ICSSR Sponsored Two Day National Seminar on Off the Mark : Marginality, Narratives, and Reclaiming History organized by Dep t of English Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Purulia Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University was established under State University Act in 2010. Since its inception, the university aspires to be a premier centre for advanced knowledge and quality research with its root firmly planted in the advancement of local knowledge. Vibrant presence of the students, highly committed and resourceful faculty members will, hopefully, transform the university as an academic destination of the future, an institution of global standard, catering to the service of the nation and larger mankind. About the Department: Starting its journey on and from 23 September 2011, the Department of English, SKB University is marching towards academic excellence with determination. The department boasts of an active team of four faculty members. It has been making its way steadily through time and fulfils the academic needs of the students and their overall growth. Location: Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University is located in the district town of Purulia, West Bengal. It is well connected with Kolkata and rest of India through South Eastern Railway. Concept Note Since 1980s of the last century, grand narratives began to be questioned. In Indian context, even Bankim Chandra contested the singular monolithic version of a form of history inflecting on kingship and statecraft. This critical imperative was used as a theoretical paradigm for NiharRanjon Roy s rewriting of traditional formation of history. He, therefore, commented in BangalirItihas(1949): Apart from the mythic and Brahminical validation,
there have been no critical space for the subalterns, such as the landless and the ignominious, the marginalised labour force, though they formed the essential mass of human population. This, perhaps, was labelled by DipeshChakravorty as the asymmetry of ignorance (Postcoloniality and the Artifice of History, 1992). It is pertinent to discover new paradigms of minority histories. In the context of her discussions on marginality, Spivak, therefore, laments: Theories are always off the mark, but without it we would have nothing to (un)do (Consequences of Theory, 1991). This seminar, which will be interdisciplinary in nature, opens up an interactive platform to engage in active discussions that seek to redefine the problematics of marginality in the context of India and that of a new global world-order. The present global scenario is moving across multi-layered challenges like sub nationalism, rise of global mobility and threats of infringements. Confronted with such competing challenges, it is pertinent to rewrite marginality and articulate the shifting terrains of multiple spaces of the historiography of marginality. This seminar will address, but not strictly limited to, the following issues: 1. Representation of marginality in various texts 2. Questioning and reconfiguring marginality 3. Marginality and Marginality Thinkers 4. Marginality and caste 5. Marginality and gender question 6. Marginality and Dalit aesthetics 7. Marginality and social violence 8. Marginality and film 9. Marginality and media 10. Marginality, legalities and policies Submission of abstract: We encourage submission of abstracts (as.docx file, maximum 300 words) following latest MLA Format by e-mail with Marginality Seminar submission in the subject line by 25 th Novemmber, 2016. Please add a brief bio-note and send it as a separate attachment. All abstracts should be sent to Dr.JatiSankarMondal (jatism@gmail.com)
Submission Guidelines: 1. Articles should be written in MS Word, Times New Roman font, Font size 12, double spaced and should normally not exceed 6,000 words. 2. Articles should be submitted with the cover page bearing only the title of the article, author/s names, designations, official addresses, phone/fax numbers, and email addresses. If there are two or more authors, then the corresponding author s name and address details must be specified clearly. Author/s name should not appear on any other page. 3. After Title page, there should be a declaration of originality of the article. 4. All articles must be accompanied by an abstract of 150 200 words and 4 6 keywords. The abstract to be placed after the declaration of originality of the article. 6. Use single double quotes throughout. Single quotes only to be used within double quotes. Spellings of words in quotations should not be changed. 7. Quotations of 45 words or more should be separated from the text and indented with one space with a line space above and below. Notes should be numbered serially and presented at the end of the article. 7. Use twentieth century, 1980s. Spell out numbers from one to nine, 10 and above to remain in figures. However, for exact measurements, use only figures (3 km, 9 per cent, not %). 8. Use of italics and diacriticals should be minimized, but used consistently. 9. Tables and figures to be indicated by numbers separately (see Table 1), not by placement (see Table below). Present each table and figure on a separate sheet of paper, gathering them together at the end of the article. All Figures and Tables should be cited in the text, and provided in editable format. Caption and source details for figures and tables should be mentioned irrespective of whether or not they require permissions. 11. All photographs and scanned images should have a resolution of minimum 300 dpi and 1500 pixels and their format should be JPEG. All photographs and scanned images should be in black and white, including the photo essay. Due permissions should be taken for copyright protected photographs/images. Even for photographs/images available in the public domain,
it should be clearly ascertained whether or not their reproduction requires permission for purposes of publishing (which is a profit-making endeavour). 12. A consolidated listing of all books, articles, essays, theses and documents referred to (including any referred to in the tables, graphs and maps, images, etc.) should be provided at the end of the article as work-cited. Key Dates: Last date for submission of Abstract: 25 th November, 2016 Notification of Acceptance: 27 th November, 2016 Conference Date: 7 th 8 th December, 2016 Submission of Full Paper for Publication: 5 th December, 2016 Registration Fees: Rs. 1500 (for Delegates) Rs 1000 (for Scholars) Rs. 400 (for PG Students) The Registration includes Seminar Kits, working lunch, tea and snacks. Accommodation: Though it is not possible to provide free accommodation, the conference team will help arranging suitable accommodation on the basis of prior information by 30 th November. Conference Venue: Seminar Hall Administrative Building Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Ranchi Road, (Near Sainik School) Purulia 723104 Address for Communication: Website: www.skbu.ac.in Dr.JatiSankarMondal (Convenor) jatism@gmail.com Mobile No. 9434386738