The Department of English of Kristu Jayanti College organised the second national conference on 'Cartographies of Diaspora and Displacements: Narratives of Expatriates and Poetics of Exile' on January 18.
Conference convener prof Susan Sanny welcomed the chief guest author Andaleeb Wajid and the keynote speaker Dr Etienne Rassendran, Professor, St Joseph’s College, Bangalore, along with other guests.
In the presidential address which followed, Principal Fr Josekutty P D spoke about the importance of diaspora communities, their contributions to society and that the need for good lessons in living 'purpose-driven' lives is to be imitated and appreciated.
Dr Krishna Prabha of English Department, described different types of displacements and their importance in the political and socio-economic scene in the world today, in the prelude to the conference.
The chief guest of the day Andaleeb Wajid from Bangalore, eminent author of eighteen novels, spoke about her personal experience – of having had to define and explain her identity often because of being born in one place – with which she still maintained familial and social connections but brought up and educated in another.
In another session, Dr Etienne Rassendran, professor at St Joseph's College, Bangalore, spoke about the need of demystifying the way in which diaspora is viewed. He equally underlined the idea of intersectionality of departure and arrival in the life of diaspora communities.
The panel discussion constituting Jennifer Sait, Dr K Paul Newman and Dr Mukunda Rao, brought to the conference expatriate experiences, refugee issues and a plethora of narratives on diaspora.
For paper presentation, seven universities from six states spoke on a wide range of topics pertaining to displacement, exile and migration in the light of literary works.
The conference led to spreading the light of cognizance, paving a path of motivation and interest in the terrain of diasporic experiences in young minds and old.