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Putting in a word for a better world

At The Africa Asia Literary Conference, writers from two great continents will discuss issues of identity, globalisation and unity

A Viewpoint Urvashi Butalia Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

After successive Governments failed to stem the globalisation tide and non-alignment was reduced to a paragraph in history books, now the Indian Council for Cultural Relations is bringing together writers from Asia and Africa to debate legacy, identity and assertion of the "Continents of Creation". To be held in Neemrana from February 14 to 17, The Africa Asia Literary Conference will bring together some 40-odd participants from the two continents. Where politics has failed, might polemics salvage the situation?

The issues on the agenda include perceptions and paradoxes in an unequal world, the politics of writing and language, the impact and outreach of translation. When a similar conference was held a few years back the focus was on Indian writers who write in English and the Diaspora writers. This time it's a mixed bag with the emphasis on multiple identities getting reflected.

"It's not just about national identities, it's also about minorities, women, subaltern culture and the like. Most writers here represent multiple identities. For instance Nuruddin Farah who was born in Somalia but studied in Chandigarh and writes in English," says Urvashi Butalia, noted author who runs Kali. Talking about the success of her publishing house, Urvashi says, "We had the advantage of the first mover, and we don't write on women, we write about women."

While Urvashi feels the focus would be how to arrest the western agenda of a unilateral world, Pavan K. Varma, Deputy Director-General, ICCR, elaborates, "The issue of identity is much more relevant for the countries of these two continents. Hardly had they recovered from colonial rule than they have to stand up to the wave of globalisation." Pavan says standing up to globalisation doesn't mean everything is good about us. "We have to fight obscurantism and jingoism with similar zeal."

Also attending the conference is theatre personality Ila Arun. "I feel more and more people from allied fields like theatre and cinema should be invited, for it's these people who can imbibe the crux and take it to the masses. My `Goonj' is an adaptation of a play by an African writer."

Pandering to the West

Egyptian author Miral el Tahawi who hails from a patriarchal Bedouin village and writes on women's issues remarks, "The problem is, both of us want to reach out to the West for appreciation. People write keeping in mind the market value of the translation. I have never done that and I have been pretty successful. But it takes time to get noticed because of the stranglehold of the West on publishers, book fairs... " She believes the idea that a liberated woman personifies a globalised world needs to be tackled. "I believe an emancipated female can also be rooted in her culture as well, and today both Egypt and India have many such women."

ANUJ KUMAR

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