Faculty at School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Chinmaya Lal Thakur

Chinmaya Lal Thakur

Assistant Professor


Contact Information

  • Ph.D. in English: La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, 2023.
  • Title of Thesis: “Representation of Subjectivity in the Novels of David Malouf: Aspects of Being and Becoming”.
  • M.Phil. in English: Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, 2018.
  • Title of Dissertation: “The Novel and Epistemological Critique: Reading Franz Kafka”.
  • M.A. in English: University of Delhi, Delhi, India, 2016
  • B.A. (Hons.) in English: Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India, 2014

  • Sessional Lecturer and Tutor in English at La Trobe University, Melbourne, March 2020-May 2022
  • Assistant Professor (Ad-hoc) in English, S.G.T.B Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi, July 2017-March 2019
  • Assistant Professor (Ad-hoc) in English, Motilal Nehru College, University of Delhi, Delhi, January 2017-May 2017

  • Postcolonial literatures and cultures, philosophy of the novel, modernist literatures and cultures, Continental philosophy--especially the writings of Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida, the contemporary novel, and literary criticism.

  • 2019: Granted a sum of AUD 5475 under the Internal Research Grant Scheme of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne to undertake a month-long study of David Malouf’s archives and letters at the National Library of Australia, Canberra and the Fryer Library, University of Queensland, Brisbane.
  •  2016-2018: Obtained F.G.P.A. of 8.66 points (out of maximum 9 points) i.e., High First Class with 91.60% marks, in coursework examination and term papers during M.Phil. research at the Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
  •  2015-2016: Qualified the National Eligibility Test for Assistant Professorship organised by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, and the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi.
  • 2011-2014: Received the Dr B.D. Syngle Memorial Award (2012, 2013, 2014), the Dr Y.N. Bhatt Award (2012), the Dr Ganga Saran Sharma Memorial Scholarship (2013), and the Dr N.S. Pradhan Award (2014) for obtaining 1st position in class in each year of the B.A. (Hons.) English examination at Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi, Delhi.

1. 2023—Recommended by examiners of doctoral thesis for the Nancy Millis Medal awarded by the Graduate Research School, La Trobe University, Melbourne. The Medal is awarded to the top 5% among the outstanding PhD theses submitted for examination at the university’s graduate research school every academic year. The examiner’s recommendation about the thesis stated: “David Malouf is an author of conspicuous international reputation, and this thesis possesses considerable potential to influence the field of Australian literary studies”.

2. 2022—Presented a paper at the 3rd Modern Language Association (MLA) International Symposium, “Being Hospitable: Languages and Cultures Across Borders”, organised by the MLA and the University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland. Title of paper: “Hospitality and Responsibility: Inscriptions of Otherness in Jenny Erpenbeck’s Go, Went, Gone”.

3. 2020—Commended by judges for the AUD 800 Sussex-Samuel Essay Prize for Postgraduate Students offered by the Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association for the paper ‘David Malouf and the Event of Writing’.

4. 2019—Awarded the La Trobe University Post Graduate Research Scholarship and the La Trobe University Full Fee Research Scholarship for undertaking doctoral research at the Department of Creative Arts and English, La Trobe University, Melbourne.

5. 2015—Participated in a national workshop, “Dharma and the Past: Engaging with Prof. Romila Thapar”, organised by the Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities, Manipal University, Manipal.

7. 2009—Awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Central Board of Secondary Education, Delhi, for “Outstanding academic performance and for being among the top 0.1 percent of successful candidates of All India Secondary School Examination 2009 in Hindi Course-A”.

  • Oliver Goldsmith’s “The Vicar of Wakefield”, an edited critical edition of Oliver Goldsmith’s 1766 novel The Vicar of Wakefield. New Delhi and Kolkata: Worldview Publications, 2023, pp. 304 (xxvi + 278), ISBN: 9789382267386.
  • Literary Criticism: An Introductory Reader, an edited anthology of writings on literature/literary criticism by thinkers ranging from Plato to Cleanth Brooks. New Delhi and Kolkata: Worldview Publications, 2018, pp. 495 (x + 485), ISBN: 9789382267379

Book Chapters

 

  • ‘David Malouf and the Secret of Literature’ in Journal of Language, Literature and Culture, published by the Australasian Universities Languages and Literature Association. Vol. 69, Issue 2-3, 2022, pp. 124-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/20512856.2022.2161042
  • ‘From Meaning to Metaphor: Reading Exile and Faith in Zia Haider Rahman’s In the Light of What We Know’ in Ex-Centric Narratives: Journal of Anglophone Literature, Culture and Media (Special Issue on ‘Religion, Mobilities, and Belonging in Contemporary Anglophone Literature and Film/TV Series Production), Issue 5, 2021, pp. 108-120. https://ejournals.lib.auth.gr/ExCentric/article/view/8280
  • ‘David Malouf and the Event of Writing’ in Journal of Language, Literature and Culture, published by Australasian Universities Languages and Literature Association, December 2020, Vol. 67, Nos. 2-3, pp. 97-110. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20512856.2020.1849944