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Narrating Germany Time, Space and the German Village

Narrating Germany Time, Space and the German Village

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Narrating Germany Time, Space and the German Village
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<strong>Centre for the Study of Social Systems School of Social Sciences</strong> <strong>CSSS Colloquium</strong> <strong>Prof. Sadhana Naithani</strong> Centre of German Studies, JNU a paper on <strong>Narrating Germany Time, Space and the German Village</strong> Date : <strong>March 17, 2016 </strong> <strong>Abstract:</strong> My ongoing research concerns narratives of time and space in German villages. Since 2013 I have been conducting field work in villages near the University town of Göttingen. Beginning with the question what is the meaning of a village and village life in a highly industrialized society I have explored memories of the immediate post WWII times and the changes that followed in the restructuring of the village life and the way community life is constructed and experienced when both agriculture and religion – the two monumental factors that defined village life until the middle of the 20th century – have lost their position in society. Theoretically, this research constitutes 'turning the gaze', because there is no intellectual tradition of non-Europeans writing ethnographies or cultural anthropologies of European societies and culture. Ethnographic Documentary Film Village Tales 1 (2013/HD/24mins.) A Film by Sadhana Naithani and Sudheer Gupta* The central question that the film poses is: what is the meaning of village and village life in a highly industrialized country like Germany? It tells the history of Reinhausen since the end of World War II in 1945 through the narratives of the residents of the village about their past and present lives and concerns. The film shows how new forms of community are emerging and redefining the notion of community itself. *Sudheer Gupta is an alumnus of JNU and FTII and an internationally renowned documentary filmmaker. Bio : Professor Sadhana Naithani teaches language, literature and folklore at the Centre of German Studies, JNU. Her PhD was on German folksongs, titled "Politics of Love" (1994). Her post doc research on colonialism and folklore is considered pioneering and also credited with having established the role of Indian scholars in colonial folklore collections of William Crooke. She is the author of In Quest of Indian Folktales (Indiana University Press, 2006); The Story-Time of the British Empire (University Press of Mississippi, 2010); Folklore-Theory in Postwar Germany(University Press of Mississippi, 2014). Her latest publication a short novel called Elephantine(Red Squirrel Press, UK, 2016).

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.