Mangaluru : “Literature at the Crossroads: Millennial Challenges”a two days national level seminar organized by the department of English of St. Aloysius college was inaugurated on Monday. The dignitaries commenced the occasion by lighting of the lamp at at Eric Mathais Hall.

In his presidential address the principal of the college Rev.Fr Swebert D’Silva SJ quoted Henry Wordsworth Longfellow “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night”. Explaining the quote, he added that great success in life cannot be achieved without hard work and dedication and in our world today, especially in India, English seems to be an important language to ensure success.

“ British had good table manners whereas rest of the world had good food” was humorously quoted by key note speaker Dr.Sashidhar R professor, PG Department of English, Mangalore University referring to the change in social composition that affected English literature during the 1950’s. He spoke about the change brought about by the Second World War which brought a new class of people to universities thus questioning the traditional forms of literature. He further went on to elaborate about the questions in the minds of people as to how literature could be evaluated and on what point a text would become literature. He emphasized on the way literature is looked today and how a lack of integrity creates confusion among the people.

The dignitaries present on the dais wereDrRatanMohuntha, HOD, English, convenor of the seminar, SeverinePinto,organizing secretary. DrAlwynD’sa,Dean of Arts Faculty welcomed the gathering.

The other speakers were DrGayatriPrabhu, Assistant Professor, Manipal Center for Philosophy and HumanititesManipal. Students, teachers and research scholars from various institutions presented their papers during the seminar.