Does Sri Lanka’s national obsession with cricket represent the key to a democratic, diverse, and cosmopolitan future for the country? Who determines the proper functioning of democracy, according to French philosopher Jacques Derrida? What exactly are the “spatial imaginaries of coexistence” or “cyberproletariats”?
These are just a handful of the questions that will be discussed from December 2 to 5 at the Hotel Suisse in Kandy, where academics from around the world have planned to convene for the 4th annual conference of the Association for the Study of Australasia in Asia (ASAA).
Originally launched in 1995 during the Tenth Triennial Conference of the Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies held in Colombo, the ASAA was designed to fill a vacuum in academia due to a widespread lack of resources for Australian Studies in Asia.
Since its inception, the association has published three collections of scholarly work that focus on the historical and contemporary relationships between Asian countries and Australia, and the myriad cross-cultural issues that have developed as a result.
In previous years the ASAA conference was held in Mysore and Kerala and brought together scholars from a diverse number of disciplines, including history, library studies, sports studies, philosophy, religion, politics and diplomacy, media, and science. In comparison to academic fields such as British or American Studies, the scholarly boundaries of Australasian Studies are not less clearly defined, allowing for broad and creative approaches to scholarly research.
This year is no exception. Delegates from Canada, China, Spain, Iceland, India, Australia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia are scheduled to spend three days engaged in extensive cross-disciplinary dialogue and debate around the theme of “Change, Conflict, and Convergence”.
Ideally, the multiple panels and discussions will further establish the common heritage of these countries—such as their colonial past—and forge new socio-economic and cultural ties, according to Walter Perera, a professor of English at the University of Peradeniya and the co-chair of this year’s ASAA conference.
“I can see many programmes being set up between some of the representative countries after this conference is completed. And of course there are bound to be academic ‘convergences’ or partnerships that could result in fruitful collaborative research,” said Perera.
Two of this year’s plenary speakers are Bill Ashcroft, a professor at the University of Hong Kong and one of the founding exponents of post-colonial studies, and Sue Ballyn, a professor of English who will discuss her 17-year endeavour to create the Australian Studies Centre at the University of Barcelona.
The conference will also provide a platform for several well-known Sri Lankan authors such as Tissa Abeysekera and Jean Arasanayagam.
On the last night of the conference, Pampila Hanson Boxer will perform traditional Aborigine music and dance.
Boxer is a distinguished indigenous artist whose sculptures have been auctioned at Sotheby’s and shown in galleries in Australia. Accompanying him will be Pat Lowe, a poet famous for her collaborative work with indigenous communities.
The presence of so many diverse and accomplished scholars, writers, and artists at one conference is rare in Sri Lanka, but Boxer’s presence is predicted to make the event especially unique.
“I can’t think of too many conferences here that would feature the work of, say, an indigenous Australian artist or poet as this one will,” said Perera. |
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