Creative Saplings (CS) (ISSN: 0974-536X) CODEN: CSABCJ is an international peer-reviewed (refereed), open access, monthly online journal of English language and literature from India. Creative Saplings has an expert editorial board and reviewers to analyze and select literary works from the English language, literature, and criticism. Creative Saplings publishes the unpublished, most original, and scholarly articles of students, scholars, and academicians from all over the world.
SAFE: (Society For Academic Facilitation and Extension, Regd.), Head office: 53, Karamchari Nagar, Bareilly 243112 (UP) India
Ecofeminism in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson and Maya Angelou
Women instinctively feel drawn towards nature. They bear a unique kind of kinship with each other. Whenever women find it hard to endure their suffering, they tend to turn to nature for solace like two sisters/ friends trying to help each other cope with difficulties of life and come out of them. Since both of them have been exploited by the patriarchal system for its own various purposes, they can be viewed as the victims of the same oppressor. Women, despite all their beauty of body and brain, have been forced to yield to the malevolent male forces, while nature has been violated to promote culture. This binary of male/ female and nature/ culture has not gone down well with a majority of women writers. They claim equality with men as both are born equally. They object to being brought up differently. This different upbringing exposes the meanness and hypocrisy of our society. They have voiced their concern about this unfair treatment of women and expressed their preference for the company of compassionate nature to that of callous men. The present paper seeks to define Ecofeminism and trace its evolution as well as endeavours to evaluate the elements of Ecofeminism in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Maya Angelou.
Ecofeminism, women, nature, environment, patriarchy.
Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Prākka Mā Ghā [Original Odia: ପ୍ରାକ୍କ ମା ଘ] by Anna Bhau Sathe (Odia Translation by Dr. Bajrang Sukhdeo Korde, Sahitya Akademi, 2020) — A Book Review
This is a critical review of a monograph on Anna on Anna Bhau published recently by Sweta Mohanty translated by Bajrang Sukhdeo Korde and published by the Sahitya Akademi in 2020. Although at only seventy-one pages, the volume has a significant cultural work to perform, in terms of making Sathe work not only literary but also political beyond the scope of the Marathi readership. The paper places Sathe as a historically based author, whose creative work was based on labour, migration, caste oppression and collective struggle but not reflecting on him as a romanticised figure of a single genius. The monograph is organized into bio, thematic and genre-based segments, and thus, familiarizes the readers with the works of Sathe in the fields of fiction, poetry, folk theatre and performance-based traditions, meaning, prefiguring the work with the popular and public forms. The fact that it comes with a glossary and a bibliography also contributes to its teacher-pedagogical value. Mohanty has chosen a very evident and non-aggressive style of translation to keep the documentary gravity and ideological acuity of the source and make it accessible by novices. The review argues that the inclusion of short textual excerpts as well as wider contextual framing would add further to the volume. All in all, the translation is a perfect example of cultural mediation, which allows having meaningful cross-regional communication and reaffirming the literature in its role to express dignity, resistance, and common histories of marginality.
Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Saand Ki Aankh, Directed by Tushar Hiranandani
Kanu Desai's Silhouette Paintings: Simplicity and Spirituality Evolved from Text
The paper explores the silhouette oeuvre of Kanu Desai in the larger socio-cultural and spiritual landscape of Gujarat and questions how his minimal visual language can be seen as the art, literature, and faith intersect. The study examines how Desai redefines the rigorous academic approach to silhouette by concentrating on such works as Raudra Nrtya -Nataraja, Gauri nu Tap, and Flute; the works that transform the technique of silhouette into the means to communicate the mythological significance, emotional complexity, and philosophical questioning. The question aims at including three main questions: how can such a seemingly austere medium help to express spiritual depth; how Desai is able to reconcile tradition with modernity; what is his own unique contribution to the contemporary Indian art. The discussion shows how Desai has created a sense of the cosmic power of Nataraja and the sensual closeness of Radha -Krishna iconography without losing the current aesthetic economy through strictly regulated contours and sharp contrasts, and a lyric dynamism. Combining the rural sense and the mythopoetic representations of creation, destruction, love, and transcendence, Desai takes silhouette painting to the next level of spiritual narration and thus attains a unique status in the 20th-century Indian art.
Kanu Desai, Silhouette Painting, Indian Mythology, Spiritual Aesthetics, Gujarati Art Tradition.
Copyright (c) 2015 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Digital Transformations of the Mahabharata: Narrative Innovations and Game- based Pedagogy
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-style-textoutline-type: none; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .75pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: bevel; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: HI;">The unification of digital technologies into education offers many possibilities for reinterpret regional stories through involvement, participation and learner-centred attainable pedagogies. The paper focuses on the use of digital storytelling and gamification in a teacher-taught tool of understanding cultural, historical and socio- political narratives of the Mahabharata within the contemporary educational context. As this is one of the major scriptures of Sanatan Dharma, it presents complex themes of ethical, moral, spiritual, and leadership responsibilities, which give it a more existential and critical learning. Rooted upon a constructive approach, this paper highlights how storytelling can transform the complete approach of the work. The paper asserts that the digital and gamified adaptation of the Mahabharata nurture deeper understanding, cultural literacy, and reflective thoughtful approach while maintaining inclusion in the whole epic. Finally, the paper tries to answer the queries that how ancient storytelling traditions are relevant in modern educational approaches to make it more relevant in day-to-day life. In this paper, Mahabharata is depicted as a crucial teaching tool rather than only a mythological or religious work. The Mahabharata epic is full of numerous layers of meaning and the questions that arises from the tales it highlighted about right and wrong, justice and responsibility. The issues that are presented in the epic is equally important and relevant in the contemporary times both in social and private sphere. As a result, the epic is rich in material for classroom discussions, introspections, and value-based learning. The paper tries to explore how digital storytelling can make these complex concepts can be better understood by the students. Despite, reading the long epic, learners can connect with it through interactive tasks, visual narratives and story based digital platform. Students can have more understanding of the characters and their dilemmas in more personal way. Instead of just memorization, this kind of interaction can make them think critically. The other useful teaching strategy that is explored is gamification. When students start to imagine themselves in the circumstances similar to those faced by the characters in Mahabharata, through game of choices and role play, they can understand the concepts more clearly and precisely. For eg, if they were in place of Arjuna or Bhisma what choices they would have have and what decisions they would had taken in the similar situations considering the potential consequences. Instead of only reading the Dharma, students should experience its complexity and begin to realize that there is no fixed rule, but it varies depending on the situation and conditions. This study is based on the idea that active participation of students in the learning process improves their better comprehension of their material. In contrast of passive listening, the active involvement of mind through constructive approach holds the knowledge through interactions and engagements. Digital storytelling and gamification facilities this type of learning by giving students opportunities to ask questions and express their views in the present-day life situations similar to those mentioned in Mahabharata. The active involvement of students makes the classroom more inclusive as all students could share different viewpoints and perspectives.
Digital, Gamification, Mahabharata, Pedagogy, Sanatan Dharma, etc.
Visualizing Literary Memory: Ravishankar Raval and the Formation of Cultural Identity in Gujarat
The essential contribution of the artist Ravishankar Raval to the formation of modern Gujarati cultural identity is questioned in this paper, namely, through the visual images of literary and historical figures created by him. The paper will use four landmark portraits, including Munjal Mehta, Jhansi Ki Rani Laxmibai, Mirabai, and Manbhatt to explain how Raval turned verbatim textual representations especially those of the novelist Kanaiyalal Munshi into permanent visual symbols. The integration of Western ideals of realism and the native traditions of revival aesthetics, including miniature traditions and the wash technique, by Raval created a unique visual language between the tradition and modernity. These portraits are not only the illustrative supplements, but rather cultural records, which actively form the memory of people and local pride. The paucity of setting, the restraint of symbolic decoration, the considerations of composition, bring historical persons from personalities into archetypal forms of political wisdom, martial opposition, religious obedience, and acting custom. Publication in the powerful journals like Kumar helped Raval spread the imagery through the large portion of the population and ingrained it in the visual lexicon of Gujarat. The paper argues that the works of Raval are clear instances of regional modernism and it shows how artistic practice can be involved in nationalist discourse without losing cultural rootedness. This interdisciplinary discourse between literature and visual art thus unveils the power behind intermedial translation in the development of communal memory and identification with their history.
Ravishankar Raval, Gujarati cultural identity, literary-visual dialogue, regional modernism, intermedial translation.
Copyright (c) 2019 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Visualizing Literary Imagination: Nationalist Aesthetics and Regional Modernism in Ravishankar Raval’s Munjal
The paper challenges the interdisciplinary discourse between literature and visual art as it occurred in the region of Gujarat during the twentieth century in the form of foreshadowing of the cooperation between the author Kanaiyalal Munshi and the painter Ravishankar Raval. Through interrogation of the painting Munjal Mehta by Raval, the study provides insight on how the literary version of Munshi of a minister in the Solanki period can be visualized in a complementary medium. Raval combines the Western academic realism and the Indian miniature painting canon with the effects of wash to transform the verbal images of Munshi into a symbolic cultural image. The compositional elements of the portrait, including the use of profile, its gloomy background and architectural reference and symbolic decoration make the historical figure more than a simple person and a symbol of Gujarati pride and continuity of civilizations. This visual translation is conducted in the conditions of the nationalistic milieu in the early twentieth century in India when artists tried to recover the traditions of the native land and confirm the cultural identity. The painting reflects the definition of regional modernism whereby it showed how the Gujarati artists bargained between the tradition and the modernity by synthesis and not by imitation. By providing concrete form to the imaginations of the literary, Raval, in its turn, adds to the historiography and construction of the collective memory of the culture. The Munshi-Raval dialogue in such a way exemplifies the power of intermediary translation to develop the regional identity and highlights the necessity to employ interdisciplinary tools to comprehend the Indian cultural output of the twentieth century
Gujarati cultural history, literary-visual dialogue, nationalist art, regional modernism, intermedial translation.
Copyright (c) 2018 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
When the Subaltern Speaks in Pamuk’s The Red-Haired Woman
Popular myths of human civilisation are written as allegories of grave warning for all mankind, cautioning them, ultimately, of the probable consequences of particular actions that are socially forbidden. Surprisingly, in almost all these cautionary mythical narratives, female characters, exalted or lowly, are presented with relatively substantial roles to play compared to their male counterparts. However, their characters are often portrayed as inactive and submissive; they carry malevolent power that indirectly brings disaster and misfortune for the heroes in myths. The popular myths of Sohrab and Rostam, as well as Oedipus, equally portray women as significantly responsible for the tragedies of their respective male protagonists. The very presence of female characters in such myths indirectly hints at the possible hardship the protagonists are destined to face. Such narratives categorically create and normalise the negative images of women. Surprisingly, almost all the female characters in such popular myths are not allowed to speak for themselves or defend themselves. Orhan Pamuk's The Red-Haired Woman, in its spectacular amalgamation of popular Eastern and Western myths, gives an ironic twist to the technique and perception about women in popular mythical narratives when the diabolical female character, the red-haired woman, speaks for herself, defending herself as a lover, wife, and mother. She represents the modern Jocasta from the tragedy of Oedipus and the modern Tahmina from the story of Sohrab and Rostam, and she speaks for both. The novel thus criticises and ridicules the biased male attitude, in both Eastern and Western myths, toward women.
Myths, patriarchy, women in Turkey, Gülcihan, and fiery feminism
Copyright (c) 2026 Ashutosh Popate https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Plight of Voiceless and Subjugated Widows in Indira Goswami’s The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker
After the untimely demise of her husband merely eighteen months into their marriage, Indira Goswami experienced a period of profound psychological distress, for which she depended on medication to attain a semblance of stability. The personal suffering found creative articulation in her seminal novel The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker. Better known by her pen name Mamoni Raisom Goswami, she emerged from Guwahati, Assam, as one of the most distinctive voices in modern Indian literature, noted for her deep humanitarian consciousness and her engagement with issues of social justice. Originally composed in Assamese in 1986 under the title Dontal Hatir Une Khowa Howdah , the novel makes extensive use of the Kamrupi dialect, thereby embedding the narrative within the linguistic and cultural landscpe of the Kamrup region. Goswami later rendered the text into English in 2004, broadening its reach beyond regional boundaries. The novel offers a poignant exploration of widowhood and female subjugation within the framework of a patriarchal Assamese society. It exposes the persistent injustuces endured by women in familial and social institutions
Widowhood, Psychological effect, Indian Society, Gender bias, Sati-pratha
Copyright (c) 2026 Rashmi Devi Sharma, Sunita Siroha https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Exploring Indian English Literature: A Cultural and Literary Odyssey
English Literature is a linking agent. Looking at the splendid fabric of English Literature, we realize in it a ‘coat of many colors’, reflecting the world’s varied cultures, traditions, and modes of thought. Literature imparts values and creates an awareness of the culture of one’s individuality. Literature as an articulation of life has an intense value. This necessitates the view that literature which does not arouse poignant feelings in humans is not literature. It is unimaginable for true lovers of literature that life without literature would be like salt, the most essential ingredient in cooking which would be incomplete, and tasteless. So human beings will be depriving themselves of the ‘aesthetics of literature’ if they do not read and enjoy the works of literary art. All forms of art and media project life as it truly and really exists. Similarly, every era is a representation of the Zeitgeist spirit in which the literary writers and artists depict the social, historical, cultural, religious, economic, political and linguistic background of that epoch. Hence, every writer becomes one with the existing social group. Their writings are a mirror of society and certainly there is an enormous impact of the prevailing conditions of contemporary life on the writers of that age. Literature has captured the attention of human hearts through its passionate portrayal of themes and subjects applicable to human life. Today we have literature from almost all continents of the globe. Literary Writers from across the globe have proved their caliber by producing mind-blowing artistic pieces of enduring value. World literature is an example to display the lofty ideals and innate talents possessed by the writers. Through their works, the writers have painted life as experienced by people and lay bare to the readers various glimpses of life which cannot be evaded by human beings. Subsequently today these world literatures-American Literature, African Literature, Canadian Literature, New Zealand Literature and South Asian Literature-which encompasses Indian English Literature, have acquired immense value. The article attempts to make a comprehensive evolution of Indian English Literature from a a Cultural and Literary perspective.
Indian English Literature, poignant, reflection, social, historical, cultural, religious, economic, political, linguistic, background
Copyright (c) 2026 Sandra Carmel Sophia Mathews, Kudavalli Naga Venkata Sai Sri Durga https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Reimagining Learning: NEP 2020 and The Role of Assessment in Incorporating Ancient Indian Knowledge System
The article aims to seek a qualitative probe on the elements of pedagogy that focuses on the roots in the new course implemented in the Value Added Course section- Indian Knowledge System — tracing the transformational aspect alongside the contemporary educational structure. It highlights the benefits of collaborative learning process that fosters connection and knowledge sharing along with the crucial role of both formative and submitted assessment that tracks students progress thereby providing proper guidance and instructions. The discussion is closely aligned with the goal set by National Education Policy and National Credit Framework. with an aim to establish a dynamic and flexible educational environment that is capable of evolving as per the future needs. In addition to the above mentioned points, the article also considers the integration of digital technology as a vital tool in enhancing learning, promoting inclusivity and serving individual educational purposes which also helps to meet the diverse learners requirement. considers the integration of digital technology as a vital tool in enhancing learning, promoting inclusivity and serving individual educational purposes which also helps to make the diverse learners requirement.
Indian Knowledge System; National Education Policy 2020; Collaborative Learning; Holistic Assessment; Experiential Pedagogy.
Copyright (c) 2026 Anila Pillai https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Migrant Experiences in Madras Café and Piku
The cinematic narratives of modern migrants offer a profound lens through which to explore the complexities of displacement, identity, and belonging in a globalized world. The objective of this paper is to examine how contemporary films, such as Madras Café and Piku, depict the migrant experience, displacement, clashes, cultural hybridity, trauma, and resilience. By analysing a selection of influential films from diverse geographical and cultural contexts, the study highlights the role of cinema in shaping public perceptions of migration while giving voice to marginalized communities. The research employs a multi-modal approach, combining narrative analysis, visual aesthetics, and socio-political critique to unravel the layered representations of migrants in the selected films for the study. Furthermore, it investigates how these narratives challenge stereotypes, foster empathy, and contribute to discourses on trans-nationalism and diaspora. The paper also considers the ethical responsibilities of filmmakers in portraying migrant stories without exploitation. Ultimately, this study underscores cinema's power as both an artistic medium and a tool for social commentary, bridging the gap between personal migrant experiences and broader geopolitical realities.
Copyright (c) 2026 Jeevan Kumar Talanki https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Romanticism and Mid-Nineteenth Century Despair – An Invigorating Discussion in the Light of Poetic Utopias and Anti-Utopias
The word “utopia” denotes “a place which does not exist”. On the contrary anti -utopia depicts a social setting which is juxtaposed to utopian idealism. In this paper we would attempt to redefine the Romantic imagination of Wordsworth and Coleridge as poetic utopia and the Victorian despair in Mathew Arnold’s poem as anti-utopia. We would consider Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey, Coleridge’s Kubla Khan and Mathew Arnold’s Dover Beach in our discussion. In Tintern Abbey, the poet is in search for the moments of insight, and understanding which, he believed; only nature could give. He believes in truth of his own senses and imagination and he describes moments in which he perceives mystical and transcendental truths. Coleridge in Kubla Khan presents an exotic landscape which has often been interpreted as symbolizing the movement of the creative imagination. On the contrary when we discuss the poem Dover Beach by Mathew Arnold, we observe how the poet discusses love, faith and desolation and concludes the poem with a vision of the world more completely negative than in the previous two centuries. The main contention of the paper is to make a discussion in the light of romantic aestheticism and Victorian disillusionment.The research aims to establish the discussion that critiques the idealism of early romanticism with the dichotomy and ambiguity of mid-nineteenth century through the relevant documentation of utopian and anti-utopian ideals in literary creations.
Romanticim, Utopia, Anti-utopia, Victorian disillusionment
Copyright (c) 2026 Leena https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Echoes of Earth and Woman: An Ecofeminist Reading of Tagore and Atwood
The present paper attempts an ecofeminist reading of Rabindranath Tagore’s Red Oleanders and Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing to understand how the two texts illustrate the intertwined oppression of women and nature within a patriarchal, anthropocentric setup. The paper investigates the manner in which these works conduct a comprehensive study of feminine existence and the natural world within the capitalist and commodification frameworks in an ecofeminist perspective. In Red Oleanders Tagore reveals dehumanising logic of industrial modernity in the form of the mining kingdom where mechanisation, surveillance and profit turn people and nature into commodities and life-centered ecological and ethical opposition to authoritarian power is expressed through the figure of Nandini. Likewise, Surfacing follows a psychological and ecological journey of a woman into the Canadian wilderness, where the process of disconnection with technological culture is being used as a way of re-establishing the sense of identity and establishing a non-exploitative relationship with the wild. Based on a close textual analysis, this paper maintains that both texts perceive nature as a moving and challenging matter, in agreement with feminine subjectivity, ethical renewal and environmental consciousness.
Ecofeminism, Women and Nature, Patriarchy, Anthropocentrism, Industrial Modernity, Capitalism, Ecological Consciousness, Feminine Subjectivity
Urban Space, Masculinity, and the Poetics of Resistance in the Black Arts Movement
<span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-style-textoutline-type: none; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .75pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: bevel; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: HI;">The Black Arts Movement of the 1960s is a point in the cultural and political transformation of the African American literary tradition. The movement, which emerged in the wake of the assassination of Malcolm X, not only attempted to redefine the relationship between art and politics but it was also attempted to redefine the black identity by radically engaging the aesthetic practices. Historians like Yusef ‛M. Akbar and McCree have suggested that such a transition was a deliberate move towards a praxis that preempted the political action of black poets, writers, and visual artists as a coherent way of dissent. Poetry especially was the burning ground where the issue of race, maleness, cultural memory and political awareness were smelt into resistance. A kind of so-called political poetics was strategically written into the poetically rhetoric of the time, i.e. the works of Amiri Baraka, Lucille Lynn, etc., which already predetermined the experience of the community, black solidarity, and the recovery of the historical narrative. Here, the structure and the content of verse was employed in a selective way to question and challenge systems of oppression but at the same time producing possible eschatological visions of a free self. By redefining Harlem and other urbanized areas, which could be readily characterized by the discourse of violence and confinement, surveillance, etc., the movement poets captured not only the reality of the racial oppression but also the potential of group empowerment. Their choice to have the urban experience foregrounded allowed the poets to outline contexts that were materialistically repressive as they were symbolically subversive to locate urbanity-as-such as a space of political struggle and cultural reinterpretation. This paper argues that the poetry of the Black Arts Movement, especially when gathered in book form as in Black Fire, is a technique to transform marginalization in the city into a vessel of cultural and political enlightenment. It illustrates that the aesthetic cultures of resistance, masculinity and collective memory exist in a collaborative manner to recover the black identity which in turn promotes the ideological premises of Black Power. In this manner, the poetics of defiance shared by the movement resonate even now, in the modern movement of racial justice, which serves as a temporal link between the struggle of the past and the modern-day movement.
Black Arts Movement, masculinity, black identity, awakening, resistance,
Copyright (c) 2025 Mereleen Lily https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Gender Perspectives in Ambai's Short Stories,'The Forest 'and' Gifts
<span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-style-textoutline-type: none; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .75pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: bevel; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Introduction of the Writer: Ambai is a Feminist researcher focussing on women’s issues through her works. C.S.Lakshmi wrote her fictional literary works like novels and short stories under the pseudonym Ambai. She wrote her non-fiction, articles and published research papers as C.S.Lakshmi.She published her first literary work, a novel ,’Andhi maalai' in 1966.Her short story ‘Siragugal Muriyum' published in 1967 received a good response. The kitchen in the corner of the house, A Purple Sea, In the Forest, a Deer, are her popular works. Her short stories are characterized by her passionate writing on gender issues suffused with satire, humour, love for nature and need for ecological balance.In 2021, She won the Sahitya Academy Award for her collection of short stories‘ A Red-necked Green Bird’.
Patriarchal, identity,symbols of oppression,Ecofeminism,individuality
Copyright (c) 2025 S. Ezhilarasi Subramaniam, V. Jaisre https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Remembering Partition: Literature Across Testimony, Oral Histories, and Postmemory
The literature of the Partition of India has unfolded in successive phases, which signifies changing historical contexts, literary responses, and cultural perspectives. This paper argues that partition literature evolves through three overlapping phases that are defined less by chronology than by mediations of memory. In this context, phase 1 (c. 1947-mid 1960s) organizes witnesses into testimonial realism; phase 2 (c. 1975-1997) reframes the archive through feminist/subaltern oral histories and reflective realism; and phase 3 (c. 1997-present) relocates memory into postmemory’s transnational circuits and digital/visual forms. Across these phases, who remembers (survivor, inheritor), what counts as evidence (document, testimony, image), and how intimacy to the past is aesthetically produced all shift, rearchitecting and reframing South Asia’s cultural memory of Partition. By way of examining representative texts from multiple languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, and English, alongside critical scholarship by historians and theorists such as Gyanendra Pandey, Urvashi Butalia, Marianne Hirsch, and Alok Bhalla, the paper emphasizes the interdisciplinary significance of Partition studies. This paper also attempts to situate Partition narratives within broader frameworks of trauma theory, memory studies, and border studies, acknowledging the ongoing contributions of oral histories, digital archives, and visual media. This paper, therefore, takes the position that Partition literature, across its varied phases of expression and remembrance, continues to shape South Asian cultural memory in profound yet contested ways.
Partition literature; trauma; postmemory; phases; displacement; oral histories; digital archives, and visual media
Copyright (c) 2025 Medha Nigam, Narinder K Sharma https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Beyond the Patriarchal Gaze: Giving Voice to the Silenced in Kavita Kane’s Menaka’s Choice
<span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-style-textoutline-type: none; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .75pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: bevel; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: HI;">The Indian mythology, with its immense nexus of legends, goddesses, and female divine beings, has a strong impact on the cultural and social landscape of the Indian subcontinent. These mythical tales have been cleverly re-formulated by the great scholar Kavita Kane who prefigures them by putting them in the vision of women. In her work she brings new views of the vagaries, desire and agency of the female protagonists. The treatise is a comprehensive review of Menaka’s Choice (2016) by Kane, which questions the cultural values that keep reoccurring in the representation of women in the Indian mythopoetic tradition. The themes of female empowerment, self-realisation, and defiance on the conventional social norms are central to the inquiry and are carefully explored. The paper also reflects on the way this story echoes through the present-day Indian society, creating the discussion about gender equality, rights of women and reclaiming the female voice. Through the examination of the cultural mores and gender relations which are brought to life in the novel by Kane, the current article adds to our wider understanding of Indian writing, feminism as well as the central role which mythological narrations have in shaping the social understanding.
Mythology, Feminist Re-writing, Women's representation, Empowerment
Copyright (c) 2025 Supriya Maity, Pragya Shukla https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The poems are reflective experiences symbolizing growth, resilience and change. Be it the shade of the lemon tree reminding us of the bygone good old days to the form of water that helps us rejuvenate at every phase of life or the transformative tale of the saree, the memories associated with all the elements connect the threads of change.
Copyright (c) 2026 Lalitha Sridevi Jayanthi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Because Death Opens the Door to Another World
Death is inevitable to all mortal beings, and character is fate. A man spends much time earning and enjoying worldly pleasures. Once he met death, he left all his legacy and belongings behind without taking them along on the final journey. Death opens doors to another world to provide the mortals with relief from all pains and pleasures. One has to obey and enter through the gate of the final resting place unconditionally. This is the truth of every human who enters the transient world by chance. The poem aims to bring enlightenment towards the life and death of mortal man who innocently struggles for earnings and belongings. The poem is an eye-opener to human life and its essence, which is the ultimate destination of death.
Spiritual light, Self, Immortality of Soul, Life blow, Death blow, Journey within
Copyright (c) 2026 Kumara Swamy Ravipati https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Penguin 1857 Reader, Editor: P.K. Nayar
The Penguin 1857 Reader, edited by P. K. Nayar is a topical anthology that revises the 1857 Uprising as one of the turning points in the colonial Indian history and literature. Instead of offering a coherent reading, the volume gathers a plurality of narrations and reactions that start in the British, Indian, and Euro-American perspectives and therefore challenges the reader to question the multidimensional ideological and nationalistic meanings of the event. Splitting into two major parts, Narratives and Responses, the anthology is a scrupulous account of not only the experiential aspects of the rebellion itself but also of its various afterlives in various territories. The editorial approach by Nayar that is based on the postcolonial historiography anticipates the complexity of the historical representation that is always complex and highlights the issues that are salient, including the role of the media, gendered violence, and the process of constructing a collective memory. Even though the inclusion of marginalized voices, such as sepoys and civilians, is enriching to the text, the collection is disproportionately based in Anglophone sources and provides a comparatively little critical commentary. Nevertheless, the anthology remains a necessary starting point in the search into this controversial history of 1857.
The Green Imagination: Reading Earth and Ecology in select Awadhi Folk Lyrics
In the present era of globalization and cultural homogenization, there is an increasing interest in regional and local traditions in academia. A good amount of research done in the field of literature at present focuses on the marginal and the local traditions, tropes, songs and the literature lost under the colonial whitewashing and centralization of the English language. Awadhi folk imagination envisions the earth as a living and nurturing divine presence. The paper aims at exploring the ecological consciousness embedded in Awadhi folk songs. They are rooted in an intrinsic harmony between human existence and ecology, where land, trees and rivers emerge as living participants in everyday life. The paper foregrounds how folk lyrics, particularly Samskara lyrics, seasonal lyrics, vrata lyrics and labour lyrics, convey human emotions of joy, separation, care, and continuity through natural imagery. The paper traces how animistic and naturalistic beliefs shape folk imagination, positioning nature as the creator, preserver, and an omnipresent guardian. A close reading of Awadhi folk lyrics through the lens of ecology, testifies that these songs retain a motivating force and remain closely aligned with the folk spirit, despite their differing themes and occasions.
Copyright (c) 2026 R P Singh, Mallika Shukla https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Social Conflict and Personal Suffering: Narrating a Mother’s Experience in Half Mother
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-style-textoutline-type: none; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .75pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: bevel; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This article examines Shahnaz Bashir’s The Half Mother as a literary articulation of social conflict and maternal suffering in conflict-ridden Kashmir. Focusing on the experiences of Haleema, the narrative foregrounds the trauma of enforced disappearance and its enduring psychological and emotional impact on women. The article situates personal grief within broader structures of militarisation, state violence, and socio-political repression, arguing that the novel transforms individual loss into a collective testimony of resistance and remembrance. Through close textual analysis, the study highlights how Bashir employs motherhood as a narrative strategy to humanise political conflict and expose silenced histories. The article underscores literature’s role in documenting lived experiences that remain marginalised in official and political discourses.
Shahnaz Bashir; The Half Mother; Enforced Disappearance; Kashmir Conflict; Maternal Trauma
Linguistic Effacement and Women’s Translational Agency in Arunachal Pradesh during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Reading Mamang Dai’s The Inheritance of Words
With the rise of missionary, Hindi and English medium schools in Arunachal Pradesh, there is an everyday effacement of local language and literature. The familiar vernacular has slowly become defamiliar to the local people and this demands the need for translation. This is a very practical problem as expressed by Mamang Dai in her literary endevours. Covid lockdown brought the intellectuals of the state together to write down their literature which is continually getting lost. In this paper, I have discussed the role of women writers and their contribution towards the development and revival of tribal folklore of Arunachal Pradesh. Their work adds to the corpus of literature of North East and English literature on the whole. Mamang Dai in her edited book 'The Inheritance of Words' (2021) discusses the writings of different writers and their uniqueness lies in the fact that they look at the tribal life of their regionthrough their lived experience and the special outlook and knowledge they have inherited from their mothers and grandmothers. Most of these writers have taken the recourse of English as their language of expression but their ethos can be placed in their mother tongue which is specific to their tribe.
everyday effacement of language, Arunachal Pradesh, women writers, folklore of North East, literature of North East
Copyright (c) 2026 Amrita Bhattacharyya https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Fractured Self: A Statistical Analysis of Child Psychology in Charles Dickens’ Hard Times
This research is conducted using content analysis, quantitative and qualitative in its approach, to address the images of child psychology in Hard Times by Charles Dickens (1854). Placed against this background of the novel of critique of Utilitarian education and industrial society, the research is that Dickens depicts systematically the deforming effect of the repression of the imagination, of emotional deprivation and of conditioning by machines, in the psychological deformity of the child characters. The approach includes operationalization of the main psychological variables of Imagination Quotient (IQ), Emotional Resilience (ER), and Moral Reasoning Index (MRI) and monitoring their development over the narrative trajectory of a sample of child characters (Louisa, Tom, Sissy, and Bitzer). The study hypothesizes that there is no significant negative relationship between exposure to the Utilitarian system of Gradgrind and healthy psychological development through systematic coding of textual evidence, and some kind of descriptive statistical analysis. The outcome is very much in support of the hypothesis where it is depicted that there were sharp statistically significant differences between the psychologically stunted Gradgrind children against the more integrated Sissy Jupe. The thesis of this paper is that the novel is a complex and information-filled developmental psychology case study that foresees the current appreciation of how environment influences the child’s mind. The results highlight the timelessness of the humanist challenge of the systems by Dickens that reject the needs of the developing self in a holistic manner.
Charles Dickens, Hard Times, Child Psychology, Utilitarianism, Content Analysis, Developmental Deformation, Imagination, Education, 19th-Century Novel, Statistical Correlation.
Copyright (c) 2022 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Unsex Me Here, Come You Spirits": The Psychological Symbiosis of Lady Macbeth and the Weird Sisters in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth
This paper explores the psychological interaction between Lady Macbeth and the Weird Sisters or witches in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare and examines them not as individuals but as a unified embodiment of an ambitious, transgressive and disordered psyche. Using a literary-psychological approach, the research has assumed that the witches serve as an externalization of the suppressed, repressed ambitions and moral struggles of Macbeth and, in a less apparent way, of Lady Macbeth. Whereas Macbeth acts in direct communication with the supernatural, the psychology of Lady Macbeth appropriates the symbolic role of the witches and thus she becomes the human source of demonic persuasion. As the paper will contend, the later mental breakdown of Lady Macbeth, her somnambulism and suicidal actions are a result of the unresolvable nature of the conflict between the agency that she is acting and believes is hardened and her suppressed feminine conscience, a conflict that is initially sparked and reflected by the ambiguous nature of the witches in their oracles. By this examination, the paper sheds light on the main focus of the play, that of the external supernatural powers involved in the interaction with the interior psychological process of corruption of ambition into tyranny and, eventually, destruction of the self.
Lady Macbeth, Weird Sisters, Psychology, Ambition, Guilt, Conscience, Externalization, Somnambulism, Shakespeare, Macbeth
The Scent of Becoming" by Lalitha Sridevi J. meditates on fragrance as a metaphor for identity and transience. Once raw and intimate—like crushed petals whispering to the self—it now lingers in commodified incense and atomizers, promising belonging amid branded shelves. Yet both natural whiffs of jasmine and misty rain dissolve like human choices, evaporating into traces not of past selves, but of ongoing transformation. Through sensory evaporation, the poem captures how we are remembered by our evolving essence.
These three poems by Pradip Mondal—"The Apocalypt," "Thanatos," and "Sick Flower"—delve into cataclysmic dread, mortality, and elusive deception. "The Apocalypt" unleashes an end-times vision of melting icebergs, fiery monsters, cosmic collisions, and prowling doom, echoing ancient prophecies amid surging sins and divine madness. "Thanatos" personalizes death as a parasitic worm sapping vitality, propelling the speaker toward Charon's boat in futile, aging denial. "Sick Flower" personifies a treacherous bloom that seduces at life's dawn only to entomb in the grave, embodying life's camouflaged betrayals. Together, they weave existential terror with mythic undertones.
<span style="color: oklch(0.3039 0.04 213.68); font-family: fkGroteskNeue, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji', 'Hiragino Sans', 'PingFang SC', 'Apple SD Gothic Neo', 'Yu Gothic', 'Microsoft YaHei', 'Microsoft JhengHei', Meiryo; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.08px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: oklch(0.9902 0.004 106.47); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">“Dada ka Ghar” is an intimate, nostalgic poem that celebrates the grandmother as a living embodiment of home, memory, and protection. Speaking in the first person, the narrator compares her to a vast banyan tree whose silent strength shelters generations, including the late Dada. The domestic details—his bed, her quiet dreams, and the ever-welcoming cup of tea—evoke a house steeped in love and remembered presence. Blending loss and warmth, the poem portrays how, even after Dada’s absence, the grandmother’s unwavering care and rootedness keep the emotional world of “dada ka ghar” alive for all its children.
The fragmented psyche of modern life is critically analyzed in these five poems of the collection Some Creepy Subterfuge and Other Poems and swings between the close realm of psychological insecurity and the bigger emotional and ontological anxiety. The works outline the intersection of thoughts, desires, and aspirations with disappointment and postponement through the evocative image that touches upon fog, winter moons, high-speed trains, caravans dissolving, and an overall impression of the apocalyptic dread. The themes of illusion, delusion, persistence of unaddressed questions, and indifference are revisited throughout the poems, thus yielding a landscape where the turmoil of the inner world clashes with the chaos of the outer world. However, in this ambivalence, the poems hold to a delicate desire of affection, meaning, and the unadulterated, natural growth of the self.