Event From Date
Event End Date
Event Title
SCSNEI organises a seminar by K.B. Veio Pou
Event Details
SPECIAL CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF NORTH EAST INDIA
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY
MONTHLY SEMINAR SERIES
Literary Ethnography of Temsula Ao
K.B. Veio Pou
Associate Professor
Department of English, University of Delhi
Abstract: Temsula Ao’s literary works are deeply rooted in the culture and tradition of the Nagas, particularly the Ao Nagas. Her poetic rendition of the myths and legends gives the reader a fresh perspective of a culture that underwent neglect and forgetting owing to encounters with various modernizing forces since colonial times. Her fictions enable one to see the social and political reality of the Nagas, particularly in the early decades of their quest for identity and freedom. This talk proposes to critically understand her writings not simply as creative expressions but also as essential markers of ethnography. In a way, Temsula Ao’s poetry and fiction blurs the realms of literature and ethnography. Or, could one say that ethnography is another literary writing style about society and culture?