Smart Moves Journal IJELLH (International Journal of English language, literature in humanities)
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Reimagining Humanity: Humans, Machines and Technological Mediation in WALL-E
Full text linkSeveral intellectuals and activists have been consistently warning about the harmful effects of contamination of air, water and land. The climate change and biodiversity deterioration that we face today is largely the result of our own behavior. Efficient waste management strategies are required to minimize the impact on environment. Several waste management technologies have evolved in the recent years. The integration of technology and robotics to handle the ‘dirty’ task can significantly lower the risk of harm to workers involved in this dangerous profession. The present study is based on 2008 American animated romantic science fiction film WALL-E directed by Andrew Stanton. The film discusses several themes including human environmental impact and concern, consumerism, corporate control, technology, hope, renewal, love, emotional connection and waste management. The story is set on a deserted Earth in 2805 where a solitary robot named WALL-E is left to clean up the garbage. He falls in love with another robot EVE, sent from the starship Axiom to detect life. The study examines the way by which love and care function as catalyst for ecological restoration. The paper aims to analyze the representation of environmental degradation and the possibility of renewal in a technologically mediated future in WALL-E.  
Crucibles of the Male Soul: Metaphysical and Postmodern Masculinities in John Donne’s Holy Sonnets and RM’s Indigo
Full text linkMasculinity has long been constructed as steady, rational, and invulnerable, i.e., an identity solidified through performances of control, restraint, and emotional impermeability. However, the lyric form has often unsettled these assumptions by staging the masculine self in moments of desperation, instability, confession, and spiritual or existential testing. This paper argues that John Donne’s Holy Sonnets and RM’s 2022 solo album Indigo form two powerful lyric archives in which masculinity is not affirmed but disassembled, not triumphant but trembling. Across four centuries and radically different cultural worlds, Donne and RM share a common impulse: to dramatize the masculine soul in crisis and expose the fragility beneath its surface
Decentring the Gothic: Fear, Supernaturalism, and Social Order in Indigenous Folklore
Full text linkThis paper challenges the Eurocentric framing of the Gothic by examining its presence and function in indigenous oral traditions, with a focus on the Galo community of Arunachal Pradesh. By analysing narratives featuring supernatural entities such as the Yapom and Dimi, the study argues that Gothic sensibilities, fear, the grotesque, and encounters with the unknown exist independently of European print culture. In these oral traditions, supernatural phenomena serve as instruments of social and ecological regulation, reinforcing moral codes and maintaining cosmic balance. Through a comparative and theoretical lens, this paper demonstrates that fear and supernaturalism are central to communal governance, positioning indigenous folklore as a legitimate site of Gothic expression. By decentring the Gothic, the study expands its conceptual boundaries and foregrounds the universality of the Gothic impulse across cultures
Nature as Resistance and Renewal: An Ecocritical Study of Siddhartha Sarma’s Year of the Weeds
Full text linkEcocriticism examines the relationship between literature and the physical environment, foregrounding ecological concerns, environmental justice, and the ethics of human interaction with nature. Siddhartha Sarma’s Year of the Weeds presents a compelling narrative situated in the tribal village of Deogan, where indigenous Gond communities confront the encroachment of state power, corporate mining interests, and ideological violence. Through the metaphor of ‘weeds’, Sarma articulates a critique of ecological destruction, cultural displacement, and the systemic marginalisation of indigenous populations. This paper explores how Year of the Weeds functions as an ecocritical text by analysing its representation of land, environmental ethics, resistance, indigeneity, and ecological consciousness. It argues that Sarma redefines weeds not merely as invasive growth but as symbols of colonial capitalism, political domination, and ecological imbalance, while simultaneously affirming indigenous ecological wisdom as a form of sustainable resistance. Furthermore, the paper explores how Year of the Weeds contributes to Indian English eco-literature by articulating a localised yet globally relevant ecological consciousness. The study situates the novel within contemporary Indian environmental discourse and contributes to broader ecocritical debates on development, displacement, and environmental justice. Ultimately, this paper positions Year of the Weeds as a significant literary intervention that urges readers to reconsider notions of progress, control, and ecological responsibility in an era of environmental crisis
When Strength Turns Against Itself: Masculinity and Moral Disintegration in R. K. Narayan’s The Man-Eater of Malgudi
Full text linkThe representation of masculinity in Indian English fiction has undergone a significant shift from colonial and Westernized ideals of dominance and physical power toward ethically grounded models rooted in restraint, responsibility, and moral self-awareness. R. K. Narayan’s The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1961) offers a compelling critique of aggressive and hegemonic masculinity through the character of Vasu, whose obsession with power, violence, and self-assertion destabilizes both individual morality and social harmony. In sharp contrast, the novel presents Nataraj as a figure of ethical masculinity, whose patience, non-violence, and moral endurance function as an alternative paradigm of strength.
This paper undertakes an extensive critical analysis of masculinity in The Man-Eater of Malgudi by engaging with theories of hegemonic masculinity, Gandhian ethics, and postcolonial cultural discourse. It argues that Narayan deliberately exposes the hollowness and self-destructive nature of violent masculinity while redefining strength as ethical self-restraint and social responsibility. By situating the novel within the cultural milieu of Malgudi, the study demonstrates how Narayan critiques imported models of masculine power and foregrounds an indigenous moral vision rooted in coexistence, balance, and humility. The paper further establishes the contemporary relevance of Narayan’s vision in the context of ongoing global debates on toxic masculinity and ethical leadership
Identity, Erasure and Social Repression: Non-Heterosexual Expression and Liminality in Akwaeke Emezi\u27s The Death of Vivek Oji
Full text linkThe study traces the representation of non-heterosexual, non-heteronormative expression and liminality in the contemporary African literature focusing on themes of identity, erasure and societal resistance. The research selects Akwaeke Emezi’s novel, ‘The Death of Vivek Oji’ to evaluate the sociocultural values distinctly impacting Vivek Oji, the protagonist of the novel and the attempt made by his family to erase his non-normative thoughts and identity even after his death. Their denial of his fluidity compels them to reject his true identity and push him to isolation. Non-heteronormativity is resisted by society, and the novel discusses the significant struggle of individuals deviating from societal norms leading to an intense conflict between the need to preserve their identity and social conventions. Compelling non-heteronormative individuals find it challenging to fit themselves in a society that opposes gender fluidity. The paper studies the emotional isolation Vivek undergoes due to societal resistance and cultural rigidity
Marriage, Migration, and the Making of Selfhood in Manju Kapur’s The Immigrant
Full text linkThe question of self-identity occupies a central position in diasporic literature, where characters negotiate belonging, alienation, and cultural adaptation. The Immigrant (2008) explores these concerns through the journey of Nina, an English lecturer from Delhi who migrates to Canada after marriage. The novel foregrounds her struggle with cultural dislocation, marital expectations, and gendered roles, thereby reflecting the ambivalence of diasporic existence. This paper examines how Nina negotiates her identity amid the conflicting demands of tradition and modernity and argues that selfhood in the novel emerges as a fluid and dynamic process shaped by migration, sexuality, gender politics, and personal agency. Through theoretical engagement with diaspora studies and postcolonial identity theory, this study highlights how Kapur redefines female subjectivity within transnational spaces
Rewriting the Sleeping Beauty Myth: Archetype, Cinema, and the Ecofeminist Resurrection of Maleficent from Monstrous Feminine to Fairy Godmother in Disney’s Maleficent (2014)
Full text linkCanonical fairy tales have historically functioned as ideological apparatuses that naturalize patriarchal gender relations through romance-driven narrative closures. The Sleeping Beauty myth, in particular, encodes female passivity, aestheticized silence, and heterosexual rescue as normative ideals, culminating in the prince’s kiss as the ultimate agent of awakening. Feminist critics such as Angela Carter have famously exposed these narratives as “sugar-coated lies” that conceal structures of gendered domination beneath enchantment and moral certainty. This paper offers a theory-heavy ecofeminist reading of Robert Stromberg’s Maleficent (2014), arguing that the film radically revises the Sleeping Beauty myth by dismantling patriarchal archetypes, rescinding the masculine hero, and reconfiguring awakening through relational ethics and ecological consciousness. Drawing on feminist critiques of Jungian archetypal theory, ecofeminist philosophy (Vandana Shiva, Carolyn Merchant), feminist psychoanalytic criticism, and revisionist myth theory, the paper contends that Maleficent reappropriates myth as a site of resistance. By foregrounding Maleficent as the eponymous protagonist—aligned with nature, care, rage, and wounded agency—the film resurrects female subjectivity from the symbolic death imposed by patriarchal fairy-tale traditions and reimagines love, power, and sovereignty beyond capitalist and masculinist logics
Female Identity and Self-Discovery in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices
No full text This article explores the theme of female identity and self-discovery in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices. Published in 1997 as the author’s first novel, the narrative presents the story of Tilo, a mysterious woman who arrives in America as the mystical Mistress of Spices and accepts the responsibility of guiding people through the hidden properties of spices. At the beginning of the narrative Tilo defines herself completely through the sacred discipline of the Mistress tradition and therefore believes that her life must remain devoted to the service of others without emotional attachment or personal desire. However, her encounters with members of the immigrant community gradually transform this understanding because their experiences reveal the complicated realities of life in a foreign country. The stories of customers who visit Tilo spice shop bring forward loneliness, racial discrimination, generational tension, and cultural conflict experienced by immigrants who live between two societies. Through these encounters Tilo slowly begins to question the identity that tradition has assigned to her. The emotional relationship that develops between Tilo and Raven becomes a turning point because it introduces the possibility of love and liberty that contradicts the strict rules governing the Mistress of Spices. As the narrative progresses Tilo reflects on her experiences and gradually moves toward a deeper awareness of her own desires and responsibilities. The novel therefore suggests that identity is not a fixed condition but an evolving process shaped by memory, relationships, and personal choices. Through Tilo’s transformation writer presents female identity as a continuous journey of negotiation between tradition and individuality
Cecity as Spectacle: Festive, Metaphorical, and Stereotypical Constructions of Special Ability in Indian Mythology, Literature, and Culture
Full text linkIndian mythology, literature, and cultural production have persistently transformed cecity from a lived bodily condition into a dense symbolic, moral, and aesthetic spectacle. Rather than engaging sightlessness as a socially mediated form of special ability, Indian narrative traditions—spannin