The organisers welcome contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• The formation, consolidation, preservation, and reception of literary, religious, philosophical, and cultural canons in premodern South Asia

• The foundational texts of South Asian cultures and their canonisation
• Archaisms and innovations in the cultural and linguistic history and prehistory of South Asia
• Neologisms and conscious innovation in the literary and learned languages of South Asia (Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, Apabhramsha, classical Tamil)
• The standardisation of language: grammatical traditions, prescriptivism, and the codification of literary norms
• Commentary, sub-commentary, and the interpretation of authoritative texts
• Quotation, allusion, and intertextuality as modes of engaging with canonical sources
• Tradition and innovation in literary genres: epic, kāvya, drama, lyric, narrative, didactic literature
• The aesthetics of originality versus adherence to convention; the concept of aucitya (propriety) and related notions
• Scriptural authority and the canon in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions
• Philosophical traditions and their self-positioning relative to textual authority
• Hagiography, mythography, and the canonisation of figures and narratives

Presentation format

Presentations (in English) will be 20 minutes in length, followed by 10 minutes of discussion.

Publication

Selected papers of the conference will be considered for publication in a special issue of the peer-reviewed journal Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, published by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Submission guidelines

Abstracts should be no longer than 500 words (excluding references) and must be submitted in Word or PDF format to the conference email address by 1 May 2026. Abstracts should include the title of the paper, the name(s) and affiliation(s) of the author(s), and a brief indication of the primary sources, languages, or traditions addressed. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of the selection process by 31 May 2026.

Conference fee

60 EUR for waged participants (30 EUR for students)

Organisers

Máté Ittzés (ittzes.mate@btk.elte.hu)

Anna Katalin Aklan (aklan.anna@btk.elte.hu)

Csaba Dezső (dezso.csaba@btk.elte.hu)

Péter Száler (szaler.peter@btk.elte.hu)