PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL SEMINAR HELD ON 6th January 2019

The Researchers' Association, Odisha organised a one day National Seminar on "Rethinking Five Theory Generating Texts: Oedipus the King, Hamlet, Odes of John Keats, The Waste Land and Ulysses" on 6 January 2019 at Hotel Akbari, Cuttack. Professor R.W. Desai, former Professor of English, Delhi University, Delhi inaugurated the seminar by lighting the lamp. Professor Debendra Kumar ray, the Vice President of the Researchers' Association, Odisha delivered the welcome address. Dr Jnan Ranjan Padhi, Associate Professor of English, J.N. College, Arunachal Pradesh; Dr Satya Sindhu Ghosh, former Professor of English, Khandra College, West Bengal; Dr Bilkesh Parveen, Department of English, Tangi Mahavidyalaya; and Dr Sonali Das, Lecturer in English, Dhenkanal Autonomous College, Dhenkanal introduced Prof. R.W. Desai, Prof. Amitava Roy, Prof. Prashant K. Sinha and Prof. B. Parvati respectively. Dr. Ipsita Nayak, Assistant Professor of English, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar read out the proceedings of the lastseminar held on 18 November 2018 at Hotel Akbari, Cuttack. Dr Sonali Das compered the programme.

Professor Bijay Kumar Das introduced the topic of the seminar. He stated that the five seminal text chosen for discussion generated theories like Oedipus complex, myth criticism, negative capability, objective correlative, intertextuality and psychoanalytic criticism Prof.R. W. Desai in his inaugural address spoke on "Hamlet's Putative 'Delay' and Jurisprudence" which evoked lively response from the audience. Mr. Umesh Chandra Nayak, former Principal, Khaira College, Balasore proposed a vote of thanks.

The inaugural address was followed by the launch of the Silver Jubilee issue of The CriticalEndeavour, Vol. 25. January 2019 by Prof. R. W. Desai along with Prof. M. Q. Khan, Prof.Debendra Kumar Ray, Prof. Amitav Roy, Prof. Prashant K. Sinha, Prof. B. Parvathi in thepresence of Professor Bijay Kumar Das, the Editor of the Journal. Prof. Desai had a word of praise for the range and production of the journal.

In the first plenary session Prof. B. K. Das spoke on, "Reconfiguring Myth and Meaning in Oedipus the King and The Wasteland. Prof. Jitendra Narayan Patnaik (Ravenshaw, Cuttack) Chaired the session. In the plenary session II, Prof. Amitava Roy (RBU,Kolkata) spoke on, "Hamlet and Theory" and Prof. B.N. Patnaik (IIT, Kanpur) chaired thesession. In the first paper reading session Mr. Laxmidhar Panda and Dr. Brajakishore Sahoo presented their papers. Prof. E. Raja Rao of Berhampur University chaired the session.

In the Paper Reading Session II, Dr Sonali Das, Ms. Pravati Panda and Ms. Pratima Das presented their papers. Prof. B. Parvathi of Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, chaired the session. In the third paper reading session Dr Krushna Chandra Mishra, Head, Department of English, Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh, and Dr Tapu Biswas, Assistant Professor of English, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan (West Bengal), presented their papers.

There was a special session on "Meet the Teacher" in honour of Prof. Prashant K. Sinha (University of Pune, Pune). The session was chaired by Prof. R. W. Desai and co-ordinatedby Prof. Bijay Kumar Das. Prof. Sinha's talk "The Peaks and Troughs of a Teacher's Life" was distributed in the form of a booklet. The valedictory session was chaired by Prof. B.Parvathi in which Prof. B. N. Patnaik and Prof. E. Raja Rao delivered their talks. The certificates of participation were given away to the participants by Prof. Parvathi. Dr. Manas Ranjan Samal, Dr Santosh Kumar Padhy, Dr Bilkesh Parveen and Dr Pravat Kumar Mishra proposed vote of thanks in different sessions.

On the occasion of the Silver Jubilee launch of The Critical Endeavour, a cake was cut by Prof. M. Q. Khan, Prof. D. K. Ray and Prof. B. K. Das, the President, Vice President and the Secretary of the Researchers' Association, respectively. To cap it all, a group photo was taken to commemorate the occasion.