Where Legends Meet Landscape: A Global Conversation on Scotland’s Cultural Imagination

On 20–21 February, the Centre for Scottish Studies and the Department of English, Swami Vivekananda University, hosted a two-day International Conference that brought together eminent scholars, researchers, and young academics for an enriching exchange of ideas on Scottish literature, folklore, and cultural landscapes.

The conference was graced by distinguished speakers including Prof. Bashabi Fraser from Edinburgh Napier University, Prof. Neil Fraser from the University of Edinburgh, and Prof. Alan Riach of the University of Glasgow. Their keynote addresses explored the layered relationship between myth, nationhood, ecology, and the imaginative construction of landscape in Scottish writing. Scholarly deliberations were further enriched by insightful presentations from Prof. Amrit Sen of Visva Bharati University, Dr. Saptarshi Mallick, Dr. Payel C Mukherjee from South Asian University, and Dr. Kaberi Chatterjee, Associate Professor (Retd.), Scottish Church College. Their discussions foregrounded cross-cultural engagements between Scotland and South Asia, highlighting how folklore and landscape travel across histories, languages, and identities.

Paper presenters from diverse institutions contributed significantly to the academic vibrancy of the event. Themes such as oral traditions, cultural memory, diaspora, ecological imagination, and the politics of myth were examined with depth and interdisciplinary insight. The conference became a dynamic hub of intellectual dialogue, creating collaboration and critical reflection. This international academic gathering reaffirmed Swami Vivekananda University’s commitment to global literary scholarship and strengthened its role as a centre for research in Scottish Studies. Through meaningful conversations and scholarly exchange, the event opened new pathways for understanding the enduring resonance of myth, folklore, and landscape in shaping cultural narratives.