Abstract for lecture:
Calcutta A Migrant City: Some Concerns about our Contemporary Moment
Fraught with anxiety, our present moment in India has been constantly bombarded with questions of belonging. Who belongs to which country, to which state, is a migrant labourer important enough to be brought back home, or should a migrant student, in some far-off country, have a plane sent for them. From the closing of international borders to that of borders between states, districts, neighbourhoods and buildings, the question of who belongs, where, and what do they have to confirm to, in order to prove that they indeed belong, has foregrounded the question of the migrant for the first time since the partition of India. This short talk presents a cosmopolitan history of Calcutta, in order to explore the role migration has played to create the space, its architecture and its industries. In so doing, the talk will draw 0n the fraught history of the Indians of Chinese origin, and their continued encounters with racism, especially during the pandemic.
Bio note:
Samata Biswas is an Assistant Professor of English at the Sanskrit College and University, Kolkata. Before this, she has taught at Bethune College and Haldia Government College. Her PhD from the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad enquired into the intersection of fitness and public health. As part of her teaching activities she closely tracks narratives dealing with migration—slave narratives, partition literature, and colonialism. She has recently co-edited a volume on social media activism, Situating Social Media, published by Women Unlimited.