Seminar on Dalit Studies: Sephora Jose

 

REPORT TALK SERIES 1-RECASTING DIFFERENCE:AN INTRODUCTION TO DALIT STUDIES. Department of English Sacred Heart College, Thevara 25 August, 2021. INTRODUCTION The recent emerging field of Global South attempts to interrogate and explore the possibilities of cultural and literary applications of the term, broadening inter disciplinary contributions and making widespread interventions in the literary cultures of Global South. Such an intervention aims at rewriting the literary and cultural history in the field of Global South and setting up newer paradigms of thought in the disciplinary terrain of literary studies. With the burgeoning fields of interest and recent innovations in the field of literary studies, the English Department of Sacred Heart College, Thevara has initiated a lecture series entitled 'Thinking Global South'. The head of the English Department Dr. Rajesh James has elucidated on the wider scope of newer areas of interest in the field of literary studies and the need to explore such newer avenues of thought. The lecture series also attempts to equip and enable the postgraduate students to enter into research interests and areas. The first lecture of the series was conducted on 13th August, 2021 at 7:00 pm on the topic 'The Two Uses of Poetry:Sanskrit Literary Theory Beyond the Canon' by Dr Sreenath V S, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IISER Bhopal. The second lecture of the series was conducted on 20th August, 2021 at 7:00 pm on the topic 'Recasting Difference: An Introduction to Dalit Studies' by Sephora Jose, Senior Research Fellow at Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Around 50-60 participants, including MA students, PHD scholars and faculties took part in the session. DISCUSSION Sephora Jose initiated the lecture into the wider scope of Dalit Studies, exploring the increased need for academic engagement and its widespread academic relevance. One of the key goals of Dalit Studies has been to debrahmanize the disciplinary space of academia and the lecture has left no stone unturned in terms of underlining and exploring the various forms of anti-caste discourses. Professor Sephora also traced the historical trajectory of Dalit Studies, successfully capturing the notions of anguish, humiliation and the historical of Dalit trauma and agony. The lecture was successful in terms of initiating the students into Dalit epistemology and broadly mapping it's theoretical concepts. It also covered various dimensions and implications of caste, reformation and the strategies adopted by Dalit activists for resistance. Professor Sephora also made a foray into various forms of Dalit discourses by attempting an evaluation of the short story entitled 'Parable of the Lost Daughter' by Vinodhini. The creative exercise successfully underlined the idea of Dalit's quest for identity, social equality and the political and aesthetic significance of Dalit literature. Such Dalit readings of creative productions successfully tried to capture the complexities of Dalit experience and trauma. Representing the participants, Riya Ajit of 2M.A English Literature responded to the talk by pointing out how the talk emphasized the need to bring an interdisciplinary approach to Dalit studies by integrating it with other areas of interest such as Black Studies, African Studies, Anthropology and such. Various participants intervened with questions regarding the newer trends in Dalit studies, the current significance and scope of Dalit Studies and the attempts to widen the scope and research output of Dalit studies. Faculty members responded to the talk, emphasizing the significance of Dalit seminars and conferences, thereby bringing the voices of the marginalized to the centrestage and perhaps initiating a new step forward into finding newer ways of academic resistance and activism. Finally on behalf of the audience, Henna Mathew of 2 M.A English Literature expressed sincere gratitude towards Sephora Jose for the enriching and insightful session. She further thanked the wholehearted support and encouragement provided by the Principal, the Department of English and other faculty members, enabling the students to explore new areas of interests and thereby instigate academic interest and passion in literary studies. CONCLUSION The lecture was insightful and engaging, since it opened up new avenues of thought in the field of Dalit Studies and enabled the students to understand the experiences of the repressed and trace the historicity of Dalit trauma and agony. It also attempted to evaluate the theoretical discourse of Dalit studies and explored in great detail the various forms of Dalit narratives and its implications and broader significance. The lecture entitled 'Recasting Difference: An Introduction to Dalit Studies' significantly captured the need to "recast" the mould of Dalit studies and bring about newer differences and alternatives, thereby initiating unique forages and contributions to the newly emerging area of Dalit studies. RECOMMENDATIONS Students saw the lecture series as an incredible opportunity to explore various other fields of interest, renewing their interests and passions in literature and research. They are looking forward to more such opportunities to learn and grow and showed great interest in exploring other areas of interest such as Ecocriticism, Film Studies, etc.