Enrichment Lecture

The Department of English Literature and Language at the IIS (Deemed to be) University organized an Enrichment Lecture on “(Re) Investigating English Studies: New Paradigms for Research” on August 9th 2024. Dr Keshav Nath, Assistant Professor, Department of Language, Literatures and Cultural Studies, Manipal University, Jaipur was invited as the guest speaker for the event to enlighten the students about the evolving needs of literary interpretation in areas of research ranging to more than just literature. The session commenced with a welcome address delivered by Dr Sucharita Sharma, followed by a formal welcome by Prof. Rimika Singhvi, Head of Department and Director, School of Humanities.

Dr. Nath shared his profound insights about the expanding liberty of connotation using an interdisciplinary approach and his extensive knowledge of incorporative arts. He marked that a literary work is multifaceted, and now more than ever, it is needed to reinvestigate the “text” from different perspectives. He referred to popular culture, social media, ancient texts of religion and even technological and medical documents etc., to illustrate his point. While the importance of context lies in the transposition of meaning in the controlled mechanism of the text, he emphasised that the versatility of literature without context allows the re-introduction of the selective representations of the long- held beliefs and conventions.

The students were highly benefitted by the presentation that opened new horizons of research for the scholars/readers of Humanities, introducing and expanding their knowledge on areas from Deconstruction to Digital Humanities. The interaction concluded with a Q&A session where Dr. Nath shared his inclusive angle on the credibility of identity in the interdisciplinary crossover and the scope of this re-investigative approach to research.