Home/ Faculty / Dr. Diamond Oberoi Vahali
Dr. Diamond Oberoi Vahali
E-mail: diamond[at]aud[dot]ac[dot]in
Associate Professor , School of Letters
She did her M.Phil from H.P. University Shimla. Her M.Phil thesis was related to the study of the Confessional Novel. She was awarded her PhD from JNU from the School of Language, Culture and Literature in 1998. Her PhD thesis was a semiological analysis of the cinema of Ritwik Ghatak. Between 2007 and 2008 she attended clinical workshops on Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, at the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Delhi.
Diamond Oberoi Vahali joined St Bede's College Shimla in 1994. In 2006, she joined Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi. Since 2011, she is teaching in Ambedkar University Delhi.
She has published articles pertaining to literature and cinema and is mainly interested in literature of resistance, struggle and resilience and narratives of love and compassion, especially in situations related to conflict. She is interested in Cinema studies, Psychoanalysis, Life Writing and Memory studies, Folklore, Orature and Indigenous literatures and in documenting real life narratives and testimonies. She is also interested in pursuing research in documenting films and narratives that have dealt with people's struggles.
Ritwik Ghatak and the Cinema of Praxis: Ideology, Nationalism and Trauma. New Delhi: Springer Nature, 2019. (Forthcoming)
Life and Times of Shanta Toofani: Story of a Survivor. Co-authored with Dimple (Amreen) Oberoi Vahali. New Delhi: Daanish Books, 2009. ISBN number-81-89654-76-4.
Once upon a time. . . A Collection of Short Stories, co-edited with Charu Sharma. Delhi: Foundation Books (Cambridge University Press), 2003. ISBN number-81-7596-172-4.
Chapters in Books
"The Beautiful Being of Teaching.'' A Song Called Teaching: Ebbs and Flows of Experiential and Empathetic Pedagogies. Ed. Honey Oberoi Vahali. New Delhi: Aakar Books. 2019. pp. 42-50. ISBN no 978-93-5002-590-1. (Forthcoming)
"Trauma and Restitution, the Healing Power of Compassion: A Cinematic Analysis of Kaya Taran, a film on the 1984 Riots against the Sikhs." (E)razed Chapters: Remembering the Tales of Mourning Carnage '84. Ed. Ishmeet Kaur. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan. 2019. (Forthcoming)
"Recognition and the Re-emergence of the Disappearing Self: Reading Intizar Husain's 'The City of Sorrow'". Literary Aesthetics and Conflict Studies. Ed. Alka Tyagi. Delhi: Ramayan. 2018. pp. 27-39. ISBN No. 978-93-5281-230-1.
"Epic, Apertures and Spaces: Ritwik Ghatak and the Epic Tradition". Signification in Language and Culture. Ed. H.S. Gill. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 2003, pp. 601-663. ISBN No. 81-7986-015-9.
"Structure in Ritwik Ghatak's Meghe Dhaka Tara". Ajantrik. Ed. Dipankar Bhattacharya, Hooghli: Uttarpara Cine Club, 2000.
"Punjab 1984: A Plea for Tolerance and Democracy". Thapp journal: Pakistan, 2019. (forthcoming).
"The (Im)possible Embrace: A Search for Non-violent Possibilities in the Aftermath of Violent Uprootedness." Co-authored with Honey Oberoi Vahali. Psychology and Developing Societies 1–23 © 2019. Department of Psychology, University of Allahabad. DOI: 10.1177/0971333618819154 Sage.
"The Subalterns and their Margins: A Psychoanalytical Reading of Mahasweta Devi's 'Bayen'". Panjab University Research Journal (Arts). Vol. XLV, No. 2. ISSN: 0970-5260. July-December 2018. pp. 15-30.
"Partition and the Betrayal of India's Independence: An Analysis of Ritwik Ghatak's Cinema." Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses, 76; April 2018, pp. 91-101; ISSN: e-2530-8335. DOI: http://doi.org/10.25145/j.recaesin.2018.76.007. pp. 91-101.
"The Confessional Novel: Its Form, Aesthetics and Themes (Guilt, Immersion and Surfacing)." Literary Quest 3.4 (December 2017): pp. 49-66.Web. DoA.
"Crossing: A Journey Within and Beyond in Alice Walker's By the Light of My Father's Smile." Literary Quest 3.3 (November 2017): pp. 1-16. Web. DoA.
"Epic, Apertures and Spaces". Bede Atheneum: A Journal of Research Papers. Shimla: St. Bede's College, 2006. pp. 41-46.
"Voices from the Dark Cellar: A Psychological Exploration into Dostoyevsky's Notes from the Underground". Co-authored with Honey Oberoi Vahali, Panjab University Research Bulletin (Arts). Vol. XXV1, No. 1&2 April-October 1995.
"In Search of Potent Fragments: The Old Playhouse and the Poetry of Kamla Das". Panjab University Research Bulletin (Arts). Vol. XX1V, April, 1993.
"John Fowles' The Collector: A Confession", 'Panjab University Research Bulletin', Vol. XX11, NO.2 October 1991.pp. 99-110.
"Intertexutality, Self-Consciousness and Self-Reflexivity in Iris Murdoch's The Black Prince", 'Panjab University Research Bulletin', Vol XX1, No.2 October 1990.pp. 53-57.
"Advaita Malla Burmn's: Titash Ekti Nadir Naam". Echoes. Shimla: St. Bede's College, 2006.
"To Do Something Beautiful by Rohini". Echoes. Shimla: St. Bede's College, 2006.
"The Path to Hell" Co-translated in Premchand: The Complete Short Stories: Vol. 1. Ed. M. Asaduddin. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2018. ISBN13 9780143442653.
Seminar / Conferences
"'Kunti and the Nishadin': A Subversive Adaptation" in an International Conference Literary Commons: Comparative Frames, organized by the School of Letters, Ambedkar University Delhi. February 19 & 20, 2019.
"The Angst of Exile: Ritwik Ghatak and the Bengal Partition" in "Understanding Partition(s) in/of the Indian Sub-continent through Literary and Cinematic Re/Presentations with special focus on Sindh", organised by the Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. 22 March 2018.
'Violence, Humiliation and Disappearance: An Analysis of Punjab 1984' in the IACLALS International Annual Conference 2018, "Tolerance and Bigotry: Contestations in Indian Literatures in English", organized by Aligarh Muslim University, February 8th to 10th, 2018.
"Between Darkness and Light: An Emergence; Reading Kaya Taran, a film on the 1984 Riots against the Sikhs" in the Fifth International Psychoanalytic Conference 2018 titled "Psychoanalytic Explorations of Darkness in Culture and Clinic: An Indo-Italian Conversation", organized by Centre of Psychotherapy and Clinical Research and School of Human Studies, AUD in collaboration with the Italian Psychoanalytic Society, The Delhi Chapter of Indian Psychoanalytic Society and Psychoanalysis India, 12-15 January, 2018.
"Betrayal and Erosion of Self: Reading Ritwik Ghatak's Meghe Dhake Tara" in the International conference "The Fragmented Self: An Interdisciplinary Exploration into the notions of Self and Identity in Contemporary Life" organised by the Psychology Department at Indraprastha College for Women, (University of Delhi), Civil Lines, Delhi, India.30th-31st October, 2017.
"Coming to terms with the Other within the Self: An analysis of Intizar Hussain's 'The City of Sorrow' in National Seminar on "Literary Aesthetics and Conflict Studies", organized by the Department of English, Dyal Singh (Eve.) College, University of Delhi, April 20-21, 2017.
"Reading Mahasweta Devi's "Kunti and the Nishadin" as a Political Transcreation of the Mahabharata" in "National Seminar dedicated to the memory of Mahasweta Devi", organized by the Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia University, November 24–25, 2016.
"Experiential Pedagogy" in Awaaz 2016, "Pedagogy as Psychological First Aid" on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day, organized by the CPHS, AUD, Delhi, 10th November 2016.
"The Dream of India's Independence and the Nightmare of its Partition: A Psychoanalytical Reading of the Cinema of Ritwik Kumar Ghatak" in "Dreams and Nightmares: Psychoanalysis and Social Justice in the 21st century" in the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society, organized by the Association for the Psychoanalysis of Culture & Society, Rutger's University, New Jersey, USA, 14-15 October 2016.
Delivered the Inaugural address, "Historicizing the Context of the All India Progressive Writers Association (AIPWA) and Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA)" for "Sarkash Alfaaz: the Progressive Writers Festival", at Ambedkar University, Delhi held on 15-16 September 2015.
"Understanding Human Condition: A Legacy", in "Signification, Conceptual Structures and Human Existence: In Honor of Professor Harjeet Singh Gill, Professor Emeritus". SLL&CS, JNU, Delhi, 13th January 2015.
"Ritwik Ghatak and the Epic Tradition", paper presented in the Autumn School on "The Oral as Resource" organized by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. 1-14 November 2008.
"People vs. the Nation: Doodhnath Singh's 'Mai Ka Shok Geet': A Political Discourse", in the National conference on "Narratives of Women and the Indian Nation", Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi, 20-22 November, 2007.
Presented a working draft of a translation of Premchand's story "Narak Ka Marg", in 'National Seminar cum Workshop Translating Premchand-II', organized by Department of English and Modern European Languages, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi 2-4 March, 2006.
"Social Activism and Literary Creativity: A Report", in National Seminar on 'Activism and Aesthetics: The Politics of Literary Theory and Representation", H.P. University 26-27th March, 2003.
"Signification in Ritwik Ghatak's Cinema", in 'International Symposium on Signification in Buddhist and French Traditions', Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. September 25-30 2001.
"An Analysis of Margaret Atwood's Surfacing", in XV IACS International Conference on Canadian Studies 'Twentieth Century in Retrospect: Canada and India', Centre for Canadian Studies, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla. April 12-15, 1999.