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Call for Papers
Theme: On Differences, Togetherness and Politics
Subtitle: Reading Nazrul vis-à-vis South Asian Thinkers
Type: International Conference
Institution: Nazrul Centre for Social and Cultural Studies, Kazi
Nazrul University
Southfield College
Location: Darjeeling, West Bengal (India)
Date: 16.–18.9.2020
Deadline: 24.5.2020
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Concept Note
Nazrul, being the National Poet of Bangladesh, cannot be studied in
isolation from the issues related to nation, nationalism and
formations of identities based on differences and similarities.
Nationalism based on ethno-racial, geopolitical or religious terms
has already been proved to be a not only non- inclusive but also
often violent, intolerant, and discriminatory. Trying to link
liberalism with the issues of identity formation, thinkers like Neil
Mac Cormick, Will Kymlicka, Chaim Gans, Charles Taylor, and David
Miller, while making one’s choice and individuality central to one’s
attempt to form group identities have argued for framing of national
identity based on cultural and social contexts rather than on a
common ancestry. Despite the differences between ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘you’,
‘other’, etc., an individual, once conscious of being a
‘singular-plural’, is in a pursuit of becoming a ‘we’ out of
togetherness, based on the subjective choice. This choice of the
individual, on the one hand, is grounded on the consciousness of the
perils of a ‘solitarist’ identity, and on the other hand, is guided
by the possibilities of intimacies provided by the multiple cultures
of the civilizational domain where one is located. Integrity teaches
us about responsibility and objectivity in one’s way of engaging with
others, while the prerogative of intimacy, according to Kasulis, is
to orient the self with responsiveness and intersubjectivity in one’s
engagement with people who are the intimate-others. The South Asian
culture, thus, needs to be revisited with intimacy every time we as
South Asians, attempt to reorient ourselves with ever changing
notions of identities. The politics of intimacy aspires towards a
social bi/multi-orientationality that will allow an individual to
adapt oneself to different cultural contexts in a shared
civilizational domain. Nazrul Islam, with his interfaith and dialogue
with various intellectual traditions and communitarian praxes, is one
of the best suited models for the South Asians in addressing various
issues related to differences, togetherness, choice, identity
formations, nationalism and cultural syncretism.
The present seminar aims at revisiting Kazi Nazrul Islam to
understand the following issues in a better way:
- What, according to Nazrul and his works, has been the essence of
the civilizational domain that we call South Asia?
- Accepting the markers of what makes one a Bengalee or a
Bangladeshi, shouldn’t one need to move beyond them towards a
broader cultural orientation of inclusiveness in order not to
contradict with the spirit of Nazrul’s multi-cultural nationalism?
- What are the various social bi/multi-orientationality that one can
learn from Nazrul in course of one’s politics of intimate belonging
towards togetherness?
- How has Nazrul agreed to or differed from the other South Asian
thinkers of intimate consciousness through cross cultural
recognitions and responsiveness?
- How and why is there an urgent need for the contemporary South
Asians to revisit Nazrul in orientating the self about engaging with
the people of differences?
Papers are invited for presentation, related to any of the following
sub-themes:
- Differences and Exchanges: Nazrul and His Works
- Togetherness in a multination: Lessons from Nazrul
- Politics of Belonging with Others: Insights from Nazrul
- Nationalities, Identities and Beyond: Nazrul in a Comparative Lens
with South Asian Thinkers
- Relevance of Nazrul in Contemporary South Asia
Submissions
A limited number of presenters will be invited to participate in the
international conference. The participants interested in presenting
paper are requested to mail an abstract of the proposed paper (within
500 words), along with five keywords and a brief bio-note (within 250
words) to Srikanta Roy Chowdhury (e-mail: nazrulodtp2...@gmail.com;
WhatsApp: +91 9832481951).
Last date for submitting abstracts:
May 24, 2020 till 12:00 midnight.
Date of confirming the acceptance to the selected participants:
May 30, 2020.
The participants invited for the conference should mail the first
draft of their complete paper in English, unpublished and with proper
citations (as per the style sheet to be provided along with the
letter of acceptance) by August 30, 2020.
The organizers can reimburse the travelling expenses (if required)
and will be happy to provide hospitality from September 15 afternoon
to September 19 forenoon, 2020. Terms and conditions will be
intimated along with the
