Nonfiction in Indian Languages
CALL FOR PAPERS
Proposed Title of the book: Nonfiction in Indian Languages
Concept Note
Nonfiction, a genre of writing that comprises of a very wide variety of writings, has not received in India the kind of critical attention it deserves. Nonfiction writing includes narrative nonfiction, biography/autobiography, travel writing, self-help writing, writing on photography, gardening, health and fitness, music and much more. In case of India, all these sub-genres have seen extensive output not just in English but also in all the regional languages of the country. Secondly, it is not a product only of recent times, but has been trickling from pre-Independence era to the present. As such, the non-fiction produced in India is quite comprehensive both in the terms of quality and quantity.
In spite of this variety and quantum of nonfictional works produced in India, there are very few critical studies discussing this particular genre. There are a few books which review a particular sub-genre, for example, autobiography, in a particular language like Bengali or Oriya. However, a comprehensive collection of scholarly articles that presents the state of the art of non-fiction across the sub-genres and regional languages is still awaited.
The proposed edited volume will explore the rich and relatively ignored tradition of Indian Nonfiction. It aims to rope in scholars from different regional languages who would write a state-of-the-art review of non-fiction or a sub-genre of it in one particular Indian language. The editors believe that this kind of work where information of different writers and their writing from different literatures of India available at one place will be of great help to researchers not just from India but also from outside and will turn out to be an important reference book.
We wish to invite scholarly papers from scholars interested in Nonfictional writing from the following sub-genres (but not limited to) written in English and all regional Indian languages:
- Essays
- Life-narratives, Self-narratives, Memoirs, Biographies and Autobiographies
- Food and Culinary studies, Cookbooks
- Children’s Nonfiction
- Narrative Nonfiction
- Historical Nonfiction
- Philosophy, Religion and Spirituality
- Self-Help and Parenting Guides
- Science Fiction
- Business and Economics
- Education- Early Childhood, Young Adult and Tertiary
- Fine-Arts: Music, Painting, Architecture, Crafts, Photography Sculpture
- Ecology and Environment Studies, Gardening and Nature Care studies.
- Healthcare and Fitness
There are a multitude of genres in the nonfiction category. Many of them overlap, and some of them cover very niche subject matters. We hope that the assemblage of different papers will add something important to the discourses and contemporaneity of Indian Nonfiction. The collection of papers may give rise to some new and neglected themes, unheard voices, and perspectives.
Submissions could address the suggested areas but may not necessarily be limited to these. You are welcome to address some related relevant area too.
Submission Guidelines
It is proposed to publish the edited volume in association with Manipal Universal Press (MUP), Karnataka. Paper submissions should be about 5,000 to 7,000 words in length and prepared in accordance with the recent MLA style manual. Submissions should be in Times New Roman, 12-point font, with 1-inch margins, and single-spaced.
The last date to submit the completed papers and a short biography (200 words) is 18 June 2024. Double-blind review process will be employed for the selection of the papers. Contributors will be notified of acceptance status via email after the completion of the review process. The copy editors may suggest certain revisions.
In the Subject line, please indicate “Proposal for …..(Type of Nonfiction) …………(the particular language in which the selected Non-fiction is written)
Contact email: dr.langare@gmail.com, triptikarekatti@gmail.com
Editors: Dr. Tripti Karekatti and Dr. Chandrakant Langare
Department of English,
Shivaji University, Kolhapur.
Maharashtra. 416004.