Papers by Transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2025
This study is an examination of the narratorial qualities of Moby-Dick and their effect on the my... more This study is an examination of the narratorial qualities of Moby-Dick and their effect on the mystic portrayal of the whale. Moby-Dick's eponymous whale has become a universal symbol of the unattainable and unknowable. This study examines the first-person retrospective narration of the novel and its role in enlarging the whale to its aphorical enormity. It concludes that Ishmael as character, through his actions, presents a more anthropocentric view of the whales, while the narrator, although undecided, betrays a larger sense of awe for the unknowability of the whales. However, it is the implications of his continued exploration, and the ambiguities embedded in the absence of conclusions to his musings that show how strange the stranger really is.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2025
Since the last decade, the violent lyrical content of Punjabi pop songs has immensely gained the ... more Since the last decade, the violent lyrical content of Punjabi pop songs has immensely gained the attention of the stakeholders, living in the country or abroad. Albeit the issue has been enormously discussed and debated on social platforms and the civil societies and the government bodies, time and again, have also raised their concerns against such lyrics to curb them, but there seems to be an absence of substantial academic work providing a comprehensive analysis on the issue. Moreover, the present study has conducted a lyrical content analysis of the most viewed Punjabi pop songs on YouTube between 2011 to 2020, which claims that almost 61% songs are jampacked with the lyrical content on violence and aggression. The titles, lyrics, beat, narratives, and video visuals are taken into cognizance to ascertain the elements of violence in the lyrics of contemporary Punjabi pop songs. The researcher has applied the narratological investigation method to analyse the presence, meanings, and relationships of narrative's structure and components to understand the relation between the aggressive lyrical content and the narratives of the violent hero and the heroism of violence that is glamorizing the hero for his ideals of violence, aggression and criminal adventurism. Furthermore, the study adopts a qualitative and interpretive analysis approach to examine the aggressive lyrical content of Punjabi pop songs. The analysis focuses on the interpretation of the lyrical content of the songs in combination with narratological investigation to examine their structure and function, to identify categorization, and to quantify the content.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2025
The contemporary Indian landscape is dominated by dystopian narratives with the rising concerns a... more The contemporary Indian landscape is dominated by dystopian narratives with the rising concerns about the planetary havoc caused by modern capitalism. This essay examines Suniti Namjoshi's Dangerous Pursuits (2022), consisting of three stories, as a significant literary intervention that recuperates the concept of 'eutopianism.' The analysis will primarily focus on the story "Bad People" as a eutopian text and draw insights from the other two texts, that is, "Heart's Desire" and "The Dream Book." Through the examination of the texts, it will be possible to explore how Namjoshi reimagines utopia within the constraints of a global capitalist crisis and environmental precarity. The article begins by interrogating the capitalist logic of the self-sufficient, invulnerable subject, which manifests itself in various hierarchical relationships. It is then possible to understand the depiction of alternate eutopian subjectivity against the capitalist 'self.' This will lead to a discussion on utopianism by engaging contemporary utopian theories such as 'critical dystopia,' and 'critical utopia' against the analyzed literary texts. In doing so, it will be possible to understand the ways in which Namjoshi's Dangerous Pursuits diverges from contemporary utopianism and establishes what this paper will call 'precarious eutopianism.' This reading positions Dangerous Pursuits as a vital text for rethinking the role of literature in imagining not only more just and sustainable futures but also hope.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2025
This paper will critically engage with literary fiction depicting caregiving to understand how wi... more This paper will critically engage with literary fiction depicting caregiving to understand how within a postcolonial, neoliberal predicament caring for a loved one becomes a direct exercise in facing one's lived precarity. Engagement with primary texts like Jerry Pinto's Em and the Big Hoom (2012) and Mary HK Choi's Yolk (2021) will follow a close-reading of discursive elements in the texts which show how caregivers exemplify the precarity of gendered, racialised and working-class subjects in late capitalist societies who are also responsible for another. This (an)other is an ailing subject and doubly exposed and vulnerable to the draining effects of racial and class relations. Discursive analysis will include looking at aspects like moral dilemma exhibited by caregivers, negotiations with acts of giving and receiving care, and contestations with one's own identity in the face of increasingly alienating forces. The ethics of care as a philosophical concept dealing with vulnerability and interdependencies is imperative to any study on precarity. This paper seeks to bring this imperative into the study of literary fiction to develop newer modalities of studying precarity with respect to negotiations with the self and its responsibility towards the other in the process of caring for them.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2025
Tierratrauma encapsulates the experience of sudden and traumatic environmental upheaval, often ma... more Tierratrauma encapsulates the experience of sudden and traumatic environmental upheaval, often manifested in climate change-induced disasters and famines. In her novel Son of the Thundercloud (2016), Easterine Kire, a writer hailing from Nagaland in the Northeast of India, investigates into this theme, painting a picture of despair where social cohesion wanes and hunger becomes ubiquitous. The narrative follows Pele, a man shattered by the devastation of famine, who struggles to find solace amidst the chaos. Kire adeptly intertwines Naga creation myth into Pele's journey, highlighting the pressing concern of climate change and the role of storytelling in confronting trauma. Pele's character embodies the despair wrought by sudden environmental shifts, leading to a crisis of faith in traditional beliefs and societal structures. As rationality falters, mythical fiction emerges as a beacon of hope, offering an alternative truth that transcends the limitations of language and culture. Through myth, Kire suggests a pathway to restoring the human-nature connection, emphasizing the intrinsic value of the natural world beyond its utility as mere resources. This article seeks to explore the intersection of Tierratrauma, myth, and environmental restoration in Kire's narrative. By examining Pele's journey of resilience and the transformative power of myth, it aims to expound how storytelling can serve as a catalyst for healing and revitalizing our relationship with nature. Ultimately, it advocates for the recognition of myth as a compelling tool in addressing the existential threat of climate change, fostering a deeper sense of stewardship towards the systems that sustain life on Earth.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2025
The lack of adequate portrayal of the age of precarity in contemporary South Asian novels has pro... more The lack of adequate portrayal of the age of precarity in contemporary South Asian novels has prompted Amitav Ghosh to bring it to light in Gun Island (2019). More widespread yet less conspicuous trends of global displacement, as well as greater instability and dispersed situations of hardship and insecurity in the Anthropocene, have gained momentum as a result of neoliberal capitalism's influence on expanding discrimination throughout the globe, leading to the precarity that exists today. Neocolonial resource extraction from poor southern countries for the advantage of growing industrialised and capitalistic endeavours is a major contributor to climate change, both in terms of global warming and adverse environmental impacts. The most serious and unsettling issues of climate change-induced illegal migration and refugees underscore the fragile and uncertain social status that many members of the economically disadvantaged class or labourers around the globe now experience. The overwhelming concern for their security in situations of environmental catastrophes or the endless struggle to sustain their livelihoods in their native countries propels them to migrate, even though they may not be endorsed in foreign territories, further exacerbating their precariousness. Drawing from the discourses on precarity advocated by the writings of Anna Tsing, Dipesh Chakrabarty, etc., this paper analyses the impacts of the enforcement of neoliberal capitalistic ideology on this increasingly precarious society. It is argued that the novel is an exploration of the unconventional aspect of human vulnerability, shifting away from the typical focus on conflicts, war, and haphazard economy. Instead, it looks into how anthropogenic climate crises as well as the intricacies of neoliberal capitalism perpetuate life's insecurity. It also emphasises the heterogeneity of socially, politically, and ecologically conditioned human sufferings, their unique contexts, and their lived experiences that capture the diverse range of exploitation endured by migrant workers. This article, thus, examines Ghosh's novel through the lens of human vulnerability, drawing attention to the issue of human mobility in a highly disorganised state and their disempowerment in the transnational space as crucial to their resilience and existence in the face of the adverse conditions brought about by anthropocentric activities. Ghosh's oeuvre seems to challenge contemporary novelists' tendency towards resistance and troubled imagination in representing the climate crisis by situating it in the nexus of planetary precarity.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2025
Amitav Ghosh's The Glass Palace intricately examines the nexus between precarity, hybridity, and ... more Amitav Ghosh's The Glass Palace intricately examines the nexus between precarity, hybridity, and resistance within the colonial and postcolonial landscape. The novel unravels how colonial modernity systematically displaces individuals, dismantles indigenous sociopolitical structures, and imposes an enduring state of vulnerability. Through its transnational characters Dolly, Rajkumar, Saya John, and Dinu Ghosh interrogate the complexities of identity, migration, and socioeconomic exclusion, exposing the paradox of hybridity as both a survival strategy and a source of alienation. The narrative underscores the existential instability engendered by imperial exploitation, where economic ascent does not guarantee social acceptance, and resistance often comes at the cost of greater precarity. Moreover, the novel's engagement with photography as a tool of historical reclamation highlights the tension between erasure and defiance, mirroring contemporary struggles against hegemonic narratives. By foregrounding the colonial production of precarity and its lingering reverberations in modern crises such as forced displacement and environmental degradation, Ghosh's work challenges readers to confront the structures that perpetuate marginality. This paper critically examines The Glass Palace through the lens of postcolonial theory, exploring how its characters navigate the fragile space between erasure and resistance in a world where belonging is perpetually deferred.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2025
Zadie Smith's Swing Time fictionalizes a world of 'humans' in postmodernity that reveals the diss... more Zadie Smith's Swing Time fictionalizes a world of 'humans' in postmodernity that reveals the dissolution of many of identity markers in the mainstream culture(s) and foregrounds the reversal of previous binary oppositions that stabilized the previous epistemological categories. In both London and Africa, individuals in the underprivileged segments of the community face a devastating kind of precarity in the absence of regular income, formal education or social network. These individuals make up the current inhabitants of the mobile world(s) and translocality characterizes their porous experiences. Locality as a concept embodies in itself borders and territoriality, but translocality signals transgression. Characters in London transgress the epistemological limits/ borders in their psychic space on an individual level through the bodily rhetoric, especially the dance, accordingly the narrator says: "… to me a dancer was a man from nowhere, without parents or siblings, without nation or people, without obligation of any kind, and this was exactly the quality I loved" (24). Through dance which offers a non-discursive or extra-linguistic site of existence, the narrator's best friend Tracey can achieve stability in her formative years. Dance offers a nonteleological form of Becoming to her: "The trouble with dancing is You go, go, go, but you don't get anywhere" (120). Unlike the inhabitants of London who go with the flow in the absence of a stabilizing mode of thinking, African people base their life experiences on their collective cultural practices which also involve dance. They do not acknowledge the limiting and containing force of the official borders, and their seemingly local stability bears within itself a constant movement across borders, in fact, across continents. In their world of precarity, movement and change become the norm as actual borders prove insufficient to divide the ethnic groups or social classes from each other and limit their mobile experiences. Rather than their roots, they are more concerned with their routes. They don't idealise the Western norms, in fact, the Westerners in Africa are labelled as 'ignorant of truth', but they enjoy the securities offered by the advanced communities they come from. In the novel different forms of precarity resulting from translocality characterize the individuals who empower themselves through the psychodynamics of cultural/ artistic production in both Africa and London. In their case, the notions of bodily rhetoric inject a strange kind of jouissance to them and give them the stimulus to go on in life despite unpredictability. This paper claims that the bodily rhetoric (on an individual or a collective level) offers an alternative site of Becoming to these individuals in both London and Africa against precarity 2 in their conditions, and discusses the ways in which this bodily rhetoric can function to stabilize their fluid and unpredictable reality.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2025
It publishes original research articles and book reviews in an open-access format. The journal pr... more It publishes original research articles and book reviews in an open-access format. The journal provides an intellectual platform to the writers, critics and scholars of Humanities and Social Sciences who are interested in the fields of literature and culture. It works as an agency to link the stakeholders of literary and cultural criticism, and thus, helps to promote knowledge and ideas in the concerned fields of studies. The journal publishes literature reviews, book reviews and research articles. Whereas the focus is on Folk Literature, Culture, Film studies, Environmental Humanities, Ecocriticism, English Literature and Literatures in English, articles on translated literary texts can also be submitted provided such texts are available in English translation. We encourage submissions that are theoretically wellformulated, critical, and engaging. Each essay should situate the thesis within the context of an ongoing discourse so that the contribution becomes contemporary and relevant.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2024
Sightlines: View Points on Susheel Kumar Sharma’s The Door is Half Open edited by Danielle Hanson... more Sightlines: View Points on Susheel Kumar Sharma’s The Door is Half Open edited by Danielle Hanson anthologises 24 insightful academic commentaries on various thematic aspects of the poetry of Susheel Kumar Sharma. This book is divided into two sections, the first section, Section A: Articles, comprises of 20 remarkable reviews exploring myriad thematic representations of Susheel Kumar Sharma’s second anthology of poetry, The Door is Half Open published in 2012, and the second section, Section B: Interviews, comprises of four insightful interviews with Sharma on his life, perspectives and poetry.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2024
The hallmark of appealing poetry lies in its connection to the roots of life and the world that e... more The hallmark of appealing poetry lies in its connection to the roots of life and the world that encompasses our existence. This rootedness signifies a deliberate effort: an effort to cultivate a sense of belonging to one's origins, to seamlessly blend the richness of past heritage with present realities, and to convey a philosophical perspective through an affectionate portrayal of nature and humanity's inherent aspirations. This effort has the exquisite power to gently guide any reader into the deepest recesses of their own mind, unveiling the radiant essence of their true self. In this regard, Preetinicha Barman’s poetry collection, My Body Floating with Hyacinths, emerges as a sublime and harmonious creation. Each poem unfurls with a profound sense of individualism and a fervent, almost ethereal passion for both the human spirit and the world beyond, crafting a delicate and enchanting tapestry of beauty and introspection. This poetry collection, consisting of 70 poems, is divided into four parts, each adorned with a deep meaningful subtitle: “You May Not Believe My Story,” “We Had Emerged Out of Chaos,” “Let the River Narrate Her Own Tale,” and “My Body Floating with Hyacinths.” Barman is adept at expressing a wide range of emotions and feelings; and this is evident from the very first glimpse of her book’s title and subtitles. Though there is a splendid variety and breadth in the emotions, subjects, and gestures in the composition of the poems across each segment, every verse is imbued with a deep and abiding devotion to the essence of Indian philosophy, and a subtle connection to romanticism.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2024
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, a writer and activist in the early twentieth century Bengal, pioneered w... more Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, a writer and activist in the early twentieth century Bengal, pioneered women’s rights and education and struggled her entire life for the emancipation of women in a society that was largely against education and empowerment of women. She wrote and fought against all kinds of oppression, exploitation, and discrimination of women imposed by the capitalist patriarchal society and promoted the rights of education, economic and social independence for them. With remarkable clarity, she depicted the prevalent social, political, and economic issues of her time and linked the progress of society and the nation with the advancement of women's emancipation. This paper utilizes a Marxist perspective to scrutinize the literature and activism of Rokeya by examining how her literary works depict and expose the inherent flaws and shortcomings of the existing society and analyses the correlations of her views and thoughts with that of the Marxist ideology, especially on women issues. In this article it is shown that Marxist thoughts for women’s emancipation and social progress were very present in many of Rokeya’s writings. This article largely provides textual analysis reverting to classical Marxist ideas to support the viewpoint.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2024
In his discussion on everydayness, Ben Highmore cited an example from the life of Sherlock Holmes... more In his discussion on everydayness, Ben Highmore cited an example from the life of Sherlock Holmes, who is repulsed by the idea of everyday life but at the same time, the everyday becomes an intellectual space for him, and he seeks the truth within the everyday. Like Sherlock Holmes, everydayness that is contrasted with macro events of a time has become an intellectual space in literary theory and a voice of subversion in literature. This intellectual space, where the mundane becomes profound, is a fascinating area of study. Written against the macro events of his time in Japan, such as the economic bubble and the students' protests, Haruki Murakami's fiction tells stories of subversion through the everydayness of his characters who resist the coercion of capitalism into their ordinary sphere. Their subversion is shown through simple acts such as walking away from watching the news, refusing to go to a job or refusing money offered by capitalistic forces. In this paper, I have attempted to study how bourgeois capitalism coerces into the everyday and how the characters of Haruki Murakami's The Rat Series resist this coercion. This paper will take into account the observations of various theorists on everydayness with special reference to the works of Lefebvre.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2024
In this paper, we will discuss the power dynamics that drive gendered conversations and the suici... more In this paper, we will discuss the power dynamics that drive gendered conversations and the suicide ideation that arises from the disproportionate exercise of societal power on the female individual. This paper explores the theme of suicide narratives in literature, focusing on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" (1892), and Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar (1963). Suicide narratives in literature bring to light the intricate intersections of mental illness, societal pressures, and the quest for self-identity. Historically, suppression and oppression have elicited varied responses in women, including submission (wherein they conform completely to their society), martyrdom, and ostracism (the latter two were performed when women proved 'insubordinate'). In Gilman's story, submission to 'better advice' foreshadows the narrator's descent into dissociation. In Plath's novel, the protagonist becomes alienated from the world around her; her body becomes her enemy, and she tries unsuccessfully to escape it. Ultimately, she sees the value of her life and strives to continue. The two narratives highlight the growing need to understand the detrimental impact of conforming to social conventions even when they prove harmful to the individual. Moreover, the interactions between the power exerted by said societal norms and the female-gendered psyche are analysed. In this paper, we will use Foucault's opinions on suicide, and the doctor-patient relationship between society and the psychologically ill individual, Gilbert and Gubar's thoughts on female agency to analyse the texts.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2024
Modern novels opposed power structures by struggling for personal autonomy, leading to alienation... more Modern novels opposed power structures by struggling for personal autonomy, leading to alienation of the individual from society. However, this kind of alienation was insufficient to oppose power structures in postmodernism. It was recognized that power structures sustain on naturalization of language as tool of oppression, and postmodern texts therefore became selfconscious of the act of writing and reading. They began to question their own mediums of expression, and the relationship between fiction and reality. Metafictional writing made this turn inward possible, allowing the resistance to the dominant structures to come from within the text itself. This paper explores the use of metafiction that is characteristic of postmodernism, grounding its arguments in Linda Hutcheon's theorisation of historiographic metafiction. This understanding of metafictionality and postmodernism itself is then used to closely read Don DeLillo's novel, White Noise (1984). The motives and effects of metafictionality discussed is exemplified through the textual and formal analysis of the novel. The paper argues that by bringing together the literary, theoretical, and historical through its self-referential attempts, the novel is able to open up a dialogue about and challenge the dominant consumerist, postmodern American society it is situated within.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2023
The social construction of disability is an issue that needs to be analysed and examined in order... more The social construction of disability is an issue that needs to be analysed and examined in order to arrive at a proper understanding of the discipline. Disability studies from the beginning of its journey has undergone many changes of perspectives, from a medically determined categorisation to a social model of disability, thereby leading to a distinction between impairment and disability. In spite of these transitions, society still fails to possess a more sensitive attitude. Among different categories of reservation among government policies, we come across a category called "PWD" which means Persons with Disabilities. Although this categorisation is supposed to provide more opportunities to differently abled people but the nomenclature itself is derogatory. The objective of this paper is to analyse a Graphic novel Mai by Sriram Jagannath to find out how the issue of disability is received by the society and the efficacy of the graphic medium to bring about a change in perspective regarding people with disabilities.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2023
Ismat Chughtai is one of the most celebrated South Asian women writers from the past century. Hen... more Ismat Chughtai is one of the most celebrated South Asian women writers from the past century. Hence, most of the scholarship based on her few female characters from a select few stories largely deals with analysing the nature of female desire and sexuality. In this paper, we have extended the focus from sexual repression to the analysis of the power-paradigm in the space called zenana (domestic space) and its role in producing docile bodies. By using a Foucauldian framework in her lesser-explored short stories, namely, "Gainda" (transl. "Gainda"), "Gharwali" (transl. "The Homemaker"), and "Chui-Mui" (transl. "Touch-me-not"), we aim to explore the themes of surveillance, norms, and punishment and how these play a role in training individuals to be obedient to power structures and institutions. Moreover, we want to explore whether they always produce homogenised bodies or if there is a space for individual agency.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2023
This paper addresses the issue of sexuality and violence and how they are inextricably linked in ... more This paper addresses the issue of sexuality and violence and how they are inextricably linked in women with disabilities. Perceived by the family as well as the state to be vulnerable to sexual violence in terms of assault and rape, what remains under-examined in case of women with disabilities is the violence that is committed by not regarding them as sexual beings with desires for emotional and sexual fulfilment. By depriving them of roles that are available to able-bodied women and considering them as non-sexual beings, their humanity and dignity is compromised. Drawing from the field work with women with disabilities, the paper argues that despite family support, institutional rehabilitation and government initiatives, issues of sexuality, sexual identity, companionship, and reproductive rights of disabled women are often glossed over. The paper locates female experience of disability and sexuality in the larger context of feminist debates about the female body and argues that a rights-based approach will address the needs and aspirations of disabled women. Additionally, the paper also examines specific articles of United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with disabilities (UNCRPD) that acknowledge the needs and aspirations of women with disabilities and their right to have a home and family.
transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2023
The British colonial empire was one of the largest and most influential empires in history. It sp... more The British colonial empire was one of the largest and most influential empires in history. It spanned across various parts of the world, including territories in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific. Throughout its existence, the British Empire faced numerous acts of defiance and resistance from the indigenous populations of the colonized regions. In addition, the annals of history are replete with acts of defiance that originated within the colonized territories themselves, rather than from external forces. One such act of defiance was by Major Anthony G.
Uploads
Papers by Transcript: An e-Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies