UG English Students’ Seminar on ‘Popular Literature’

“Literary criticism can be no more than a reasoned account of the feeling produced upon the critic by the book he is criticizing”.
-D. H. Lawrence

 The Department of English, The Bhawanipur Education Society College successfully organized another chapter of the Students’ Seminar on May, 6, 2023 This was the third students’ seminar following the first two successful installments in the year 2022. The seminar was coordinated by Ms. Chitrangada Deb and Ms. Neetisha Jha of the Department of English. The primary goal has been to encourage students to think beyond the boundaries of their syllabi, assist them to conduct research and train them to critically analyze literary themes and concepts and apply theories suitably. A Call for Papers was circulated by the coordinators inviting students to submit original abstracts on the topic, ‘Popular Literature’. The best papers acquired presentation slots at the seminar.

The Students’ Seminar on ‘Popular Literature ‘ was organized in the Concept Hall from 10AM-5PM. 27 students from UG Semesters IV and VI combined were selected to present their papers on works of popular literature ranging from perennial classics like the Panchatantra, Abol Tabol and Beauty and the Beast to Tintin and Roald Dahl and even modern favourites like Twilight and The Notebook, among many more. This time the papers were single authored only. The seminar was conducted in three sessions followed by a Q/A round. The participants were judged by Prof Ananyya Banerjee, Prof Sonal Kapur and Prof Soumyajit Chandra of the English department. The student presenters of Semester IV and VI were assessed separately and the winners were announced towards the end of the day:

• Alham Zain (1st), Anwesha Saha (2nd) and joint place to Amrapali Biswas and Bhavna Jagnani (3rd) from semester VI, and
• Adiptya Mukherjee (1st), Sk.Md. Zaheeruddin (2nd) and Rishav Nayak (3rd) from Semester

The seminar came to an end with the concluding address from the Head of the Department, Dr Gargi Talapatra, the prize distribution ceremony, and the conveners’ vote of thanks. This was followed by a second performance of Habib Tanvir’s Charandas Chor, a play by the students of the department on popular demand by the audience. It rendered a delightful end to the day.