Smart Moves Journal IJELLH (International Journal of English language, literature in humanities)
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Colonial Shadows and Female Light: Paule Marshall’s Vision of Resistance in Brown Girl, Brownstones and The Chosen Place, The Timeless People
Full text linkIn the present studies, Paule Marshall’s presentation of resistance displayed by Black women across colonial history and within recent times highlights the works Brown Girl, Brownstones and The Chosen Place, The Timeless People. The paper applies a postcolonial feminist viewpoint to explore how Marshall develops broad female protagonists who face obstacles from disappearance from culture, poverty and patriarchy. With inspiration from postcolonial theory, Black feminist thought and intersectionality, the analysis finds that Marshall highlights diasporic identity as something involving hardship and strength. Paule Marshall tells important stories in African American and Caribbean literature about Black womanhood, fighting for freedom and transformation in times of colonization and later years. This article investigates how Marshall’s female characters in Brown Girl, Brownstones (1959) and The Chosen Place, The Timeless People (1969) stand up to the legacies left by colonialism. Postcolonial and feminist theory help the author point out that Marshall observes resistance not merely as disruptive action, but as something rooted in spirituality, community life and the need to redefine oneself and one’s culture. Furthermore, the study talks about symbols and actual places of resistance, where personal development and collective memory combine to represent autonomy and picture a future free from colonialism. Marshall’s stories reveal the continuing role of women in carrying culture and driving progress in these still colonial influenced societies
Role of Holding Environment in Facilitating the Maturation of Adolescents with Traumatic Childhood Experiences: A Case Study of Kambili Achike of Purple Hibiscus and Liesel Meminger of The Book Thief
Full text linkThe objective of the paper is to investigate the role of holding environment in the maturation of adolescents with traumatic childhood experiences. The subjects of the study are Kambili Achike of Purple Hibiscus (2007) and Liesel Meminger of The Book Thief (2005). They belong to different historical timelines and socio-cultural backgrounds, but have the common feature of undergoing painful journey of trauma-recovery. In the process, both are facilitated, albeit in different ways, by their holding environment. Methodology involves a close reading of the two texts from the focal point of the Winnicottian concepts of ‘Holding Environment’ and Good Enough Mother’, and Bowlby’s idea of ‘Secure Base’. The study has found that compassionate parenting, good-enough mothering, integrity in value system, promotion of self-determination and self-esteem, availability of role-models, peers and transitional objects fare as common elements in both the protagonists’ journey from trauma recovery to health
The Deltaic Ebbs and Flows: An Eco-psychological Analysis of Amar Mitra’s Dhanapatir Char
No full textAmar Mitra’s novel Dhanapatir Char (Whatever Happened to Pedru’s Island?) is a novel where myth, mind, and the environment meet. Primarily drawing on the “ecological unconscious” and “biophilia” hypotheses of Theodore Roszak and E.O. Wilson, this study explores how the characters\u27 psychological identities evolve in response to the volatile environment of the Bengal Delta. The novel presents a six-monthly world where the boundary between land and water calls for a psychological boundary. The call is a resistance against the urban-industrial psyche imposed by state intruders. The mythological figure of the tortoise chief represents a record of evolution and an interplay between personal and planetary well-being. Through a detailed analysis of the characters Batashi, Jamuna, Kunti, and Dhanapati Sardar, the study illustrates how the cultivation of ‘fishy smells’ and ‘imaginal engagements’ such as witchcraft, serves as a defence against the commodifying gaze of the government. This study explores the novel through the framework of eco-psychology. The analysis posits that the novel is a critique of human alienation from nature, advocating for an ‘ecological ego\u27 amidst a silent yet destructive Anthropocene
A Thematic Exploration in Rohinton Mistry\u27s Family Matters
No full textAmong the many voices that constitute the Parsi diasporic literary tradition, Rohinton Mistry\u27s stands apart for its rare combination of sociological attentiveness and deep human sympathy. His novel Family Matters (2002) is, in many respects, the fullest expression of his fictional vision. Set against the turbulent backdrop of Bombay in the 1990s, the novel traces the fortunes of the Vakeel-Chenoy household as it struggles to manage the illness of an ageing patriarch. It is, on one level, a novel about Parkinson\u27s disease and the domestic upheaval it causes. But it is also, and more profoundly, a meditation on what families owe one another, on how communities police the intimate lives of their members, and on the extraordinary tenacity of love even under conditions of severe material and emotional privation. The present paper undertakes a thematic exploration of these concerns, examining Mistry\u27s handling of intergenerational relationships, the ethics of care, the Parsi community\u27s investment in racial exclusivity, and the redemptive possibilities that the novel discovers within the ordinary fabric of family life
Imperialism, Violence, and Psychological Conditioning in Norman Mailer’s Why Are We in Vietnam?
No full textNorman Mailer’s Why Are We in Vietnam? (1967) presents a complex and indirect critique of American imperialism during the Vietnam War. Rather than representing the battlefield explicitly, Mailer constructs an allegorical narrative centered on a hunting expedition in Alaska, using it as a symbolic framework to explore domination, aggression, and ideological power. The novel raises a provocative question embedded in its title, shifting attention from geopolitical justification to the deeper cultural and psychological forces that make war conceivable. This paper examines how imperialism operates not only as a political and economic system but also as a cultural and psychological process. Drawing upon the theoretical perspectives of Edward Said, Louis Althusser, and Michel Foucault, the study analyses the ways in which violence is normalized and internalized through social institutions, constructions of masculinity, and technological mediation. The narrative voice of D.J. reflects a fragmented consciousness shaped by these forces, revealing how individuals become complicit in systems of domination. By contextualizing Mailer\u27s work within postcolonial and cultural theory, this article posits that Why Are We in Vietnam? reveals the ideological underpinnings of imperialist expansion, ultimately prompting readers to reevaluate the interplay between culture, power, and violence, and suggesting that the roots of war are as deeply ingrained in the human psyche as they are in political strategy
Personal Ethics and Social Justice in Mahesh Dattani’s Dramatic Vision on Final Solutions
Full text linkMahesh Dattani’s play Final Solutions is one of the most significant works in modern Indian theatre. Written and staged in the early 1990s, the play addresses the disturbing realities of communal violence in India. At first glance, it is a play about riots, but at a deeper level it explores how individuals respond to hatred, prejudice, and division. Dattani carefully weaves together the voices of a Hindu family, a Muslim youth duo, and a faceless mob to reflect the struggles of everyday people in extraordinary circumstances. Through this framework, the play raises questions about morality and justice that are timeless and universal.
The present paper studies the role of individual morality and the idea of justice in Final Solutions. Dattani does not present morality as a fixed or simple concept. Instead, he shows morality as fragile, shifting with personal fears, guilt, and courage. Characters like Ramnik, Aruna, Smita, Javed, and Bobby are forced to choose between hate and tolerance, silence and honesty, violence and peace. These moments of choice become moral tests that reveal their humanity. Justice in the play is also not merely about legal systems or punishment. It is instead about truth, fairness, and dignity. Justice begins within the private space of the home before it can spread to society. By admitting guilt, by listening to the other, or by standing against inherited prejudice, the characters show that justice must be practiced in small, everyday ways.
This abstract argues that Final Solutions remains relevant because it challenges audiences to rethink their own moral responsibilities. Dattani refuses to give a single or final solution to communal conflict. Instead, he suggests that morality and justice are ongoing practices that require dialogue, honesty, and courage. In a divided world, these values are not luxuries but necessities for survival
Oddities of Love and Salvation in W.S. Maugham’s ‘Christmas Holiday’
Full text linkSomerset Maugham’s Christmas Holiday (1939), the last novel of his middle phase, represents a striking departure from the realism that characterizes much of his fiction. Unlike earlier works marked by psychological depth, this novel explores man–woman relationships through illogical and impractical notions of sexual relations and salvation. The heroine Lydia, burdened by guilt for crimes she never committed, embodies abnormal complexity and becomes the central figure in the narrative’s exploration of human suffering. Her devotion to her imprisoned husband Robert, despite his destructive influence, underscores her odd psyche and complicates the theme of love and sacrifice. Alongside Lydia, Charley, Simon, and Robert provide contrasting perspectives: Charley, a sensitive painter from a wealthy family, undergoes transformation through exposure to Lydia’s tragic life; Simon, cynical yet hardworking, introduces Charley to Lydia and voices pragmatic views on sexuality; Robert, Lydia’s husband, embodies brutality and ruin. Critics such as Richard A. Cordell nevertheless praise the novel’s stylistic excellence, ranking it among Maugham’s finest works. Ultimately, Christmas Holiday juxtaposes Lydia’s abnormal devotion and Robert’s cruelty with Charley’s moral awakening, presenting a symbolic abstraction of human relationships that abandons realism in favor of philosophical oddity and stylistic refinement
Power, Spectacle and Resistance: A Study of Contemporary Reality in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games
Full text linkSuzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games presents a dystopian narrative that closely mirrors the structures and contradictions of contemporary society. The novel exposes political domination, social inequality, and media-controlled violence that resemble modern systems of governance and surveillance (Booker 3). By portraying the Capitol’s manipulation of fear and entertainment, Collins reveals the moral decline that often accompanies technological advancement and economic privilege (Foucault 195). Through the character of Katniss Everdeen, the narrative foregrounds resistance, ethical choice, and collective awakening. The article argues that present-day society, like Panem, exists in a paradoxical condition where prosperity and deprivation coexist (Jameson 12). Ultimately, the study emphasizes empathy, unity, and conscious rebellion as essential forces for restoring human values in an increasingly competitive world
Silenced Voices: Exploring the Intersection of Gender and Sexuality in Mahesh Dattani\u27s Selected Works
Full text linkThis research paper conducts a comparative analysis of Mahesh Dattani’s plays, Bravely Fought the Queen and On a Muggy Night in Mumbai that delves into the complexities of repressed identities, gender representation and sexuality. From a social analytic perspective, this study examines how Dattani’s works encounter traditional societal norms that reflect a broader tension between conservatism and individual self-expression. This research aims to provide a deeper understanding of the relationships between identity, culture and performance in contemporary Indian theater.  
Beyond the Death of the Author: Textual Authority, Oral Traditions, and the Ethics of Reading
Full text linkThis paper re-examines Roland Barthes’ seminal essay The Death of the Author (1967) by situating it within the historically specific conditions of Western, text-centric literary culture. While Barthes’ argument is often celebrated for liberating the text from authorial intention, it emerges from a tradition shaped by Romantic individualism, print capitalism, and the institutionalisation of the author as a figure of authority. By placing Barthes in dialogue with oral and indigenous narrative traditions—where authorship is collective, fluid, or culturally embedded—this study argues that Barthes’ thesis is not a universal theoretical rupture but a contextual methodological critique. The paper further contends that an uncritical application of Barthesian anti-authorialism risks erasing marginalised voices for whom authorship functions as political presence and cultural self-representation. Re-reading Barthes through these alternative narrative epistemologies enables a more ethically attentive model of interpretation, one that balances textual plurality with cultural accountability