TAMIU Professor Broncano Delivers Inaugural Keynote Address at Multi-Ethnic Literary Conference in India
A Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) faculty recently traveled to India to participate in a prestigious international conference and literary seminar focused on multi-ethnic world literatures.
Dr. Manuel Broncano, TAMIU Regents Professor and director of English and Spanish Programs, presented his papers at the MELOW: The Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the World’s 16th International Conference in Chandigarh. He also participated at Central University of Himachal Pradesh’s International Seminar on Literary Discourse across Cultures in Dharamshala.
At the MELOW Conference, Dr. Broncano delivered the inaugural keynote address, entitled, “Master Narratives, Grand Narratives, Meta Narratives and the Apocrypha: Some Preliminary Considerations on the Relations between History and Literature.”
In his lecture, he exposed the debate about the relationship between literature and history as two conflicting forms of accessing the past. He also discussed the notions of Grand Narrative, Master Narrative, and the Apocrypha, and revised the idea of how writings excluded from the accepted canon provide an inevitable contestation to any canonical, authoritative imposition on the part of the State.
In Dharamshala, the city in Northern India where the Dalai Lama resides in exile, Dr. Broncano participated in a three-day international seminar organized by Central University of Himachal Pradesh’s Department of English and European Languages. His first keynote address was entitled, “Translation as Translocation: The Translator as Intercultural Mediator,” in which he explored the crucial role that translators play in the negotiation between languages and cultures.
In his second lecture, entitled, “Ekphrasis and Mimesis: The Boundaries between Literature and the Arts,” Dr. Broncano traced the intimate relationship between literary discourse and various artistic forms, and in his final lecture, “Literature in Dialogue: Don Quixote and Lazarillo de Tormes, Then and Now,” he read the two classic Spanish novels from a contemporary, transnational perspective.
MELOW, or the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the World, began in 1998 as MELUS-India, the India chapter of MELUS, a U.S. organization devoted to the study of multi-ethnic literature of the United States. MELUS-India comprised a group of scholars interested in American Literature. Within a few years, the organization broadened its scope and extended its concerns into world literatures. At present, it has a membership of approximately 400 from universities across India as well as other countries.
Founded in 2009, Central University of Himachal Pradesh is a non-profit public institution of higher education. Its headquarters are located in the rural setting of the medium-sized district of Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. Officially accredited by the University Grants Commission, India, Central University of Himachal Pradesh is a coeducational institution.
Dr. Broncano, originally from Spain, joined TAMIU in 2009. His most recent book is the acclaimed “Religion in Cormac McCarthy’s Fiction: Apocryphal Borderlands” (Routledge 2014). He is also an active literary translator and has recently published the Spanish version of Giannina Braschi’s “United States of Banana,” a book that provides a scathing and humorous critique of American capitalism.
Dr. Broncano was accompanied in his trip by his daughter Lucía, 19.
“Both my daughter and I, first-time travelers to India, had a life changing experience during those days that we spent in such a fascinating country,” he said, “We had heard many warnings and negative commentaries before departing, but what we found in India was a kind-hearted and extremely polite people who, despite the stark poverty and social inequalities pervasive in many areas of the country, always have a positive attitude towards life and a smile in their faces.”
Dr. Broncano continued, “I have traveled to many places and have often seen impoverished areas all around the world, but in India I felt that the lack of material possessions is not a hindrance to enjoy existence. I can hardly find the words to describe what Lucia and I felt during those unforgettable days, and I am looking forward to returning to India, a bourgeoning country with a very long history. India is a nation of nations with a cultural and demographic reality which is really difficult for a Westerner to grasp in all its complexity.”
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Dr. Manuel Broncano joins students at Central University of Himachal Pradesh’s International Seminar on Literary Discourse across Cultures in Dharamshala, India.