The School of Liberal Studies, KIIT Deemed to be University organised an International Academic Colloquium on “Literary Narratives of Historical Imagination” with Dr. David Anshen, Associate Professor, Department of Literatures and Cultural Studies, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; and Professor Jatindra Kumar Nayak, former Professor of English in Utkal University and a renowned translator in Odia literature on September 27, 2024.
The session was moderated by Dr. Anirban Bandyopadhyay, Associate Professor at Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS); and Dr. Chaitali Choudhury, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities, School of Liberal Studies, KIIT-DU.
The session focused on the consciousness of history and its manifestation in literary and cultural texts. Dr. Anshen, who has worked extensively on the field of Marxist understanding of history and is presently facilitating a course on “Historiography and Historical Literature” discussed the change in time and temporality in literary texts, whereas, Prof. Nayak, who translated J. P. Das’s A Time Elsewhere from Odia, talked about the intertwining nature of literature and history and how historiographical accounts play a significant role in understanding literature. The session was interactive, involving discussions and deliberations among the speakers and the students and teaching faculties of the School of Liberal Studies, KIIT-DU as well as KISS.
The colloquium was graced by Pro Vice-Chancellor, KIIT-DU, Dr. Debashis Bandyopadhyay, who contributed to the discussions and encouraged the organisers to conduct such events facilitating academic exchanges.