KOHIMA — Pointing out a paradigm shift in writings from the Northeast in recent years, Prof. Mohd. Asaduddin, advisor to vice chancellor and professor of English at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, stated that the stereotype of a strife-torn and conflict-ridden society dishing out tales of violence and gore has given way to a recuperative effort to search for roots and reclaiming of past history and traditions.
The message of Prof. Asaduddin, who was scheduled to be the keynote speaker of a two-day international conference on “Moments, movements and meanderings: Re-examining northeast India” was read out in absentia by Dr. Theyiesinuo Keditsu. The conference, organised by Naga Scholars’ Association (NSA), in collaboration with Kohima College, got underway at Kohima College on Friday.
He noted that defining literature from the Northeast as a category has remained a question as tantalising as the one about defining Indian literature as a category.
“It was asserted, in the early days of our independence, and the establishment of the Central Sahitya Akademi, that Indian literature was one though written in many languages. We gradually discovered the utter inadequacy of such a definition,” stated Prof. Asaduddin.
He viewed that the anthologies that endeavoured to showcase Indian literature, whether it is by KM George, Salman Rushdie, Elizabeth West or Amit Chaudhuri have always been found awfully inadequate because they had left large segments of literary traditions unrepresented. He added that scholars and anthologists have had the same experience in trying to represent or showcase writings from India’s northeast.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]He observed that writers and literary historians from the Northeast have often defined literature produced in this space in opposition to what they perceive as mainland Indian literature and separate from Indian literature saying, “They claim that the Northeast has always been treated as a subaltern, less of caste or class and more of geographical margin and literary periphery.”
The professor maintained that a binary was and is established in which mainland Indian literature, which itself is an amorphous and uncertain category, is seen as the centre and literature produced in the Northeast as the periphery.
He urged the scholars to ask questions about representation and also move on to discover connections and lineages with other linguistic and literary traditions of India, which he observed is happening gradually.
Asserting that in a multilingual country, the dominant language in a region would influence (even hegemonise) less developed literatures and languages, he added that this has to be acknowledged as a fact of life.
The professor also observed that there are multiple histories and multiple traditions, multiple legacies and multiple belongings while the literary and cultural histories are enmeshed and intertwined with one another.
He viewed that when such a diverse body of writings is sought to be studied in a certain structured format under the umbrella of ‘Writings from the Northeast,’ it should be translated and transmitted and ‘packaged’ in a coherent way to project a certain image or realities in the Northeast, of which the challenges are enormous. In this regard, he implored that such challenges should be met in an inventive and imaginative way by taking care of the complex histories and sensitivities that are involved.
He further suggested that many fissures and fault lines need to be addressed in the process of canonising literature from the Northeast.
Dr. Theyiesinuo Keditsu, co-convenor of the organising committee and assistant professor of English at Kohima College, expressed hope that the conference would be an occasion to create new connections, and networks and encourage more academics to pursue their work.