Since the cultural turn of the 1970s that placed culture at the centre of scholarly debates, the field of cultural studies has expanded to explore the presence of meaning, affect, society, and thought in academia. Etymologically drawing upon the Latin “colere”, culture implies growth and cultivation, also accumulation and acquisition. Raymond Williams defined it pluralistically, calling culture a way of life at once material, intellectual and spiritual.

Stuart Hall fused Marxism with Gramsci to call culture an interpretative struggle. Closer home, India has diverse cultures, but cultural studies is still emergent, intersecting the disciplines of English, psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, film studies, and the like, borrowing methodology and theory, building on occasionally “eclectic” approaches to studies of culture (R. Nayar, Cultural Studies in India, 2016). Raising more questions than answers, cultural studies has many prismatic frames of recognition, some of which this seminar aims to illuminate. In this endeavour, literature will provide a platform to examine certain truths about culture, premising this seminar on concerns both global and local.

This one-day seminar will dwell upon the intersections of literature and culture, encompassing a diversity of perspectives from the textual to the mythical, differences of class and caste to commonalities between diasporic communities, the familiar and the unfamiliar stretching across popular culture, countercultures, and minority cultures, interpreting and translating diverse contemporary perspectives on culture.

We encourage postgraduates and young research scholars from different schools of humanities to consider a wide range of literature and genres. Proposals are not limited to, but can consult the following as thematic guideposts:

• Mythology and its contemporary manifestations
• Classic(al) adaptations
• Film and Literature
• Graphic Narratives and Visual Media
• Science Fiction
• Writings from the Margins
• Trauma and Memory Writing
• Diasporic Narratives
• Indian Writings
• Intersections between Literature and Technology 
• Cultural processes of Identity formation

Proposals of not more than 300 words accompanied by a bio-note of a maximum of 100 words should be emailed to literatureandculture22davchd@gmail.com by 12th October 2022. Selected presenters will be allowed 12 minutes to present their papers. Working drafts of not more than 2500 words will be due by 29th October 2022.

The seminar will be held in offline mode on 3rd November, 2022 at DAV College, Sector 10, Chandigarh. The two best papers from the seminar will be awarded a certificate of appreciation based on their originality of content, presentation of argument, paper-reading skills, and adherence to deadlines.

A seminar fee of Rs. 500 per participant covering refreshments, lunch and a seminar kit will need to be deposited at the registration desk on 3rd November 2022. No boarding or lodging will be provided. A certificate of participation will be awarded to all presenters at the close of the seminar.

Important dates:

Last date for abstract submission: 12th October, 2022

Notification of acceptance:            16th October, 2022

Submission of full paper:                 29th October, 2021.

Conference fee:                                 Rs. 500

Please feel free to write to literatureandculture22davchd@gmail.com for any queries.

Patron-in-chief:

Dr. Pawan K. Sharma (Principal, DAV College, Sector 10)

Patron:

Prof. Gagan G. Singh (Head, Dept. of English, DAV College, Sector 10)

Organising Committee:

Dr. Kriti Kuthiala Kalia (Assistant Professor, Dept. of English)

Dr. Ritu Sharma (Assistant Professor, Dept. of English)

Dr. Nishtha Saxena (Assistant Professor, Dept. of English)

Ms. Ishita Sareen (Assistant Professor, Dept. of English)