Smart Moves Journal IJELLH (International Journal of English language, literature in humanities)
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A Subversive Subaltern Narrative: Souvali in Mahasweta Devi’s After Kurukshetra
Full text linkThe hierarchy prevailed in the hegemonic power structure created subalterns also. The three stories in Mahasweta Devi’s After Kurukshetra, which is a retelling of Hindu mythology explore the predicament of women in a war-ravaged world and their differential manner in coping up with it. The last story of the collection “Souvali” depicts a Shudra woman who has more strength of character and convictions. She was a dasi woman in the palace of Hastinapur, who is the mother of Yuyutsu, Dhritarashtra’s son. She could not forgive the father who gave his son just a name and never his affection. Though she categorically belongs to the marginalized group, she has strong individuality and hence she leads the life of an empowered woman. As a servant in the royal household, she felt all her sorrows coming to an end when her son was born, but it comes to naught when he was taken away. She lost any meaning in staying in the palace as one of the dasis which effaces her identity as a woman. So she decided to stay in the outskirts of the town after informing the head dasi to tell her whereabouts if her son enquires about her. She was not ready to observe the death rites of Dhritarashtra as she is not his wedded wife. Her gender does not deter her from asserting her individuality and her independence and leading a life of her own choice. Mahaswetha Devi’s narrative of Souvali is a subversion of the subaltern narrative
Family and Community: Anita Desai’s clear light Of Day in Context
Full text linkThe paper purports to analyse the family and community in Indian society through the reading of the novel Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai. The narrative is complex as it has multidimensional perspectives but at present individual’s relation to their immediate surroundings is going to be scrutinized. Any person has deep impact of their society, kinship with their relatives and community in which they live in as family is an abode of warmth and encouragement. The impact does not remain for a few times but prolongs in the future lives. In such surroundings, the birth of conflicts is out of the diverse choice of each member in the family which ultimately leads to their separation and divergent behaviour. The novel is in fact the manifestation of resolution of conflicts. The novels of Anita Desai deal with the complexities of modern Indian society and delve deep into the psyche of characters where she finds conflict between self and society and to strike balance, characters end in withdrawal, suicide, confinement or nervous breakdown but in the present novel characters establish a sense of balance and destroy ambiguities. Moreover, it can be remarkably read as: a) siblings relationship within a family, b) role of community in shaping one’s behaviour, c) the Indian essence of family in the text
Fractured Identities: Sexual Violence and The Struggle for Dignity in Women War Literature
Full text linkIn war-torn societies, the collapse of legal and moral structures often gives rise to extreme violations of human dignity, with women frequently targeted through gender-based violence. This paper examines how literature set in conflict zones portrays the specific vulnerabilities of women and their resistance to dehumanization. Through a close reading of Nadia Hashimi’s The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees, Bushra Al-Maqtari’s What Have You Left Behind?, and Susan Abulhawa’s Mornings in Jenin, this paper explores the intersections of gender based violence, cultural disintegration, and human dignity. These narratives underscore the power of storytelling as a means of reclaiming voice, identity, and dignity in the face of systemic violence
Tracing Ecocritical Consciousness in Temsula Ao’s Laburnum for My Head
Full text linkNature is a perennial source of inspiration for creative imagination. Its entire ecosystem is so embedded in human mind that no literary or any other form of creative art can be produced without its semblance. However, in the wake of scientific and technological advancement with talks of environmental hazard, writers have started expressing more openly the need of conservation and existence of clean nature. Temsula Ao, a writer coming from the north-east of India, is a unique voice as a writer of nature. She is writer with immense ecocritical conscious and in her collection of short stories Laburnum for My Head, nature is present as a character. To her stories, nature is the same as Malgudi is to R.K. Narayan’s writings. In her collection of short stories, she explores the geopolitical and social contexts of Nagaland to understand the interplay between environmental and human conflicts
The Rise of Young Adult Dystopian Fiction and Movies: Post 2000
Full text linkIt has been observed that in the history of literature that one or the other trend had dominated the era starting from Tragedy to Problem Play to Romantic Poetry to War Poetry. Dystopian fiction is not new genre of literature but the modern writer and movie makers are infatuated to this genre although under a different name: Young Adult Dystopian Fiction. In this paper the researcher has endeavored to give the account of Young Adult Dystopian novels and movies that has appeared Post-2000 era. 
Victims of Violence in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Heat”
Full text linkThe article entitled Victims of Violence in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Heat” explores violence, sexual assault and child murder which occur frequently in our society, yet it is unnoticed and forgotten. Menace, molestation and murder are the consistent elements in the works of Joyce Carol Oates. Women, particularly female children, become the target of abuse and are victimised. Men inflict pain on women, satiate their sensual pleasure, even kill them, but these perpetrators of violence never repent nor realise their wrongdoings.This paper seeks to explore how the child molester leads a life unaffected while the abused are in the coffin, dead.
The more that we choose not to talk about domestic violence, the more we shy away from the issue, the more we lose
Russell Wilso
Code-Switching and Cultural Identity: A Linguistic Analysis of Urdu Expressions in English Novels Set in Hyderabad
Full text linkThis paper examines the presence of Urdu expressions in English novels, specifically in Zeenuth Futehally\u27s Zohra (1951) and Jeelani Bano\u27s Aiwan-e-Ghazal (1976). Urdu, with its rich vocabulary inherited from Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit and local influences, has been interspersed throughout English novels. The study classifies eighty Urdu words culled from these two novels under the headings of marriage, clothing, food, poetry and music, and religion and customs. Each term is analyzed according to its linguistic category, semantic field, and cultural function.
The findings reveal that most of the words are nouns denoting culturally specific realities, such as rituals, clothing and cuisine, with a minority of idioms and interjections. Religious and ritual lexicon is prevalent, with food vocabulary next in line, whereas interjections recreate the rhythm of actual Urdu discourse. The paper points to these insertions serving a variety of functions: they intensify authenticity, mark identity, express emotional value and strive to preserve cultural integrity by full assimilation into English.
The novelists refrained from translating the Urdu words lest they lose the distinctiveness of the linguistic heritage. At the same time, this deliberate strategy enriches the expressive capacity of English. The study concludes that such practices exemplify postcolonial hybridity, contribute to the growth of South Asian English, and offer valuable insight into the interplay of language, culture and literature
Dysfunctional to Functional Domesticity: Analysis on Caring Masculine Identity
Full text linkIn the global arena, domesticity is consistently undergoing phenomenal changes which is reflected in the Indian family system as well. The lack of work-life balance, work pressure, dwindled time spent with the family members are all key characteristic features of a modern family. In the current decade, the concept of gender equality and role of caring men in the family has gained more importance in sustaining the functional domestic ambience. The conflicts that arise in a family is better combatted through gender equality initiatives. This paper focuses on the dysfunctional elements in a family and the ways in which caring masculinity plays a crucial role in resolving the same. Recent Indian literature novels are chosen to analyse and address the issue in an effective manner. Thus, the correlation between dysfunctionalities or conflicts in the family and how an evolving masculine identity like caring masculinity could provide a practical solution is discussed in-depth in this research
Negotiating the Subaltern Self in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Gardens in the Dunes and Easterine Kire’s A Respectable Woman
Full text linkThis paper examines the intertwined dynamics of negotiating the subaltern self in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Gardens in the Dunes and Easterine Kire’s A Respectable Woman. Both novels foreground the experiences of women who navigate the dual pressures of colonial domination and entrenched patriarchal structures, positioning them as subjects of layered oppression. Drawing on W. E. B. Du Bois’s concept of double consciousness, the study adapts this framework to explore the fractured self-perceptions and internalised conflicts faced by women in postcolonial contexts. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s notion of the “most subaltern” provides a critical lens to understand the structural silencing of these women, whose voices are marginalized both within their communities and by colonial power. Furthermore, Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of the “Third Space” is employed to investigate the sites of negotiation, hybridity, and cultural survival that emerge as women assert agency amidst overlapping oppressions. Through a comparative analysis of Silko’s Native American protagonist and Kire’s Naga female characters, the paper demonstrates how these women enact strategies of resistance, preservation and identity formation within contexts shaped by historical displacements, war, and gendered hierarchies. The study highlights the global relevance of feminist-postcolonial inquiry, illustrating the commonalities and divergences in women’s responses to layered marginalisation across distinct cultural landscapes. By situating these narratives within broader theoretical debates, the paper underscores literature’s potential to articulate subaltern perspectives and to theorize the possibilities of self-assertion in spaces where oppression and survival coexist
Intersection of History, Art, Architecture and Literature - A Study on Select Novels of Dan Brown
Full text linkDan Brown is a contemporary American author who is well known for his novels that revolve around various conspiracy theories. Apart from the conspiracy theories, Dan Brown’s novels also serve as an epitome of signs and symbols. Most of his novels, popularly called as the Robert Langdon series which includes The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, Inferno, The Lost Symbol and The Origin are filled with numerous symbols and signs. These symbols are not independent icons of imagination rather, they are a part of History, Art, Architecture and Literature, that exist in reality. As he makes effective use of the real places, things and works, Dan Brown gives life to his world of fiction by diminishing the line between fact and fiction. This research paper tends to bring out the prominent symbols of Dan Brown and how they intersect with the plot of his postmodern fiction