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Studying diasporas
AUGUST 2002 saw the inaugural conference of a new centre for the study of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures founded by Professor Martina Ghosh-Schellhorn at Saarland University in Germany. Of Indo-German origin, she left India in 1977 and earned a doctorate and post-doctoral degree in Germany.
The research centre, called TAS, for Transcultural Anglophone Studies, focuses on nation states formed in the wake of British colonialism. Special emphasis is placed on the study of South Asian cultures and their diasporas. In its interaction with a globally- distributed diaspora, Anglophone South Asia can no longer be regarded solely as a colonially-determined periphery. In terms of South-South relations, South Asia's position necessitates a reinvestment of the term `centre'.
The role of India in redefining concepts of centres and peripheries formed the topic of the inaugural TAS conference titled "Peripheral Centres, Central Peripheries: India and its Diaspora(s)" held from August 29-31 in Saarbrücken. This event brought together an inter-disciplinary forum of specialists including Meenakshi Mukherjee, Vijay Mishra, Dietmar Rothermund, Girish Karnad, Timothy Brennan. Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Mini Krishnan, Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan (to name but a few) as well as writers Kiran Nagarkar, Sunetra Gupta, and Anjana Appachana.
Website: www.tas.unsaarland.de/conference.html.
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