Creation and Criticism

Nov 29, 2021: The Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) organized the twelfth lecture of the Distinguished Lecture Series, “Multilingual Affect: The Talking Cure Meets the Writing Cure” by Prof. Sneja Gunew, distinguished Professor Emerita of English and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada, on Friday, 26^th November 2021, 9:00-10:00 PM IST.

Supported by the Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC), Ministry of Education, Government of India, the talk was organized as part of the ongoing academic collaboration with the Department of English and American Studies, University of Würzburg, Germany, and promises to be one in a line of successively pertinent lectures.

The talk was conducted by, Ms. Zahra Rizvi, Ms. Shraddha A. Singh and Ms. Suman Bhagchandani, Ph.D. scholars, Department of English, JMI, and was enthusiastically attended by

a large crowd of scholars, students, and faculty from all over the world and across various time zones.

Prof. Simi Malhotra, H.o.D., Department of English, JMI, Indian PI, delivered the welcome address, greeting the invited speaker, faculty, scholars, and students. She introduced the esteemed speaker, Prof. Sneja Gunew, who was greeted by a round of applause. Through her lecture, Prof Gunew explored the links between affect and language, while bearing in mind debates within affect theory on whether it is corporeal or cognitive. It was suggested here that the socio-linguistic literature regarding the linkage between language and corporeality, where the understanding of affect worlds grounded on the corporeal or cultural worlds of the subject, is important. This talk further called for a turn towards a framework of comparative literary affect studies that are grounded in multilingual affects; this was suggested to have the potential to enlarge our repertoire of analytical contexts within critical studies. This was followed by an engaging, in-depth Q/A session coordinated by Ms. Ann Susan Aleyas, Ph.D. Scholar, Department of English, JMI. The event was brought to an end with a Vote of Thanks by Ms. Saneya.

To ensure a wide range of viewership and participation, the event was also live streamed on YouTube, and was attended by over a hundred participants.

- PRO

JMI, New Delhi