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.
