A Thin Wall will be part of “India @ 70 Memories and Histories” – a seminar organized by the department of Humanities & Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, 3-4 January 2018! This Seminar aims to complement and supplement the history of Independence through an exploration of the long-term repercussions of one of the most tragic events in Indian history. By reconstructing the personal stories of Partition survivors through literary, filmic, autobiographical and cultural representations as well as historical and testimonial narratives – the seminar hopes to create a better understanding of the afterlife of Partition in the personal, political and cultural spheres.
In revisiting these narratives, the Seminar will focus not just on the violence accompanying the process of nation-making but also on survivors’ resettlement. What were the processes initiated by the state to resettle refugees after the Partition? How did refugees negotiate with the state machinery to wrest rights and privileges? What were the networks they drew on to begin their lives anew? How did they negotiate their new status in new regions and host communities? How did their assimilation into host cultures dispossess them of language, culture and a sense of belonging? How did they reconstruct old homes in new places? What impact did the creation of new political borders have in the cultural sphere? These are some of the questions the Seminar aims to investigate.
A Thin Wall Producer Surbhi Dewan and Cinematographer Mithun Gomes will be present for the post screening Q&A. Pls join them if you can!
