IACLALS, the officially recognised Indian chapter of the
international ACLALS (Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language studies),
started in India in 1974, and until January 1993 Professor C.D. Narasimhaiah was the
Chairperson of IACLALS and Dr. K.C. Belliappa (Mysore) the Secretary. Many of those who
have been connected with this Association have pleasant memories of Dhvanyaloka in Mysore,
overlooked by the Chamundi Hills, the peaceful setting of which has been the venue for
many intellectual and creative events, and lectures organised by IACLALS in the last
eighteen years. For the first time, IACLALS headquarters have moved out of Mysore.
The
objectives of IACLALS are promoting and coordinating Commonwealth Literature Studies in
India, organizing seminars and workshops, arranging lectures by writers and scholars
including those visiting India, publishing a newsletter about activities in the field of
Commonwealth Literature in India and in other parts of the world, and holding one annual
conference. The international ACLALS holds a conference once in three years, news and
notices about which will also be published in the newsletter of which this is the first
issue to be published from Delhi.
The
international ACLALS was started in 1964 with a conference in the University of Leeds.
Since then
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the headquarters have moved every three years, and conferences
have been held in different parts of the world including Canada, Australia, Singapore,
Jamaica and India. The next ACLALS Conference will be held in Sri Lanka in 1995 and the
one after that most probably in Nigeria.
Although the
nomenclature of the association has remained unchanged, its concerns and emphases have
evolved in recent years to include in a significant way what is now known as Post-colonial
Literature or Third World Literature or New Literatures in English. The overlap and
interstices among these terms and their theoretical and political implications have
generated enabling debates in this field. On the other hand, Commonwealth Literature has
also begun to involve, through comparison and co-option, the study of literatures in
languages other than English in several countries whose cultures are inextricably
multi-lingual. These new developments have helped to enlarge and revitalise the nature of
Commonwealth Literature Studies.
Membership
is open to those interested in the study and teaching of Commonwealth Literature and
research in this area. Members will receive free of cost a copy of the newsletter and
invitations to attend and/or participate in the activities of the IACLALS. |
