"Peripheral Modernity and the South Asian Literary-World" is a conference panel, jointly held by Sourit Bhattacharya (University of Warwick) and Priyanka Basu (SOAS, London), at the 24th Biennial European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS), to take place at the University of Warsaw, Poland, July 27-30, 2016. Here is the proposal in short and long abstracts:

Short Abstract
How has South Asian literary and artistic work responded to the recent crisis in capitalist world-system? Papers sought that take "peripheral modernity" as analytical framework and focus on literary form, space, rights and activism, economic crisis, global literary marketplace, and comparativism.

Long Abstract

The 2008 global downturn has compelled the social sciences and humanities to refocus on the concept of "crisis" in capitalism and rethink the relations between "core" and "periphery." What is crucial to this era of crisis is the emergence of the BRICS countries and the corresponding shifts in the world system. Debates on world literature and comparitivism have been alert to these readjustments (Moretti, 2000; Orsini, 2003; Spivak 2003; Damrosch, 2005; Warwick ReC, 2015) as well as the proliferation of the neo-social realist novel (Adiga, Hamid, etc).

Given the important place of South Asia in contemporary literary and cultural studies debates, this panel would like to interrogate the South Asian region through the lens of "peripheral modernity." In her article, "Aspects of Peripheral Modernisms," (ARIEL, 2009), Benita Parry asks the scholars in postcolonial and world literature studies to approach the modern 'world' not as multiverse or plural but essentially a 'one and unequal' system where core, peripheral, and semi-peripheral societies are coerced together for capitalist exploitation. Often such a system results in a literary mode that represents the "incongruous overlapping of social realities and experiences from radically different historical moments." (Parry 30). Borrowing from Michael Löwy, Parry calls this mode "irrealism" which is marked by the juxtaposition of "the mundane and the fantastic, the recognizable and the improbable, the seasonal and the eccentric, the earthborn and the fabulous, the legible and the oneiric, historically inflected and mystical states of consciousness" (Parry 39).

Parry's focus remains mainly on Eastern European territories, Middle East, and East Asia. This panel would like to expand the geography and interrogate the moments, modes, processes of capitalist modernity in the South Asian regions. Not only has there been a strong question of a subset of core and peripheries in South Asia in recent times, the popularity in production, consumption and circulation of literary and artistic products has compelled many to think of the alternative or shifting world capital of letters. Thus a study of South Asian literary world and peripheral modernity allow us a relational understanding of the history and consequences of capitalist exploitation in the periphery and the shifting geographies of world literary capitals in contemporary times. Some of the questions the panel raises are:
Is South Asia a periphery to the capitalist world system or has it set up its (associated) system of core and peripheries (enabled by the strategic and economic negotiations between India and other SAARC nations)? What role do 'social' components such as space, gender, or caste play in understanding the peripherality of modernity? Could terrorism or civil war, petro-capitalism or religious fundamentalism tell us more about this specific arena of capitalist modernity? How do we situate the vernacular aesthetics or the contemporary popularity of white collar English novels in this? Finally, how are we making a "literary world-system" in South Asia through the international circulation and reception of Anglophone literature and awards? The panel invites proposals based on literary, visual, and performance-based texts to uniquely situate South Asian transformations in the past decades.

The last date of sending abstracts for paper presentations is November 30, 2015. The abstracts must consist of: a paper title, the name/s or email address/es of the author/s, a short abstract of 300 characters, a long abstract of 250 words, and a short bio-note (75 words).

It should be submitted via the Propose a Paper link on the 'Panels' website. The link to the website is:

http://nomadit.co.uk/easas/ecsas2016/panels.php5?PanelID=3757

The 'propose a paper link' is at the bottom of the website, highlighted in red.

For any queries, please write to sourit.bhattacharya@warwick.ac.uk or priyankabasu85@gmail.com