The talk of Dr. Dattaray would focus on oral traditions
from Karbi Anglong, a hill ‘tribe’ from North East India. By focusing on songs
and ancient rituals related to food symbols, the discussion would transcend
political and linguistic boundaries. The emphasis would be on the power of
storytelling which tells us to listen, learn, imagine and empathize. Songs
narrate a story of survival – physical, cultural, political and social. The
spontaneity and feeling in an oral communication invoke an inherited wisdom
through passion, emotion, and character. Human dignity and existence are
conveyed through sharing of stories and not through obtuse academic jargon. The
talk would open windows to Karbi Anglong through visual images, stories and
songs from the ancient tradition.
This would be an interactive session through stories,
anecdotes and visual images from India’s North East Frontier. It will help us
all remember that “birds do not sing because they have answers, birds sing
because they have songs.”
Debashree Dattaray is Assistant Professor in Comparative
Literature at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. She is currently a Fulbright
Visiting Faculty with the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley for Fall
2013. In 2012, she was awarded an Erasmus Mundus Europe Asia Fellowship for
Academic Staff at the University of Amsterdam. In 2007-08, she was a Fulbright
Doctoral and Professional Research Fellow at the State University of New York,
Stony Brook. Her areas of interest and publication are Indigenous Studies,
Gender, Narrative, Oratures and Comparative Indian Literature Methodology.
Those who remember
a lovely presentation given not so long ago at SRH by Erik Aasland
(öse (the trickster) in a Kazakh
Folktale to Represent 'The New Kazakh'>) should be especially pleased to
learn about this publication of our dear guest from India:
The event will take place at SRH on Sunday, October 27,
at 1-3pm.
Silk Road House, 1944 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705
(between Milvia & Martin Luther King; enter by side door in passageway under
black Zabu Zabu awning); e-mail: silkroadhouse@yahoo.com; website: www.silkroadhouse.org; facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SilkRoadHouse; tel.: 510-981-0700.
Silk Road House events are sponsored by the Silkroad
Foundation.
