Conference Report
MELOW 2025, Dharamshala 19-21 Sept 2025
The programme began at 10:00 a.m. with the Inaugural Ceremony, which commenced with the Saraswati Vandana, and the lighting of the ceremonial lamp (Deep-Prajwalan), followed by the university anthem (Kulgeet). The convenor of the conference, Prof. Roshan Lal Sharma, warmly welcomed the delegates and spoke about the significance of the theme, emphasising the way adaptation as a literary and cultural practice continually negotiates between inherited traditions and innovative reinterpretations. Prof. Manju Jaidka, President, MELOW, addressed the delegates and elaborated on the theme of the conference. She also traced the journey of MELOW over the years and how it grew to be such a vibrant platform for learners. The Honourable Vice-Chancellor addressed the gathering, highlighting the enduring contribution of MELOW in providing a global platform for literary scholarship and exchange.
After the formal inaugural, participants proceeded to a photo session and high tea at 10:45 a.m.
The academic sessions began with the Keynote Address by Prof. Iffat Maqbool, Department of English, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, on “Dependence, Liberation, and Creativity: Reclaiming the Power of Adaptation” at 11:45 a.m. The session was chaired by Prof. T. N. Dhar, Senior Professor, Shoolini University, Solan. Prof. Iffat explored how adaptation serves not only as a tool of dependence on earlier narratives but also as a liberating and creative act, reimagining stories in new cultural and aesthetic frameworks.
An Invited Lecture was delivered by Sumanta Sarkar, Director and Mentor (Theatre & Film), and Director of The Mystic Minds – A Creative Initiative in Dharamshala. The session was chaired by Prof. Roshan Lal Sharma. The speaker deliberated on “The Art of Visual Adaptation: From Page to Stage and Screen.” Drawing on his theatre and film experience, he examined the challenges and creative strategies involved in transforming literary texts into performance and visual media.
The Isaac Sequeira Memorial Special Lecture was delivered by Professor Harish Trivedi, Former Professor of English, University of Delhi “Adaptation East and West: Literary and Cultural Practices.” The session was chaired by Prof. Krishnan Unni. P, Delhi University. In his talk, Prof. Trivedi provided a comparative perspective, analysing how adaptation practices differ across cultural contexts while retaining shared concerns about authenticity, innovation, and reception.
The Isaac Sequeira Memorial Award paper presentations were held in the last academic session of the day, chaired by Prof. Debarati Bandyopadhyay of Visva-Bharati University. In this session three young scholars presented their research papers. Gunjan Arora (PhD Scholar, LPU, Jalandhar) spoke on “Animated Intentions: Religious Appropriation and the Travesty of Adaptation.” Snigdha Bhatt (Assistant Professor, St. Bede’s College, Shimla) discussed “Intersemiotic Journey: Visual and Thematic Transformation from Amrita Pritam’s Pinjar to Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s Cinematic Interpretation.” Srishti Sharma (PhD Scholar, IPU, Delhi) made her presentation on “Beyond the Books: Ethics, Politics, and Visual Power in the Adaptation of Game of Thrones.” The papers generated lively discussion around appropriation, politics, ethics, and the responsibilities of adaptation in negotiating between tradition and innovation. Srishti Sharma won the ISM award and she was congratulated by everyone present while Gunjan Arora also won a Certificate of Appreciation.
The evening schedule included a meeting with volunteers, followed by a vibrant Cultural Programme which showcased local artistry and enriched the cultural experience of the delegates. The inaugural day concluded with dinner, offering an informal space for interaction among participants.
The inaugural day of MELOW 2025
thus set a strong academic and cultural foundation for the three-day
conference. With its focus on the theme “Challenges in Adaptation: Interplay of
Tradition and Innovation,” the first day brought together scholarship, performance,
and literary exchange, marking a promising start to the international
deliberations ahead.
REPORT (Day 2), September 20, 2025
Room A (Seminar Hall)
The second day of the MELOW 2025 Conference began in the Seminar Hall with a panel held from 9:30 to 11:00 am, chaired by Professor Manju Jaidka, President of MELOW. Most of the presentations in this session were delivered online, drawing together scholars from diverse institutions to reflect on the contemporary politics of adaptation.
The session opened with Tran Thi Van Dung, Vice President of Hue City Writers' Association from Vietnam and Nayan Deep S. Kanwal from Malaysia. The paper titled “Across Rivers and Roots: Ethical and Ecological Worlds in the Stories and Novels of Nguyen Ngoc Tu and Modern Indian Women Writers,” examined adaptation as a form of cultural negotiation rather than mere replication, arguing that in transnational contexts, adaptations actively reshape cultural identities, making retelling an act of reinterpretation.
Garima Malik (Bhagat Phool Singh Women University, India) and Tais Leite de Moura (University of São Paulo, Brazil), examined the Ramayana’s contemporary adaptations through their paper titled “Ideology and Adaptations: An Analysis of Select Contemporary Adaptations of Ramayana.” They argued that while the epic traditionally functioned as a pluralistic cultural text, modern screen versions increasingly reframe it for ideological purposes, recasting mythological figures and values to advance exclusionary political agendas.
The session concluded
with Varnika, a research scholar from the Central University of Himachal
Pradesh, Dharamshala, who analysed the film adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s
The White Tiger through her paper titled “Through the Lens: Adaptation and
Social Commentary in The White Tiger.” Under the chairpersonship of
Professor Jaidka, this panel demonstrated that adaptation today is less a
matter of fidelity to source texts and more a negotiation with ideology, market
forces, and cultural identity.
Room B
Chaired by Professor Krishnan
Unni, Delhi University, featured a theoretical outlook towards the
metaphysical adaptations. Asmita Sharma, PhD scholar, Himachal Pradesh
University, Shimla, in her paper titled “The Sacred and Its Adaptations:
Negotiating Folklore and Scriptural Authority,” examined the negotiation of
folklore and scriptural authority and how adaptation erases language rituals
subsuming the cultural identities. She looked for the institutions of Himachal
Pradesh and the local devi devtas worship.
The second presenter was Professor Debarati Bandyopadhyay, Professor and Head in the Department of English at Visva-Bharti, Shantiniketan. Her paper titled “Adaptations: From Intertext, Ethics and Subversion to Afterlife” explored adaptation’s ethical, intertextuality, and subversive dimensions. Her focus was on how adaptation can change the way one perceives.
Room C
Professor Jappreet Bhangu from SLIET, Longowal, was the chair of session 1C. First presenter was Aastha Choudhary, Assistant Professor, Chandigarh College of Engineering, Jhanjeri. Her paper titled “Feminist and Political Erasure: The House of the Spirits Novel vs. Film.” The paper examined Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits and its film adaptation directed by Bille August. It emphasized that Allende’s novel is a landmark in the Latin American feminist literary canon, as it foregrounds women’s experiences and voices, particularly through the characters of Clara, Blanca, and Alba. She highlighted that while the novel powerfully integrates feminist concerns with Chilean history and politics, the film adaptation failed to capture this depth. She concluded that from both feminist and political perspectives, the adaptation would have been far more powerful had it retained the distinct female voices and the socio-political struggles embedded in Allende’s narrative.
Second presenter was Angad Singh, PhD Candidate, Northwestern University, USA. He presented paper titled “Adaptation as Critique: Emma in Mahesh Rao’s Polite Society.” The paper explored Mahesh Rao’s Polite Society (2019) as a contemporary Indian adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma (1815). The presentation emphasized that while Austen resolves Emma through a marriage plot that reinforces social stability, Rao deliberately disrupts this pattern. His heroine, Ania, remains unmarried at the end of the novel, while her family faces financial collapse and the revelation of disturbing family secrets. The paper concluded that Polite Society not only reflects Austen’s interest in domestic and social life but also exposes the hidden violence and insecurity that sustain such worlds.
Third presenter was Pradipta Shyam Chowdhury an Assistant Professor of English, The University of North Bengal. The title of the paper was “The Gastrosemantics of the Tins and Curry: The Politics of Reception and Rejection in Anglo-Indian Fusion.” The paper explored Anglo-Indian culinary culture as an important site of cultural exchange and resistance during British rule in India. It showed how food went beyond nourishment to reflect power, adaptation, and identity. Through the idea of gastrosemantics, it demonstrated how food habits and culinary practices became a space for negotiation, contest, and the blending of cultures in colonial India.
Fourth presenter Sayan
Chatterjee, Faculty, Department of English, The Bhawanipur Education
Society College, Kolkata presented a paper titled “Re-telling Myth(s):
Marginalization, Migration and Climate Crisis in Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island.”
The paper examined Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island as a powerful
reimagining of the myth of Devi Manasa and Chand Sadagar from the Manasamangal
tradition. It highlighted how Ghosh uses folklore and myth not merely as
narrative devices but as tools to address urgent contemporary issues such as
migration and the climate crisis. By tracing analogies between Manasa’s
struggles for recognition and the class hierarchies and power politics
surrounding climate-related migration, the paper showed how Gun Island
blends myth and modernity to expose the deep links between environmental crises
and social inequality.
Room D
Session 1D, chaired by N. R. Gopal, Professor, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, featured two insightful presentations on the theme of literary adaptation in Indian cinema, exploring how stories are transformed and re-contextualized across different mediums and times. Together, these presentations demonstrated the transformative power of adaptation, showcasing how stories are continuously reimagined to engage with pressing social, environmental, and cultural discourses.
The second presenter was Jyoti Mishra, Assistant Professor at Radhabai Government Navin Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Rajpur, Chhattisgarh. Her paper titled “Vijaydan Detha’s “Duvidha”: Journey beyond Transposition to Analogical Expansion.” Mishra traced the evolution of Detha’s Rajasthani folk tale through its various film adaptations, most notably by Mani Kaul. She introduced the concept of “analogical expansion,” contending that each adaptation creatively extrapolates the story’s core themes of desire and patriarchal norms to generate new meanings and resonate with contemporary audiences, rather than simply transposing the plot.
Room E
Session 1E, chaired by Kalpana Purohit from Jodhpur University, showcased varied insights into the nuances of adaptations. The first presentation was by Azhar Uddin Sahaji, PhD Research Scholar at the Department of English, JMI, and his research was titled “Plurilingualism and the Problem of Translation/Adaptation: A Study of Select Sufi/Bhakti Poems in Bangla/Hindi Translation.” His paper particularly argued that the essence of plurilingualism is not only deep-rooted in the Indian humanistic traditions, but also an inability to translate/adapt them is the central feature of this Sufi/Bhakti literature that is nurtured by a diverse, dynamic, and syncretic society throughout centuries in India/South Asia.
The second presentation
by Saurav Shandil, Assistant Professor at the Department of English,
Eternal University, Baru Sahib, Sirmaur, titled “So it goes…” on Screen:
Temporal Disjunction and the 1972 Filmic Adaptation of Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five,”
highlighted how film offered a dramatized portrayal of Billy’s experience
and how disjuncture becomes a method of trauma and philosophical critique.
Room F
Session 1F was chaired
by a distinguished academic whose contributions fortified both direction and
depth. Session 1F, guided by Radha Gautam, foregrounded Himachal’s folk
literature and the role of oral traditions as a living testament to cultural
creativity.
First presenter was Abhyudita G. Singha who presented a paper titled “Oral Tradition of Folk Literature of Himachal: A Case of ‘Chinese Whispers’.” Her research on ‘Chinese Whispers’ explored local modes of transmission and transformation.
Second presenter was Ahmad
Ishtiaque Tapadar; his paper titled “Feudalism and Modern India: Politics
and Aesthetics in Adaptation in Ramin Bahrain’s The White Tiger.” His
paper examined the intersection of feudalism and modernity in the adaptation of
The White Tiger. He analysed the film portrayal of remnant feudalism in
contemporary Indian society. Ayushi Khera’s presentation on
retelling Sita and Draupadi opened feminist dimensions of epic voices, and
Antony Samy J’s exploration of the journey from oral tradition to digital
adaptation bridged ancestral stories with contemporary medialogy.
SESSION 2 (11:30-1:00 am)
Room A (Seminar Hall)
Session 2A, chaired by Professor Harish Trivedi, Delhi University, brought together four fascinating papers that explored how stories change when they move across time, culture, and media. Whether it was novels turning into films, fairy tales reimagined for modern audiences, or stories jumping from page to museum walls, each speaker showed how adaptation keeps literature alive in new and unexpected ways.
First presenter was Bilge Mutluay Çetintaş (Hacettepe University) and the title of her paper was “Transformative Adaptations: Orhan Pamuk’s The Museum of Innocence.” She explored Orhan Pamuk’s The Museum of Innocence. What started as a novel grew into a real museum in Istanbul and even a film, all adding new layers to the story. The paper argued that these versions invite readers and viewers to become part of the storytelling process, turning adaptation into a conversation rather than a one-way retelling.
Second presenter was Anjali K. Janeiro, PhD scholar from IIT Hyderabad. She presented her paper titled “Authenticity vis- à -vis Adaptation in Cinematic Renditions of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.” She opened the panel by looking at two films– Capote (2005) and Infamous (2006)– based on Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. She explored how both films play with ideas of truth and storytelling. While Capote’s book blurs the line between fact and fiction, the movies add their own creative twists, showing that sometimes “infidelity” to the original can actually make a story more powerful.
Next, Maria Chan (Hong Kong Shue Yan University) turned to The Little Mermaid. She compared Hans Christian Andersen’s sad, morally heavy tale with Disney’s bright, musical version. Her talk demonstrated how Disney transformed the story from one about sacrifice and longing into one about self-discovery and empowerment, making it resonate with modern, global audiences.
The paper “Transcultural
Adaptations: Exploring Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil’s Aşk-I Memnu and Its Screen
Adaptations in Turkiye, Spain and India” by Shamenaz Bano focused on how
literary works gain wider reach through visual adaptations in the
digital era. Highlighting Aşk-I Memnu as a literary masterpiece, the
presentation examined its adaptations across different countries and
time periods. It explored how cultural and geographical shifts influenced narrative
style, characterization, and audience reception. The study emphasized the role
of screen adaptations in preserving and popularizing classical
literature for global audiences.
Together, these papers revealed that adaptation is never just about copying a story. It’s about keeping it alive, letting it grow, and allowing it to speak to new people in new way.
Room B
Session 2B was chaired by Professor Manpreet Kang, IPU Delhi. The session commenced with Prayag Ray (Assistant Professor, St. Xavier University, Kolkata) and Debasmita Das (PhD scholar, St. Xavier University, Kolkata) presenting their study of Hamlet in an AI context through image generation on Chat GPT which delved into its relevance in algorithm driven globalized capitalism, through their paper titled “The Native Hue of Resolution: Rendering Hamlet Through AI-Generated Art.”
Richa Pajiala, PhD scholar at the Department of English, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, presented her analysis of adaptation and consumerist subversion in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go which stated how adaptations are political promoting the consumerist culture in the contemporary world, through her paper titled “Politics of Adaptation and Consumerist Subversion in the Filmic Representation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go,”
Sanjay Mukherjee, Professor at the Department of English, CLS, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat presented his paper titled “The Mutuality of Adaptation in/of Percival Everett’s Works,” on the mutuality of adaptation in Percival Everett’s works blending them with the problems of exploitation and hierarchy using the lens of Black studies.
Navdeep Kahol presented on the
adaptive journey of Ruskin Bond’s The Blue Umbrella, later adapted into
a 2005 Hindi film by the same name, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, which later
won the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film.
Room C
Session 2C was chaired by Professor Meenu Gupta, Panjab University, Chandigarh. The first presentation of the session was by Leena Sarkar Bhaduri, Assistant Professor, Shree Agrasen Mahavidyalaya, Dalkhola, Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal. Her paper titled Satyajit Ray’s Ganashatru based on An Enemy of the People: Ibsen’s Realism and Cinematic Adaptation. The paper explored the relationship between literature and film through Satyajit Ray’s Ganashatru (1989), an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People. It highlighted how film, like literature, reflects the many shades of life while re contextualizing texts to meet changing artistic and cultural needs. Adaptation was discussed as a process of transformation rather than direct imitation, where a literary work is reshaped to suit a new medium and socio-cultural environment.
Second presenter, Mousumi Hazra, PhD scholar, Department of English, University of North Bengal, Darjeeling, presented her paper titled “Reforming the Apu Trilogy: Reading, Watching, and Again Reading Sarbajaya.” The paper examined the trans generic journey of the character Sarbajaya from Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s Apu Trilogy to Satyajit Ray’s film adaptation and further to Zinia Mitra’s poem “Me, Sarbajaya” (2021), highlighting how literature can revisit and reinterpret visual and narrative representations, giving marginalized characters a renewed voice
The final presenter of the session” Nalin Sharma, PhD scholar, HPU, Shimla, presented his paper titled “Sing Me a Poem: A Case Study of Select Poems as Songs.” The paper explored the adaptation of Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s poems “ek kudi” and “ki puchde ho haal fakiran da” into songs, examining how meaning shifts when a literary text moves into a musical medium. Adaptation, the paper argued, inherently transforms a text because each medium has its own signs and conventions that shape meaning. The paper focused on how singing adds new layers to the poems, changing their emotional tone and impact, contributing to understanding how transmutation into music can enrich literary texts and open new avenues for interpretation and engagement.
Room D
Session 2D, chaired by Professor Debarati Bandyopadhyay, Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, explored the intricate art of cinematic adaptation across diverse genres—from Gothic literature and science fiction to magical realism and mythological epics. A central theme that emerged was the transformative process of “recontextualization,” where source material is not merely translated but profoundly reimagined for new mediums and contemporary audiences.
First speaker was Gauri Soni Research Scholar, Department of English, School of Languages, CSJM University, Kanpur. Her paper titled “Adapting Rebecca (1940): Hitchcock’s Gothic Cinematic Vision.” Soni’s paper delved into Alfred Hitchcock’s masterful adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel. She analysed how Hitchcock used cinematic techniques–lighting, sound to translate the psychological depth and Gothic atmosphere of the source text onto the screen, creating a new, visually powerful interpretation of the story.
Second speaker was Gitanjali Mahendra, Associate Professor, St. Bede’s College, Shimla. She presented a paper titled “Adapting the Unknowable: Film Adaptation of Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris.” Her paper presentation tackled the challenge of adapting Stanislaw Lem’s philosophically complex science fiction. She provided a comparative analysis of the various film adaptations, focusing on how different directors have attempted to visualize the novel’s central, “unknowable” theme of a sentient ocean and humanity’s encounter with the truly alien.
Third Speaker was Harleen Kaur, Assistant Professor, A.S.B.A., S.J.S.M College Bela. She presented a paper titled “Reimagining Márquez: Adaptation, Authorship, and Magical Realism in the Netflix Series.” Her research examined the recent Netflix adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s works. Her paper critically assessed the complexities of translating Márquez’s distinctive magical realism and narrative voice into a serialized format, raising questions about authorship, fidelity, and the interpretation of cultural specificities for a global streaming audience.
Fourth speaker was Hem
Raj Bansal, Associate Professor of English, Central University of Himachal
Pradesh, Dharamshala. He presented a paper titled “Humanizing the Demonized:
Notions of Justice, Revenge, and Empathy in Mani Ratnam’s Raavna.” His
analysis focused on Mani Ratnam’s modern cinematic adaptation of the Ramayana
epic. This paper focused on modern retellings of Indian epics that aim to
deconstruct the traditional binary of good versus evil, additionally
highlighting how the film subverts the stereotypical, one-dimensional portrayal
of Raavan.
Room E
The second speaker was Sunaina Jain, Assistant Professor at the Department of English in Mehr Chand Mahajan DAV College for Women, Chandigarh, and her topic of research was “Palimpsests of Green Gables: Intertextuality, Identity, and Ideology in Anne with an E.” The paper contextualized the tone, ideological underpinnings, and the cultural context of the Netflix adaptation, and looked into the extrapolations and amplification of the thematic content like LGBTQ themes and erasure of indigenous identities, either missing or understated in the original novel.
The final speaker of the session was Bashabi Gogoi, Assistant Professor at the Department of English, Tezpur University and the topic of her research was “To Win is to Lose Everything and the Game Always Wins: The Politics of Fidelity in Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games and its Screen Adaptation.” The paper explored how the makers, while conforming to the prerequisites of Netflix, have tried to be faithful to the text by envisioning its essentially dystopic nature through thematic episodes whose titles foreshadow the events that transpire.
Room F
Neeraj Pizar, Associate Professor, Chitkara University, Punjab, presented his paper titled “Localising the Bard: Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider as a Kashmiri Hamlet.” His work traced localization in Haider.
Nripika Sharma, PhD scholar at the
Department of English, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala,
through her paper titled “Glass Slippers in Seoul: Transcultural
Cinderella Code in Korean Adaptation” examined the Cinderella motif within
Korean television drama. Namrata Pathania’s investigation into multiple
retellings of the Ballad of Mulan captured the complexity of adaptation,
navigating both tradition and transformation.
SESSION 3 (2:00-3:30 pm)
Room A (Seminar Hall)
This session was chaired by Professor Sanjay Mukherjee, Saurashtra University, Rajkot focused on the theme of literary and cinematic adaptations, exploring how texts are reshaped across media and cultures.
The first presentation by Riya Rose Thomas and Sharmila Narayan from Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, titled “Diversity, Race, and Representation in Disney’s Adaptations of The Little Mermaid,” examined the 2023 live-action version of the film. Using Linda Hutcheon’s adaptation theory and Richard Delgado’s critical race theory, the presenters argued that the film redefined earlier stereotypes by casting a Black actress as Ariel and giving the protagonist greater agency. The study highlighted adaptation as a form of creative resistance that amplifies marginalized voices.
The second paper, presented by Professor Sharif Atiquzzaman, Former Principal, Government Brajalal College, Bangladesh, titled Understanding Satyajit Ray’s Filmic Approach to Ibsen: A Comparative Study of Ganasatru and An Enemy of the People,” emphasized how Ray localized Ibsen’s classic to reflect Indian socio-political concerns such as corruption and religious exploitation. Despite technical limitations, the adaptation retained Ibsen’s universal themes of morality and truth while enriching them with an Indian cultural lens.
In the third presentation, Kalpana Purohit from Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur, delivered a paper titled “Intertextual Journeys: Literature and its Cinematic Transformations.” She argued that adaptation is not a mere transfer of text to screen but a creative re-interpretation shaped by socio-political contexts. Referencing George Bluestone and Dudley Andrew, she analysed Indian adaptations like R.K. Narayan’s Guide, showing how filmmakers reshape narratives with innovations such as music and emotional layering to reach wider audiences.
The fourth presentation was
delivered by Pavlina Flajsarova from Palacky University, Czech Republic,
through her paper titled “Adapted Realities: Gender, Gaze, and the Visual
Rewriting of Brick Lane.” Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s and Edward Soja’s
spatial theories, she compared the novel and its film adaptation, highlighting
how cinematic techniques created a new visual and cultural interpretation of
diasporic identity. Despite controversies over representation, the study
concluded that the film served as a cultural mediator, visually charting the
protagonist’s journey toward independence.
Room B
Session 3B, chaired by Sangeeta Singh, GDC Shivnagar Kangra, brought together varied perspectives on adaptation. Shivani Chaudhary, Assistant Professor, GDC Dehar, Mandi, presented her research on algorithmic transformation of Himachali folk, titled “Folk in the Age of Algorithms: R(evolutionary) Retellings from Himachal.”
Smita Ajgaonkar Nayak, Assistant Professor at
the Department of English, PES’s RSN College of Arts and Science, Farmagudi,
Ponda, Goa, presented a reflection on poetry as cultural memory in the works of
Meena Alexander, through her paper titled “Poetry as ‘Passage’: Symbolic
Adaptations and Cultural Memory in the Poetry of Meena Alexander.”
Suraj Soni, Assistant Professor at the Department of English, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, presented a comparative insight into cultural revisions of Macondo in Dynamo’s Adaption of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, through his paper titled “Cultural (Re-)Visions of Macondo in Dynamo’s Adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.”
Sumita Kumari, Guest Faculty at NIT,
Hamirpur, presented her work titled “Meta-Adaptation as a Continuum: A Critique
of Orhan Pamuk’s The Museum of Innocence.” The paper focused on how the
‘fidelity’ of the distinctive content is not distorted by the story’s
transition from the fictional arena to the real-life museum, where readers
become visitors and vice versa, from the museum to its photographic catalogue,
and eventually to the documentary drama.
Room C
Session 3C was chaired by Bilge Mutluay Cetintas, Associate Professor at Hacettepe University, Turkiye, and it featured Pallavi Srivastava, Assistant Professor, Dept of English, Kalindi College, University of Delhi. The title of her paper was “U. R. Ananthamurthy’s Samaskara: An Interplay of Society and Culture in Text.” The paper examined the close relationship between literature and cinema in India, highlighting how cinema acts as a powerful medium to represent society, much like literature. It emphasized that while literature mirrors social realities, cinema translates this reflection onto the screen using visual and technical elements, creating a new dimension for storytelling.
The second speaker was Ratha S. Gautam, Associate Professor & Head of Department, at S.B. Garda College, Navsari, Gujarat. In her presentation titled “Narrative Fidelity and Creative Freedom in Amish Tripathi’s Ram: Scion of Ikshvaku,” she examined the question of fidelity and freedom in the mentioned text. She concluded with the notion that the author adapted the elements of the ancient text for contemporary relevance while simultaneously challenging and honouring the traditional narrative.
The third speaker was Riya Haryal, RD Scholar at CUHP Dhramshala, who delivered her talk titled “Adapting Woolf: Rewiting Female Subjectivity in The Hours,” where she examined Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and Michael Cunningham’s The Hours. She concentrated on the representations of female subjectivity in the novel.
The fourth speaker was Sakshi Sundaram, Assistant Professor at Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi. Her presentation was titled “‘The Two Trees That Grew in Brooklyn’: Revisiting On-Screen Adaptations of Betty Smith’s Iconic Novel,” in which she concentrated on the classic young adult fiction, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and its two screen adaptations by Elia Kazan (1945) and the later TV Drama (1975). She examined how changes in sociocultural and cinematic conventions impacted both adaptations.
Room D
This session commenced post lunch. The session was chaired by Pradipta Shyam Chowdhury, University of North Bengal, Darjeeling.
First speaker was Balbir Singh, an Assistant Professor, Govt. College Chowari, Dept. of Higher Education, Himachal Pradesh. The paper he presented titled “An Exploration of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice as a Multi-Genre Adaptation Journey.” The paper pointed out that literary adaptations frequently introduce numerous new literary elements that re-shape language, settings, and gender roles, aligning with modern values. It concluded that while there is a risk of undermining the work’s originality, literary adaptations simultaneously explore the traditional elements of the genre, propagating the dynamic relationship between tradition and innovation through the source text.
Second presenter was Bhakti Vaishnav, from Government Arts and Science College, Bavla. Her paper titled “Adding Nuances of Postcolonial Arguments to Shakespeare – Adaptations of Shakespearean Plays to Novels under Hogarth Shakespeare Series,” examined how these texts function as “creative retellings” that introduce modern, particularly postcolonial, discourses into the universal themes of Shakespeare’s works.
Third presenter was Harjinder
Kaur, Assistant Professor in English, Guru Nanak Govt. College, Kala
Afghana, Gurdaspur, Punjab. The title of her paper was “Adaptations as
Transformative Reimagining: Analysing Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s ‘Luna.”’ The
core of the analysis was focused on Batalvi’s epic tragic romance, Luna, a
quintessential work of modern Punjabi literature known for its intense emotion
and poetic brilliance. Kaur examined how this classic folk narrative has been
adapted across various media—be it theatre, film, or modern literary
retellings.
Room E
Session 3E was chaired by Abhyudita Gautam and it showcased diverse perspectives on cinematic adaptations.
The first speaker was Tanushree Sarkar, Assistant Professor at SRM University, Sikkim, and the topic of her research was “From Memoir to Movie: Reimagining Binodini Dasi in Contemporary Bengali Cinema Binodini: Ekti Natir Upakhyan” (2025). The paper explored how the film negotiates Binodini Dasi’s layered identity as a performer, a courtesan, and a woman contending with caste and gender hierarchies through visual symbolism, performance aesthetics, and emotional tonality, while critically examining the ethical and representational tensions inherent in adapting a self-authored life, particularly one so attuned to its own historical and social complexities.
The second speaker was Upma Sharma, Assistant Professor at the Department of English, RKMV Shimla, and the topic of her research was “Cinematic Representation of India’ Class Divide: A Critical Study of Ramin Bahrani’s Adaptation of The White Tiger.” This paper explored the complex dynamics of adapting a literary work into a cinematic narrative. Through a comparative analysis of the novel and film, this paper examined the fidelity of the adaptation to the original text and creative liberties taken during adaptation.
The third speaker of the session was Yamini, Associate Professor at the Department of English, Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi, and her topic of research was titled ‘Aag ka Darya’ (1959) and ‘River of Fire’ (1998): “Transcreating Textual and National Identities. The paper presented the evolution of Ganga-Jamni Sabhyata” and the re-construction of textual identities during moments of political crises especially during the development of modern nations.
The final speaker of the session was Prateek Deswal, Assistant Professor at Govt. College Jhandutta, Bilaspur, and his topic of research was titled “Analyzing the Adaptation from Written Word to Visual Experience in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. The paper presented the interplay of traditional and innovative theoretical considerations that shape up certain literary paradigms and focused on the movie as the outcome of a relational process wherein concepts, theories and definitions interact to produce a moving experience on screen.
Room F
This session was chaired by Jyoti
Mishra, Government KMV, Raipur, revealed the aesthetic and ethical
potential of adaptation in civil rights storytelling and visual language
through the work of Somjit Halder, titled “Recasting Martin Luther King Jr.
through the Visual Language of Patachitra.” Here, adaptation was shown
not just as a literary exercise but as a form of social commentary and cultural
memory.
SESSION 4 (3:45-5:15 pm)
Room A (Seminar Hall)
Session
4A, Chaired by Professor Khem Raj Sharma, Central University of Himachal
Pradesh, engaged with diverse perspectives on adaptation, showing how texts,
genres, and cultural practices are reshaped across media and contexts.
The
session opened with Professor Susmita Talukdar of Tribhuvan University,
Nepal, presenting her paper “Tracing Adaptation from Kitchen to Screen”.
Her paper highlighted how food culture and identity evolve in the negotiation
between tradition and modernity. Drawing on Linda Hutcheon’s adaptation theory
and Henry Jenkins’s participatory culture, she compared Nepali and Bengali
cuisines as represented in cookbooks and digital blogs. She argued that digital
platforms have become participatory spaces where audiences actively reshape
cultural identity through culinary practices.
The
second paper, “From Literature to the Pages of Comics: Examples of E. A. Poe,
and G. Orwell” was presented by Professor Daniel Kalinowski. He
examined comic adaptations of The Fall of the House of Usher and 1984,
situating them within a “pixocentric” culture that privileges visuals. While
the adaptations condense and simplify narratives, they succeed in reimagining
classics for modern readers. Kalinowski noted how commercialization has enabled
comics to be recognized as serious art forms, marking them as an independent
and thriving genre.
The
third presentation, “Myth, Hybridity, and Narrative Form: A Barthesian Reading
of Trans-Cultural Adaptation in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children” by
Yuhe Chen of Hong Kong Baptist University, examined Rushdie’s use of
mythology as both resistance and complicity. Using Barthes and Foucault, Chen
argued that while Rushdie creatively reworks myths to critique colonialism, his
narrative strategies also risk commodifying sacred traditions, reflecting the
contradictions of transcultural adaptation.
The
final paper was presented by Professor Adela Kuik-Kalinowska and titled “Haiku
after Adaptation: On the Fate of an Oriental Genre in the Western World”. She
examined haiku’s transformation in the West, showing how initial struggles to
capture its spiritual essence gave way to the Beat Generation’s creative fusion
of Eastern and Western aesthetics.
Session
4A showcased how adaptations transform texts, genres, and cultural practices
across media, offering fresh perspectives on identity, narrative, and audience
engagement. Collectively, the papers highlighted adaptation as a dynamic
process that bridges tradition and modernity while fostering creative
reinterpretation.
Room B
Session
4B, chaired by Neeraj Pizar, Associate Professor, Chitkara University,
highlighted feminist, political, and genre adaptation. The first presenter of
the session, Sangeeta Singh, Principal, Government Degree College
Shivnagar, Kangra in her paper titled “Adaptation as Subversion: Rewriting the
Epic through a Feminist Lens in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Palace of
Illusions” explored the novel as a revisionist adaptation that challenges
the authority of the classical epic while engaging with contemporary concerns
of gender, identity, and power.
The
second presenter, Shreya Bhatia, PhD scholar at the Department of
English, Central University of Himachal Pradesh through her paper titled “Adaptation
as an Act of Political Cloning and Alteration of Narratives: An Analysis of The
Hate U Give” offered an examination of The Hate U Give and the
political cloning of the text.
Subham Amin, Assistant Professor at the Department of English,
Sri Ramkrishna Sarada Vidyamahapitha, Kamarpukur, West Bengal presented his
work on vampire narratives in Bengal, titled “A Vampire of Our Own: Politics of
Appropriation of Vampire Narratives in Bengal” in which he explored the
gendered sub-texts of the translated texts of Bram Stoker and its Bengali
adaptations to render the nuances of Victorian norms of heteronormativity and
their reception by the Bengali middle class.
The
final presentation by Parul Chauhan, Assistant Professor at the
Department of English, Jawaharlal Nehru Govt. Engineering College, Sundernagar,
Mandi, examined the challenges and opportunities associated with the creative
process of adaptation and delves into the evolving legacy of Lorraine
Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun. Her paper titled “Visualizing the
American Dream: Cinematic Adaptations of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in
the Sun” outlined that adaptation is not merely a storytelling of the original
text but an innovative way of reinterpretation and creative transformation of
the same, keeping in mind the time, medium, and evolving social realities of
the particular era.
Room C
Session
4C, chaired by Renuka Dhyani, Associate Professor, SMMDGS College,
Panchkula, showcased varied perspectives on the politics of adaptation. The
first presenter, Varsha Thakur, Research Scholar, Department of English,
Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, presented her research
titled “From Race and Gender Oppression to a Tragic Romance: Exploring Thematic
Shift in Cinematic Adaptation of Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea.” The
paper examined Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea and its 1993 film adaptation
directed by John Duigan, focusing on feminist and postcolonial themes. Rhys’
novel reimagines Bertha Mason’s story from Jane Eyre, critiquing male
dominance, imperialist narratives, and highlighting Antoinette’s psychological
struggles. The paper analysed how the film transforms these themes, shifting
the focus from postcolonial critique to tragic romance and visual appeal.
The
second presentation by Vipasha Bisht, PhD Scholar, Department of
English, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, highlighted a
more contemporary issue in her findings titled “AI and Studio Ghibli:
Adaptation, Appropriation, and Commercialization”. The paper examined
AI-generated images, specifically those created by ChatGPT, in relation to
Studio Ghibli’s iconic visual style, and argued that AI functions not merely as
a tool but as an active participant in transcultural storytelling, expanding global
access while potentially reducing cultural heritage into easily consumable
digital artifacts. By critically analysing select ChatGPT-generated images, the
paper emphasized how AI challenges traditional notions of adaptation, fidelity,
and the politics of authorship in visual media.
The
final presentation of the session by Aarushi, PhD Scholar,
Department of English, CUHP, Dharamshala, titled “From Monstrosity to Market:
The Politics of Vampiric Narrative Evolution from Its Literary Origins to
Contemporary Visual Adaptations” examined the transformation of the
vampire from its origins in 19th-century Gothic literature to its
current status as a commodified and celebrated figure in visual media. In early
literary texts, such as John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819), Sheridan Le
Fanu’s Carmilla (1872), and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897),
vampires symbolized deviance in race, class, gender, and sexuality, functioning
as moral monstrosities that enforced social norms by embodying the threatening
“Other.” The paper analysed how contemporary adaptations, including Only
Lovers Left Alive (2013), What We Do in the Shadows (2014), and
Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, recast vampires as desirable and marketable
icons.
Room D
Session
4D, chaired by Namrata Pathania, Govt. College, Bilaspur, had three
presentations. The session commenced with the presentation by Komal Rathee and
Srishti Kapri, Research Scholars, Chandigarh University, Mohali, India. Their
paper titled “Butter, Spice, and Cinematic Slice: The Psychology behind
Literary Adaptations”, highlighted that film adaptations of literary texts,
such as A Walk to Remember and The Notebook, offer a
visual representation that goes beyond what readers could have previously
imagined. They examine this phenomenon through the lens of consumer
psychology. The paper argued that film adaptations are popular because they
leverage digitalization to create a more emotionally and visually engaging
experience for the viewer. Using the It Ends with Us adaptation as an example,
the authors intend to analyse the psychological factors that drive the
increasing demand for adapted literary works in cinema.
The
second presenter, Jitender Thakur, PhD scholar at the Department of
English, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, presented his research titled “From
Sacred Awe to Digital Humour: Transmedia Adaptation through Internet Memes.”
His paper examined the concept of transmedia adaptation, specifically through
the lens of internet memes. The core idea is that multimedia and digital
innovation have significantly altered how cultural ideas and literary works are
adapted and disseminated. It draws a parallel to Richard Dawkins’ 1976 work,
The Selfish Gene, where he describes genes as self-replicating units.
Similarly, memes propagate and mutate across various social media platforms
like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.
The
final presenter of the session, Mandeep Kaur, Assistant Professor
at the Department of English, Gujranwala Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Ludhiana,
presented her paper titled “Tracing the Transition of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable
Boy from Text to OTT.” The paper explored how modern OTT platforms and
their audience expectations influence the reinterpretation of a classic,
1,400-page novel. It acknowledged that OTT series, with their visual and
narrative structure, necessitate changes from the original text. The research
employed a “compare and contrast” method to evaluate the use of both literary
and cinematic tools by strategically drawing on the theories of literary
scholars George Bluestone, Michael Klein, and Gillian Parker.
Room E
Session
4E, chaired by Gitanjali Mahendra, had four diverse presentations, each
followed by a rigorous discussion. The first speaker was Vidushi Bhardwaj
Sharma, Professor and Dean at SoHSS, Lingayas Vidyapeeth, Faridabad and her
topic of research was “Local Colours, Global Texts: Re-visioning the Canon
through Adaptation.” The paper examined how certain adaptations not only
localize stories but also challenge or improve the original texts because they
do create a dialogue between cultures. She analysed how Maqbool (2003)
transposes the Scottish tragedy into the Mumbai underworld. Vishal Bhardwaj’s
adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth still preserves the play’s moral ambiguity
plus embeds that ambiguity in a distinct socio-political context. Additionally,
she evidenced Bride and Prejudice (2004) as a re-imagination of Jane Austen’s Pride
and Prejudice within a globalized Indian milieu, highlighting issues of
diaspora, hybridity along with postcolonial identity.
In
the second presentation, Vinod Kumar Chopra, Principal, Government
Senior Secondary School, Una, Himachal Pradesh in his comparative examination
of mythological sources and their contemporary adaptations traced the
transformation of primary characterisations and narratives. His paper titled “Re-inventing
Sita’s Character through the Analyses of Devdutt Pattanaik’s Sita: An
Illustrated Retelling of Ramayana” mapped the said transformation,
highlighting the fresh perspectives added through contemporary lens and
discourses to mythological narratives.
The
third presenter Kaushiky Hazra, Research Scholar in the Department of
Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Jammu, and presented her paper titled “Echoes
of Bengal: Trans-Cultural Adaptations of Rāmāyana in Chandrabati Krittibas’ Tellings”.
Her paper, using A.K. Ramanujan’s concept of “crystallization’’ and Stuart
Hall’s theory of “negotiated reading,” and “encoding” and “decoding,” explored
how Chandrabati and Krittibas orient their ‘tellings’ of the Rāmāyana in
accordance with the ethos of their local audience in 16th and 15th
century Bengal respectively.
The
final presentation of the session, given by Vibhor Jaswal, Research
Scholar and Suman Sigroha, Associate Professor, SHSS, Indian Institute of
Technology, Mandi, analysed select narratives that move across genres from
novels to cinema to deconstruct the narratorial intent centered around the
representation of Courtesans. In their paper titled “Beyond the Enigmatic
‘Purdah’ of Kothas: A Cross-Generic Study of Narratorial Intent across Literary
Representations of Indian Courtesans,” the presenters distinguished between the
social perception of a “public woman” in contrast to the self-reflection of a
“professional woman.”
Room F
Session
4F, chaired by Navdeep Kahol, Government College, Dera Bassi, Punjab,
started with a presentation highlighting the adaptation of American comedic
television for Indian audiences, as Swastik Sharma, PhD scholar at the
Department of English, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, in her paper
titled “From Scranton to Faridabad: Analysing the Indian Adaptation of the
American TV Series The Office” mapped her analysis of The Office’s
journey to Faridabad. Her presentation established that the Indian version of The
Office exemplifies the adaptive process as an act of negotiation, and
contributed to the broader discourse on television format adaptation in a
post-globalized media environment.
In
the final presentation of the session, Rohit Yadav, Assistant Professor,
Central University of Punjab, in his deep dive into memory and identity in
Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go through his paper titled “Cinematic
Reconfigurations: Memory, Identity and Aesthetic Adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s
‘Never Let Me Go” examined creative tensions that arise in the
process of rendering text on the page into a cinematic portrayal. These
presentations interrogated the ethics and poetics of creative transformation
within the bounds of screen and narrative cultures.
REPORT (Day 3), September
21, 2025.
SESSION 5 (9:30-11:00 am)
Room B
Session
5B, chaired by Neeraj Pizar, Associate Professor, Chitkara University,
Punjab, offered creative perspectives on various forms of adaptations. In the
first presentation of the session, Kusum Bhatia from Post Graduate Government
College, Sector-11, Chandigarh (Panjab University), presented her paper titled
“Tracing the Echoes of Partition through Brushstrokes, Panels and Cinematic
Lenses” on Partition’s visual echoes and post memory. The paper posited that
the Partition, interpreted through the lenses of “postmemory” and “traumatic
latency”, transcends mere historical fact to become a continuous process of
recollection and reimagining.
The
second presenter, Pratishtha Thakur, PhD scholar at the Department of
English, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, presented her paper titled “Between
the Ancient and the Animated: Visual and Narrative Adaptation of Select Epic
Characters of the Mahabharat in Grant Morrison’s 18 Days, highlighting
the nuances of animated epic adaptation of Mahabharata and explored how this
adaptation reconfigures the characters of the epic, revealing contemporary
perspectives on heroism, divinity, and moral complexity within modern
frameworks of myth-making.
In
the final presentation of the session, Ritu Varghese, Assistant
Professor, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vellore Institute of
Technology (VIT-AP) University, Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh, presented her paper
titled “(Re)Locating Displaced Heroines in ‘Bhakti’ lores: Performative
Adaptability in Gurcharan Das’ Mira and the Total Theatre exploring the
performative flexibility of Bhakti heroines especially Mirabai and her songs
adapted into an Opera play. Each session contributed to a nuanced tapestry of
methodological and thematic diversity, underscoring adaptation’s role as a
transformative and imaginative force in cultural scholarship.
Room C
Session
5C, chaired by Hem Raj Bansal, Associate Professor, Central University
of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, offered a vibrant view of cinematic
adaptations. In the opening presentation of the session, Shefali, PhD
scholar at the Department of English, Central University of Himachal Pradesh,
Dharamshala, through her paper titled “From Folktale to Franchise: Rapunzel in
the Age of Adaptation” examined how the classic fairy tale Rapunzel
has been transformed across different genres and media, including animation,
graphic novels, theatre, literature, and digital platforms. It highlighted how
modern adaptations move beyond the traditional narrative of passive rescue to
explore themes of confinement, freedom, self-discovery, and agency.
In
the following presentation, Sonika Sheoran, Research Scholar, Chandigarh
University, through her paper titled “From Text to Screen: Intermedial
Transformations of Vijaydan Detha’s Duvidha” examined the cinematic
adaptations of Vijaydan Detha’s Rajasthani folktale Duvidha, first
adapted by Mani Kaul in 1973 and later by Amol Palekar as Paheli (2005).
She explored how classical literary texts are transformed when translated into
the film medium and emphasized the director’s interpretive agency in shaping the
visual, narrative, and emotional texture of the story. The paper highlighted
significant differences between the two adaptations despite their common
source.
In
the final presentation of the session, Sneha Rana, Independent Research
Scholar, and Dinesh Babu, Assistant Professor at the Department of English,
Central University of Punjab, through her titled “From Page to Screen:
Cross-Genre Interactions in the Adaptation of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
for BBC TV Series” examined the adaptation of Holly Jackson’s 2019 novel A
Good Girl’s Guide to Murder into the 2024 BBC drama series, directed by
Dolly Wells and released on Netflix. The study discussed how the shift from
text to screen necessitates adjustments in narrative structure, pacing, and
storytelling techniques.
Room D
Session
5D, chaired by Professor Jappreet Bhangu, SLIET, Longowal, commenced
with Manthan Dhiman, Research Scholar, Department of English and Cultural
Studies, Panjab University, presenting his paper titled “Requiem For A
Nightmare: A comparison of Daron Aronofsky’s film with Hubert Selby Jr.’s
novel.” The paper analysed specific techniques Aronofsky uses to faithfully
capture the novel's essence. These included hallucinatory editing, intense
background score and camera techniques, establishing that the choices are not
merely stylistic but are crucial for conveying the themes of addiction and
self-destruction.
In
the concluding presentation of the session, Monika Supahiya, Assistant
Professor at the Department of English, DAV University Jalandhar, Punjab,
presented her paper titled “Divine Spectacle: The Cinematic Rebirth of Indian
Epics.” The paper's central theme was the cinematic adaptation of
mythological content and the "selective appropriation" of traditional
stories for modern audiences. The study analysed how classical narratives are
re-imagined for the screen, highlighting how filmmakers emphasize "culturally
affirming motifs" while modifying or omitting aspects deemed
"outdated, problematic or considered unsuitable" for today's viewers.
Room E
Session
5E, chaired by Sunaina Jain, Assistant Professor at the Department of
English, Mehr Chand Mahajan DAV College for Women, Chandigarh, showcased a
fresh perspective on the adaptation discourse. First presenter of the session
Priyankakumari Zala, Research scholar at the Department of English and CLS,
Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat, through her paper titled “The Gaze of
Conscience: Visual Representation of Scout’s Gaze to the Director’s Lens in the
novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird”, examined the metamorphosis that occurs
when literature is reimagined through performance, using Harper Lee’s To
Kill a Mockingbird as a focal point.
Second
speaker of the day was Renuka Dhyani, Associate Professor at SMMDGS
College, Panchkula, Haryana, through her paper titled “Epistolary Art-Horror
Fictionalized into Films: Modus Operandi and Ingenuity” offered an exploration
of the modus operandi adopted by a director when an epistolary novel is adapted
into films, and then, the techniques used by the makers of horror films when
they dramatize a work of fiction. She focused on select epistolary horror-films,
starting with Frankenstein (1910) from ‘the silent era,’ and moving on
to films in a chronological order– Frankenstein (1931), Some of Your
Blood (1961), Carrie (1976), Dracula (1992), Possession
(2002), The Screwtape Letters (2015), mapping the ingenuity introduced
by the epistolary horror filmmakers in each age.
Room F
Session
5F, chaired by Jyoti Mishra, Radhabai Government Navin Kanya
Mahavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, highlighted adaptation and preservation in
the hybrid digital age. Puja Majhi, PhD scholar, Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi, through her presentation titled “Othello to Omkara:
Caste, Social and Political Hierarchy in Vishal Bhardwaj’s adaptation of
Shakespeare” drew links between Shakespeare’s Othello and Bhardwaj’s Omkara,
examining how caste and hierarchy are adapted to Indian contexts.
Sirishty Thapa, PhD Scholar at the Department of English, Central
University of Himachal Pradesh, addressed the preservation of North-East Indian
folktales through comic media and graphic storytelling through her presentation
titled “From Oral to Graphic: Preserving Mao, Maram, and Poumai Folktales in
Manipur’s Nanao Comic.”
Taken
together, these sessions exemplified how adaptation works as both a creative
and ethical act. Central University of Himachal Pradesh, as the conference’s
host, provided fertile intellectual ground where past traditions, textual
innovations, and the shifting contours of media could merge. The scholarly rigour
and lively exchange between presenters and chairpersons not only fostered new
insights but demonstrated how adaptation itself remains an ongoing conversation
between tradition and innovation, a conversation at the very heart of the
humanities.
Report compiled by the following
team led by Hem Raj Bansal:
A Sai Satvik, Aaditya Thakur, Aarushi Thakur, Anurag, Kashish Balouria, Muskaan,
Nikita, Nirupama Tomar, Nripika Sharma, Richa, Riya Haryal, Sheetal Devi, Sheetal
Thakur, Shefali Sharma, Sheryl Anthony, Sneha Rathore, Shreya Bhatia, Srinka
Ghosh
CURRENT OFFICE BEARERS:
Governing Body (updated)
President: Prof
Manju Jaidka
Vice-President:
Prof Debarati Bandyopadhyay
Secretary: Prof
Manpreet Kaur Kang
Joint
Secretary: Prof Roshan Lal Sharma
Treasurer: Dr
Hem Raj Bansal
Regional Representatives
(updated)
- Professor
Sanjay Mukherjee (Gujarat)
- Professor
JapPreet Bhangu (Punjab)
- Professor
Kalpana Purohit (Rajasthan)
- Professor
Neela Sarkar (WB)
- Professor
Meenu Gupta (Chandigarh)
- Professor Jyoti Mishra (Chhattisgarh)
Advisory Board (updated)
- Professor
Anil Raina (Panjab University, Chandigarh)
- Professor
Bilge Cetinas (Turkey)
- Professor
Daniel Kalinowski (Poland)
- Professor
Dipankar Purkayastha (Silchar, India)
- Professor
Eric Chinje (USA)
- Professor
Giorgio Mariani (University of Rome, Italy)
- Professor
Khagendra Acharya (Kathmandu, Nepal)
- Professor
Nayan Deep S. Kanwal (Malaysia/USA)
- Professor
Pawel Jędrzejko (University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland)
- Professor
Rajeshwari Pandharipande (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
- Professor
Rui Kohiyama (Japan)
- Professor
Ui Teramoto (Japan)
Support Group Members (updated)
Aaditya Thakur, Aarushi, Ajay Kumar, Amandeep Kour, Asmita Sharma, Bashabi
Gogoi, Bhakti Vaishnav, Harjinder,
Hemraj Bansal, Ishtiaque Ahmed, Jitendra, Monica Supahiya, Namrata Pathania,
Neeraj Pizar, Nripika, Nida, Pratik Deswal, Prayag Ray, Radha Gautam, Renuka
Dhyani, Richa Pajiala, Ritu Varghese, Rohit Yadav, Saurav Shandil, Shifali,
Shivani, Shrestha Devi, Shreya Bhatia, Shubhanku Kochar, Snigdha Bhat, Srishti
Sharma, Sirishty Thapa, Sumita, Sunaina Jain, Suraj Soni, Surabhi Chandan, Sushmita Talukdar, Swastik Sharma, Uttam
Jadhav, Varnika, Varsha Thakur, Vipasha Bisht.
