Martin Hříbek, PhD.
E-mail:
Seminar of Indian Studies, Assistant Professor
Research interests
Bengali language and literature, Anthropology and Sociology of India, Indian nationalism
Academic career
Educated both in Indian philology and ethnology, Martin Hříbek, PhD. (2009) is an assistant professor in Bengali and Indian studies at the Institute of South and Central Asia, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. Besides his Alma Mater he was previously affiliated to the Department of Sociology, Calcutta University, India (2001-2004) and to the Monash Asia Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia (Fall 2014). Dr. Hříbek participated in a number of research projects as a team member (e.g., by the Czech Science Foundation and Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic) as well as in the role of the principal investigator (Czech Academy of Sciences Foundation). He was awarded further funding for his research, e.g., by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund.
Besides research and teaching, Dr. Hříbek has been involved in numerous public outreach activities, namely Radio and TV interviews on current issues in South Asia for Czech media as well as on Indian studies for media in India and Bangladesh. He has to his credit the curatorship of two exhibitions: Many Colours of Asia and Bengali Film Poster. He had further co-organised round-tables with Indian writers, foreign affaires related events, and Indian community events in Prague. He acts as official translator and interpreter for the Czech Home Office and civil courts and has over 13 years of experience as a cultural tour guide in India, Nepal, China and Tibet. Dr. Hříbek is a deputy chairman of the Czech Association for Social Anthropology, an Executive Council member of the International Society of Bengal Studies and acts as a deputy editor of the international refereed journal PANDANUS. Since 2015 he is a Deputy Director of the Institute of South and Central Asia.
Courses taught
- Bengali language at elementary, intermediate and advance levels
- Reading and interpretation of Bengali literary and non-literary tests at various levels
- Introduction to Indian Studies
- Hinduism
- Anthropological Perspectives on India
- Nationalism in India
- Art and Agency in India
- Seminar on Indian film
- Anthopological Seminar
Individual lectures held, e.g., at the Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities, CU in Prague; the Gellner Seminar at New York University in Prague; Cologne University, Germany, Frontier Lecture at Calicut University, Kerala, India; the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, India; Rabindra Bharati Society, Calcutta, India; Institute of Ethnic Studies, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur; Department of Bengali, Dhaka University, Bangladesh.
Publications
2016. Modern Appropriations of the Goddess. In: Conceiving the Goddess: Function, Transformation and Appropriation in Indian Mythology, edited by Jayant B. Bapat and Ian Mabbett. Monash University Press. In print.
2015a. Dalai-Lamaism: An Orientalist Construction of Post-socialist Consciousness. In: Rethinking Ethnography in Central Europe, edited by H. Cervinkova, M. Buchowski, Z. Uherek. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 217-239. ISBN: 978-1-137-52448-5.
2015b. Rabindranath Tagore's Czechoslovak Connection, In: Tagore the Eternal Seeker Footprints of a World Traveller, edited by Suryakanthi Tripathi, Radha Chakravarty and Nivedita Ray. New Delhi: VIJ Books, pp. 141-150. ISBN: 9789382652953.
2015c. Heroes from the Margins in Contemporary Bengali Fiction, In: Indologica Taurinensia: The Journal of the International Association of Sanskrit Studies, Vol. XL (2014), pp. 113-130, special issue edited by Tiziana Pontillo. ISSN 1023-3881.
2014. Czechoslovakia and its Successors. In: Rabindranath Tagore: One Hundred Years of Global Reception, edited by Imre Bangha and Martin Kaempchen, editorial adviser Uma Dasgupta. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan, pp. 333-356. The volume is reviewed in The Statesman, The Telegraph, The Times of India, and The Indian Express.
2012a. Czech Indology and the concept of Orientalism. In: Understanding India: Indology and Beyond. Edited by J. Vacek and Harbans Mukhia. Assistant Editor M. Hříbek. Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Philologica 1 – 2011, Orientalia Pragensia XXVIII, pp. 45-56. ISSN 0587-1255; ISBN 978-80-246-2031-2. The volume is reviewed in Studies in History (Sage).
2012b. Doslov (Afterword). In: Ghosh, Amitav, Ve starobylé zemi (In an Antique Land). Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství, pp. 291-295.
2011. Rabíndranáth Thákur a jeho vztah k Československu. In: Perspektivy Indie, 2011, pp. 6-13. ISSN: 0970 5074.
2009a. Durgāpūjā in Calcutta: The Poetics and Politics of a Ritual (Durgápúdžá v Kalkatě: politické a poetické aspekty rituálu). UK v Praze FF, Praha 2009, 156 pp. (PhD. Dissertation, ms.)
2009b. Pascal Boyer: Religion Explained – a review, CARGO 1/2009: 124-125.
2008a. Bohyně Durgá a její podoby v současné Kolkatě. (The Goddess Durga and her many forms in contemporary Calcutta). In: Mé zlaté Bengálsko, Ed. Lubomír Ondračka. Praha: Ex Oriente; FF UK, pp. 134-148.
2008b. Matching uneven Paris: Lotuses, water lilies, and their Sanskrit counterparts. PANDANUS ‘08, Nature in Literature, Art, Myth and Ritual.Vol. 2/2., pp. 147–153; ISSN 1802-7997.
2007. Flowers and trees in Tagore´s songs relating to summer, autumn and winter. PANDANUS ‘07, Nature in Literature, Art, Myth and Ritual. Vol. 1, pp. 141–154; ISSN 1802-7997. The volume is reviewed in Orientalistische Literaturzeitung.
2006. Flowery images of spring in Rabīndrasaṅgīt. In: PANDANUS ‘06, Nature in Literatures and Ritual. Ed. by J. Vacek. Charles University, Faculty of Arts; TRITON, Praha 2006, pp. 271-285; ISBN 80-7254-899-9.
2005a. A note on plants in the Devi Mahatmya. In: PANDANUS 2005. Ed. by J. Vacek. Signeta, Prague, pp. 121–134; ISBN 80-903325-2-8.
2005b. Le sens et les règles: assemblage de données sur la Durgapuja à Calcutta. In: La restitution des données dans la recherche en sciences sociales: techniques et enjeux. Actes des Ateliers Jeunes Chercheurs en Sciences Sociales. New Delhi: AJEI & CSH.
2005c. Strom užitečný, citlivý a uctívaný: několik příkladů z indické tradice. Revue Souvislosti 4/05, pp. 132-135; ISSN 0862-6928.
2004a. Rama´s inventory of flowers for Durga worship according to the Krittibasi Ramayan. In PANDANUS 2004, ed. J. Vacek. pp. 47-64. Praha: Signeta.
2004b. Kosovo war refugees in the Czech Republic: A micro-study in transition process. In A Decade of Change: Reflections in Hungarian and Slavonic Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Department of Slavonic and Finno-Ugrian Studies, Delhi University: Delhi. pp. 35-40.
2003. Nature motifs and symbols in the oral literature and village arts of Bengal: an ethnobotanical approach. In PANDANUS 2003, ed. J. Vacek. pp. 133-153. Praha: Signeta.
2002a. Ritual use of plants in the worship of the goddess Durga in Bengal. In PANDANUS’02: Nature in Indian Literatures and Art, ed. J. Vacek, pp. 41-62. Praha: Signeta.
2002b. Smoking the demon out: Pathways and intersections of two contemporary rituals. Cargo 1,2/02, pp. 81-93.
2001. Dipankar Gupta. Mistaken Modernity: India Between Worlds – a review. In: Cargo 1,2/01, pp. 158-159.
2000. Reflexe terénního výzkumu obrazu uprchlíků z Kosova u obyvatel obci, u nichž byla umístěna humanitární střediska (Reflections on fieldwork. Czech hosting town and Kosovo Albanian refugees in an ethnographer’s view). In Terénní výzkum integrace a segregace (Fieldwork Research on Integration and Segregation), ed. S. Kužel, pp. 199-216. Praha: Cargo Publishers.
1999a. Marc Augé: Pour une anthropologie des mondes contemporains - a review. Cargo 3,4/99, pp. 264-268.
1999b. Vidnava and Kosovo Albanian Refugees. An unpublished report for the Administration of Refugee Camps of the Czech Home Office, 30 pp.
1999c. Antropologie v Portugalsku. Vývoj a současnost ve srovnání s Českou republikou. (Anthropology in Portugal: It’s Development and Present Status in Comparison with the Czech Republic). Cargo 2/99, pp. 159-163.
1999d. 15th European Conference of Modern South Asian Studies. Cargo 1/99, pp. 70-71.
1998. Sanskrtizace - Způsob sociální mobility v kastovním systému. (Sanskritisation, a way of social mobility in the caste system). Cargo 1/98, pp. 3-8.
Translations
2016. Proč je dobré mít antropologii (Why Anthropology Matters). Český lid: The Czech Ethnological Journal 1/103, pp. 15-21.
2009a. Madžumdárová, Tilottamá. Psí matka (Dogmother – literary translation from Bengali into Czech), In Dusivá noc: Moderní bengálské povídky, Ex Oriente; FF UK, pp. 72-82.
2009b. Bandjopádhjáj, Atín. Neslušnost pana D. (Insolence of Mr. D. – literary translation from Bengali into Czech), In Dusivá noc: Moderní bengálské povídky, Ex Oriente; FF UK, pp. 182-222.
2007. Malinowski, Bronislaw. Sex a represe v divošské společnosti (Sex and Repression in Primitive Society, with a co-translator). Prague: SLON.
2000. Kürti, Lászlo. Antropologie Východu na začátku nového tisíciletí (Toward an Anthropology of the East in the New Millennium). Cargo 2/00, pp. 133-146.
Selected conference presentations
2016. Convenor of the panel „Imagining India in Central and Eastern Europe“ at the 24th ECSAS (European Conference on South Asian Studies) at the University of Warsaw (Poland, July 27-30).
2016. International seminar Ritual change in South Asia: Circulations, transfers, transgressions (April 29, 2016), Centre français de recherche en sciences sociales, Prague. Paper: „Animating images of Durga: Art, ritual and technologies of enchantment on the streets of Calcutta“.
2015. International seminar Patterns of Bravery: The Figure of the Hero in Indian Literature, Art and Thought (May 14-16, 2015), University of Cagliari, Italy. Paper: „Heroes from the margins in contemporary Bengali fiction”.
2014. Monash University special one day roundtable on aspects of the state and civil society in modern India and Bangladesh (November 28, 2014), Monash Asia Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Paper: „Czech constructions of India and beyond from nineteenth century to post-socialism“.
2014. International conference Rethinking Anthropologies in Central Europe for Global Imaginaries (May 26-27, 2014), Institute of Ethnology, Academy of Sciences and Visegrad Fund, Prague. Paper: „‘Dalai Lamaism’: An Orientalist element of Czech national identity in postsocialist period“.
2013. International seminar Pandanus '13: Nature in Literature, Art, Myth and Ritual (May 30 - June 1, 2013), Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. Paper: „Nature in patriotic songs of Rabindranath Tagore“.
2013. Beyond Socialism and Postsocialism: Contemporary Ethnographic Perspectives on Central/Eastern Europe (May 16, 2013), workshop sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation at the School of Education, University of Lower Silesia, Wroclaw, Poland. Paper: "’Dalai-Lamaism’: An Orientalist element of Czech national identity in postsocialist period“.
2013. International conference Tagore on Discriminations: Representing the Unrepresented, Metropolitan University, Prague, (November 1, 2013). Paper: “Tagore in Czech translations“.
2011. The 2nd International Congress of Bengal Studies (December 17-20, 2011), University of Dhaka and Bangla Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Paper: চেকোস্লোভাকিয়াতে বাংলা চরচা ও বাংলা সংস্কৃতির প্রভাব (Bengali studies and Bengali cultural influence in Czechoslovakia).
2011. International Seminar History and Society as Described in Indian Literature and Art (September 15-17, 2011), Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland. Paper: “Rivers of separation, roads to hope: cultural identity in post-independence Bengali cinema”.
2011. 2nd Joint Biennial Conference of the Czech Association for Social Anthropology and the Slovak association of social anthropologists: OF COSMOPOLITANISM AND COSMOLOGIES (September 2-3, 2011), Telč, Czech Republic. Paper: “Czech Indology and the Concept of Orientalism”.
2010. Pandanus ’10. International Seminar Narrative Techniques in Indian Literature and Art (January 7-9, 2010), Calicut University, Kerala, India. Paper: „Merging the narratives: tradition and modernity in popular arts of Calcutta”.
2010. International Seminar Stylistic Devices in Indian Literature and Art (September 16-18, 2010), University of Milan, Milano-Gargnano, Italy. Paper: “Stylistic devices in Rabindrasangeet”.
2010. CEENIS regional conference Indological Studies and Research: Languages, Literatures, History and Culture – Indological Identities (June 17-19, 2010), Charles University in Prague. Paper: “Indology and Social Sciences: A Central-European Perspective”.
2010. The 1st International Congress of Bengal Studies (February 25-28, 2010), Delhi University, Delhi, India. Paper: “Cognition, structure and meaning: an anthropological analysis of Durga Puja”.
2009. CEENIS regional conference Tradition and Modernity in Indian Culture, Indology and Teaching about India (September 25-26, 2009), Sofia University, Bulgaria. Paper: “India and Eastern Europe: the Interplay of Shifting Identities”.
2009. Pandanus ’09. International Seminar Nature in Indian Literatures, Art and Religion (June 4-6, 2009), Charles University in Prague. Paper: „Flowery images of the rainy season in Rabindrasangit”.
2008. International Seminar The City and The Forest in Classical Indian Literature (September 25-27, 2008), University of Warsaw, Poland. Paper: “The topos of the forest in Bankimchandra’s Anandamath”.
2006. Pandanus ’06. International Seminar Nature in Indian Literatures, Art and Religion (May 18-21, 2006), Charles University in Prague. Paper: „Flowery images of spring in Rabindrasangit”.
2005. Ateliers Jeunes Chercheurs: La restitution des données en sciences sociales (February 28 - March 4), Centre de Sciences Humaines, Jawaharal Nehru University, India International Center, New Delhi, India. Paper: „Le sens et les règles: assemblage de données sur la Durgapuja à Calcutta”.
2005. International conference for students and postgraduates: Question of Identity: Religion Tradition-Modernity (April 7-10, 2005), Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland. Paper: „A goddess of the people, an icon for the nation: imaging Bharat Mata in modern Bengal”.
2003. Pandanus ’03 International Seminar (May 23, 2003), Charles University in Prague. Paper: „Nature motifs and symbols in the oral literature and village arts of Bengal: an ethnobotanical Approach“.
2002. International Seminar A Decade of Change: Reflections in Hungarian and Slavonic Languages, Literatures and Cultures (March 13-14, 2002), Department of Slavonic and Finno-Ugrian Studies, Delhi University, India. Paper: “Kosovo war refugees in the Czech Republic: A micro-study in transition process”.
2002. Pandanus ’02 International Seminar (May 24-25, 2002), Charles University in Prague. Paper: „Ritual use of plants in the worship of the goddess Durga in Bengal”.