CHOTRO

Indigenous Peoples in the Post-Colonial World
Language – Literature – Culture – History

Bhasha Resarch and Publications Centre,
Vadodara, India

in association with

Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts
National Manuscript Mission of India
European Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (EACLALS) and
Indian Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (IACLALS)

announces a conference to be held January 2nd – January 5th 2008 at the
Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, Delhi, India

This conference, as the Bhili tribal term “chotro” implies, aims to “bring together” writers, artists and scholars from all over the world interested in the languages and literatures, the cultures and histories of the indigenous peoples of the post-colonial world. It is being hosted by an international group of sponsors and will be held at a prestigious venue in Delhi’s government quarter. A number of eminent Indian writers will address the conference.
The Bhasha Research and Publication Centre, established by Professor Ganesh Devy, has since its inception worked specifically with and on behalf of the Adivasi or tribal people of India, who have long been neglected in India itself and whose cultural expression remains little known both in India and abroad. Bhasha has undertaken to document the linguistic, literary and artistic heritage of tribal communities in India; it has collaborated with national academies of art and literature and research institutes to encourage research in tribal art and literature; it has pioneered the publication of literary and educational materials in tribal languages; and it has set up the Adivasi Academy at Tejgadh (Gujarat) for the promotion of tribal languages, literature, arts and culture and as an institute of formal education. In the process its work has taken it much beyond the confines of linguistic and literary studies.
Together with its co-sponsors Bhasha now seeks to initiate discussion of the experience of indigenous peoples on a global scale and in a comparative, cross-cultural perspective.
The proposed conference will provide an opportunity for an international exchange of ideas between indigenous peoples and those interested in their cultural expression, for there are indeed many parallels between, for example, the Aborigines of Australia, the First Nations of Canada and the Adivasi of India. It is hoped that the conference will for the first time situate the experience of the Adivasi in the wider context of the post-colonial world.
In drawing attention to the cultural traditions and the response of indigenous people to their dispossession the world over, the conference will at the same time provide new orientation and inspiration for post-colonial studies.
Contributions are sought on the following topics:

orature; stories of origin / creation myths; cosmology / knowledge systems;
life histories; storytelling / folk tales; poetry; drama and performance;
aesthetics / interculturality; threatened languages / language death;
language development / scripts; subaltern history; cultural and human rights;
publishing in aboriginal / tribal languages; translation from aboriginal / tribal languages; marginalization of aboriginal / tribal cultural expression

Practical Arrangements:

Registration: The registration form can be downloaded from http://www.bhasharesearch.org.in or http://www.eaclals.org and should be returned as an attachment by email to Sonal Baxi (Bhasha) at: sonal.bhasha@gmail.com.

Conference Fee: There will be a conference fee of EUR 50 / US $ 60, payable on arrival (this is for scholars from outside India only; it does not apply to scholars from within India.) Accommodation, food and local transport will be provided free of charge.

Abstracts: Abstracts of approx. 100 words should be sent by email before the 31st July 2007 to Professor Geoffrey V. Davis (University of Aachen, Germany). Email address: davis@anglistik.rwth-aachen.de

Acceptance of contributions: Notification of acceptance of papers together with a formal invitation to attend will be sent out from Bhasha by 15th August 2007.

Visa Requirements: Foreign nationals requiring visas can download Indian visa forms from the website of the Indian embassy in their country of residence.

Publication: The conference proceedings will be published jointly by Rodopi, Amsterdam & New York in their Cross/Cultures: Readings in the Post/Colonial Literatures in English series and by an Indian publisher.

Submission of finalized papers for publication: 31st March 2008