- LITERATURE FOR PEACE: NARRATIVES OF CO-EXISTENCE

In 1827, Goethe famously proclaimed that World literature can promote better international understanding, serve as a link between national literatures, and facilitate the exchange of ideal values. It can be an “intellectual barter system”. Around the same time, Shelley believed that poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. And about a century later, on Sept 1, 1939, WH Auden spoke of the poet’s voice that can undo the folded lie of the man in the street and the powers that be. The question that arises is – does literature have the power to make a difference? Can it provide peace and happiness for a world in pain? In an age marked by violence and fragmentation, we are compelled to ask what writers – poets, philosophers, thinkers – can do to counter the tides of hatred and suspicion, and restore a measure of balance to human civilization. At the same time, we in India wonder what happened to the ahimsa that the father of our nation wished to promote in the world?

At a moment when the world urgently needs to pause and reflect on its unceasing fractures, the 28th MELOW International conference proposes to examine the role of literature in fostering peace and coexistence.

The conference will be held at Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat. Gujarat, being the home of Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy of ahimsa, offers a fitting context for such deliberations. Surat, too, is not only a mercantile cosmopolitan city but also one historically influenced by many cultures; it promises to be a meaningful backdrop for dialogue across differences.

Bringing together like-minded scholars and thinkers from different backgrounds, the annual MELOW 2026 conference aims to explore the various dimensions of peace as imagined in literature. Peace is not a simplistic or ideal state; it emerges through tensions, compassion, contradictions, and dedicated human endeavour.

 The suggested thematic strands include:

1. From conflict to peace: How literature translates violence into empathy
2. Interreligious harmony and pluralism in literature: Gandhi, Tagore, Aurobindo, Nanak, Kabir, Amir Khusro, and beyond
3. Women’s writing for peace: Maternal voices, domestic spaces, caregiving
4. Ecologies of Peace: The bond between nature and human life
5. Building peace through humour: Satire, comic inversions, clowning as a means of dissolving aggression
6. Building peace through children’s literature: Teaching compassion and tolerance through storytelling

Abstracts (200-250 words) are invited on any of these sub-themes.

Keep in mind: (i) our mandate is World Literature. (ii) Abstracts will be checked for plagiarism and AI-Generated content.