Prof. Pushpinder Syal, from Panjab University, Chandigarh will be delivering a seminar titled "Sign and Image in Communication".

Abstract

Our understanding of the working of systems of communication has increased manifold in the last hundred years. Concepts explaining the basic nature of linguistic and cultural signs emerged early in the work of modern linguists and cultural anthropologists such as Pierce, de Saussure, Levi Strauss and others; the developments in technology and commerce led to the expansion of many other cultural phenomena, from photography and film to television, computer animation and gaming. The image is now dominating our lives in the form of the `simulacrum’, hypertext and virtual reality, in movements away from the linearity of print culture to images that are constantly moving and morphing. How is this changing human communication, and how do we analyse and understand the images that represent current cultural phenomena? These are some of the important questions in cultural studies today. 

About the Speaker

Dr. Pushpinder Syal is Professor of English at Panjab University. Her research interests include Linguistics, Literature, and English Language Teaching. She was Director, Commonwealth Academic Staff Scholarship (1984-87), and her many achievements include the Charles Wallace Trust Fellowship, and the Australia-India Council Fellowship. She was Director of EFL University, Lucknow Campus during 2010-11. She has published over 30 papers, and two books: Style and Structure in Commonwealth Literature (1994) Vikas, New Delhi; and Introduction to Linguistics (1997) Prentice-Hall, New Delhi. She has translated novels and plays from Panjabi to English, and has also authored poetry and fiction.