Souvik Kar is a PhD Research Scholar in the Discipline of English, Department of Liberal Arts, at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad. He has done his B.A. and M.A. in English Literature from Presidency University, Kolkata. He writes and performs his poetry, and is interested in nuclear studies, apocalyptic literature and postcolonial Indian science fiction.
Areas of Interest:
Posthumanism, Nuclear Studies, South Asian Studies, Postcolonial Studies
Statement of Interest:
My ‘first contact’ with posthumanism took place in my biology classes in school, through the philosophical and biological idea of ‘mutation’-a term which is now integral to my ongoing PhD work-a cultural analysis of nuclear weaponry and technology in India. Philosophical and postcolonial posthumanism thus occupy an important place in my work and my broader interests, where I look at Indian science fiction as symptomatic of multiple, plural ‘contacts’ between Indian schools of thought on what it means to be ‘human’ (or not to be) in the era of climate change, the energy crisis, as well as new technological breakthroughs. The Indian Posthumanism Network, the first of such a nation-wide venture in India, is not only a timely creation of an organized consortium of Indian posthumanist thought, but also an important opportunity for early-career researchers such as me to come into much-necessary contact with researchers in the field, as well as to participate in exciting cutting-edge research that holds potential, by virtue of its interdisciplinarity and its relevance, to transform pedagogy in the humanities as well as the very space of humanities research in India in the near future. I am excited to be making this application and I hope you will give me an opportunity to be a part of this promising network.