Call for Papers
The present seminar aims at considering this
interdisciplinary nature of book history, by setting up a platform for
scholars, researchers, people from the publishing industry, new media
scholars and students to initiate a dialogue regarding the scope and
future of this area of study particularly in India. There is no denying
that book history is still largely dominated by American and European
academies. Jadavpur University, Kolkata was the first institution in
India which started teaching book history as an optional course to its
post-graduate students. In Pune University, we introduced the course
again as an optional module to our post-graduate students in the year
2010. As Abhijit Gupta and Swapan Chakravorty note, “It has been an
intriguing feature of book history studies worldwide that most taught
courses in this field have originated in departments of literature,
rather than say history or economics. On the other hand, much opposition
to book history has also emanated from literature departments. One
suspects that in India, some constituencies in English studies might
feel threatened rather than empowered by the methods of book history.
Thanks to a lingering colonial hangover, English studies in India have
been unable to reduce its overwhelming dependence on literature produced
in the British isles.”
Why has book history as a discipline, not taken off in India? India has a rich literature that extends further back in time than that of any European country. However, the tools of preservation and quantification have been two major obstacles in the development of book history in India. When book history took off in Western Europe, it relied heavily on quantification. The sources were always imperfect, but, however, flawed or distorted, the statistics provided enough material for book historians to construct a picture of the literary culture. Does a comparable source exist in India?
The present seminar intends to raise and address similar questions by focusing on the history of material texts and providing a forum for research across disciplines and across periods, for all those interested in the history of the book, bibliography, histories and theories of reading, and the intersections between intellectual history and material culture, including the creation, production, publication, distribution, reception, transmission, editing and subsequent history of texts as material objects in manuscript, print, digital media or other forms. The seminar will attempt largely to address the following areas:
Why has book history as a discipline, not taken off in India? India has a rich literature that extends further back in time than that of any European country. However, the tools of preservation and quantification have been two major obstacles in the development of book history in India. When book history took off in Western Europe, it relied heavily on quantification. The sources were always imperfect, but, however, flawed or distorted, the statistics provided enough material for book historians to construct a picture of the literary culture. Does a comparable source exist in India?
The present seminar intends to raise and address similar questions by focusing on the history of material texts and providing a forum for research across disciplines and across periods, for all those interested in the history of the book, bibliography, histories and theories of reading, and the intersections between intellectual history and material culture, including the creation, production, publication, distribution, reception, transmission, editing and subsequent history of texts as material objects in manuscript, print, digital media or other forms. The seminar will attempt largely to address the following areas:
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Pre-print cultures
These topics are only suggestive; one is free to
raise and address questions pertaining to other aspects book history in
India not mentioned in the list above.
Registration
Demand draft of Rs. 1000 should be drawn in favour of The Registrar, University of Pune, payable at Pune. The last date of receiving registration fee is 30th July, 2013. The demand draft should be mailed to The Department of English, University of Pune, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007.Contacts
Conference Convener & Coordinator :Dr. Chandrani Chatterjee (Assistant Professor)
Mr. Hemant Shirsath (Assistant Professor)
Email: seminardeptenglish13@gmail.com
chandrani@unipune.ac.in
hemantshirsath@unipune.ac.in
Office Contact:
020- 25601332
020- 25690648
Department of English
Arts Faculty Building,
University of Pune,
Pune - 411 007
Maharashtra State,
India.
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