DOON UNIVERSITY, KEDARPURAM, DEHRADUN 248001
Call for Papers
Conference: Folklore and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Uttarakhand
Dates: January 19 – 21, 2011.
Venue: Doon University, Dehradun
Folklore is not only songs and stories, but is a storehouse of knowledge gathered, generated and communicated in creative forms across the centuries by the ordinary as well as the learned people. Uttrakhand too, is rich in oral cultural heritage wherein knowledge about the creativity of people, their scientific understanding about their region, their social norms, and their fantasies are contained. UNESCO has defined folklore as Intangible Cultural Heritage and currently several committees around the world are discussing how Intellectual Property Rights could be applied to intangible cultural heritage. These discussions are particularly significant for countries rich in oral cultural expressions. Several scholars over the last one century have been interested in studying, documenting and translating the folklore of Uttarakhand. However,these efforts have been relatively invisible not only at the level of the country, but also within the state.
Doon University wants to gather together on its premises scholars and other individuals interested in the folklore of Uttarakhand for a conference. The aim of the conference is:
1. To share existing knowledge about the history and the current state of folklore and folk performers of Uttarakhand;
2. To understand how the work of documenting, archiving and studying the folklore of the region can be more organised, networked and made available to students and researchers within and outside Uttarakhand
3. To formulate how educational institutions like Universities cooperate with folk performers help them to continue the practice of their art
4. To explore how the ongoing discussion on Intellectual Property Rights in the area of Intangible Cultural heritage could affect the life of folk performers and the research of scholars.
The proposed conference would discuss the folklore of Uttarakhand under the following sections:
1. Texts and Aesthetics: Folklore as expressed in various textual genres, their aesthetic principles in terms of language, styles of narration/performance etc.
2. Folklore and Anthropology: Anthropologists have studied folklore to understand human society, social structures and beliefs. What do the anthropological analyses of folklore show us about Uttarakhand?
3. Life of Folk Performers: Folk performers are professionals in their own right and in this section we shall explore how their lives and works have been organised economically, how they create texts, what musical instruments do they use and how do they learn to make and play them, how do they survive in the contemporary democratic society.
Scholars of folklore, artists who have worked with folklore, film makers and other individuals seriously interested in the subject are invited to present papers in this conference. Scientific Audio-Visual documentation and films will also be considered for presentation. Please send an abstract of 150 words along with the title of the proposed paper. For the audio-visual documentation/film please provide a 500 words synopsis and mention the exact length in time. Abstracts and synopses should be sent to the undersigned by 05.12.2010 either by email or by post. All abstracts and synopses will be reviewed by a committee and the decision will be communicated by 15.12.2010
Professor Sadhana Naithani
Head School of Languages
Doon University
Kedarpur
Dehradun 248001
Tel: 0135 2533146/147
Email: sadhana.naithani@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Link:
http://ua.nic.in/doon/index.php/en/important-links/132-call-for-papers
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