Diamond Jubilee celebrations
SHILLONG: The Department of English, Shillong College organised the SC Datta Memorial Lecture at the college conference hall on Wednesday as part of the institution’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Prof Subir Datta, a retired faculty of the English Department, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, and son of the founder principal of Shillong College after whom the lecture series is named, attended the event.
In his address, Prof Datta reminisced the days when Shillong College was housed at Jail Road Boys School close to the then principal’s residence. He also recalled how the institution of which he was a student, shaped many like him. He expressed gratitude to the many who took forward the dreams of the pioneers who envisioned the establishment of the College.
On the occasion, Dr Sumit Chakrabarty, Associate Professor and Head, Department of English, Presidency University, Kolkata delivered a thought-provoking lecture entitled, “Thinking Literature: The Cultural Politics of Context”. In his lecture, Dr Chakrabarty pointed out that there is a need for singularity of literature and hence intuitive understanding of art.
“A literary text is picked up by a reader for its literary appeal and not for being a cultural text. However, at times, reading the cultural history of the moment becomes more important than the text itself,” he said.
In this context, he said that the various theories and ‘isms’ are indeed essential towards understanding the texts but argued that such representations and utterances divest the text of its marginality. He, therefore, urged critics and authors to avoid such contextualization and rather present the text in its singularity and worldliness.
As part of the programme a presentation entitled “Shillong College at 60”, which featured students and faculty members who were part of Shillong College during the tenure of the founder principal, was shown. The interactive session was made lively by students and faculty members from various colleges of Shillong who were present at the lecture.