Conference on “Post-Truth(s): Representations in Contemporary Literature and Cinema” Begins

Aligarh : Extending a platform to deliberate upon the reliability of the times that we live in and to explore the ways to tell the truth from the untruth, the Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, began a two-day International Conference on “Post-Truth(s): Representations in Contemporary Literature and Cinema”.

The event was set in motion with the Presidential remarks of Prof. Mohammad Gulrez, the Vice Chancellor, AMU, who emphasized on the timeliness of such a conference, given recent significant events in India like the successful completion of G20 summit and celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav which commemorates 75 years of India’s independence. These events served as a backdrop to the conference highlighting the importance of discussing truth and representation in contemporary literature and cinema. He said that post-truth is the reality as it is understood and assumed by us, which may be far removed from the factual reality.

In his welcome note, Prof. Mohammad Asim Siddiqui, Chairperson, Department of English, commenting on the relevance of holding conferences on such varied topics like Anthropocene and Post-truth which no one would have thought of a few decades back, established that the Department of English has this in its very foundation as Sir Walter Raleigh, first head of the department was more associated with pamphleteering in the backdrop of war, which may be called an important instance of post-truth. Talking about the engagement with truth in postmodern writings, he commented on the roots of the post-truth phenomenon in the official words coming from the very seats of power and the resultant emergence of distrust towards the official version.

Reflecting on the Reflection(s) of Post-Truth Scenario(s) in the Mirror of Urdu Literature, Dr. Rakhshanda Jalil, the chief guest of the event, proclaimed that post-truth is not a new phenomenon, and not confined to a moment in time and that the word “post” here does not convey a temporal sense but is used in the context of truth as it gets eclipsed and manipulated in the hands of propaganda. She traced the emergence of post-truth phenomenon from Nazism to Balkan wars, to dismantling of the Mughal Empire to the present regime in India, leading to “a gradual build-up of socio-political crescendo”. She said that intersection of literature and history gives rise to Post-truth instances which speak across times.

Dr. Jalil emphasized upon the subjectivity of truth, saying that what is truth for one set of people is a lie to another, what is order and stability to one set of people is chaos to another. She referred to the Urdu poets of 18th and 19th century India who used poetry to express their anguish and sorrows over the political and social shifts of the time. They depict a world where everything is topsy-turvy, where “wolfs are free and shepherds are chained”, which may qualify as the representation of post-truth in the pre-modern writings.

Her talk discussed the concept of ‘Shahr-e-aashoob’ (afflicted place) going through anarchy and poets writing about the Post-truth situation. She concluded her talk expressing the hope that this conference would raise some pertinent questions, most important of which would be “Is artistic truth different from real truth?”

The Plenary Session, addressed by Mr. Anuj Kumar, the Deputy Editor, The Hindu, offered insights into the representations of (un)truth in Hindi Cinema, as Mr. Kumar emphasized upon how Cinema is catering to the popular demands for Post-truth representations, not only of the present, but of the past as well, calling to distort even the historical facts.

Talking on the topic “Post Truth and Hindi Cinema: The anatomy of hate narratives and a reason for hope”, he particularly cited movies like Kashmir Files, The Kerala Story, Aadipurush, Ghadar series, etc. commenting upon the intent behind producing such movies as he at the very outset of his talk emphasized that “in art, intent is critical”.

Prof. Nisar Ahmad Khan, Department of Economics, AMU, the guest of honour, also enlightened the audience as he shared his views on the representations of Post-truth in the economic world. He discussed the famous Adani-Hindenberg issue and highlighted how truth can be misleading because of propaganda and false narratives. He explained the relation between power and post-truth as he talked about different regimes around the world taking help of lies and fake promises to come into power. Most of the time, what we call informed choices are no longer informed, but manipulated and influenced, he said.

The inaugural session marked the launch of two books: English translation of a monograph on Quratulain Haider by Prof. Mohammad Asim Siddiqui and English translation of Premchand’s play Karbala by Dr. Haris Qadeer and Professor Sami Rafiq, both books published by Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters.

The Conference statement was given by Dr Kishwar Zafir, the Convenor of the Conference, who referred to the theories of truth as given by Bhabha who in turn quotes Foucault that the idea of a universal truth no-longer exists. She talked about the dystopian writings like George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as early representations of Post-truth in Literature.

In his address, Prof. Arif Nazir, Dean, Faculty of Arts, AMU, quoted a shlok from Manusmriti which says “Say truth which is sweet. Don’t say what is true but disagreeable,” thus relating the instances of post-truth to the ancient times.

Dr Mohd. Saquib Abrar extended a vote of thanks, while Dr. Adiba Faiyaz, Co-Convenor, conducted the programme.