Authors:Bhuvaneswari R; Cynthiya Rose J S, Maria Baptist S Abstract: IntroductionIndian Literature with its multiplicity of languages and the plurality of cultures dates back to 3000 years ago, comprising Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and Epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. India has a strong literary tradition in various Indian regional languages like Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Oriya, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and so on. Indian writers share oral tradition, indigenous experiences and reflect on the history, culture and society in regional languages as well as in English. The first Indian novel in English is Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Rajmohan’s Wife (1864). Indian Writing in English can be viewed in three phases - Imitative, First and Second poets’ phases. The 20th century marks the matrix of indigenous novels. The novels such as Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable (1935), Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupé (2001), and Khuswant Singh’s Memories of Madness: Stories of 1947 (2002) depict social issues, vices and crises (discrimination, injustice, violence against women) in India. Indian writers, and their contribution to world literature, are popular in India and abroad.Researchers are keen on analysing the works of Indian writers from historical, cultural, social perspectives and on literary theories (Post-Colonialism, Postmodernity, Cultural Studies). The enormity of the cultural diversity in India is reflected in Indian novels, plays, dramas, short stories and poems. This collection of articles attempts to capture the diversity of the Indian land/culture/landscape. It focuses on the history of India, partition, women’s voices, culture and society, and science and technology in Indian narratives, documentaries and movies.Special Issue: An Overview“Whatever has happened, has happened for goodWhatever is happening, is also for goodWhatever will happen, shall also be good.”- The Bhagavad-Gita.In the Mahabharata’s Kurukshetra battlefield, Lord Krishna counsels Arjuna on how everything that happens, regardless of whether it is good or bad, happens for a reason.Indian Literature: Past, Present and Future portrays the glorious/not-so-glorious times in history, the ever-changing crisis/peace of contemporary and hope for an unpredictable future through India’s literary and visual narratives. It focuses on comparison across cultures, technological advancements and diverse perspectives or approaches through the work of art produced in/on India. It projects India’s flora, fauna, historical monuments and rich cultural heritage. It illustrates how certain beliefs and practices come into existence – origin, evolution and present structure from a historical perspective. Indian Literature: Past, Present and Future gives a moment to recall, rectify and raise to make a promising future. This collection attempts to interpret various literary and visual narratives which are relevant at present.The Epics Reinterpreted: Highlighting Feminist Issues While Sustaining Deep Motif, examines the Women characters in the Epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata. It links the present setting to the violence against women described in the Epics Carl Jung’s archetypes are highlighted in a few chosen characters (Sita, Amba, Draupati). On one note, it emphasises the need for women to rise and fight for their rights.Fictive Testimony and Genre Tension: A Study of ‘Functionality’ of Genre in Manto’s Toba Tek Singh, analyses the story as a testimony and Manto as a witness. It discusses the ‘Testimony and Fictive Testimony’ in Literature. It explains how the works are segregated into a particular genre. The authors conclude that the testimony is to be used to understand or identify with the terror.Tangible Heritage and Intangible Memory: (Coping) Precarity in the select Partition writings by Muslim Women, explores the predicament of women during the Partition of India through Mumtaz Shah Nawaz’s The Heart Divided (1990) and Attia Hosain’s Sunlight on a Broken Column (2009). It addresses ‘Feminist Geography’ to escape precarity. It depicts a woman who is cut off from her own ethnic or religious group and tries to conjure up her memories as a means of coping with loneliness and insecurity.Nation Building Media Narratives and its Anti-Ecological Roots: An Eco-Aesthetic Analysis of Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan, analyses the post-Partition trauma in the fictional village, Mano Majra. It illustrates the cultural and spiritual bond between Mano Majrans — the inhabitants of Mano Majra — and nature (the land and river). It demonstrates how the media constructs broad myths about culture, religion, and nation. According to the authors, Mano Majrans place a high value on the environment, whilst the other boundaries are more concerned with nationalism and religion.Pain and Hopelessness among Indian Farmers: An Analysis of Deepa Bhatia’s Nero’s Guests documents the farmers’ suicides in India as a result of debt and decreased crop yield. The travels of Sainath and his encounters with the relatives of missing farmers have been chronicled in the documentary Nero’s Guests. It uses the Three Step Theory developed by David Klonsky and Alexis May and discusses suicide as a significant social issue. The authors conclude that farmers are the foundation of the Indian economy and that without them, India’s economy would collapse. It is therefore everyone’s responsibility—the people and the government—to give farmers hope so that they can overcome suicidal thoughts.The link between animals and children in various cultures is discussed in The New Sociology of Childhoo... PubDate: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -080
Authors:Priyadarshini M C; Prakash A, Revathi P, Siva R Abstract: This article explores revisionist works based on the Ramayana and Mahabharata twin epics and looks at the voices of female protagonists. The main emphasis has been on the way that authoritative texts are utilized to create cultural hegemony on purpose for a particular impact. The article also highlights the power of stories and demonstrates how the textual politics in the retelling is directed towards achieving different outlines, especially the modern ideals of liberty, equality, and individuality. By providing a thorough study of the social and psychological struggles of epic women, the view also strikes at the fact that women encounter similar issues for generations. The review explores how Indian society’s patriarchal framework and social construction mistreated the epic heroines and how these elements still have an adverse effect on women in the present era. Their resistance patterns are used to classify and organize them. PubDate: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -080
Authors:Muhil C; Prajeesh Tomy Abstract: Toba Tek Singh by Manto is one of the finest short stories that capture the mood and the anxiety of the partition while still being satirical and ironic. This short story poses problematic questions when it is called a 'fictive testimony'. This article attempts to deal with the problem of genre classification and how this genre category needs to be understood without being completely ignored. A genre label is not seen here as a final verdict about what the text should be or a cage within which a piece of literature is once and for all locked. Rather, it tries to look at the genre label as that which highlights a function of the text thereby reiterating the fact that a work of literature stands beyond the genre categorisation. The label ‘Fictive Testimony’ is therefore interpreted as underlining a function that the short story serves to accomplish – giving voice to the voiceless. PubDate: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -080
Authors:Sana Asif; Sukhdev Singh Abstract: The partition of British India into two sovereign independent nations of India and Pakistan in 1947 was one of the most defining moments of the socio-political course of the sub-continent. The fight for independence from colonial rule and the rise of nationalism rooted in the religious discourse of two prominent religious communities- Hindus and Muslims, led to a precarious situation in the general atmosphere of the nation. It was even more pronounced in the case of women whose voices were marginalised and underrepresented in the discourse.Building on the theories of precarity and applying the theories of feminist geography, this paper aims to investigate how, through the everyday materiality of heritage spaces and historical memory, Muslim women tried to cope with the precarity of the time. It further aims to highlight the role of tangible and intangible heritage and memory in making sense of place in the select partition writings by Muslim women. PubDate: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -080
Authors:Andrew Veda; Luke Gerard Christie Abstract: Khushwant Singh’s Train To Pakistan documents the horrors of the partition of India and Pakistan in the year 1947 by presenting a story set in a fictional village, Mano Majra which is an ecological synecdoche as the village stands for the two nations, India and Pakistan. The nation building narrative of Singh, as well as Gandhi - "the future of India lies in villages", though highly ecological as its focus is only on maintaining the "self-sufficiency" of every village, is paradoxical as it is concerned only with the microcosm of the villages and not with the macrocosm of the nation. The spiritual connection that Mano Majrans have with their land and river, which is the basis of their identity, cannot be limited by narratives of nation building revolving around political boundaries. The post-partition anxiety of the two countries, at the level of the microcosm, is the trauma of the loss of their ecological home. Khushwant Singh's novel provides a powerful insight into the deep roots of this eco-aesthetic identity and the anxiety of its loss resulting in the cultural divide that continues to exist between India and Pakistan. This essay makes the argument that Khushwant Singh highlights the anti-ecological nature of nation building narratives in his novel, Train to Pakistan. PubDate: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -080
Authors:Deepika T; Bhuvaneswari R Abstract: Nero’s Guests (2009) is a documentary film directed by Deepa Bhatia on farmers’ suicide in India. It documents the suicide of farmers harvesting cotton crops. Sainath P, journey across villages in India, to investigate the motive behind farmers’ suicide. Sainath mentions the shortcomings of the Green Revolution — the use of HYV seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides results in higher costs of crop production and so the profit declines and debts escalate. This hopeless situation of the farmers prevail all over the country and force them to end their lives. The pain of farmers is incomprehensible due to debts, lack of water, rapid urbanization, and insurmountable pressure to run the family and farming despite losses. This paper focuses on David Klonsky and Alexis May’s Three- Step Theory (2015). The theory identifies four important factors such as pain, hopelessness, connection, and capability for suicide. This study aims to bring out the overlooked state of the farmers and the agrarian economy of India in the light of pain and hopelessness in David Klonsky and Alexis May's Three Step- Theory (2015). PubDate: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -080
Authors:Asha S; Vineeth Radhakrishnan Abstract: The theory of “new sociology of childhood” and “universalism in cross-cultural psychology” highlights that children experience different childhood based on their cultural and social contexts. Children are social actors responsible for taking situations into action. Research considers children as neglected bodies in the field of children and childhood. This research paper compares Native American and Indian children’s competence as social actors, the definition of, experiences, and feelings towards animals. The objective is to show that children and animals are closely connected and that children’s childhood is based on their experiences with animals. In the children’s novel, Garden in Dunes (1999), Leslie Marmon Silko narrates the story of Indigo accompanied by Linnaeus (a monkey) and Rainbow (a parrot) which shapes the world around her. Oh My Dog (2022) and Mugzhil (2021), broadcasted on Amazon Prime and Netflix respectively, are stories based on young children who love and care for their pet dogs. Findings suggest that children’s emotions and approach towards animals are the same in both cultures but their experiences vary from one place to another. PubDate: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -080
Authors:Amirthavarshini V R; Bhuvaneswari R Abstract: Salman Rushdie and Perumal Murugan have made significant literary contributions to modern Indian Literature. The study focuses on the authors’ post-traumatic mental conditions and societal anxiety. Controversies were prompted by Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses (1988) and Murugan’s One Part Woman (2010). Due to their literary career, the writers were forced to leave their hometowns involuntarily into exile also underwent self-censorship and self-exile. This paper examines the societal worries that the authors experienced regarding the books, which were published after the controversies surrounding their censored and banned works. The study distinguishes the implication of censorship and writers’ freedom of expression in the contemporary era of Indian literature. The diverse mental state of the authors during enforced self-imposed quarantine and global pandemic lockdown are interrogated. The paper focuses on the authors’ physical and psychological problems caused by opposers’ conservative views towards their writings. The paper also details the authors’ resilience amid political, and social pressure. PubDate: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -080
Authors:Azeena Parveen A; Vineeth Radhakrishnan Abstract: The article attempts to show how women’s identities are restricted to the female body, and its procreative function and also highlights the dangerous rituals such as female infanticide. With a focus on the societal demands placed on the female body, this study aims to focus on how much society intrudes into a person's private life. The article also offers a thorough examination using the novel One Part Woman (2018) and the movie Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women (2003) of how the objectification of women has entered our culture and become embedded in our way of thinking, causing us to view the female body as an inanimate object that must adhere to predefined gender stereotypes. It investigates how infertility is linked with the curse and performance of rituals takes place. Infertility is no longer viewed as a problem owing to advances in biotechnology, which have been particularly focused on the reproductive area. However, cultural customs and beliefs disregard the medical approach, while many harsh rituals are conducted in the hope of causing fertility. The research paper focuses on how cultural behaviours and rituals prevent women from using a medical anthropology perspective. The study piece illustrates the sinister rituals that are practised and how women are objectified by using One Part Woman (2018) and Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women (2003). PubDate: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -080
Authors:Arya P J; Bhuvaneswari R Abstract: In post-modern society, we (humans) share our space with machines. Though there is no doubt in the efficiency of the machines there is always a doubt in their reason. Machines being programmed cannot exercise reason like humans. Their assistance is limited to the commands designed by the engineer. The Malayalam movie Android Kunjappan Version 5.25 pictures the limitations and advantages of one such robotic creation. The movie narrates the tale of an old man and his association with a robot which becomes his solace and companion. The film questions the association between humans and machines. It raises the fear of constructing and destroying the boundaries between the machine world and the human world. This article attempts to use the concept of cyborg introduced by Donna Haraway in ‘Cyborg Manifesto’; though Haraway uses the concept of a cyborg from a Feminist perspective, the paper attempts to look at the relationship between man and machine using the concept ‘cyborg’. This fusion of the living and non-living is sceptical and this anxiety is presented in the film. The film also captured the naivety of the commoners who are new to the monstrous world of machines. The paper’s primary aim is to list how cyborgs transgress the limitations set by society. Another objective is to discuss the anxieties of the post-modern world when technology and life hold hands. The article considers the film a futuristic art that leaves a message to the viewers; cyborgs will become an inevitable facet of the human world. PubDate: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -080
Authors:Meenal T S; Govindarajan P Abstract: The disparities between machine translation and human translation have shown to be quite challenging when translating polysemous words. This study examines the challenges of translating polysemous words between French and English by finding an easy way to translate the polysemous terms which is the key objective. It would also help in dealing with the most effective method of translating polysemous terms, while a few succeed in translating the contexts and others struggle to come up with the right interpretations. As many words or phrases have numerous meanings, a machine translator is still unable to handle the ambiguity issues that arise and determine what the given context means. One issue that machine translators have yet to solve is the phenomena of polysemy, or numerous meanings, though it certainly isn't the only one. In this paper, instances of these machine translations of texts from several text genres—including texts from the journalistic, medical, legal, and dictionary definition genres—are examined. To clear up any misunderstanding, one must consider the situation’s background. One must also acknowledge that the situation makes sense. In the concluding section of this study, we will be shown some examples of significant issues that have arisen as a result of a lack of understanding of the term, including misunderstanding, lack of comprehension, ambiguity, and limitations on the heedless use of technical definitions in favour of common ones. PubDate: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -080
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