1 | P a g e

SAITYA BRATA DAS

CURRICULUM VITAE

CONTACT

Associate Professor, Centre for English Studies School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067

AREAS OF INTEREST

- Philosophy and/ of Literature - Political Theology - Contemporary Continental Thought (Phenomenology, , ) - German Idealism (Schelling) -Contemporary Jewish Thought (Gershom Scholem, Walter Benjamin, Franz Rosenzweig)

EDUCATION

2007. Post Doc Fellow, UFR Philosophie, Université de Marc Bloch, Strasbourg. 2005. Ph. D in Jawaharlal Nehru University. Dissertation: Ecstasy, Death and Disaster: and at the Limit of Philosophy. 2000. M.A in English, Jawaharlal Nehru University. 1997. B.A in English, Gauhati University.

AWARDS AND HONORS

2009. Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. 2000. Junior Research Fellowship, University Grants Commission, 2000.

Email: [email protected], [email protected], Tel: 91-11-26704246, 26704231 https://jawaharlalanehrunewdelhiindia.academia.edu/SaityaBrataDas,http://sbdas.webs.com/.

2 | P a g e

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT

2013. Associate Professor, Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. 2012. Assistant Professor, Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. 2001. Assistant Professor, Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University.

RESEARCH SUPERVISION

PH. D SUPERVISION

- Aatreyee Ghosh, History, Memory and the Immemorial in Amitabh Ghosh’s Fiction (submitted), co-guided with Prof. G.J.V. Prasad. - Jomy Abraham, Thanatowritings: Death , Self and Writing in the Farmers’ Suicide Notes from Vidharbha ( in progress). -Priyanka Das, The Stark Image of Violence: A Study of “The Game of Thrones” ( in progress). - Arunima Sen, “ A Citizen of Law: Sovereignty and its Representations in Colonial Bengal During the 19th Century”, co-guided with Prof. G. J.V. Prasad. -Simon Tabet, La traversée de la postmodernity, de l’Amérique à l’Europe: Histoire intellectuelle et culturelle de la réception de l’idée postmoderne en France, ( submitted 2015), co-guided as part of Cultural Studies Literary Interzones Erasmas Mundas Joint Doctorate Programme. - Soumana Biswas , Workings of Postmemory: Reading Recent Partition Fiction (work in progress), co-guiding with Prof. G.J.V. Prasad. - Jhinuk Sen, Suicide Notes as Hetero-autobiographies: Aporias of Writing at the Event of Death (in progress), co-guiding with Prof. Saugata Bhaduri. - Devika Rani Hazarika, The ULFA in Contemporary Fiction: Ideology, Identity and Conflict (in progress), co-guiding with Prof. GJV Prasad.

M. PHIL RESEARCH SUPERVISION

- Huzaifa Omar Siddiqi, Iqbal’s Exit from Philosophy: Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam at the End of Metaphysics (awarded 2017). - Subhra Dubey, Knowledge of Limit? : Of Saturation and Beyond (submitted). - Shamla Mustaffa Mohamed, The Promise of Language: A Reading of Kamala Das’s Poetry (awarded 2016). - C.S. Bhagya, Clockwork City: Trajectories of Time in Narratives of Delhi , co-guided with Prof. GJV Prasad ( awarded 2016). - Priyanka Das, Eros and the Male Body in Bollywood and Advertisement in the Age of Consumerism, co-guided with Dr. Dhananjay Singh (awarded 2015).

Email: [email protected], [email protected], Tel: 91-11-26704246, 26704231 https://jawaharlalanehrunewdelhiindia.academia.edu/SaityaBrataDas,http://sbdas.webs.com/.

3 | P a g e

RESEARCH PROJECTS

2014. Religion and Politics in the Era of Globalization, UPOE research project, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. 2011. The Coming Time: The Ethics of Redemption and the Promise of Time, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla.

COURSES TAUGHT

M. Phil:

Seminar 1: Walter Benjamin Philosophy and Literature

M.A:

Study of an Author: Martin Heidegger Aesthetic Theories Philosophy of Literature Comparative Poetics

PUBLICATIONS

MONOGRAPHS

- The Exodus of Being: Notes on a Shipwrecked Life (Delhi: Aakar Books, forthcoming). - Death, Time and the Other: Ethics at the Limit of Metaphysics (Delhi: Aakar Books, 2017). - …And the World should be Made a Desert: Fragments on Art, Philosophy and Life, with Achia Anzi (Delhi: Aakar Books, 2016). - The Political Theology of Schelling (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016). - The World to Come: Writings on Ethics and Politics (Delhi: Aakar Books, 2015). - The Wounded World: Essays on Ethics and Politics (Delhi: Aakar Books, 2013). -The Promise of Time: Towards a Phenomenology of Promise (Shimla: IIAS, 2011).

EDITED BOOKS - Abandonment and Abjection: Melancholy in Philosophy and Art (Delhi: Aakar Books, forthcoming). -The Weight of Violence: Religion, Language, Politics, ed. with Soumyabrata Choudhury, (Oxford& Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2015). - Politics and Religion (Delhi: Aakar Books, 2014).

Email: [email protected], [email protected], Tel: 91-11-26704246, 26704231 https://jawaharlalanehrunewdelhiindia.academia.edu/SaityaBrataDas,http://sbdas.webs.com/.

4 | P a g e

ARTICLES AND ESSAYS -“Destitution of Sovereignty: The Political Theology of Søren Kierkegaard” in Kierkegaard and Political Theology, ed. Roberto Sirvent (Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2017) forthcoming. -"The Tragic Dissonance" in Analecta Hermeneutica, Vol: 0.5 (2013): online. pag. web. 26 mar. 2015, ISSN 1918-7351. - “The Gift of the World: A Note on Political Theology” in Culture and Religion (London: Taylor& Francis), Vol. 15, issue 3, Autumn 2014. ISSN: 1475-5610. - “Schelling: Religion and Politics” in Politics and Religion, ed. Saitya Brata Das (Delhi: Aakar Books, 2014). - “Tears are not yet Wiped Away from All Faces” in The Weight of Violence: Religion, Language, Politics (Oxford, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014). - “On Beatitudes: A Critique of Historical Reason” in Kritike (http://www.kritike.org/journal/issue_12/das_june2013.pdf), vol. 7, No. 1, (2013), pp. 22-35. ISSN 1908-7330. - “Affirmation of Deconstruction: A Yes, and A Yes and A Yes Once Again” in Journal of the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi: Pencraft International), spring 2012, pp. 26-31. ISSN 0972- 9682. -“The Irreducible Remainder: Towards the Idea of a Finite Politics” in Journal for Cultural Research ( London: Routledge, October 2011 ), vol. 16, issue 4, pp.418-442. ISSN 1479-7585. - “The Destinal Question of Language” in Kriterion: Revista de Filosofia , vol 52, issue 123, June 2011, pp.121-138. ISSN 0100 -512X. - “Of Pain: The Gift of Language and the Promise of Time” in Comparative and (Sheffield & Oakville: Equinox Publications, May 2011), Vol. 3, issue 1. ISSN: 1757-0638. - “F. W. Schelling” in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (www.iet.utm.edu/schellin/ 2011). - “The Lightning Flash of Language” in Philosophical Forum (Wiley Blackwell, fall 2010), vol 41, issue 3, pp. 315-345. ISSN 0031-806X. - “(Dis) Figures of Death: Taking the Side of Derrida, Taking the Side of Death” in Derrida Today (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, May 2010), Vol 3:1, pp. 1-20. ISSN: 1754-8500. - “The Abyss of Human Freedom” in Journal for Indian Council of Philosophical Research (Oct 2010), vol.XXVII,No.4, 91-104.ISSN: 0970-7794. - “Derrida’s Tympan: Mourning, Philosophy, Literature” in Research and Criticism, Banaras Hindu University Journal (Pencraft 2010), vol 1, pp. 23-34. ISSN: 2229-3639. - “The Open” in Kritike (http://www.kritike.org/journal/issue_6/das_december2009.pdf. ISSN 1908-7330). - “Wholly Otherwise” in Journal for Cultural Research (London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis), 12:2, (2008: 167-180). ISSN 1479-7585.

Email: [email protected], [email protected], Tel: 91-11-26704246, 26704231 https://jawaharlalanehrunewdelhiindia.academia.edu/SaityaBrataDas,http://sbdas.webs.com/.

5 | P a g e

- “To Philosophize is to learn how to die?” in Kritike, Vol2, no1, http://www.kritike.org/journal/issue_3/das_june2008.pdf (June 2008), pp. 31-49. ISSN 1908-7330. - “What is Assamese Community: Hospitality, Identity, Difference” in Contemporary Concerns, ed. By Dilip Gogoi (Guwahati: Anwesha, 2008), pp. 43-48. ISBN: 81- 89003-26-7. -“The Melancholic Name” in Journal for Cultural Research (London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis), 11:2, (2007: 111-123). ISSN 1479-7585. - “The Experience of the Limit: Nietzsche’s Abyssal Experience of the Eternal Return”, in Franson Manjali, ed. Nietzsche: Philologist, and Cultural Critic (New Delhi: Allied Publishers, 2006), pp 71-81). ISBN: 81-8424-021X. - “Tragic Responsibility and the Limit of Knowledge” in Franson Manjali, ed. Post- structuralism and Critical Theory: Beyond the Linguistic Turn (New Delhi: Allied Publishers, 2006), pp. 226-238. ISBN: 81-8424-020-1. - “Of Force, Of Rhythm, Of Melody” in Language Forum (Delhi: Bahri, 2004), vol.30, No.2, 11-25. ISSN 0253-9071.

REVIEW ESSAY - “Melancholy and Philosophy: Benjamin on Language and Truth” , review essay of Ilit Ferber’s Philosophy and Melancholy: Benjamin’s Early Reflections on Theatre and Language (Stanford University Press), is published in Comparative and Continental Philosophy , vol. 6 no.1 , May 2014, 90-98, ISSN: 1757-0638.

BOOK REVIEW - Book Review of Saumybrata Choudhury’s Theatre, Number, Event : Three Studies on the Relationship between Sovereignty, Power and Truth ( Shimla: IIAS), published Humanities Underground : (http://humanitiesunderground.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/theatre-number-event-an- appraisal/).

OTHER PUBLISHED WRITINGS - “…And this Palpitation of Existence” in South Asian Ensemble (2015), vol. 7, no. 1&2, 133-140. - “The Infinite Contestation” in Café Dissensus : http://cafedissensusblog.com/2015/10/18/infinite-contestation/ - “Death, Life and Law” published in issue 5, Café Dissensus : (http://cafedissensus.com/2014/01/01/death-life-and-law/).

CONFERENCES/TALKS

- “Exception without Sovereignty: Kenotic Eschatology of Schelling” in Politics and the Phenomenological Tradition in Memorial University European Summer School in

Email: [email protected], [email protected], Tel: 91-11-26704246, 26704231 https://jawaharlalanehrunewdelhiindia.academia.edu/SaityaBrataDas,http://sbdas.webs.com/.

6 | P a g e

Philosophy, Husserl Archives: Higher Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven, June 6-9 2017 (forthcoming). - “In Deo Nil Potentiale” in Identity and Void: Individuation and Non-Identity, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 31st March 2017. - Organized a conference on Melancholy, Philosophy, Literature, 3rd March 2017, Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. - Invited talk on “Political Theology”, Department of Philosophy, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady (Kerala), 11th March 2016. - Invited talk on “Language and Pain: Heidegger, Schelling, Benjamin”, Department of Philosophy, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady (Kerala), 10th March 2016. - Organized workshop: “Foucault-Derrida: Ethics and Politics of Difference”, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 20th October 2014. - “The Political Theology of Schelling” in German Idealism and Indian Thought, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, 20th June 2014. - Organized “The Divine Names: Linguistic Theories in Theology, Aesthetics and Politics”, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 21 March 2014. - “Schelling: Metaphysics and Politics”, Centre for Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 12 March 2014. - “Death and Immortality in Plato and Lévinas”, international conference: Greek Studies: Asian Perspectives, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 25-28 February, 2014. - “Death – an Intrigue of Philosophy” in Last Minute Exercises, organized by Hannah Hurtzig at New Delhi, 15th February 2014. - “Political Theology: Messianism, Eschatology and the Political” in Politics and /of Religion, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 31st October & 1st November 2013. - “Affirmation of Deconstruction – Yes and a Yes and a Yes Once Again”, in Traditions of Intellectual Inquiry: Histories, Politics, Responses, Lady Shree Ram College, Delhi University, 22-23 March 2013. - “The Labor in the Heart – The Prayer of Franz Rosenzweig”, in Hebrew Language and Culture: Reception, Self-Conception and Intercultural Relation, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 28-30 January 2013. - Contributed to the discussion on Soumyabrata Choudhury’s published book : Theatre, Number, Event: Three Studies on the Relationship between Sovereignty, Power and Truth, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi, 26th April 2013. - Organized an international workshop on Political Theology, Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University, 13th April 2012. - Organized an international conference on Religion, Violence and Language, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, 9-11 April 2012. My presentation is titled “Franz Rosenzweig: The Messianic Critique of Violence”. - “Heidegger: Language, Death and Time” in a workshop, After Heidegger: Language, Negativity and Time, Centre for Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 14th January 2012. - “On Beatitudes: Towards a Critique of Historical Reason” , presented in a national conference on Singularities: Literature, Language, Philosophy, held at School of

Email: [email protected], [email protected], Tel: 91-11-26704246, 26704231 https://jawaharlalanehrunewdelhiindia.academia.edu/SaityaBrataDas,http://sbdas.webs.com/.

7 | P a g e

Language, Literature and Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 9-10 January 2012. - “Of Beatitudes”, Centre for Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 29th November 2011. -“Walter Benjamin: Between Theology and History”, Centre for Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 29th November 2011. - “The Abyss of Human Freedom”, Centre of Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 27th August 2011. - “The Commandment of Love: Messianicity and Exemplarity in Franz Rosenzweig” in The History of Philosophy, Athens Institute of Educations and Research, Athens, Greece , 30th May to 2nd June 2011. - “The Promise of Time: Towards a Phenomenology of Promise”, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, on 30th March 2011. - “Erotic and Philosophy: A Note on Love, Life and Thought”, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, on 6th May 2010. -“The Infinite Contestation “ in Society and Literature, organized by ICSSR and North East Hill University, Shillong , 16-18 March 2010. - “(Dis) Figures of Death: Taking the Side of Death, Taking the Side of Derrida” in Symposium on Derrida, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, JNU, 9th Oct 2009. - “The Open”, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 10th Sept 2009. - “Is Freedom the First Right?”, in Moral Dilemmas in the Globalized World, Centre for Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, I, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 27-29 Feb 2008. - “Of Fatigue, Of Patience – Finitude, Writing, Mourning” in Lévinas – Blanchot: Penser la Difference, organized at UNESCO, Paris, 13-16 Nov. 2006. - “The Wounded Negativity: Reflections on Tragedy, Community and the Ethical Order” in Public Sphere: The Fate of a Philosophical Concept, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, 21st March 2006. - “Tears of Reading: Responding to Heidegger-Sartre Debate (Once More)”, in Philosophy and History of Philosophy, Delhi University, India on 19-21 Jan 2006. - Organized a seminar course on Aesthetics, Politics, Philosophy, School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, Monsoon Semester, 2005. - “Of the Limit: Death, Philosophy, Literature” in Deconstruction Icon , the Group of Philosophy, J.N.U, 23rd March 2005. - “The Experience of the Limit: Nietzsche’s Abyssal Experience of the Eternal Return” in Nietzsche: Philologist, philosopher and the Cultural Critic, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2-4 Nov. 2004. - “The Impossible Other: A Postcolonial Critique of Identity” in Postcolonial Literature: Politics, Poetics, Praxis, JNU by IACLALS, 23-25 Jan 2003. - “Tragic Responsibility and the Limits of Knowledge” in Beyond the Linguistics Turn: Literature, Culture, Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), 22-26 Jan 2003. - “Reason and History: The Question of Being and Historicity in Western Thought” in Problems of Social History, History Association, Centre of Historical Studies, School of Social Studies, JNU, 23rd Feb. 2003.

Email: [email protected], [email protected], Tel: 91-11-26704246, 26704231 https://jawaharlalanehrunewdelhiindia.academia.edu/SaityaBrataDas,http://sbdas.webs.com/.

8 | P a g e

ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS HELD / PARITICIPATION IN THE CORPORATE LIFE OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

- Chairperson, Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jan. 2015- Jan. 2017. - Member of Academic Council, JNU, Jan.2015-2017. - Member of Board of Studies, School of Languages, JNU, 2015-17. - Head of the Department, Sri Venkateswara College (Delhi University), 2011-2012.

MEMBER OF ACADEMIC BOARDS/COMMITTEES

- Member of the editorial board of Continental Theory and Thought: A Journal of Intellectual Freedom, University of Canterbury. - Member of the editorial board of Kairos: The Journal of Critical Symposium.

REFERENCES

Jason Wirth Gérard Bensussan Department of Philosophy UFR Philosophie Seattle University Université de Marc Bloch, Strasbourg [email protected] [email protected]

Clayton Crockett Sean McGrath Department of Philosophy and Religion, Department of Philosophy University of Central Arkansas Memorial University of Newfoundland [email protected] [email protected]

Email: [email protected], [email protected], Tel: 91-11-26704246, 26704231 https://jawaharlalanehrunewdelhiindia.academia.edu/SaityaBrataDas,http://sbdas.webs.com/.