Editorial

This is the first newsletter after our second international conference in January 2004 on Identity, Representation and Belonging. Of course, those who participated will find it still fresh in their memories as the invigorating chill of a Delhi winter conspired with the rich variety of papers (and paper presenters!) to ensure an unforgettable meeting of minds and mindsets. The papers ranged from marginal writing through diasporic musings and activism to Australian culture in jokes and political cartoons. Along the way were two book releases, two plays, a reception hosted by the Australian High Commissioner, Ms. Penelope Wensley, at her residence and a cultural evening that incorporated both the folk and classical traditions. And, how is it possible not to make a mention of the great food that punctuated the intellectual sessions with such delightful regularity?!

Not being ones to rest on past laurels however, we are all now gearing up for the third international conference proposed to be held in January 2006 in Pune, Maharashtra. The proposed theme is : Australia and India : Convergences and Divergences.

India, this vast amalgam of cultures, languages, religions and rituals is, to adapt Christina Stead’s metaphor, an ‘ocean of story’ that suggests the dynamic breadth and depth of its storied past. Intellectual Australian interest in Asia or India is not a new phenomenon. One of the first Australian born writers, John Lang, in Wanderings in India (1859) reveals a complex, frequently contradictory - also offensive - blend of attitudes to India (and by association, to imperialism) that can be found in the writings of that pillar of the British Raj - Rudyard Kipling - and, continents away, the Australian Henry Lawson.

The fascination with India has continued into the 21st century. Inez Baranay brought out her latest novel in the September of 2003 - neem dreams - set in South India. Robyn Friend and Meaghan Delahunt are working on The Lovers Handbook and The Prayer Wheel, respectively. The first is a modern adaptation of the Punjabi ballad of Sussi and Pannu while the second is about the many lives and deaths of a Buddhist monk as he strives and fails to gain enlightenment. All these writers have published widely and have stayed and travelled extensively in India to research their work.

On the other hand, Indian interest in Australia is now broadening. More and more people are looking towards it as a tourist destination (thanks to a large number of Indian movies being shot in the picturesque environs of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth). An increasing number of students are opting for Universities in Australia in lieu of earlier preferred Universities in USA and UK. Writing by the Indian Diaspora has also created an awareness of the multicultural nature of Australia, the pitfalls and the hopes. And of course, there is the perceived commonality between our own indigenous tribes and those of Australia.

Writers are located within natural, social and artistic landscapes and traditions and their writing leaves an ‘imprint’ of their passage through these landscapes. What seems certain is that the unsettling of Australians through Asia-related writings - and vice versa -is going to continue and that in these circumstances the former dominions could learn important lessons from each other. And the stage seems to be set for a testing, largely beneficial, fulfilling and acceptable cross-cultural moment in a post-colonial meeting of the two continents as they converge and diverge in social, political, artistic and intellectual terms.

MALATI MATHUR

IASA 2nd International Conference: Australia – Identity, Representation and Belonging
Jan 14-17, 2004 hosted by Jawaharlal Nehru

University & Australian High Commission in partnership with Australia-India Council.

Highlights & Papers Presented:

Introduction & Welcome : Santosh K. Sareen

Welcome : Rajiv K. Saxena, Rector, JNU
IASA’ Patron’s Address: H. E. Ms. Penny Wensley AO, Australian High Commissioner to India
Chief Guest’ Address: Dr. Karan Singh,
Chancellor, JNU
Vote of Thanks: Sheel Nuna

Keynote addresses:

Adam Shoemaker – From Embassy to ‘Embarrassment’: Debates over Indigenous Cultural Property in the Public Sphere

Kapil Kapoor – Identity, Representation and Belonging: Indian Perspectives

Plenaries:

Bruce Bennett – Australian Studies & International Relations

Varun Sahni – Australia & India: Converging Security Concerns & StrategicHorizons?

David Walker – Cultural Anxiety & the Australian Response to Asia

R. Narayanan – David Walker’s Asia – “Possessed” Anxiety Ridden – Australia

Marika Vicziany – Regional Security in the Asia-Pacific: Australian Perspectives on the ‘End of the Australian Empire’

Special Sessions:

Rosemary van Den Berg – Aboriginality : The Australian Enigma

Dennis Haskell – You Must be Joking: Australian values in Australian Jokes

Harish Trivedi – Australian Postcolonialism: Indian Post-colonialism

Readings: Dennis Haskell, Satendra

Nandan, Smita Agarwal & Sudesh Mishra Plays put up by Madras University Students:

Brilliant Lies & Stolen

Folk Dances by a troupe from Rajasthan Reception hosted by the Australian High Commissioner

Dinner hosted by the Vice-Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Valedictory: Rakesh Ahuja
Impressions: Malati Mathur & Satendra Nandan
Concluding remarks by Prof G. K. Chadha, Vice Chancellor, JNU
Vote of Thanks: Roopa Phillip

Paper Presentations:
Political, Social and Economic Issues

Arun Kumar Singh, “Shifting Security Perspectives in the Age of Global Terrorism: Challenges for Indian and Australian Foreign Policies”

Yagamma Reddy, “India – South-East Asia – Australia: Security Concerns from Divergent Perceptions to Convergence of Perspectives”

Aurial Weilgold, “Australia, India and the US: Terms of Alliance”

Rupak Jyoti Borah, “Indo-Australia Strategic Relations Post Pokhran II”

Christopher Lloyd, “The 1840s Depression and the Origins of Australian Capitalism”

Mark Frost, “Recent Trends in the Australian Financial System”

Jennifer Mckay, “National Policies in Water Management in Australia and India”

Monima Chadha, “Multiculturalism and Its Challenges”

Alison Mackinnon, “Unauthorised Knowledges: Readmitting the Spirit to Academic Discourse”

Peter Beilharz and Trevor Hogan, “The State of Social Sciences in Australia”

Adrian Vicary and G. K. Prasad, “Parliament, Politics and Power – Parliamentary Internships and the Construction of Citizenships”

Shiela Pais James, “The Anglo-Indians: The Dilemma of Identity”

Dennis Rumley, “Balancing Australia’s Trilateral Geo-Political Tensions”

Munirathnam Reddy, “The Changing Face of Aboriginality in Multicultural Australia”

Shalu Bindal and Rakesh Thakur, “Gender and Aboriginality: Negotiating Identity at the Crossroads of the 21st Century”

Rajesh Kumar, “The Dialectics of Aboriginal Identity Construction: As Testimony and as Sites of Resistances”

Brajesh Sawhney, “From the Aboriginal Point of View: On the Nature of Aboriginal Identity”

Trevor Hogan, “Nature Strip: Australian Suburbia and the Enculturation of Nature”

Cultural Mosaic

Lennart Jacobsen, “A Geography Of Problems: Melbourne in Films – 1955-1980”

Adrian M. Athique, “Indian Film in the Australian Social Context”

Jhelum Biswas, “Bollywood in Australia”

Raelene Frances, “Representing Sex Works in Museums and Galleries”

Elizabeth Macmohon, “Encapsulated Space: The Paradise Prison of Australia’s Island Imaginary”

Bruce Scates, “Belonging to the Past: Australian Pilgrimages to the Cemeteries of the Great War”

Brigitta Olubas, “Retention Artifice and Affect: Relations of Looking in Work by Tracey Moffatt”

Rakesh Thakur, “The Sacred and Its Sanctity: The Aboriginal Religion in the Post Modern Era”

Ram Niwas, “Australian Spirituality: An Existentialist Philosophy”
Amit Ranjan, “Of Myths, Heroes, Fans and a ‘Sporting’ Culture”

Literature

Pradip Kumar Patra, “A Study of the Multi-Cultural Novels of Yasmine Gooneratne and Meena Abdullah”

Meenakshi Hariharan, “Quest for Identity and the Australian Half Caste Aboriginal: A Study of Alexis Wright’s Plains of Promise”

A. Sudha, “Women and Their Identity as Reflected in Australian Literature”

Jaya Bharati, “Aboriginal Women, Education and Multiculturalism: A Case Study of Australia and Canada”

Soon Ock Yun, “Celebrating Womanhood in Gwen Harwood’s Poetry”

Jaspreet Manchanda, “Their Story: Australian Aboriginal Women’s Autobiographies”

Anjana Srivastava, “Construction of Motherhood in Personal Narratives by Aboriginal Women”

Ameena K. Ansari, “Making an Ocean of a River: Reading Australian Poems on Sport ”

K. G. Naga Radhika, “Identity in Theatre”

Deepti Laroia, “David Williamson and the Unholy Wedlock ”

Karuna Harinarain, “Bush Down Under:

Sewell’s Myth Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America”

Divya Anand, “Landscape Ethics in Phillip Maclaren’s Sweet Water Stolen Land”

Eugenie Pinto and C. T. Indra, “From the Personal to the Political: An Eco-Feministic Reading of Inez Baranay’s Neem Dreams”

Suman Kumar Panigrahi, “Eco-Feminism: A Study of the Poetry of Judith Wright”

Nalini Gandhi Kapoor, “Family: The Site of Story Telling “

Malati Mathur, “Writing Self, Writing Community: Storytellers and Activism”

Margaret Allen, “Some Travellers Tales: India and Australia 1880-1920”

Jaydeep Sarangi, “Australianness: A Lingo Cultural Study of Les Murray’s Poetry”

Harpreet Pruthi, “Representations of Black by White: Racism and Cultural Contextualization in the Selected Poems of Les Murray”

Trivikrama Kumari Jamwal, “An Introduction to Australia through the Works of Some Major Women Poets of the 1990s”

V. Laxmanan, “Subverting Autobiography: A Deconstructive Reading of Patrick White’s Flaws in the Glass”

Tanushree Nayak, “The Idea of ‘Being’ and ‘Becoming’: A Study of Patrick Whites Novel, Voss”

Krishna Barua, “Wet, Boiling, Superficial: Through the Artists Eyes: Cityscapes in Patrick White’s The Vivisector”

Nilanjana Deb, “Remembering as Resistance: The Novels of Kim Scott”

Neelima K. Sharma, “Fictional Representation of Truth: Kim Scott’s Benang and Beatrice Culleton’s April Raintree”

Tamara Athique, “Suburban Masala: Second Generation South-Asian Australian Fiction”

Punam C. Sharma, “Reshaping the Fractured Self: Trauma and Testimony in Sally Morgan’s My Place”

Bindu N, “Echoes of Modern Australia in the Writings of Faye Zwicki and Ania Walwicz”

Maria Prithi Shrinivasan, “Black and White Are One More: The Life Writing of Sally Dingo”

Anisur Rahman, “In the Mid Year of the Century: A Reading of Les Murray’s Immigrant Voyage “

S. Usha Kalyani, “The Rape of the Soul: The Plight of Aboriginal Children in Jane Harrison’s The Stolen”

Pradeep Kumar Trikha, “Multiculturalism in Contemporary Australian Fiction”

Sunili U. Govinnage and Sunil K. Govinnage, “White on Black to Black: From White Representation to Self Representation of Australian Indigenous Literature”

Anandan Latha, “Australian Aboriginal Writing and the Concept of Reconciliation: A Study of Narogin’s The Undying”

Pankaj K. Singh, “Myths and Myth-Making: Strategies of Representation”

Keya Majumdar, “Leaving/Living: Study of Three Immigrant Writings in Relation to Australian Identity”

Kothandaraman, “Appropriating Identity Politics”

Geetali Deori, “White or Black? The Struggle for Acceptance”

Jyotirmaya Tripathy, “Black Australian Post–coloniality”

David Reeve, “The Little Boy from Manly: Representations of Australia and Asia”

Swati Pal, “Reorienting the Orient: A Study of Inez Baranay’s Fiction”

Sudhir Kumar, “Writing the Diasporic Imaginary: Events, Metaphors and Memories in Satendra Nandan’s Requiem for a Rainbow”

Ishmeet Kaur, “Living in Diverse Hemispheres: Self and Salvation”

Forthcoming Events:

3rd International Conference of IASA will be held in Pune University, Jan 9-11, 2006.
The theme is – Australia and India: Convergences and Divergences

Reports

2nd International Conference of IASA, New Delhi, January 15-17 2004

Australia: Identity, Representation and Belonging

Hosted by JNU and Australian High Commission in Partnership with Australia-India Council

The frantic pace of the 2nd International Conference of IASA from January 15 to 17, 2004, at the India Habitat Centre made it almost impossible to believe that till then the only known interaction India had had with Australia was on the cricket field. For a topic that had fairly elusive terms covering a vast terrain, such as ‘Identity’, ‘Representation’ and ‘Belonging’, it invited comments, opinions and viewpoints from not just people who study literature, but also those who analyse politics, defence, trade, gender and so on. The two plays staged with such panache by the drama troupe from the University of Madras, Brilliant Lies and Stolen were brilliantly performed and stole the hearts of the audience–they added an authentic flavour to the entire proceedings.

The inaugural speeches by Penny Wensley, the Australian High Commissioner and Santosh Sareen, President of IASA, contained a fine blend of commitment to strengthen Indo-Australian ties, humour and enthusiasm and set the right tone for the Conference. The keynote speakers Adam Shoemaker, Dean of Arts, Australian National University and Kapil Kapoor, Professor, Centre of Linguistics and English, JNU, quite literally took the bull by the horns and addressed the concept of ‘Identity’. In Shoemaker’s case, he spoke of indigenous people and their assertion of identity vis-à-vis ownership of cultural property, the basis of his argument resting on the fact that the growing idea of multiculturalism the world over only serves to underline indigenity. Kapil Kapoor pointed out that though Indians may appear to have many identities (rural/metropolitan; rich/poor; knowing English/not knowing English; traditional Indians following metropolitan norms) yet, behind such layering there is a core Indian self, which we should recognize. Post-lunch parallel sessions on the first day saw papers dealing with a wide range of issues - political, social and multicultural. So while Christopher Llyod traced the origins of Australian capitalism and the significance of the 1840s depression, Alison Mackinnon’s paper examined the ways in which post-colonial, diasporic and subaltern studies, as well as questions from scholars concerned with gender and race, are recuperating some of the unauthorized knowledge abandoned in earlier times, and asked whether the codification of certain practices by the academy are showing cracks. Australian author, Inez Baranay’s Neem Dreams received a fair share of attention on all three days, initiated by Smita Agarwal, Reader, University of Allahabad, who challenged the so-called multicultural aspect of the novel and whose views were opposed by subsequent paper readers. While a host of papers looked into the strategic aspects and security concerns of India and Australia, Auriol Weilgold, from the University of Canberra, examined their different relationship with the US, based on media and online records within the context of regional security and perceptions of the benefits accruing to both countries as a result of this US connection. There were even two papers on the Australia-India Maritime Dialogues. The plenary speakers on the first day, Bruce Bennett (Prof, ADFA, Canberra) and Varun Sahni (Prof, SIS, JNU), critically commented on developments at the epistemological level resulting from globalisation, both agreeing on the shallowness that often emerges from a so called global curriculum.

To ensure that spirits were not exhausted, the reception thrown at the Australian High Commissioner’s residence at the end of the first day saw participants thoroughly enjoying the ‘spirits’ and snacks served, as also the magnificent gardens of the residence. Of course, the warmth of Penny Wensley’s hospitality added to the mood of good cheer.

Day Two of the Conference had papers in parallel sessions that moved from the contexts thrown open on the first day to actual texts. One of the most enjoyable presentations was by David Reeve (Associate Prof, Dept of Chinese and Indonesian, University of New South Wales, Australia), whose superbly illustrated (through cartoons) talk recorded the fear of immigrants in Australia through the ages and was very well received. Abroginal/Non-White identities and representations were the key themes of these sessions, with papers ranging from analyses of immigrant writings (Satendra Nandan, also present for the Conference, being one of the popular choices) to the negotiations of Australian aboriginal writings. The two special sessions following lunch that day, one with Dennis Haskell (Prof. and Chair, Academic Board, University of Western Australia) and the other with Harish Trivedi (Prof. Dept of English, Delhi University), were entertaining and instructive; in Haskell’s case for the unveiling of “Australian Values in Australian Jokes;” Trivedi, in his inimitable laconic yet acerbic style pointed at the politics behind such conferences and, albeit humorously, voiced his skepticism at the efficacy behind such academic exercises. It was a serious, though extremely interesting, brainstorming session and it was a relief to unwind with the folk dances and play performed later in the evening at JNU.

The final day of the Conference showed no flagging of enthusiasm evidenced by the fantastic range of subjects taken up for paper reading under such broad headings as ‘Cultural Mosiac’, ‘Gender’, ‘Religion and Sports’, ‘Ecofeminism’, ‘Story Telling’, ‘Poetry’, ‘Theatre’ and ‘Authors’. The popular authors taken up for study included Patrick White, Kim Scott and Les Murray. Some interesting cinematic aspects were highlighted by such readings as Lennart Jacobsen’s (Research Scholar, Monash University), who discussed the role of the architectural background, with Melbourne as a case in point, in developing the narrative and visual qualities of films, and the ways in which visions of the cinematic city were shaped by changing urban environment. Areas such as sex work in Australia, which remain marginalized in spite of public interest in the subject, were taken up for analysis by Raelene Frances (Associate Prof, School of History, University of New South Wales). Another absorbing study was made by Bruce Scates, a colleague of Frances, who examined the building up of personal and collective memories through the historical experience of pilgrimage to such ‘sacred’ sites as the cemeteries of the Great War. The ‘sporting culture’ of Australia was highlighted by Amit Ranjan, post-graduate student at CLE, JNU, as also by Ameena Ansari, Reader at Jamia Millia Islamia. The session on gender found an empathetic audience, with perceptive scrutinies especially of the personal narratives of aboriginal women.

The Conference ended not in the inevitable drab way that such events are wont to do but with a veritable battle of wits as waged during the Valedictory session, and was followed by a stimulating session of poetry readings, prior to the dinner hosted by the Vice Chancellor of JNU, Prof G. K. Chadha.

Organising a Conference attended by such large numbers requires no mean skill and it is to the credit of a number of young students of JNU, working quietly behind the scenes that prevented any kind of hitch in the proceedings. India Habitat Centre was an ideal venue, easily housing the numerous sessions and providing delicious meals! The extensive range of topics dealt with, the excitement while watching the plays and the comradely spirit pervading the atmosphere made one nostalgic after the Conference was over. Indeed, a successful milestone for IASA.

SWATI PAL
Senior Lecturer, Dept. of English
Janki Devi Memorial College
(Delhi University)

As a faculty member for the last two decades at the multidisciplinary Centre for Studies on Indochina & South Pacific (CSIC & SP), a UGC sponsored Area Studies Programme at Sri Venkateswara University, I have to my credit a quite good number of research papers on various themes concerning Indo-Australian relations.In Nov. 2003, I got the opportunity to undertake “field work” for my research project on “Trends in India-Australian Relations (since 1947)”.

On arrival in Sydney my host Padman, on our way from the airport, provided me the benefit of basic information on the Australian way of life. An hours travel by an inter-city train from Sydney through the hilly terrain close to the coastline was a thrilling experience. To me hailing from the temple-town of Tirupati at the foot of Tirumala Hills, it was a sort of spiritual ecstasy for me to learn that the temple of Lord Venkateswara (Balaji), akin to the world famous temple on Tirumala Hills, is located on the hill-top at Helensburg about 35 km south of Sydney on the way to Wollongong. A week-long stay at the University of Wollongong (UOW) campus with the most picturesque Illawara escarpment in the backdrop was something like living close to nature. The state-of-art educational infrastructure of the Wollongong University was at the root of its being accredited with the distinction accorded to it as ‘University of excellence’.

The Centre for Maritime Policy under the direction of Prof. Martin Tsamenyi offered me an environment so conducive as to work all through the day in the form of academic discussions with the well-informed faculty of the Centre or consulting the treasure of source materials in the Centre. A draft proposal of Memorandum of Understanding was finalized to be signed by both the Centres that would facilitate the exchange of publications and visits of faculty between the two Centres. The University Library, which I visited during the week-end, had also served my academic needs, thanks to volume and variety of material. Thus, the resources and gesture made my visit a fruitful one.

A matter of pleasant surprise was to find the Japanese and Chinese who were successfully promoting sales of a variety of souvenir goods ‘made’ in their respective countries. The presence of sizeable Asian population is a testimony to the relaxation of immigration laws of White Policy; and hence Australian society tends to become multicultural in its character. Temples of Hindu Gods, prayer halls of Shirdi Baba and Sathya Sai Baba, mosques, Buddhist temples, and such other religious structures subscribe to the religious freedom being enjoyed by the non-Christian communities residing in Australia predominantly composed of Christian population.

A week-days stay at Strategic & Defence Studies Centre of the Australian National University (Canberra) was academically fruitful through a series of discussions with Prof. Ross Babbage and his colleagues and collection of rich source materials. The University House, like other structures, reflect the grandeur of European legacy. A visit to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Studies close to the Australian National Museum located on the Acton Peninsula and late-in the evening visits to the Menzies Library made my academic pursuits in Australia successful and purposeful.

Prof. Y. Yagama Reddy

Forthcoming Events (Dec. 6-11, 2004):

Indians interested in Astralia and Australian Studies are in for a treat this December. The Thesis Eleven Centre for Criticl Theory of La Trobe University is orginizing a series of events from 4-14 December 2004 entitled Australia and India : Cities, Nation-States, Alernative Modernities, Civilisations? in New Delhi. The eventful and actionpacked 10 day schedule includes three public lectures, three seminars, one specialist two day colloquium (to be held in the outskirts of Delhi), two field trips and three formal bilateral university meetings and discussions for Memoranda of Understanding (MOU).

An innovative and exhilarating venture, this programme aims to achieve a number of objectives. The key objectives are to secure formal agreements between La Trobe University (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences) and aquivalent universities in Delhi; increase intellectual traffic between Delhi and Melbourne by enhancing and developing teacher exchange, visiting scholar schemes, recearch collaboration, publication of public lectures and research papers in Thesis Eleven and in equivalent Delhi-based social and political theory journals. Thesis Eleven, as a leading international social theory and historical sociology jounal is well-placed to publish the best of the papers and lectures delivered and has secured the interest and support of Sage in London and in Delhi, as well as the Delhi office of Oxford University Press so that there is potential publication and reprinting of books of visiting scholars. While it is an Australian initiative, the project involves a number of local organizations, universities and companies, especially publishers will be hosting and sponsoring the entire show in cooperation with Thesis Eleven and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHUSS), La Trobe University. Oxford Univeresity Press of India, Sage Publications India, Australian High Commission, India, SARAI, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Centre for Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru Unviersity (JNU), and Centre of Linguistics & English Jawaharlal Nehru University , Indian Association for the Study of Australia (IASA), and the Centre for American and West European Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru Unversity are other supporting Centres and organisations.

Over 20 delegates from FHUSS, La Trobe, (including the Dean of the Faculty) and Thesis Eleven, including senior, internationally-reneowned scholars, South Asian nationals, Area Studies specialists (South Asian and Australian Studies), and postgraduates will be participating .

While most government involvement on the subject of international relations is focused on trade, material culture and development, political stability and peace, the exersise here is to bring out the importance of the advancement of culture, knowledge and mutual understanding between the peoples of the world.The project also calls for commitment by participating parties, both from Melbourne and Delhi. It has diplomatic, public and intellectual dimensions and is aimed at promoting long term and substaintial, intellectual and cultural traffic of mutual learning and trust between institutions, centres and individuals.

Highlights

6^th Dec. 2004: Australian Studies Seminar, Centre of Linguistics & English, School of Language, Literature & Cultural Studies, JNU and IASA at JNU, New Delhi

6^th Dec. 2004, Public Lecture (Evening) : Prof. Peter Beilhartz at India International Centre, New Delhi

7^th Dec. 2004: Social Sciences Seminar, Centre for the Study of Social Systems and Centre for American and West European Studies, JNU, New Delhi

7^th Dec. 2004, Public Lecture (Evening) : Prof. Johan Arnason at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
8^th Dec. 2004: Dr. Leela Gandhi at Hindu College, University of Delhi, Delhi.

COLLOQUIUM: INDIA AND AUSTRALIA: ALTERNATIVE MODERNITIES, DECEMBER 10 AND 11, 2004 AT NEEMRANA

Dec. 10: India and Australia: Cities, Nation_States, Alternative Modernities, Civilizations

Dec. 11: Indian and Australian Critical Theory: Traditions, Projects and Futures

Priti Singh

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