Thursday 21 June 2012

International Journal on Multicultural Literature 2.2 (July 2012)


Contents of IJML 2.2 (July 2012) & Editorial

Editorial
Culture, Multicultural and the Case of India
--Sudhir K. Arora
Change and Dynamism in African Society: Exploring New Directions in the Novels of Chinua Achebe                                                   
--Monir Ahmed Choudhury
Black American Discourse and Women Writers
--Rohit Phutela
Reflections on the “Feminine Cause” in Robin S. Ngangom’s Poetry
--Rosaline Jamir
Parvathy Baul’s Way of Life: An Interview (Interview)
--Aju Mukhopadhyay
Relationship (Short Story)
--Pronab Kumar Majumder
Silent Voices and Liberated Women: Bhandaru Acchamamba and Savitribai Phule
--Sujatha Rao
George Lamming’s Silent-Violent Voice in Water with Berries
--Sajitha M. A.
Socio-Historical Documentation in Select Novels of Amitav Ghosh and Rohinton Mistry
--Chikkala Swathi
Longing and Alienation in Diasporas
--Bishun Kumar
The Pleasures and Principles of Culinary Art: Shifting Paradigms in Cooking with Stella and Mistress of Spices
--Gigy J. Alex
An Unrealized Dream (Short Story)                        
--Ketaki Datta
Triumph of Evil in Rohinton Mistry's Novels
--Ezzeldin Abdelgadir Ahmed Elmadda & Dr. Nagya Naik B. H.
Between Two Worlds: A Study of Bharati Mukherjee’s The Tiger’s Daughter
--S. Bhuvaneswari
Redefining the Individuality in the Autobiographies of Indira Goswami and Binodini Dasi
--Dhanusha Vyas 
Portraiture of Colonial and Post-colonial India in Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s Heat and Dust
--S. Lavanya
Cracked Legs (Short Story)
--Jayanti M. Dalal (Trans. Pramesh Lakhia)
Class, Culture, and Language: A Study in Mahesh Dattani’s Plays
--Madhur Kumar
Conflicts of Globalization, Multiculturalism and Economic Inequity in Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss
--K. Mangayarkarasi
The Legacy of Non-violence: J M Coetzee’s Fiction in Context
--Namrata Nistandra
A Prodigious Tale (Short Story)
--Rajshree Trivedi
Salman Rushdie’s Shame: A Postcolonial study
--Punyajit Gupta & Shri Krishan Rai
Portrayal of Women and their Sufferings in Select Plays of Mahesh Dattani
--K. Sathya Devi
Conflict of Culture in John Steinbeck’s “Flight”
--S. Sujaritha
What a Great Republican Shore are We Basking in (Poem)
--Aju Mukhopadhyay
Culture (Poem)
--PCK Prem
Time: The Crazy Clock (Poem)
--Itishri Sarangi
Multiculturalism (Poem)
--K. V. Dominic
India, Number One!
--K. V. Dominic
Sundown Poetry (poem)
Pronab Kumar Majumder
Martin Luther King (Poem)
--Hazara Singh
March of Life (Poem)
--Hazara Singh
Krishna (Poem)
--O. P. Arora
The Riddle (Poem)
--O. P. Arora
Nightmare (Poem)
 --S. V. Rama Rao
The Prophecy (Poem)
--S. V. Rama Rao
Amputee, about an abused child (Poem)
--Stephen Gill
K. V. Dominic—A Humanitarian in Conception and Socio-Consciousness: An Analytical Study of Write Son, Write (Review Article)
--D. C. Chambial
K. V. Dominic, ed. Critical Perspectives on the Poetry of R. K. Singh, D. C. Chambial and I. K. Sharma (Review)
--Kavitha Gopalakrishnan
Our Esteemed Contributors

EDITORIAL
Multicultural Coexistence
It is interesting to note the march of the world from colonialism to postcolonialism and now to multiculturalism. As man is an evolutionary being, this evolutionary process has been going on for millennia and in this modern world is galloping at a faster rate from centuries to decades. Pre-colonialism, colonialism, postcolonialism and multiculturalism are different phases of this evolutionary stride of man. Appropriately, I, who have been the editor of a postcolonial journal (Indian Journal of Postcolonial Literatures) in the last decade, have now evolved to the editor of a multicultural journal.
Though western colonialism was the result of man’s quest for adventure and exploration, avarice, supremacy and hegemony, it was never a one-way traffic. As the colonizers amassed wealth through tapping the resources with the help of modern science, there was development in all the sectors of the colonized country. Naturally the colonized people also gained; their standard of life increased. If we make an honest assessment of the postcolonial, colonial and pre-colonial periods of the country, we cannot but admit that colonialism paved the seeds of growth and development. The common people in the pre-colonial period were exploited by the native rulers and upper class; they were subjected to all kinds of tortures in the name of race, caste, religion etc. Bereft of bare necessities of life and education, the common folk were struggling for their existence. The plight of the marginalized and women was atrocious. Rule of the jungle—might is right—prevailed in societies. All kinds of superstitions, and exploitation as a result of them reigned supreme. Taken these facts as granted, wasn’t colonialism a need for the under-developed countries? Can one ignore the services rendered by the colonialists in establishing schools, colleges, universities and thus spreading education in towns as well as villages? Don’t the colonized owe to the West for being cultured and civilized?  Haven’t the colonizers promoted agriculture, industry, transportation, healthcare, communication, print etc. using scientific inventions and techniques? Aren’t the colonizers responsible for the growth of regional languages and the global language, English? Isn’t it the colonial powers who replaced autocratic, tyrannical rulers of the under-developed countries with democratic regimes?  When we now talk of universal family (vasudeva kudumbam), western people’s advent or settlement in other continents could be considered only as an unavoidable, multicultural coexistence.
Colonialism to postcolonialism was just a shift of power from the foreign rulers to native rulers. In fact the native rulers were reaping the harvest of colonialism. A rewriting of the history books which cover the freedom struggle is required now. When the present postcolonial governments involve in multi-billions’ scams and corruption, looting their own people who voted them to power, strangle them with over-burdened taxes and regulations, deny them justice and protest—the subjects are compelled to believe that the colonial rulers were far better than their own elected representatives.
Multiculturalism has become a reality now. No nation can exist without a multicultural existence. No race, no religion, no caste, no tribe, no language can claim to be superior to others. As particles of an atom are different, fingers of a hand are different, brothers and sisters of a family are different, variety is the very essence of creation, whether it is human beings, other beings, or inanimate objects. It is selfish to call a place—village, town, city, district, state or country—as one group’s and deny others entrance to it. It is happy to note that most of the countries in the world are becoming more and more multicultural now, accommodating thousands of foreigners representing different cultures. Kerala, a small state in the southern part of India is a role model in multiculturalism. Even though the reason for its multiculturalism is hazy, thousands of labourers from other states of India are working in all sectors, earning high wages, inter-mingling with different cultures.
This multicultural coexistence demands a common language for communication and English has succeeded in filling this vacuum at a universal level. The universal acceptance and rapid growth of English can be attributed to the evolutionary process in languages. From a metalanguage English has now risen to become the global language.
There are twenty critical and research articles on multicultural themes and aspects in this issue. In addition, there are four short stories, thirteen poems of nine poets, one interview, one review article and one book review sprinkled as spices to make the book more attractive. Before winding up let me express my deep gratitude to the contributors and subscribers who sustain and immortalize this journal. Wishing all readers a mental feast,

Thodupuzha,                                                                                     Dr. K. V. Dominic
1 July 2012.                                                                                         Editor, IJML.