Call for Papers for JBS Vol.5, No.1 on the theme of Foreign Encounters: Bengal and Abroad

Call for Papers for JBS Vol.5, No.1 on the theme of Foreign Encounters: Bengal and Abroad

Note: Deadline for submission of articles, reviews and workshop is extended to 25 April 2016. The issue will be published on the occasion of Okkhoy Tritiya, 9 May 2016

After the proud publications of our issues on Ognijug, the age of revolutionary nationalism in Bengal (Vol.1, No.1), Bengali Cinema: Bengalis and Cinema (Vol.1, No.2), Bengali Theatre: Bengalis and Theatre (Vol.2, No.1), Science and Technology in History: Modern Bengali Perspectives (Vol.2, No.2), Literature and Movements: Bengali Crossroads (Vol.3, No.1), Kolkata (Vol.3, No.2), Bengali Music: Bengalis and Music (Vol.4, No.1), Microhistory: Bengali Perspectives (Vol.4, No.2), Journal of Bengali Studies (JBS), a peer reviewed interdisciplinary online academic journal (ISSN: 2277- 9426) meant for scholarly discussions into the history and culture of the Indic Bengali people, is pleased to announce the Call for Papers for its ninth issue (Vol.5, No.1) on the theme of Foreign Encounters: Bengal and Abroad, due to be published on the occasion of Okkhoy Tritiya, 26 Boishakh 1423, 9 May 2016. The final date for submission of article/review/workshop is 25 April 2016. Commentaries in JBS are accepted by invitation/commission alone. If you want to author a commentary instead of a regular article or review, or want to know how they are different, please get in touch with the editorial board beforehand at shoptodina@gmail.com

Foreign Encounters: Bengal and Abroad

The theme of JBS Vol.5 No.1 is Foreign Encounters: Bengal and Abroad

This issue will focus on Bengal's contact with various foreign cultures since recorded times. It would largely be divided into two categories: those encounters that took place when foreigners visited Bengal, and those which took place when Bengali influences travelled abroad. Bengal's interface with rest of Indian landmass (Indian subcontinent, that is) will not be a part of the explorations of this issue. Further, invasion of Bakhtiyar Khilji or other Islamic missions from western parts of the subcontinent will not be a part of this issue. However, Islamic contacts with Arab, Iran etc. may be explored in this issue.

Buddhadeb Basu once famously claimed (or at least it has been assigned to him) that culturally Bengal is a part of Europe. This hyperbolic assertion captures the intellectual state of affairs in modern Bengal, which we need to problematize. Out of Bengal's encounters with various foreign cultures, the modern period is marked by western influences. Nevertheless, such influences have never been merely one way, as Bengalis also have influenced the west and other foreign lands.

The topics for contribution will include the following but will not be exclusively limited to the same:

History of the Bengali diaspora since ancient times. Colonies of Bengalis in different territories: the stories, myths and historical accounts of Bengalis settled outside India in the ancient period. A focus may be on such figures as Prince Vijaya Simha in Ceylone and Atish Dipankar in Tibet.

Foreign encounters facilitated by Buddhism. Nalanda and other universities as world class meeting grounds of native and foreign scholars. Foreign Buddhist accounts of Bengal.

Ancient and medieval western accounts of Bengal.

Bengalis' maritime activities.

Advent of Europeans in Bengal. The story of settlements on the banks of Hooghly river.

Other non-European settlers. Chinese, Armenian, Jewish inhabitants of Bengal.

Foreign religions and conversions. Islam, Christianity.

Rise of Orientalism. Asiatic Society and the production of historical discourses.

Bengal renaissance as the cultural, philosophical, political product of the encounters between Bengal and the West. Raja Rammohan Roy: the exchanges of influence in Bengal and abroad.

Western influence on Bengali learning and literature. Hindu College, Derozio, Young Bengal, Michael Madhusudan.

The system of Macaulay. Vidyasagar's implementation of imperial education policies.

Western influences on Bankim and on Bengal's Hindu revival.

Vivekananda: western encounter and the Bengali influence on the world.

Aurobindo and the west.

Anti-colonial and revivalist resistance against foreign influence in Swadeshi movement.

The western ideas of universal humanism in Tagore. Home and the world in Tagore. Tagore as bishshokobi. The ideals of bishshomanobota.

Bengalis in Europe and America.

The Bengali globe trotters. Bengalis working abroad. Colonel Suresh Biswas in Brazil. Bengali circus in foreign lands (Professor Bose). P C Sorkar's magic captivating the world. The rise of ISKCON. Important Bengali personalities abroad.

Bengal's lasting liaison with foreign languages and literature (including the Bengali tryst with English).

From Rasbehari Bose to Subhash Bose. Bengali revolutionaries abroad.

Bengalis in Burma.

History of Western, Russian, Chinese and other influences on Bengali politics and culture in the twentieth century. From China's Chairman to China's Chowmien.

The Irish influence on Bengal's Ognijug. Bengal and Japan.

Cultural encounters in Bengali theatre. Lebedev. Shakespeare adaptations on stage. Bengal's love affair with Brecht.

The realm of Soviet books in Bengali. Also books from China.

The lasting legacy of continuing and new encounters in our contemporary times.

General details about submissions to Journal of Bengali Studies:

Journal of Bengali Studies is published in English and is an online journal. A contribution must be electronic and in English language. It should consistently and uniformly follow any one of these three scholarly styles of citation: MLA style, Chicago Manual of Style and APA style. Contributions must always be 1.5 line-spaced. An article, with manually edited notes and bibliography (DO NOT use the footnote and endnote mechanisms of your writing software e.g. MS Word, and instead just manually insert your notes, references and bibliography into the article), should not be more than 10000 words. In case of reviews, the upper limit is 2000 words; we welcome reviews of new books as well as old and out of print ones, not necessarily of books written in English alone; we accept reviews of books, artworks and any kind of texts (new and old alike) which are related to our theme. We also have a section called Workshop: Theory in Practice. This section features creative/critical fieldnotes which are related to our theme. Any kind of creative/literary writing that concerns Bengal's interface with the foreign experiences is welcome in this issue; a priority may be given to fictions/plays/poetry exploring this theme, which may be originally written in Bengali, in which case it has to be in English translation, or it may be originally written in English. In either case, it should focus on our theme and be relevant to the CFP. The workshop may also include critical writings, for example, the narration of one's experiences and involvements with specific foreign influence(s), exploring the question of one's involvement with the social, cultural, literary, economic and political aspects of such foreign influence(s). Upper Limit of Creative Workshop: 10000 words. We have no lower word limit for the contributions, the authors are free to use their discretion. Contributions should only be in MS Word, Open Office, or RTF format and should be emailed to both of these two email ids: editjbs@gmail.com and shoptodina@gmail.com. Also, do not forget to attach a brief bionote about yourself while sending your write-up. Before submission, please see our Submission Guidelines and Terms and Conditions at http://bengalistudies.blogspot.in/. For further details about the objectives of our journal, please see the JBS Manifesto at http://bengalistudies.blogspot.in/. You may also visit our website at www.bengalistudies.com. For updates on facebook, please like our page www.facebook.com/BengaliStudies

Image: Portrait of Atisha Dipankara from Tibetan Kadamapa Monastery, eleventh century. This tangka is one of the two earliest Tibetan portraits which have been found till date.

Editor: Dr Tamal Dasgupta