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DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH,
FACULTY OF ARTS,
THE MAHARAJA SAYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY OF BARODA
VADODARA, GUJARAT
THRUST AREA OF THE UGC SAP DRS II
“Representing the Region:
Literary Discourses, Social Movements and Cultural Forms in Western India, 1960-2000”
The first phase of the DRS-SAP-I program of the department was concerned primarily in equipping us in terms of theorization, methodology and laying the foundation of the research infrastructure.In the second phase of the program we propose to build upon the work done in the first phase.
In the next phase, we intend to explore the plural and heterogeneous literary discourses and cultural artifacts in the context of representation of region and various social movements. Our research will focus on the complex interrelationship of the history of literature, cultural art forms, representation of region and various social and cultural movements in the western India.
Developments in literary theory and criticism have shown that literary discourses are inseparable from other social and cultural discourses, and cannot be conceived independentof the historical contexts in which they are produced, circulated and consumed. As we focus on the literary discourses of the western region of India, we will look closely at various social movements, discourses and cultural forms and examine the complex historical interrelationships and networks which connect and shape these discourses and are shaped by these discourses.
The major social movements in the western region of India include Maha Gujarat Movement and the Sanyukta Maharashtra Movement in 1950s,Bhoodaan Movement, Dalit movement, Navnirman Movementin 1960s and 1970s, Narmada BachaoAndolan and Ram Janmabhoomi Movement in the late 1980s and 1990s to more recent Janlokpal Bill movement. These movements have shaped and been shaped by various discourses regarding region, caste, community, religion, gender and class related identities and the politics of representation in the western region. Literary and cultural histories ofthe region need to be written in the context of these discursive paradigms. At the same time, literary discourses cannot be studied in isolation from other forms of cultural productions like visual culture, music, folklore and other productions of print media like journalism, advertising, and periodicals. Hence, the research will locate literary texts in these discursive networks and investigate into the complex interrelationships of these textual practices.
The research will also focus on the significant national and international historical events and processes that have shaped contemporary Indian society like linguistic formation of the states, Emergency, Cold-War geopolitics, urbanization, industrialization,Naxalite movements of the 1960s and the twenty-first century, caste-based reservation system and the consequences of implementation of the Mandal commission reports, impact of liberalization-privatization and globalization, advent of digital technology, ethnic violence, ecological disasters, corruption scandals that have rocked the country and study their impact on literary and cultural productions and practices.
A comparative critical framework can be developed and deployed to examine the cross-regionalcross-linguistic movements likemodernist avant-garde movements, Dalit movements, nativism, feminist movements which played out in a variety of ways in divergent historical contexts. As examples of how similar movements played out different in different regional and historical context, one can consider how Gujarati Dalit literature evolved in contrast and in relation to Marathi Dalit literature or how nativism in Marathi as propounded by the likes of BhalachandraNemade among others and in Gujarati as promoted by AjitThakor and the editors of Gadyaparva journal played itself out differently. A theoretical analysis of these divergences and convergences will have to take into account the historical, regional and social structures and ideological frames which bear upon these movements. Radical literary movements like ‘little magazine movements’ of the 1950s and the sixties which flourished in Maharashtra and Gujarat can be fruitfully researched in their pan-Indian and in their international contexts. The revitalization of ‘little magazine movements’ in the 1990s in Marathi was directly connected to the impact of globalization, liberalization and privatization on society.
In second phase of UGC SAP DRS we also propose to carry on developing the research infrastructure in terms of library, digital archive, technologically state-of-the art department, and journal and book publication.We will also continue providing research expertise for scholars who want to research the thrust area of the department.We also intend to continue offering mentoring and development programs for creating research and scholarship in the thrust area in the form of undergraduate courses, postgraduate courses, and PhD program. This will also extensively disseminate the knowledge generated from the research in our society. We also propose to keep creating opportunities for researchers to continuingly share, discuss and debate their research in the thrust area in the form of colloquia, workshop, and seminars as well in form of journal, occasional monographs and conference proceedings.Such research activity will have significant relevance to contemporary times and when this research is disseminated in form of curricular and pedagogical practices, it will enrich the knowledge base of our society and make our department a premier institution in the above mentioned research area in our country.
Our vision for the next five years is to contribute significantly to research on representation of identity, society, culture and literary discourse. We plan to document and build an archive of local materials on representations of Western Indian region in order to enrich research and teaching. We believe this will improve the professional standards of research and publications, in line with the disciplinary strides made within the context of English Studies, and would lead to rigor in teaching. This would allow a focus on broader purposes and uses.
Details of year-wise plan of work proposed
Year I
Infrastructure
•Initiate administrative processes to begin extension work
•Hire technical staff for digitalizing and web hosting the archives
Research Activities
•Identify areas of study and minor projects
•Digitalize existing material for archive
•Organize departmental planning workshop to put in place road map for research directions for 5 years
•Organize National Seminar on emergent themes
•Organize colloquia and National interdisciplinary workshop on emergent themes
•Organize AK Ramanujan National Paper Reading competition for postgraduate students based on the themes related to the thrust area
Year II
Infrastructure
•Order for equipment including air-conditioners for the seminar room
•Construct web portal for hosting digitalized archives
•Finalize building plans and acquire requisite approvals
Research Activities
•Organize National Seminar on emergent themes
•Continue ‘Retrieving the Nineteen Sixties: Culture in Gujarati and Marathi periodicals in English translation’ translation project for students
•Organize National interdisciplinary workshop on emergent themes
•Start occasional lecture series to augment existing scholarship
•Continue field work and acquisition of books and journals
•Organize AK Ramanujan National Paper Reading competition for postgraduate students based on the themes related to the thrust area
Year III
Infrastructure
•Initiate construction process for building /renovation work
•Acquire equipment in phased manner
Research Activities
•‘Retrieving the nineteen seventies: culture in Gujarati and Marathi periodicals in English translation’ translation project for students
•Organize colloquia and National interdisciplinary workshop on emergent themes
•Cataloguing, digitalization of material acquired, web publication
•Publication of completed research projects in the form of monographs
•Occasional lecture series to augment existing departmental scholarship
•Organize National Seminar on emergent themes
•Organize AK Ramanujan National Paper Reading competition for postgraduate students based on the themes related to the thrust area
Year IV
Infrastructure
• Continue extension of infrastructural facilities
•Acquire equipment in phased manner
Research Activities
•Organize colloquia and National interdisciplinary workshop on emergent themes
•Cataloguing, digitalization of material acquired, web publication
• Retrieving the Nineteen Eighties: Culture in Gujarati and Marathi periodicals in English translation’ translation project for students
•Organize International Seminar on emergent themes
•Organize AK Ramanujan National Paper Reading competition for postgraduate students based on the themes related to the thrust area
Year V
Infrastructure
•Completion and maintenance of infrastructural facilities
Research Activities
•Publication of Seminar proceedings and monographs/articles on research completed
•Occasional lecture series to augment existing departmental scholarship
•‘Retrieving the Nineteen Nineties: Culture in Gujarati and Marathi periodicals in English translation’ translation project for students
•Organize International Seminar on emergent themes
•Organize AK Ramanujan National Paper Reading competition for postgraduate students based on the themes related to the thrust area
•Organize curriculum development workshops to discuss ways in which completed research can be incorporated into curriculum
•Write project report