National Seminar on Law and Literature
February 9, 2012
Dear friends,
Sub: National Seminar on Law and Literature in Honour of K.G. Kannabiran
The seminar will explore the complex relationship between law and literature
through an examination of specific texts, playwrights, films, poets, writers
or historical moments that present a coming together of various strands in
the tapestry of literatures and law.
The relationship between law and literature is an important one. From laws
on sedition and censorship to the vitality of resistance literature in times
of struggle, creative writing has played a critical role in shaping the
public conscience from the time of the freedom struggle to the contemporary
times of new social movements. And importantly, there is a large corpus of
writing and oral literature across regions and languages that speak to law
and justice with its multiple resonances.
An as yet relatively uncharted field in India, this provides a rich context
for research. The shifting relations between laws and literatures - the
ways in which literatures have historically been in a contentious relation
with the law - sedition, the banning of literatures, performance and film -
is an area that merits closer attention. The framing of questions of
justice with recourse to English literature (Oscar Wilde, in a well known
instance) as also the performance of literature in courts to demonstrate the
urgent restlessness of free speech in times of political turmoil (as was the
case during the Emergency in Andhra Pradesh)effect the interpretation of
law, indeed the preamble of the constitution, through literature.
Translation is an important and indispensable project. The translation of
literature into law; the translation of law/justice into literature; the
imagination of constitutionalism through the opening out of fields of
injustice, denials and humiliation in literature; the translation of one
genre of literature into another and the place of law in this process; are
important concerns.
In the era of intellectual property as a right vested in the individual, do
literatures constitute the commons? And what are its boundaries and limits
of literary commons?
What are the particularities in the relationship between law and literature
in different socio-political and economic formations? During colonialism,
for instance. Or during periods of globalization and neo-liberal times? Or
during occupation? In societies structured by caste, or those that oust the
adivasi from the literary and social imaginary?
How does literature represent identities fractured by majoritarian hegemony
and violence, and how does literature shape such identity?
If you would like to attend the seminar or the evening events, please send
us a word of confirmation.
Warmest regards,
Kalpana Kannabiran
--------------------------------
Kalpana Kannabiran
Professor & Regional Director
Council for Social Development
Southern Regional Centre
5-6-151, Rajendranagar
HYDERABAD - 500 030
Tel. No. : 040 - 24001958 (Direct)
040 - 24016395 (General)
Fax : 040-24002714
Email : [email protected]
Website : www.csdhyderabad.org
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