IKS lectures at IITGN to focus on children’s literature in Indian languages

The upcoming set of lectures under the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) elective course lecture series by the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) will focus on children’s literature in Indian languages. Renowned researcher Diti Vyas will deliver two talks titled – ‘Between Impossibility and Possibility: Pre-colonial Children’s Literature in Indian Languages’ and ‘Female Voices in Children’s Literature in Gujarati’ – on March 31 and April 1, 2022, respectively, from 5.05pm to 6pm.

Vyas is an associate professor in the Writing and Communications department at Anant National University. She has a rich experience of academic teaching, research, and consulting, spanning nearly two decades. Her doctoral research focusing on Indian children’s literature in English and regional languages received national and international accolades by bodies such as the International Research Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL) and The Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature (ISSCL). She represents Gujarat in the collection of folktales, legends, and modern lore of India, ‘The Owl Delivered the Good News All Night Long’ by Aleph Book House.

By delving into the variety and plurality of literature that Indian children read in the pre-colonial era, Vyas’ first lecture seeks to explain a body of writing that is usually termed as an evolutionary phase in the temporal progression of children’s literature as it exists today. Using examples from Indian languages, it aims to raise concerns about the definitions, permissions, omissions, categorisations, and attempts to contest the prevalent theories of the origin of Indian children’s literature. Her second lecture attempts to render the gender-centric categorisation of literature for children problematic by delving into the ideological constructions of girlhood/womanhood in children’s literature in the Gujarati language. Focusing on the oral folk lullabies in the Gujarati language as a female utterance, it will argue that in their content and performance, these cradle-songs densely pack female cathartic and subversive strategies.

This is the sixth edition of the Introduction to Indian Knowledge Systems elective course, IKS 2022, which is being held online on the theme ‘Precolonial India’s Treasure House of Literatures’. The course is open to students and anyone interested in India’s knowledge systems and cultural heritage. They can join the course for free by registering online at: http://iks.iitgn.ac.in/. All lectures will be live-streamed on IITGN’s YouTube channel. The course’s website will carry regular announcements and updates on the speakers and lectures.