Encountering the “Other”: Europe’s Interactions with South Asia
Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania

Dates: 5-6 November 2026
Venue: Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania
Organizers: Digital Culture, Communication and Media Research Group, Centre for Humanities and Arts Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania

Language of the conference: English
https://encountersconference.ktu.edu/

This conference explores the complex, multifaceted interactions between Europe and South Asia, from colonial encounters to postcolonial dialogues and contemporary global flows. Inspired by Edward Said’s seminal work Orientalism (1978), which critiqued Europe’s construction of the “East” as an exotic Other, we invite reflections on how European representations of the East as the cultural “Other” persist in literary writings, religious texts, travelogues, music, art and various other forms of media. Drawing on Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of hybridity and the “third space” (The Location of Culture, 1994), Gayatri Spivak’s interrogation of the subaltern voice (Can the Subaltern Speak?, 1988), Dipesh Chakrabarty’s provincialization of Europe (Provincializing Europe, 2000), and Paul Gilroy’s analysis of postcolonial Atlantic routes (The Black Atlantic, 1993), among others, we seek to unpack power dynamics, cultural exchanges, and mutual transformations. Keeping in mind the complex historical connections between Europe and various South Asian countries, as well as the expanding South Asian diasporas in Europe and rising global geopolitical tensions, this conference asks: How has Europe “encountered” South Asia, and how has South Asia reshaped Europe? 

We welcome interdisciplinary papers from scholars, artists, and activists in cultural studies, postcolonial theory, history, literature, philosophy, linguistics, media, anthropology, and beyond.

THEMATIC AREAS:  Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Orientalism and its afterlives: 
  Representations of South Asia in European art, literature, cinema and new media.
• Hybrid identities and the “third space”: 
  Diasporic experiences of South Asians in Europe.
• Subaltern voices: 
  Can the marginalized speak in Euro-South Asian encounters?
• Provincializing Europe: 
  South Asian perspectives on European modernity and colonialism.
• Colonial and Postcolonial migrations: 
  Labour, refuge, belonging, and diasporic gaze.
• Nation, country, patriotism: 
  Nationalism and emergence of far-right ideologies in Europe and South Asia.
• Decolonial praxis: 
  Museums, curricula, and reparative justice for colonial legacies.
• Media and digital encounters: 
  Politics of mediated representations in South Asia and Europe. 
• Geopolitical entanglements: 
  Trade, aid, technology, and soft power.
• Gendered encounters: 
  Feminist critiques across colonial and postcolonial divides.
• Environmental others: 
  Climate colonialism and shared ecological futures.

Please submit an abstract of 250-300 words, including a provisional title, your affiliation, and a short bio (100 words max), to encounters2026@ktu.lt by 25 May 2026. 

For all enquiries write to encounters2026@pm.me 

Notification of acceptance: 8 June 2026

Registration fees: 

• Regular in-person: 70 Euros 
• Regular in-person: 110 Euros (includes lunch)
• Regular online: 50 Euros
• Student in-person: 40 Euros
• Student in-person: 80 Euros (includes lunch)
• Student online: 30 Euros
• COST ESIND Members: Registration fee exempted
• COST ESIND Members: 40 Euros (lunch; optional)

Registration deadline: 1 July 2026. Payment details will be available on the conference website encountersconference.ktu.edu (coming soon). 

For upcoming information, please check https://encountersconference.ktu.edu/

The conference is partly funded by COST Action 23144 – ESIND.