This blog is an online forum for students of the M.Phil course "Seminar II", offered at the Centre for English Studies, JNU, coordinated by Professor GJV Prasad, on the topic of Indian English Literature. This is a space in which we can share and discuss our ideas as we work towards a complete seminar paper to be delivered at the end of the semester.
Participants are encouraged to post regularly, updating the group on the progress they have made within their individual areas of research. Comments on posts have been enabled so that the entire group can constructively criticize, and give their feedback on the ideas developed by their peers.
My recommendation is that we use this forum as a collective reading journal, where we post weekly or bi-weekly reports/critiques on our readings. Additionally, broader ideas and thoughts on the topic of Indian English literature may be shared. We could also suggest readings for each other. The important thing, as professor Prasad stressed in our first lecture, is to engage with the ideas of the entire group, so that apart from our expertise within our own area specialization, our knowledge of the broader topic develops as well.
Our first post could be a brief introduction to our individual areas of interest within Indian English Literature. It would be expedient to do so within this week, so we can have some idea of what to discuss in the next class.
Some of you may be new to Blogger, but it's dead easy to use. Email me if you have any difficulties. So cheers to everyone, and merry reading!
-- Prayag Ray (Blogger name: Elendil)
Edit and update: In your introductory posts could you please also mention your real name? Blogger identities often give no clue. For instance, while "Akash Raha" is clearly the real, inimitable Akash Raha, who "to seize upon the midnight with no pain" is, is a mystery.
Great work Prayag.
ReplyDeleteLet's get going folks.
gjv prasad
hi guys
ReplyDeletedo post your topics here asap
gjv prasad
I will work on selected autobiographies by 'Indians', especially Dalit autobiographies written in English. I will deal in general with autobiographies in English written by 'Indians' in the presentations, and for the final paper I will focus on Dalit autobiographies written in English. Is that ok Sir?
ReplyDeletePlease all participants in the course may also give their suggestions, comments, counter points....
Thank you,
Abdul Hameed
And one more, the present criteria of the course for Indian English writing does not allow me to bring M. K. Gandhi's 'experiments' with the genre (An Autobiography of My Experiments with Truth) into the discussion, since it is a translation in English. But, considering the popularity of the English version, can we bring the book into discussion?
ReplyDeleteHamid, that sounds fascinating. I was going to recommend Laxman Gaikwad's "The Branded (Uchalya)" till I realized that's a translation as well.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble you'll have, I think, is that there are probably very few Dalit autobiographies written originally in English. After all, the downtrodden classes have little or no access to the English language. I did a course on Subaltern Literatures in JU, and we read a few Dalit lifestories, but they were all in translation.
That is precisely the reason why I think of discussing them.. In fact, I think, there will be something interesting to see, and I wish to use the term 'personal narrative' instead of 'autobiography'. Let's see how it works...
ReplyDeleteHameed, there is Narendra Jadhav's 'Outcaste: A Memoir', I had worked on that for my presentation for the Dalit Literature course in JNU. I have the text with me, if you dont have it already. We dealt with many more autobiographies. Sharan Kumar Limbale's was another one. But I cant remember whether it was originally written in English or not.
ReplyDeleteP:s It would be more convenient if you would re-post your topic as a new post than as a comment.
I will get the book from you then and give me some directions since you have already worked on it. I think Limbale's work is originally in Marathi. I will post it separately.
ReplyDeleteDalit autobiographies is a well-researched area -- you need to acquaint yourself with all scholarly work in the area, whereas i it seems to me that you havent read sufficient primary texts in the first place. The question to ask yourself before you work on the area is simply "why" -- why do you want to work on this area? What is the objective and what is the scope of the work? Why I wanted to stick to Indian English lit in this course is simply bec you can do other indian lits in Prof Paranjape's course, though he too will ask you similar questions. You need to read a lot and read fast. I dont think you have a credible area yet. By the way, Gandhi is actually an interesting writer because he actually worked on the translations and gave his approval after due diligence. Again, whatever you choose to study, you will have to work out your rationale clearly. If you want to work on autobigraphies by "Indians", why? Why is "Indians" in quotation marks? Are you making something of this category? Are you bringing nationness and genre together? Why?
ReplyDelete