23rd MELOW Conference, held from 6 to 8 October 2023 at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Chandigarh

The 23rd MELOW Conference, held from 6 to 8 October 2023 at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, focused on the theme “Borders, Boundaries, Lines of Control: Literature Across Disciplines in Contemporary Times.” The event drew scholars from across India and the world, featuring 34 sessions with 144 presenters. The conference began with an inaugural session that highlighted the conference’s connection to humanism and transcendence, drawing parallels with the teachings of the Gurus. The keynote address by Prof. ML Raina set the tone for discussions on borders and transnational literature.

Sessions explored various themes, such as the human/non-human binary, trauma, memory, and the ecological consciousness in literature. Papers examined the complex relationships between history and memory, environmental ethics, animal subjectivity, and the portrayal of violence and identity in contemporary narratives. Presenters analyzed works from writers like Geetanjali Shree, Mahasweta Devi, and David Foster Wallace, focusing on the impact of trauma and displacement in their stories.

The Isaac Sequeira Memorial Lecture, delivered by Prof. Tej Nath Dhar, discussed the relationship between science, technology, and literary imagination in the 20th century. The conference fostered a dynamic intellectual exchange, encouraging deeper reflection on the role of literature in addressing contemporary global issues.

Session C1, chaired by Prof. Jayshree Borah, explored literature, trauma, history, and cultural identity. Presentations included an analysis of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, exploring war, truth, and memory through Nuri and Afra's experiences. Another paper discussed Purple Hibiscus, highlighting the violence and trauma within a Nigerian family and its long-term effects, especially on women. A third paper focused on partition poetry, capturing death and destruction, while the final paper analyzed foodways as a bridge to cultural identity and collective memory.

Session C2, chaired by Dr. Kavita Arya, centered on trauma, memory, and identity formation, examining the fluid nature of memory. Presenters discussed how both personal and collective memory, especially post-trauma, affect identity. One paper analyzed the role of violence and trauma in shaping identity, while others explored identity formation related to race, gender, and marginalized communities, blending magical realism and fantasy to empower these groups.

Session C3, chaired by Dr. Amit Narula, addressed trauma, violence, and memory, particularly focusing on the body’s behavioral response to trauma. A paper analyzed rape trauma in Shakespeare’s plays, highlighting the erasure of the feminine voice. The session also discussed how trauma leads to violent thoughts and affects both individual and collective memory, compounded by ecological issues and insurgency, especially in North-East India.

Session C4, chaired by Dr. Khagendra Acharya, explored works like Valley of Chaya, discussing collective trauma from human trafficking in Mumbai brothels, and Sleeping on Jupiter, which dealt with childhood trauma. Other papers examined healing through oral traditions in Ceremony and the emotional impact of Partition in Sleepwalkers by Joginder Paul, addressing how national narratives shape personal trauma.

Session C5, chaired by Prof. Cetintas, focused on Palestinian trauma and resistance, digital literature, and the experiences of Kashmiri Pandits in Our Moon Has Blood Clots. One paper examined how these intergenerational experiences shape memory, while another discussed violence and trauma in Shashi Deshpande's short stories, with characters fighting back against their perpetrators.

Session C6, chaired by Prof. Manpreet Kaur Kang, highlighted how literature challenges traditional trauma narratives with bold characterizations and narrative techniques. Other papers explored environmental hazards, mental health, and trauma linked to the Partition, particularly through the works of Ritu Menon and Kamla Bhasin. The session concluded with discussions on how positive guidance in literature helps adolescents cope with trauma.

Session D1, chaired by Prof. Dipankar Purkayastha, examined the impact of violence and trauma across cultural contexts. Papers analyzed Nadia Murad’s autobiography on Yazidi trauma, adolescent violence in black neighborhoods, and the emotional wounds of Partition. Presentations also explored trauma in contemporary plays from Kashmir and Tibet.

Session D2, chaired by Dr. Renuka, explored the relationship between fiction in films (reel) and reality (real), highlighting how movies mirror and influence real-world issues. This theme showed the power of cinema in shaping thought and providing insight into societal issues.

Session D3, chaired by Prof. Krishnan Unni P, discussed poetry in the post-truth world and the dichotomy between natives and elite natives in third-world countries. Presentations compared post-colonial literary works and explored the generational shift in attitudes toward Western ideals, focusing on The God of Small Things.

Session D4, chaired by Prof. Tej Nath Dhar, examined death rituals in North-East Indian fiction, discussing how death awareness fosters self-awareness. Presentations also explored how fear and misinformation are commercialized in the post-truth world and how literature re-engages with the past, especially in the works of Salman Rushdie and the Tibeto-Burmese community’s resistance.

Session D5, chaired by Dr. Shimi Doley, discussed Salman Rushdie’s Victory City as a national allegory about religious fundamentalism and violence in India. The session also delved into the concept of pure consciousness in poetry, linking metaphysical thought and Kashmir Shaivism with self-realization.

The ISM Lecture, chaired by Prof. Sanjay Mukherjee, featured papers on the impact of World War II on South Asia, Wiesel's characters' trauma, and the complexities of human-non-human relationships. Mr. Amitrajeet Mukherjee won the Isaac Sequeira Memorial Award for his paper on South Asia’s WWII legacy.

The conference, held from 8-10 October 2023, featured diverse and thought-provoking sessions. Session E1, chaired by Dr. Namrata Nistandra, explored 'post fashion' and its connection to diasporic designers, as well as Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide that weaves human, animal, and nature in the Sundarbans. Session E2, chaired by Prof. Rimika Singhvi, examined memory, trauma, and post-human cyborg subjectivity in dystopian films.

In Session E3, chaired by Dr. Susmita Talukdar, discussions focused on poetry, nationalism, subaltern history, and reproductive justice, with attention to Virginia Woolf and Margaret Atwood’s works on motherhood and autonomy. Session E4, chaired by Prof. Jappreet Bhangu, explored cultural memory in The Museum of Innocence and the irrationality of collective memory in The Autumn of the Patriarch.

Session E5, led by Dr. Sunaina Jain, delved into human-non-human relationships in children’s literature and the co-constitution of environmental injustices.

Technical Session F1, chaired by Prof. Krishnan Unni P, explored death through graphic reportage, Camus’s Plague, and existential questions about immortality.

Session F2, chaired by Prof. Roshan Lal Sharma, focused on partition trauma in Tamas and Jhootha Sach, labor in All That Breathes, changing portrayals of motherhood in Indian cinema, and the intersection of literature and cinema.

Session F3, chaired by Prof. Manpreet Kaur Kang, discussed Christian missionaries’ role in trauma, memory in dystopian fiction, psychoanalysis, and the cultural impact of death on grief and community.

Session F4, chaired by Prof. Jappreet Bhanghu, examined spatial analysis in Jhumpa Lahiri’s works, political themes in the Ramayana, Sri Lankan conflict satire, and trauma and survival in literature.

Session F5, chaired by Prof. Sanjay Mukherjee, addressed themes of life and death, vulnerability and resilience in art through Simone Weil and Frida Kahlo, Sri Lankan war trauma, and war literature from contemporary Afghan writers, highlighting unique perspectives on societal conflict.

In Session F6 chaired by Prof Dipankar Purukayastha, the speakers discussed various aspects and facets of trauma, violence, and memory in literary works.

The conference concluded with discussions on trauma, memory, and the Anthropocene, providing a platform for critical and creative engagement, welcoming scholars from all stages of their careers.

Further the conference successfully moved beyond the mere compartmentalization of critical structures and theoretical paradigms and gave platform to presentations on post truth, post fashion and posthuman subjectivities.

Finally, this was an inclusive conference for scholars at all stages of their careers thoroughly welcoming both early career researchers and several profoundly experienced ones. The strong creative element of the presentations with a suitable number exploring dimensions of poetry further helped to broaden the base of deliberation and make it more inclusive.