Organizer: DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA, NEW DELHI
About the Conference
- When: 9th-11th November 2023 (Three Day)
- Abstract submission last date: 20th August 2023
- Notification of acceptance: 1st September 2023
- Full paper submission: 30th October 2023
- Allotment of presentation date and time: 5th November 2023
This conference attempts to trace the many facets of the Northeast region by delving into the narratives that come out it. The conference will also take into account not just the literary aspects of the region but will also put an emphasis on understanding and highlighting the grassroots issues of the literary movements and challenges faced by various literary/language groups. The thrust of this conference will also focus on the political and ethnic issues of the region – its genesis, history, nature of contestation, and the way forward.
Call for Papers
CONCEPT NOTE:
For many, the term Northeast India simply connotes an area – alienated and tribal. The term at times evoke the distance of ‘historical imagination’ and emotional dissociations the mainland India and her state apparatus have. Northeast today has come to mean a plethora of what India can and cannot. Cursory bureaucratic attempt to explain the area and its people through paraphrasal writings have also resulted in diversifying the stereotypes inherent within the term. Many well-meaning writers from outside Northeast through their works have also contributed in exoticizing the already overly romanticised area, without touching on the reality of the region and its people.
While journalistic approach has confined to highlighting the region’s problem of insurgency and the various issues of militancy along with the failure of governance. The crux issue of what defines the region, its people’s aspirations, and fears are seldom given any space and time in the narrative of the writers. The Northeast remains till date the most misconstrued region of the country.
Although the term “Northeast” was first used by the British in 1816 to identify a geographical area, Alexander Mackenzie’s 1869 report titled “Memorandum on the North-East Frontier of Bengal” was perhaps the first to use the term “Northeast Frontier” to identify Assam, including the adjoining hill areas and the princely states of Manipur and Tripura as a proper policy paper. This report was updated and published in 1884 as a full-fledged book titled, History of the Relations of the Government with the Hill Tribes of the North-East Frontier of Bengal. The publication of Meckenzie’s book gradually paved the way for the British from initially conceiving the region as a mere geographical area to gradually conceiving and understanding it as a conceptual geographical, economic, and political entity. However, throughout the colonial period even after the separation of Assam from Bengal, the British continued to refer Assam and its surrounding area as the “Northeastern Frontier of Bengal”. The perception that the Northeast as a frontier of Bengal that needs to be protected and defended militarily continued till the British left India in 1947
The debate on whether the Northeast region fulfils a concrete definitive meaning as a political and geographical entity continues to this day. According to Barrister Pakem, a renowned scholar from Northeast India, the lack of sophisticated definition to describe the northeast region does not in anyways disqualify the region from being a ‘non region’. It is a region despite its varied physical features and its different economic, political, and social systems. Scholars often question the practical relevance of clubbing all the eight states together and calling it the “Northeast”.
Udayon Misra points out that the use of the term “Northeast” is itself problematic as the region represents a varied cultural mosaic and has never considered itself to be one compact unit. Wasbir Hussain also observes that, “By bracketing the eight Northeastern Indian states, with its diverse tribes, customs and cultures, into what is called the ‘Northeast,’ we tend to ignore the distinct identity and sub-national aspirations of these ethnic groups. More so, such clubbing together of the region, in an attempt to look at it as a single entity, has led to stereotyping of the problems that plague the area. The fact that each state has a different set of location specific concerns and grievances often gets blurred in the scheme of things of policy framers and government leaders who are supposed to address these issues.” Thus, Northeast India is a region of diverse geographical features with a population characterized by diversity of ethnicity, language, culture, religion, social organization, and levels of economic development.
The Changing Notion of the Term Northeast
Although the term ‘Northeast’ was used at the time of Independence basically to mean Assam and the princely states of Manipur and Tripura, the attempt to satisfy the various ethnic aspirations of the region has resulted in creating new states mostly by carving out of Assam: Responding to the political aspirations of the various Naga tribes the government of India created Nagaland in 1963, the state of Meghalaya was established in 1972, resulting in the transfer of Shillong, to the newly established state. Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram were given statehood in 1987. The establishment of North Eastern Council in 1971 as a planning body to look after the economic and infrastructural development of the region also contributed in formalising and popularising the term. Sikkim was included in the NEC in 2002 although the state did not meet the contiguity criteria.
The recent developments of English writings from the Northeast by the early 1990s have to an extent overshadowed the distinctive literary history of Assam, Manipur, and other literary community. The surge of the new crop of writers in English have brought about a form of homogeneity in perspectives, though by no means the writers represent uniformity in experience, thought, and expression. The post–independent, post-colonial, Nehruvian political and administrative policy have to a certain extent, contributed in bringing about a certain sense of ‘shared alienation’ or ‘shared belongingness’ within the Northeast writings. By the early 1990s many writers began to write from the Northeast region–they have made a name for themselves and have successfully established themselves as major writers not only of the Northeast but also of the country. The following names are considered by and large as the most established writers of the region whose works have become the voice and marker of Northeast writings
Mamang Dai, Yumlam Tana (Arunachal Pradesh), Navakanta Baruah, Nilamani Phookan, Hiren Bhattacharya, Harekrishna Deka, Bhupati Das, Lakshahira Das, Dayananda Pathak, Umakanta Sarma, Rupanjali Baruah (Assam), Robin S Ngangom, R. K. Madhubir, R. K. Bhubonsana, Kunjarani Longjam Chanu, Yumlembam Ibomcha, Thangjam Ibopishak, Raghu Leishangthem, Arambam Ongbi Memchoubi, Saratchand Thiyam, Ilabanta Yumnam, Gambhini Devi (Manipur), Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, Desmond L Kharmawphlang, Tarun Bhartiya, Pijush Dhar, Ananya S Guha, Anjum Hasan, Paul Lyngdoh, Donboklang Ryntathiang, Almond D Syiem, Esther Siyem, Bevan L Swer, Indari Siyem Warjri (Meghalaya), Mona Zote, Cherrie L. Chhangte, Lalrinmawii Khiangte, L. Biakliana, H. Ramdinthari (Mizoram), Temsula Ao, Monalisa Changkija, Easterine Iralu, Nini Lungalang (Nagaland), Rajendra Bhandari, Guru T. Ladakhi (Sikkim), Bhaskar Roy Barman, Niranjan Chakma, Jogamaya Chakma, Bijoy Kumar Debbarma, Narendra Debbarma, Nanda Kumar Deb Barma, Kalyanbrata Chakraborti, Krittibas Chakraborty, Swapan Sengupta, Sudhanya Tripura, Sefali Debbarma, Chandra Kanta Murasingh, Pijush Routh, and Gambhini Sorokkhaibam (Tripura).
SUB THEMES:
- Language
- Cultural Movement
- Translation
- Ethno-nationalism and the Northeast
- Borders and its narratives
- Political issues and Representation
- Literary Movements
- Gender and Literature
- Folklore
- Songs and oral narrative
- Representation of trauma, healing, and recovery
- The role of publishing and distribution in literary circulation in the Northeast
- Impact of popular culture and media on literary reception in the Northeast
- Comparative studies
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
- Selected scholars will have to submit their complete paper before the conference.
- All selected papers will be published.
- Paper and Abstract need to be formatted as per the MLA 8th edition
- Paper Formatting:
- Font Name: Times New Roman
- Font Size: 12 for body and 14 for header
- Line Spacing: 2.0
- Alignment: Justified
Paper proposal no longer than 350 words in length for 15-20 minutes should be sent to the organizing committee at northeastconferencejmi@gmail.com on or before 20th August, 2023.
ORGANISING COMMITTEE
Advisor Prof. Simi Malhotra, Head, Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Coordinator Dr. AC Kharingpam, Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Members
Prof. Mukesh Ranjan
Prof. Saroj Kumar Mahananda
Prof. Anuradha Ghosh
Saima Mallik
Mamta Sharma
Ananya Bora
Reshma Gupta
Arghya Dey
Contact: northeastconferencejmi@gmail.com
or +91-9999152003