Students and staff of the Department of English of Carmel college of Arts, Commerce, and Science for Women, Nuvem, Goa had their keyboard and guitars out on Saturday 2nd September 2023 to present literature through music. The cue was the paper on post-world war II British literature (END 105) prescribed by the Goa University for the BA English Honours course for third year students this semester. They were joined by a team of English honours students from Government college, Sanquelim (GCS) which also offers the same paper.
Officiating Principal, Dr. Sr. Maria Lizanne A.C. welcomed the gathering and declared the event open. She praised the creative interpretation of the syllabus and expressed the hope that this would be the first of many more editions of ‘Literature through Music’ organized by the Department of English. Dr. Glenis Mendonça, Associate Professor, and Head of the Department, spoke about the relevance of the programme.
Ms. Roxana Singh, Associate Professor, provided a comprehensive background to the 1950’s encompassing in her sweep, drama, poetry, novel, advertising, painting, and film. Dr. Brian Mendonça, Convenor, threw light on the genesis of the course and said that one has to recuperate and sustain the tradition of English literature despite the post-colonial unease with it. Alisha Souza, Faculty, Government College, Sanquelim spoke on the topic, ‘Culture and Conflict: What Emerged from the Ashes.’
Shirley took the audience through the event poster which had been designed by her. Sibal spoke about British music and musicians post-1950s. Students of GCS dramatized the song ‘If You’re Reading This’ by Tim McGraw about a soldier who loses his life. They then showcased emerging dance forms of the period like jitterbug and jive swinging to the tunes of ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go Go’ by WHAM.
DSC students of Carmel performed a medley. Aditi gave her musical interpretation of Ted Hughes’ poem ‘Hawk in the Rain’ and Philip Larkin’s ‘The Whitsun Weddings.’ The English honours class of Carmel college sang Vera Lynn’s classic ‘We’ll Meet Again,’ ‘We’re Gonna Hang Out the Washing on the Seigfried Line,’ ‘Obladi Oblada,’ by the Beatles’ and ‘Imagine’ by Lennon. Dr. Brian sang the English ballad ‘Are You Going to Scarborough Fair’ and spoke about Simon and Garfunkel’s anti-war version of it. Dr. Glenis Mendonça sang ‘Yesterday’ by the Beatles. The song session ended with the faculty of the English Dept of Carmel College singing ‘Yellow Submarine’ by the Beatles.
Certificates were presented to the participants. Suniti did the vote of thanks. The programme was compered ably by Kay. English pickings like sandwiches, pudding and banana fritters laced with honey were prepared by students and made available at the venue.