Is fiction as an imaginative mode uniquely equipped to recognise the complexities of the human experience?

Across disciplinary fields and practices, artists deploy the instrument of fiction to think through the political, linguistic, and cultural discourses shaping our world. It is worth arguing that these larger frameworks produce conditions and subjectivities whose configurations fictional narratives can capture in ways that more objectivist forms of production cannot. This panel proposes to bring together practitioners working across photography, theatre, and movement, together to discuss whether fiction lends us the tools to navigate and apprehend our realities, fostering empathy and the capacity for emotion and allowing access to certain interiorities that otherwise go unnoticed.

This discussion will also touch upon the pioneering work of The JCB Literature Foundation in this domain, a platform that has enabled the translation of literature in Indian languages to English, ensuring a wider readership for our rich regional literatures.

Supported by The JCB Literature Foundation

Speakers: Veena Basavarajaiah, Vikram Iyengar, Mita Kapur, Akshay Mahajan

Moderated by Lina Vincent

Date: 15 December 2023

Time: 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Venue: ESG Auditorium