1. Partition’s Purusharthis: Recovery and Resilience in Yashpal’s Jhootha Sach
Dr Ritika Verma, and A. Gera Roy
Source Title: Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
The unequal power hierarchy implicit in the Indian state and local response to the refugee crisis post-Partition is reflected in the creation of docile subjectivity of the refugee, enshrined in the terminology ‘sharanarthi.’ Nehruvian ideology of self-rehabilitation coupled with Punjabi ethnocultural stereotype of stoicism, enterprise, etc. and religious practices enjoined in Sikh scriptures, however, privileged Punjabi refugees’ self-construction as purusharthi instead of as hapless victims at the mercy of the state. In this context, the article undertakes a reading of Yashpal’s Jhootha Sach to argue that in charting the transformation from refugee to local, the narrative deploys the trope of purushartha common in survivor accounts but subverts its normative patriarchal connotation to furnish an ideology of gendered purushartha. Using demotic concepts of gali-moholla and biradari, metaphoric and tangible community spaces are identified as affective terrain that assist in rebuilding and assimilation. The utopianism of both the purusharthi’s journey of recovery as well as the community spaces from within which recovery needs to be understood is problematised through textual analysis and the novel’s social realist form to show the perpetuation of pre-Partition masculine code of honour that continued to structure state and survivor conversations on recovery, its meaning and limits. The article, thus, contributes to literary studies of Partition by highlighting the other face of Partition trauma—recovery.
2. “The Principles and Practice of Digital Content Writing” (ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION)
Source Title: Digital Communication for the 21st Century,
3. Review of Contexts of Violence in Comics
Source Title: Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
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4. Book Review of Rituparna Roy, Jayanta Sengupta, and Sekhar Bandyopadhyay (eds). The Long History of Partition in Bengal:Event, Memory, Representations.
Source Title: Memory Studies, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
The Long History of Partition in Bengal: Event, Memory, Representations, containing 14 scholarly chapters, is an edited volume centring on the afterlives of Bengal’s Partition in 1947. The volume is divided into three sections – ‘Partition and Refugees’, ‘Memory, Rememory, and Postmemory’, and ‘Cultural Representation and Memorialisation’ – each engaging with distinct yet interconnected aspects of the partition’s historical and mnemonic resonances.
5. Book Review of Memories of arrival: A voice from the margins
Source Title: Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
This is a collection of four books – Setting Foot on Allah’s Land (2012), A Refugee Almanac (2014), Let’s Go to India: Uttam-Suchitra’s Calcutta through Refugee Eyes (2016), and A Flavour of the Maidan: The Calcutta Maidan through Refugee Eyes (2018) – originally written in Bengali by Adhir Biswas. The omnibus constitutes a poignant memoir chronicling the coming-of-age of a Dalit refugee teenager who, still haunted by memories of his former
homeland, East Pakistan, endures the trials of displacement, acute poverty, hunger, loss, precarious employment, and caste discrimination in Calcutta.
6. Ideological Positioning in the Representation of Borders: An Analysis of Recent Hindi Films
Dr Ritika Verma, Dr Ritika Verma, and A. Gera Roy
Source Title: 75 Years After Partition: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (Ed. A. Ranjan & F. Sulehria), Quartile: Q2,
View abstract ⏷
Ideology and cinematic representation are crucially linked even though a film’s positioning of itself with respect to dominant state ideology may differ thus contesting the idea that films always serve as ideological state apparatus. In this context, the
paper reflects on the complex ways in which the ideological positioning – advertently or inadvertently – of cinematic representations of Partition in Hindi films of the 2000s interacts with dominant state ideology to frame the relationship between self and other with the terms denoting India/Hindu and Pakistan/Muslim, respectively. Through an analysis of the representation
of the India–Pakistan border in four films – Pinjar (2003), Veer-Zaara (2004), Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) and Kya Dilli Kya Lahore (2014) – the paper argues that mainstream Hindi films are largely reflective of the state ideology, although to varying
degrees and at times in spite of themselves. In contrast, a low budget film as Kya Dilli Kya Lahore completely subverts the dominant ideology through its sensitive but incisive critique of the border.
7. Unhoming Home: UP Muslims’ Trauma of Partition in Masoom Reza’s Aadha Gaon and Os Ki Boond
Dr Ritika Verma, Dr Ritika Verma, and A. Gera Roy
Source Title: Contemporary South Asia, Quartile: Q2,
View abstract ⏷
While the traumatic impact of Partition on Punjab has been extensively examined, this paper undertakes a reading of Masoom Reza’s novels, Aadha Gaon (1960) and Os ki Boond (1970) to examine UP Muslims trauma of Partition in terms of homelessness and their minoritization in postcolonial India. Against a background of historical facts, the paper demonstrates how these novels as literary-testimonies mediate questions of belongingness and nationalism. By reimagining identity in terms of affective place based
belongingness to home, they show how conceiving nationalism in terms of communal identities engenders trauma through home becoming an unheimlich space. Depicting the community’s life in the 1940s until the early years of independence, Aadha Gaon paints a poignant picture of loss of home and the reduction of the community to minorities in their own home. Os ki Boond carries forward the narrative in the 1950s
and against the backdrop of rise of right-wing Hindu nationalism and growth of Jana Sangh, further probes the socio-political processes of making minority citizen-subjects in independent India. The paper draws upon postcolonial studies of trauma to posit the
local genre of anchalik-upanayas (loosely, regional novel) as the medium through which the texts engage with the community’s trauma of long Partition.
8. “A Decolonial Reading of the Dystopian Narratives About Feticide and Infanticide in Hindi Films.”
Source Title: Kritika Kultura, Quartile: Q2,
View abstract ⏷
T he guiding principle concerning the question of bodily agency and the feminist discourse of employing a focus on abortion in extending liberation for women since the mid-1900s in the West finds a nemesis in sex-selective abortion in India. Unfortunately, the sociocultural baggage, lack of sensitization, and fanatic adherence to tradition allow the illegal practice of prenatal sex determination in considerable parts (both urban and rural) of India a wide berth. The eventual criminalization, harassment, and oppression of women who fail to bear male offspring within an all-encompassing heteronormative patriarchal system problematize the context further. T he use of a monistic colonial discourse in delineating these practices negates the plurality of the problem. Hence, employing decoloniality to comprehend these issues against a sociolegal framework might aid. The oeuvre of Indian cinematic narratives showcases a severe dearth of intervention when addressing these issues. Anchoring on decolonial feminism and feminist consciousness-raising, and taking liberty with genre and medium fluidity, this article investigates the irreconcilable gulf between the two conflicting aspects of abortion in India through five cinematic works: Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women (2003), Kajarya (2015), Brina (2016), Chhorii (2021), and Jayeshbhai Jordaar (2022).
9. Initiating an Epistemic Rupture: Exploring Contraceptive Awareness in Janhit Mein Jaari (2022) and Chhatriwali (2023)
Dr Parvathy N, Dr Parvathy N, and Priyanka Tripathi
Source Title: Journal of International Women's Studies, Quartile: Q2,
View abstract ⏷
In the context of social change, cinematic representations play a pertinent role in challenging existing knowledge systems, disrupting societal norms, and provoking critical reflections among audiences. The paper’s primary objective is to highlight the gendered burden upon women in India regarding the contraception narrative and its significance in ensuring reproductive justice. By analyzing two recent Hindi films, Janhit Mein Jaari [Issued in Public Interest] (2022) and Chhatriwali [Woman with Umbrella] (2023), the paper further aims to shed light on how these movies incite an epistemic rupture by challenging deeply ingrained beliefs and norms surrounding contraception. This research delves into how these films create an epistemic rupture by highlighting the socio-cultural nuances related to proper contraceptive awareness and the importance of comprehensive sexual education in achieving reproductive justice. Additionally, it highlights the power of visual storytelling to challenge systemic norms, encourage critical reflection, and pave the way for more inclusive and progressive attitudes toward contraception and reproductive health.
10. Violence and Postcolonial Marginalities in South Asian Literature
Dr Rajbir Samal, Zakir Hussain, Ghulam Rabani, Dr Rajbir Samal
11. 1. (En)gendering Indian Kitchen: Discourses of Gender, Space and Women in Ambai’s ‘A kitchen in the corner of the house’
Dr Rajbir Samal, Dr Rajbir Samal , Binod Mishra
Source Title: Journal for Cultural Research, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
In contemporary discourses on gender, the kitchen has been a matter of much contention. On one side, it is considered a prison, but on the other, it is also viewed as a sacred heart of the home. However, in the Indian domestic sphere, the reality and meaning of the kitchen for most women remain much more complex. The article aims to highlight the multiple levels of association women have with kitchen space from the perspective of gender. By analysing Ambai’s short story, ‘A Kitchen in the Corner of the House,’ the article strives to question the very idea of the kitchen as a woman’s space and attempts to understand why and how women’s identities are built around the space. The article mainly takes its theoretical base from feminist geography to understand both the spatial and symbolic construction of the space and the role of gender in such construction. Lastly, the article attempts to show that the kitchen in the Indian domestic sphere does not have a fixed set of gender rules and norms but contains an insidious web of gender ideologies that entail women to occupy the space.
12. Memories of arrival: A voice from the margins
Biraj Biswas., Bidisha Pal
Source Title: Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
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13. Embodied Divinity and Gendered Paradox: Reimagining the Female Body in Baul Philosophy
Source Title: Journal of Dharma Studies, Quartile: Q3,
View abstract ⏷
This paper examines the representation of womens bodies within the framework of B?ul philosophy, focusing on its spiritual, cultural, and gender dynamics. The primary objective is to explore how B?ul songs and literature depict the female body as both a medium for spiritual liberation and a site of societal control. Through critical engagement with theories from Foucault, Butler, Irigaray, Spivak, and de Beauvoir, the study analyzes the duality of womens bodies being symbolized as empowering yet objectified in B?ul tradition. The research also addresses the subversive or reinforcing nature of patriarchal structures in these representations. By comparing B?ul with other South Asian mystic traditions, the paper offers insights into the intersection of gender, spirituality, and body politics while highlighting the contemporary relevance of these themes within feminist discourses
14. Mother’s maladies: understanding the intricacies of postpartum psychosis and motherhood through Jerry Pinto’s .
Ms Neha Singh, Rajni Mujral
Source Title: Medical Humanities, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
Motherhood, a familiar yet complex phenomenon, is informed by many factors whose consequences for women are often detrimental yet undermined. Particularly in India, discourse surrounding mothers health often disregards the social and familial expectations and impositions that threaten womens authority over their own bodies. Amidst this, postpartum disorders, particularly the concept of postpartum psychosis, embody the anomalies of medical and social knowledge bases. Addressing the ambiguities and interconnectedness of motherhood and madness, this paper discusses the simplification of postpartum concerns as a biological condition alone and explores the complexities of diagnosis based on Ems aetiologies. Addressing the psychopathological and social nuances of postpartum psychosis, this paper also advocates for destigmatising womens apprehensions regarding the structural obligation of motherhood and broadening the discourse surrounding their reproductive autonomy.
15. Critical agendas for the areal linguistics: locating Sindhi within South Asia
Source Title: Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
As a concept within applied linguistics, areal linguistics concerns itself with investigating the nature of structural similarities among languages produced by contact rather than by history or by genetic similarities. A critical look at its descriptive linguistic agendas reveals that the domain needs to be revisited in terms of questions of power relations and linguistic inequalities within specific linguistic areas. Such investigations reconfigure the dynamics of geography and regionality within language as a site of power. This study seeks to make an intervention into India as a linguistic area with a focus on Sindhi, a non-regional language in India. Given that the language and the community do not have a state or a linguistic territory within India, the condition of Sindhi is characterized by a sense of precarity. Seen through the prism of India as a linguistic area, this precarity is not quite visible. In revisiting the celebrated concept of India as a linguistic area, this study suggests ways of asking contemporary questions about areal linguistics that go beyond describing the nature of contact among languages, and instead ask how this contact impacts the markers of hegemony over minor languages in terms of technological, epistemological, and aesthetic leverage.
16. Review of Drawing (in) the Feminine: Bande Dessinée and Women
Source Title: Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
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17. Traversing through transmedia: dynamism of augmented reality comics and gender-based violence in Ram Devinenis Priya series
Source Title: Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
This article seeks to investigate how Ram Devineni and his teams productions Priyas Shakti (2014), Priyas Mirror (2016), and Priya and the Lost Girls (2019) break the coveted layers of frames and panels of comics and go beyond them to sensitise the readers on the nuances of gender-based violence in India with the incorporation of augmented reality. Within the fields of comics studies and gender studies, the article also explores how augmented reality in graphic narratives encourages and facilitates its readers in being sensitised to the gender roles and gender-based issues pertinent in South Asian societies. Before the series origin as an outcome of the protest against the 2012 Delhi-Rape Case, Devineni locates the diverse nuances of gender-based violence (rape, acid attack, sex trafficking) and addresses them in their comics using Hindu Mythology as a tool
18. The clear line in comics and cinema
Source Title: Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
In The Clear Line in Comics and Cinema, Pinho Barros puts forth a thought-provokingcontemplation of the use of ligne claire in various forms of media, with particular emphasis on films
19. Representing Acts of Violence in Comics
Source Title: Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
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20. Witnessing 1984: Mnemonic Representations of Trauma, Resilience and Hope in Selected Fiction
Source Title: Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture, Theory, Quartile: Q1,
View abstract ⏷
Literary narratives constitute memory-archives that challenge state silencing of anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984. The paper draws upon Rigney’sidea of ‘agency of the aesthetic’ in generating memorability to show how cultural representations participate in unforgetting of traumatic pasts. The paper argues that in creating
memorability of a difficult history, the texts bring state narrative to a limit and open an alternative space where confrontation with traumatic-memories does not preclude possibility of hope. The texts feed into ‘memory-as-relevance’ as the mediation of memories of trauma, resilience, and hope carries possibility of
effectuating subtle changes in the dominant narrative of anti-Sikh pogrom.
