity

·       in-betweenness

·       rewriting the colonial past/colonial texts

·       commenting on colonial strategies of representation

Please send an abstract of 250 words with 4-5 keywords as an email attachment to the following email address: fannifeldmann@gmail.com.

Contributions should not exceed 6000 words.Please follow the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition) for citation. Further queries should be addressed to the General Editor at armelap@assenglish.org or to the guest editor of the issue at fannifeldmann@gmail.com.

Deadline for abstracts: 20 February 2018

Notification of acceptance: 15 March 2018

Deadline for papers: 20 June 2018

For further information please visit: http://www.assenglish.org/

Contact Info: 

General Editor at armelap@assenglish.org or the guest editor of the issue at fannifeldmann@gmail.com

Contact Email: 

fannifeldmann@gmail.com

URL: 

http://essenglish.org/cfp/books-journals-2018-01-03/#postcolonial

Call For Chapters: Dialectic of Digital Culture-Editors: David Arditi and Jennifer Miller

Concept Note:

Idealist thinking marked the development of the Internet and digital technologies, especially in the 1990s. Writers, both academic and popular, imagined a more democratic world where information would be unrestricted, communication would erase space, and technologies would free our time. In many ways, rhetoric about the Internet and other digital technologies parallel the uncritical hope many found in the technological inventions of the scientific revolution and philosophical edicts of the Enlightenment. In Dialectic of Enlightenment, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer demonstrate that the exact developments in science and technology heralded by enlightenment thinkers as elevating freedom actually resulted in greater oppression of the masses.

Utopian (and dystopian) visions of technology surround us, but they tend to obscure more than they reveal. Nuanced accounts of existing digital phenomenon are necessary to identify the operations of power and complex cultural logics embedded in seemingly novel cultural texts and practices.

This edited collection aims to explore the contradictions of digital culture to provide the critical work necessary to understand the role of digital technology in contemporary society.

We seek theoretical engagements with the digital dialectic as well as case studies that explore the contradictions inherent in digital phenomena. Several contributors have been confirmed. Areas of scholarship currently underrepresented include (but are not limited to):

• Net neutrality
• Platforms – Amazon, Google, Apple, Spotify, etc.
• Professionalization/Commodification of “amateur” culture (fanfiction, crafts, ext.)
• Social Media
• Political Organizing
• Environmental Issues/Sustainability
• Dark Web – Tor
• Journalism (alternative facts; changes in print media)
• Disability Cultures

Please submit a 300-500-word abstract and 200-word author bio by March 1, 2018 to DialecticDigitalCulture@gmail.com. Drafts of accepted chapters will be due August 1, 2018.

Contact Email: 

DialecticofDigitalCulture@gmail.com

URL: 

http://www.uta.edu/theory/research/Dialectic_of_Digital_Culture-CFP.pdf

CFP: Special Issue on “Environment and Ethics”- UGC Approved Journal-BCJMS

Call For Papers:

Papers are invited for a Special Issue on “Environment and Ethics” to be published from Bhatter College Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies ( a refereed national journal approved by the UGC at www.bcjms.bhattercollege.ac.in ).

Areas of Submission

• Emerging issues and theories of Environmental Ethics
• Environmental ethics as represented in Art and Literature
• Environmental Ethics as an Interdisciplinary Area
• Classical theories of Environmental Ethics
• Environmental Ethics in the Social Sciences
• Activism around the world with Environmental Ethics
• Cultural Studies and Environment
• Archaeology and Environmental Ethics

Authors can also contact for inclusion of new areas in the theme.

Deadline: 15 January 2018.

Edited by

 Arabinda Paul

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Philosophy, Bhatter College, Dantan, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India.

Contact: arabinda.bc.phil@gmail.com

Call For Book Chapters:Women, Work And Well-being’ with ISBN Number

Call For Papers:

The book will be published by a national publisher with ISBN number. Chapters are invited on the topics mentioned below.


Book title: Women, Work and Well-Being












Chapters: Book is divided in three sections.

Section 1: Workplace Difficulties, Biases and Perceptions of Women
• Women in management and gender inequality
• Workplace discrimination against women sexual harassment at workplace
• Gender pay gap and well-being of working women
• Gender bias against women leaders
• Women is the enemy of women: understanding the intergenerational conflict
• Work life balance and well-being
• Women entrepreneurs and their performance and well-being
• Psychological well-being of working women
• Government policies, program and provision to safeguard the working women.

Section 2: Well-Being of Women across Different Professions
• Women in politics
• Women in administrative service
• Women in business
• Women in medicine and health care
• Women in construction section
• Women in IT
• Women in cinema 

Section 3: Enhancing Well-Being
• Optimism
• Mindfulness
• Social relationship
• Resilience
• Developing strength











Interested authors may send their chapter to mail id ‘drmanjumishrahrpg@gmail.com’ as per guidelines given in the attached sheet on or before 30th Jan, 2018. Please feel free to contact me on 9005788024 between 10.00 am to 7.00 pm.

With regards
Dr Manju Mishra
Associate Professor, Dept of Psychology
H R P G College Khalilabad, UP