[India] CfP: DiGRA INDIA 2022 Conference. Theme: Videogames, Science Fiction and India

[Souvik Mukherjee]

Dear All,

On behalf of DiGRA India, I am happy to announce the Second DiGRA India
Conference happening on the 26th and 27th November. The theme this year is
'Videogames, Science Fiction and India'. The Call for Papers is as follows:

Following the recent spurt of activity around Indian Science Fiction or
Speculative Fiction, a genre that was largely relegated to the fringes of
intellectual discussion has now emerged in its own right in both
philosophical and pedagogical terms. With what used to be confined to
Indian vernacular languages now entering the domain of English, many
interesting perspectives are being explored, especially in postcolonial and
decolonial paradigms. Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay describes kalpavigyan, an
Indian neologism for science fiction that seems to have a Sanskrit
etymology but is indeed a very new cultural construct. Although, as
Adrienne Shaw comments, there is no special word for gamers and gaming in
Indian languages, videogames have also started enjoying unprecedented
popularity in India in recent times. In many cases, there is also an
overlap between the genres as scholars such as Pawel Frelik, David Mead and
Neil Tringham have demonstrated. Very little, however, has been done in
exploring the connections between science fiction and videogames in India
and this year’s DiGRA India Conference wishes to address this gap in
research. We welcome abstracts on any aspect connecting science fiction and
videogames (preferably but not necessarily related to Indian science
fiction and videogames). Topics may include but not be restricted to the
following:


   - -Science fiction and videogames in Indian culture
   - -Reading gender, sexuality, caste, and religion in science fiction and
   video games in India
   - -Strategy games and science fiction
   - -Representations of empire in science fiction
   - -Science fiction, videogames and the Anthropocene
   - -Horror, science fiction, and videogames
   - -Alternate history and videogames
   - -Imagined futures in videogames

Please send us abstracts for less than 300 words (and five keywords that
will help us determine the focus area) to
digraindiaconference at gmail.com by 20th
September 2022. The proposed dates for the conference are 26th and 27th
November. Like the previous conference, this one will also be held online.

Best regards,

Souvik


*Dr Souvik Mukherjee *| Assistant Professor in Cultural Studies | Centre
for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta| R - 1, Baishnabhghata Patuli
Township | T +91 033 2462-5795 / +91 033 2436-8313 | ext. 207 |
*https://cssscal.org/faculty_souvik.php
<https://cssscal.org/faculty_souvik.php>* |souvik at cssscal.org |

Videogames and Storytelling: Reading Games and Playing Books
<http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/video-games-and-storytelling-souvik-mukherjee/?isb=9781137525048>
 (Palgrave MacMillan 2015) | Videogames and Postcolonialism: The Empire
Plays Back
<https://www.amazon.com/Videogames-Post-colonialism-Souvik-Mukherjee/dp/3319548212>
(Springer
UK 2017)
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