Report: IACLALS ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2020
IACLALS ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2020
CO-HOSTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY
FEBRUARY 5-7, 2020
Reimagi(ni)ng Identities in the Global South: Challenges, Transgressions and Articulation
Secretary's report
Taking the Iaclals' largely Poco preoccupations to a university that has recognisably been the cornerstone of English Studies in this country, was if not quite the prodigal's return, also not a violent yoking of confrontational interests and ideas. This coming together at Jadavpur, was best illustrated by our Keynote Speaker, Prof Sukanta Chaudhuri who brought his formidable Renaissance scholarship to a discussion on identity -'parichay' and its shifting, kaleidoscopic comprehensiveness. There were linkages subtly and finely mined, for a plugging in of our burning present day debates.
Being in Kolkata's mild winter temperatures was also a relief for many of us traveling from the cold North. JU's sunny, smoker friendly campus was perfect for the mandatory conferencing adda and catching up. A special mention has to be made about the food - the Bengali fare that we sampled all three days on campus was excellent, as was the fancy buffet dinner that our hosts very generously took us us to. Prof Nandini Saha, has been an impeccable host, ever smiling and warm while managing the usual chaos that a mammoth conference like this carries. She fire fought truant glitches and fine tuned details with unflappable efficiency. Thank you, Nandini. Many thanks also to members of the English Department at JU, as well as the wonderful student volunteers who were always solicitously at hand.
Of our two grand annual Prizes, the MMP and the CDN, the year's MM Memorial Prize went to Ritwick Bhattacharya for his essay, "The Politics of Translation: Disability, Language and the In-between", published in Disability in Translation: An Indian Experience, Eds GJV Prasad, Someshwar Sati. Our Jury members for the Prize were, Sirpa Salenius - University of East Anglia, Tapan Basu - University of Delhi and Subhendu Mund - Former Vice Chair, Iaclals. Our thanks to the judges for their time, and their fine comments and reading. Congratulations once again, Ritwick.
The excitement at the CDN Panel, has also made it our unofficial betting gig at the conference. This year's winner was Srinjoyee Dutta. Srinjoyee has the rare honour of winning the prize two years in a row. This year she won a closely fought contest for her entry, ‘More vegetal than sexual: An ontological reading of gender and madness in Han Kang’s The Vegetarian'. Many congratulations, Srinjoyee.
This was also election year at the Iaclals, and as has been our history and our practice, the entire process was managed with utmost professionalism, bonhomie and overall geniality. Under the aegis of the Election Officer, Prof Somdatta Mandal the existing team led by Prof GJV Prasad, seamlessly handed over charge to Prof Asaduddin, who takes over as the new Chairperson of the Iaclals. His team comprises Dr Swati Pal as Vice Chair, Dr Albeena Shakil as Secretary and Ms Kalyanee Rajan as Treasurer. Our warmest congratulations to the new team. We know this is a team that will steer the Iaclals to greater partnerships, conferences and academic investments. Our very best wishes.
Along with Prof GJV Prasad, we old teamers will be hi-fiving our way into less stressful roles as future conference participants - not organizers. But with the promise of being always just an email/phone call away for anything we could pitch in with for the Iaclals.
Dr Rina Ramdev
Associate Professor
Department of English
Sri Venkateswara College
Delhi University
CO-HOSTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY
FEBRUARY 5-7, 2020
Reimagi(ni)ng Identities in the Global South: Challenges, Transgressions and Articulation
Secretary's report
Taking the Iaclals' largely Poco preoccupations to a university that has recognisably been the cornerstone of English Studies in this country, was if not quite the prodigal's return, also not a violent yoking of confrontational interests and ideas. This coming together at Jadavpur, was best illustrated by our Keynote Speaker, Prof Sukanta Chaudhuri who brought his formidable Renaissance scholarship to a discussion on identity -'parichay' and its shifting, kaleidoscopic comprehensiveness. There were linkages subtly and finely mined, for a plugging in of our burning present day debates.
Being in Kolkata's mild winter temperatures was also a relief for many of us traveling from the cold North. JU's sunny, smoker friendly campus was perfect for the mandatory conferencing adda and catching up. A special mention has to be made about the food - the Bengali fare that we sampled all three days on campus was excellent, as was the fancy buffet dinner that our hosts very generously took us us to. Prof Nandini Saha, has been an impeccable host, ever smiling and warm while managing the usual chaos that a mammoth conference like this carries. She fire fought truant glitches and fine tuned details with unflappable efficiency. Thank you, Nandini. Many thanks also to members of the English Department at JU, as well as the wonderful student volunteers who were always solicitously at hand.
Of our two grand annual Prizes, the MMP and the CDN, the year's MM Memorial Prize went to Ritwick Bhattacharya for his essay, "The Politics of Translation: Disability, Language and the In-between", published in Disability in Translation: An Indian Experience, Eds GJV Prasad, Someshwar Sati. Our Jury members for the Prize were, Sirpa Salenius - University of East Anglia, Tapan Basu - University of Delhi and Subhendu Mund - Former Vice Chair, Iaclals. Our thanks to the judges for their time, and their fine comments and reading. Congratulations once again, Ritwick.
The excitement at the CDN Panel, has also made it our unofficial betting gig at the conference. This year's winner was Srinjoyee Dutta. Srinjoyee has the rare honour of winning the prize two years in a row. This year she won a closely fought contest for her entry, ‘More vegetal than sexual: An ontological reading of gender and madness in Han Kang’s The Vegetarian'. Many congratulations, Srinjoyee.
This was also election year at the Iaclals, and as has been our history and our practice, the entire process was managed with utmost professionalism, bonhomie and overall geniality. Under the aegis of the Election Officer, Prof Somdatta Mandal the existing team led by Prof GJV Prasad, seamlessly handed over charge to Prof Asaduddin, who takes over as the new Chairperson of the Iaclals. His team comprises Dr Swati Pal as Vice Chair, Dr Albeena Shakil as Secretary and Ms Kalyanee Rajan as Treasurer. Our warmest congratulations to the new team. We know this is a team that will steer the Iaclals to greater partnerships, conferences and academic investments. Our very best wishes.
Along with Prof GJV Prasad, we old teamers will be hi-fiving our way into less stressful roles as future conference participants - not organizers. But with the promise of being always just an email/phone call away for anything we could pitch in with for the Iaclals.
Dr Rina Ramdev
Associate Professor
Department of English
Sri Venkateswara College
Delhi University
