[URBANTH-L] Call for Papers: Bridging Imaginations: Literature of the South Asian-Australian Diaspora

[amit sarwal]

Dear Friends,


Hi!



I am soon starting work on a collection of critical articles on the
literature of South Asian-Australian Diaspora, an effort to bring
together all the scattered critical material on this subject in one volume.



In the face of an urgent need for one, there are hardly any critical
collections dedicated to the ever growing literature of the South
Asian-Australian diaspora.



I do hope that you will support me in this endeavour too with a
contribution.

Hope to hear from you soon,.

Best regards
Amit

PS: Please circulate this email.
**
*Call for Papers:*

*Bridging Imaginations: Literature of the South Asian-Australian Diaspora*

* *

*Edited by Amit Sarwal *


The presence of people from the Indian subcontinent in various parts of the
world has given rise, in literary and cultural studies, to the critical
reading and understanding of the “borderline *figure*” of the migrant.
Migration of the South Asian people to Australia has resulted in a
continually growing and flourishing diaspora, one of the most prosperous
communities, with an ever-increasing role and responsibility in all areas of
society. This has also resulted in exchange of ideas on large scale through
cultural traffic – festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings etc. – as
well as academic traffic – exchange of students, research scholars and
faculty members through various exchange programmes, seminars, MoU’s,
academic associations, personal visits, awards and scholarships, writers in
residence programmes, joint publications, etc. These two trends – cultural
traffic and academic traffic – have also resulted in producing awareness
about the postcolonial South Asian-Australian diasporic literature.


This volume focuses on postcolonial South Asian-Australian writers and their
narratives, and celebrates their achievements and outstanding contribution
to the literature of the South Asian diaspora around the world as well as to
Australian cultural and literary life. Narratives of South Asian diasporic
authors with their multivalent themes and contexts are of special relevance
and are not only shared by both the Indian subcontinent and Australia –
people with distinctive and sometimes even opposing cultural backgrounds –
but also have to be considered as a part of the larger rubric of diasporic
literature and the way it imagines the contemporary world, bringing together
(bridging) different nationalities and a truly “global” perspective to
topical issues. In other words, this literature goes much beyond
representing the diasporic dilemmas to tackle matters that will affect the
future of human civilization itself.

Articles on a variety of issues, perspectives and themes, analyzing
particularly literary & cinematic texts, from diverse theoretical and
critical approaches are invited:

   - South Asian-Australian diaspora literary history,
   - the reflections on migration and diaspora in literature and other arts,
   - interaction between diasporas and “home” communities,
   - place of South Asian-Australian diaspora authors (and their works) in
   the larger postcolonial SA diasporic framework,
   - exploration of the otherness in the narratives of postcolonial South
   Asian-Australian writers,
   - contested relationships with dominant cultures and discourses, and
   - the effects of multiple cultural inheritances or hyphenated identities

*Note*:

1. Articles published in refereed journals dealing with theme are also
welcome.

2. Please attach a short biographical note (100 words) mentioning your
designation, university/institute, area of study, academic interests and
relevant publications. Include contact information (your postal and
preferred email address, phone and fax numbers).

3. This is a non-grant publication. The editor/publisher will provide each
contributor with one complimentary copy of the book.

* *
*Important Points*:
*Deadline*: 5 August 2009;
*Word Limit*: 4500 to 6000 words (MS Word);
*Style*: MLA (with Works Cited and Endnotes)



*Please feel free to send your queries and articles (MS Word File) through
email to: sarwal.amit at gmail.com*

* *

*Amit Sarwal* is Assistant Professor at the Department of English, Rajdhani
College, University of Delhi, India. From 2006-2007 he was an Honorary
Visiting Scholar at NCAS and SPSI, Monash University as an Endeavour Asia
Award winner (2006). He has co-edited *English Studies, Indian
Perspectives*(2006) with Makarand Paranjape and Aneeta Rajendran;
*Australian Studies Now* (2007) with Andrew Hassam; *Fact & Fiction:
Readings in Australian Literature* (2008), *Creative Nation: Australian
Cinema and Cultural Studies Reader* (2009) and *Reading Down Under:
Australian Literary Studies Reader* (2009) with Reema Sarwal, and *Australian
Made: A Multicultural Reader *(Sydney UP, forthcoming 2009) with Sonia
Mycak.