'Only What Does Not Fit In Can Be True'

This paper was presented at a symposium on “De-professionalisation” organised by Amit Chaudhuri and Jon Cook of the University of East Anglia at the India International Centre, Delhi, 7–8 January 2016. The concept note for the symposium stated: “The subject of the symposium is ‘de-professionalisation’—the urge, as a creative practitioner, or, indeed, a practitioner of any kind, not to be identified with one genre or activity, and to be, in general, a critic of specialisation and a champion of dabbling. The word ‘dabbling’ is being used here partly ironically, of course, but also full on, to convey the force of what a serious writer or thinker might achieve when they consciously diverge from the genre or practice they’re most identifi ed with and even respected for. The idea and act of ‘de-professionalisation’ is really a critique of the construction of the writer, artist, or intellectual today—by publishers, by media, by festivals, by writers themselves. It also accommodates the notion of value: for instance, the idea that someone may not be ‘good’ at or trained in the skills of a particular project or genre or form they’ve embarked upon.”