CFP: RELIGION IN SOUTH ASIAN FICTIONS

Call for chapters for an edited book

Religion in South Asian Fictions 

to be edited by Sk Sagir Ali, Goutam Karmakar and Nasima Islam

Concept Note:

In today’s polarised world, religion is seen as a primary cause of social division, conflict and war, while others have argued that this is a distortion of the true significance of religion, which when properly followed promotes peace, harmony, goodwill and social cohesion. The rhetoric of the ‘war on terror’ and the ‘clash of civilizations’ has promoted a geopolitical enemy. This has been accompanied by a shift towards a more ‘muscular’ liberalism. Secularization and cultural pluralism have dethroned the sacred. It has also destabilized the ‘structure of power’ with the concept that of the sacred was there to uphold a society rooted in a single source of religiously mandated authority. With the emergence of individualism with religion and culture, identity is now as much a matter of individual ‘feeling’ as it is about collective conceptions of the ‘sacred’, whether secularized or not.

The proposed edited book "Religion in South Asian Fictions" will trace the genealogy of South Asian Anglophone writing through blasphemy, the consequence of the complex forces and historical trajectories that go by the name of ‘secularization’. It will provide an account of the reception of South Asian Anglophone writing with the changing conceptions of racial Others and cultural difference, particularly with respect to minority writers. The consumption of these texts will also act as a form of cultural translation.

If you are interested in contributing a chapter of 5,000-6,500 words (including footnotes and Works Cited), submit an abstract of approximately 500 words and a brief bio no later than February 27, 2020. Send e-mail submissions to SK Sagir Ali (skali661@gmail.com) and Goutam Karmakar (goutamkrmkr@gmail.com), using the subject line “Proposals for Religion in South Asian Fictions.”

Editors:

SK Sagir Ali  is an Assistant  Professor, Co-ordinator (PG) of the Department of English,  Midnapore College (Autonomous), West Bengal and an Assistant  Professor (Guest)  at Vidyasagar University,  (Evening Section) West  Bengal. Besides English literature, he has a passion for South Asian Literature and Critical Theory. He is pursuing his doctoral work at the department of English, Jadavpur University. He has published a book titled Literary  Theory: Textual Applications with Atlantic Publishers in 2017 and another book with Routledge will be published in the month April. He is also a Panel Reviewer for Muse India.

Goutam Karmakar is an Assistant Professor at the Department of English, Barabazar Bikram Tudu Memorial College, Sidhu-Kanhu-Birsha University, West Bengal, India. His essays, research papers, book reviews and poems have been published in many reputed International Journals. He has taken interviews of many notable Indian poets writing in English. Apart from organizing one international conference in India, he has presented papers in many international conferences in India, England and European countries. He has edited four critical books on Indian poetry in English. He seeks interest in Indian Writings in English, Marxism and Post Marxism, Ecocritical Studies, Dalit literature, Mythology, Folklore and Culture Studies

Nasima Islam is an assistant professor in the department of English at Acharya Girish Chandra Bose college under the University of Calcutta. She has done her M.Phil from Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta (CSSSC). Her PhD work concerns the Postcolonial Censorship studies. Her broader research interests include analysis of rural Bengali Muslim Sphere of West Bengal, New social movements and various civil society initiatives, postcolonial gender question, queer studies, Dalit literature, and minority literature.

Deadline for abstract submissions: February 27, 2020

Deadline for full manuscript submissions: March 30, 2020

(Minimum word limit: 4000 words, MLA 8th Style of Writing)

Contact:

Email: goutamkrmkr@gmail.com

Name: Goutam Karmakar