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Al-Zulaij Exclusive

Kaumudi – a Marathi play directed by Kaustubh Naik opens on 8th January 2018.

Kaumudi, a Marathi play translated and directed by Kausutbh Naik will premiere at Kala Academy on 8th January 2018. Hauns Sangeet Natya Mandal, Goa’s oldest theatre company, has produced the play.

The play is originally written in Hindi by noted contemporary playwright and director Abhishek Majumdar. Kaumudi explores the dynamics between an estranged father-son duo who play Eklavya’s ghost and Abhimanyu respectively. Through this, the play puts forth debates around caste-based injustices through Eklavya’s interpretation of Mahabharata, the passing over of knowledge from one generation to another, and the ethics of art practice. The play is inspired by two texts: Anand’s Malayalam Novel Vyasam Vigneswaram and Jorge Luis Borges’ essay Blindness.

Discussions, Interventions

Jason Keith Fernandes will participate in the debate on Nationality and Portuguese Law

Jason Keith Fernandes will participate in the debate “Deve Ser Português Quem Nasce em Portugal? A Reforma da Lei da Nacionalidade.” held on 28 November 2017, within the ambit of the Conference “Migration, Citizenship, Human Rights” organized by the Faculty of Law, Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

 

In his contribution to the panel that debates the change to the nationality laws in Portugal, Fernandes will suggest that a reference to the concept of empire could help us more than we realize in present times.

 

For the programme of the event, see here.

Discussions, Interventions

R. Benedito Ferrão to participate in “Story as Salve: Arab America Writes its own Healing”

R. Benedito Ferrão is part of the “Story as Salve: Arab America Writes its Own Healing” workshop at MOVE 2017 (DIWAN 7). Held at the Arab American National Museum on Saturday, 18 November, 2017, the workshop will “create a space in which participants come together to learn creative ways in which to articulate and negotiate the traumatic.”

 

More information here: http://www.diwanart.org/schedule/

Discussions, Interventions

Kaustubh Naik will present “To Merge Or Not To Merge’ – that and other questions”

Kaustubh Naik will make a presentation titled ‘‘To merge or not to merge’ – that and other questions’ at the weekly Research Scholars colloquium at the Delhi School of Economics, New Delhi.

Time: Friday 27th October 2017 at 11 am

Venue: Ground Floor Classroom, Dept of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics.

 

Abstract

Regions can be understood not merely as geographical terrains contained in arbitrary boundaries but also as modern imagined communities. In a multitude of such imaginations, it is rather imperative that one underscores the locus of these imaginations, especially to assess which imaginations get consolidated and sustained and which imaginations are written off in the due course of history. The discursive production of post-colonial Indian national identity has often written off the many attachments to culture, history, ethnicity and sovereignty that did not materialize in its current federal arrangement. In this presentation, Kaustubh will share some of his early reflections on the study of the political movement that aimed to territorially merge the former Portuguese territory of Goa with the newly formed Indian state of Maharashtra and invite us to think about the conditions influencing the regional political imaginations in the post-colonial Indian nation state, as well as the centrality of caste to these imaginations.

 

Discussions, Interventions

R. Benedito Ferrão will present “Twenty-Five Years after Dominic D’souza: Of (De)Coloniality and (Un)Queer Reclamations”

R. Benedito Ferrão will present “Twenty-Five Years after Dominic D’souza: Of (De)Coloniality and (Un)Queer Reclamations” at the UW-Madison Annual Conference on South Asia’s Feminist Pre-Conference: Gender, Sexuality, and Occupation, on 26 October, 2017.

Abstract:
On this, the twenty-fifth anniversary of Dominic D’souza’s death, and in light of the global shift away from AIDS-activism and towards marriage equality as the defining factor of current gay identity, this presentation will consider how the reclamation of D’souza as a Goan figure may renew the possibility of decolonial queer activism in South Asia.

More information here: http://southasiaconference.wisc.edu/559.htm

Discussions, Interventions

Dale Luis Menezes will present a paper titled, “Reginald Fernandes and Concanim ‘Romans’ in the Literary History of Goa”

Dale Luis Menezes will present a paper titled, “Reginald Fernandes and Concanim ‘Romans’ in the Literary History of Goa” at the III Congresso Internacional do LIA – Laboratório de Interlocuções com a Ásia, on 19 October, 2017 at Casa de Portugal, São Paulo, Brazil. This presentation will be part of the Pensando Goa project, which aims to produce a literary history of Goa.

 

Reginald Fernandes’ writing career spans almost 40 years. This period that stretched around c 1955-1992, Fernandes wrote more than 120 novels or what in Concanim came to be known as ‘romans’ or ‘romaxeo’ (pl.). The Concanim ‘romans’ is not adequately studied, neither in the history of Konknni literature nor in the history of Goan literature. Fernandes’ writings give the impression of pulp on first glance: they were printed on cheap paper, the books were pocket-sized, the plots were formulaic and revolved around love stories, crimes, and magic realism, and the language used had a touch of the dramatic in it. Perhaps this is the reason why dominant canons of Konkani and Goan literature never seriously considered the writings of Fernandes – or indeed other writers in the genre of ‘romans’ – as legitimately constituting literature.

 

Fernandes’ writings not only talk about Goa, but also other places like Africa – often set in a magic realism-esque manner. The language used in Fernandes’ novels is infused with Portuguese or Portuguese-inflected words, and as such it points to larger connections across linguistic and geographical boundaries. Fernandes was inspired by pulp fiction in English – both in English pulp writings and films—which also suggests that Goan literature through the Concanim ‘romans’ had wider connections with other literary cultures. This study proposes to discuss the life and career of Fernandes and locate him in the historical context in which he produced his oeuvre.

Books

Book Launch: Renver Borovp: Nibond & Niyall

Renver Borovp: Nibond & Niyall (Writings on Sand: Essays & Reflections), writings by the late Fr. Martinho Noronha, edited by Dale Luis Menezes, will be released on Friday, 6 October, 2017 by the Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Rev. Filipe Neri Ferrão at the Multipurpose Hall, Krishnadas Shama Library or the Central Library, Patto, Panjim, Goa at 4 pm. The book is published by the Dalgado Konknni Akademi.

 

The title of the book draws from Fr. Noronha’s weekly column, written in the Konkani weekly Vauraddeancho Ixtt from 1978-1982. The inspiration for this title came from the biblical story of the woman taken in adultery where Christ writes in the sand. Fr. Noronha explained that the incident had a deep significance for him, as he believed that what is written on sand has the potential to touch our hearts. Fr. Noronha served as the editor of Renovação, the bulletin of the Archdiocese of Goa, after he finished his stint as a columnist for Vauraddeancho Ixtt.

 

This compilation contains all the articles that appeared in Vauraddeancho Ixtt. Fr. Noronha’s column dealt with issues of everyday life. For instance, the ever-rising price of sugar in the 1970s and 1980s was a recurrent topic in his columns. Additionally, Fr. Noronha reflected on Goan and national politics, Goan identity, the Konkani language and the controversy over the failure of the Roman script in Konkani, as well as issues pertaining to the Church and Christians in Goa. These writings allow us a critical insight into the recent past and bear witness to the fact that despite the passage of decades the many issues that Goans face remain constant.

Sorgest Pri. Martinho Noronha-n boroilolea Renver Borovp: Nibond & Niyall hea pustokachi uzvaddaunni Gõy ani Damanvche Arsebisp, Manadik Filipe Neri Ferrão hanchea hatantlean Sukrar, 6 Otubr 2017 disa sanjechea 4 vorancher Multipurpose Hall, Krishnadas Shama Library vo Central Library, Patto, Ponnje, Gõy hanga zatoli. Hea pustokachem sonkolon ani sompadon Dale Luis Menezes-an kelam ani Dalgado Konknni Akademi-n pustok chhaplam.

 

1978-1982 hea kallant Pri. Martinho Noronha Vauraddeancho Ixtt satalleacher Renver Borovp hea nanva khala aplo vibhag-lekh (column) boroitalo. Tea nanvacho adhar gheun hea pustokak mathallo dilolo asa. Borovpi hea mathalleachem xrey Povitr Pustokant aslolie eke ghoddniek dita. Niti khatir jednam Jezu mukhar ekie pordvar ostoriek haddli tednam Tannem renver kitem tori boroilem. Pri. Martinho amkam sangta ki khub pautti ami kagdacher boroilolem visortanv punn renver boroilolem-i amchea kallzant rigonk xokta. Renovação hea Gõy Arkdiosezichea niyall-potracho (bulletin) Pri. Noronha sompadok aslo. Vauraddeancho Ixtt satalleacher vibhag-lekh borovpachem bond korun tannem Renovação-chim sutram hatant ghetlim.

 

Hea pustokant Vauraddeancho Ixtt-acher chhapun yeilole sogle lekhancho aspav asa. Jinnechea chaltea ghoddam-moddincher dor sumanak Pri. Noronha aple lekh boroitalo. Tea khatir 1970 ani 1980-chea kallant jednam sakrechem mol choddot aslem, tednam hie vixim portun-portun ul’lekh zalolo amkam tachea lekhamni vachunk melltta. Tea bhair, Gõychea ani raxttriy rajkaronnacher, Konknni bhas ani lipi vad, ani Igorz ani Kristanvam mukhar aslolea mud’deancher Pri. Noronha-n aplem borovp kelem. Hi borpam sorun gelolea eka kallachem dorxon ghoddoitat ani zaiteach doskam uprantui je prosn tea kallar amkam sotaitale tech prosn atam-i apli tokli voir kaddttat hem Pri. Noronha-chim borpam amkam govai ditat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scholarly Articles

[Book Review] Paul Melo e Castro, ed. “Lengthening Shadows: An Anthology of Goan Short Stories Translated from Portuguese” (2 vols). Saligão and Margão: Goa 1556 and Golden Heart Emporium, 2016.

By R. BENEDITO FERRÃO

2017, “[Book Review],” Journal of Lusophone Studies 2(1): 212-214. Download the PDF here.

 

In translating and compiling these 45 stories in the double volume Lengthening Shadows, editor Paul Melo e Castro showcases the legacy of the Portuguese short story from the former region of Goa Portuguesa. Held by the Portuguese between 1510 and 1961, Goa was the capital of Luso-Asia and the Estado da Índia Portuguesa. For Melo e Castro’s purposes, the anthology functions as “the autopsy of a dead literature,” focused as it is on a corpus that spans the period between 1864 and 1987 (8). After its 451-year colonization by Portugal, Goa was annexed by the Indian nation-state in 1961, a diminished literary output in Portuguese being a marker of the change in the enclave’s political identity. Even as the collection brings together a range of Portuguese stories by Goan authors, Melo e Castro’s introduction to the work dwells on the writers’ literary styles, their historical and social milieux, and links that could be made across the collection. In tying together Portuguese-language cultural production with Goa’s Portuguese identity, the edited volume looks to Goa’s past to recall its literary heritage. In this, the book is a testament, but its very publication may evidence a cultural continuity that cannot be so easily relegated to a bygone era.

 

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