Contemporary Literary Review India

1-12

Authors: Aaira Goswami

Despite having lived rather different lives, Karl Marx and Charles Dickens have worked on similar issues like class diversification, poor conditions of the working class, the consequences of the Industrial Revolution etc. They both advocated for better lives of the Proletariat. Where Dickens expressed his view through fictions, Marx came up with concepts like Marxism through works like the famous Communist Manifesto. In fact, Robert J Shiller, in his research on Narrative Economics, talks about the importance of fiction in propagating an idea, a philosophy and an ideology. Similarly, Charles Dickens was able to propagate Marxism with a vigour that Marx's Communist Manifesto could not. Even so, Marx himself spoke of how authors like Dickens helped him in spreading his new ideas. Though numerous reviews and analysis have been done on the works of both these exceedingly exceptional figures, this particular research paper explores the similarities between two of their major works, the Communist Manifesto and Great Expectations. Great Expectations, through its protagonist Pip, explores ideas found in the Communist Manifesto, whether it be the image of the working class as the social scum, the jealousy of the Proletariat, the standoffish attitude of the Bourgeoisie, or even the materialistic family relations of the Bourgeoisie. In conclusion, while the Communist Manifesto strongly communicated its ideas across nations, books like the Great Expectations conveyed those ideas in the form of a story.

28-49

Authors: Debabrata Sardar

This paper attempts to highlight the tension lying between the lived bodily experiences of women, and the predefined cultural entanglements which condition and shape those experiences. Unlike men, women suffer much particularly for and with their bodies. This raises a crucial question regarding the ontology of their sufferings. Body, the biological location of humans distinguishes between the sexes and appropriates the cultural inscriptions. But how does the corporeality facilitates the conflation of chromosomal sex with the categories of gender? How do women relate to these entanglements and make sense of their bodies? A critical study of Indian English novels, from the mid-19th century to the successive periods, demonstrates how female body has been imagined and represented under the trajectory of such difficulties, and how in course of time these representations have changed. Interestingly, despite the palpable changes, one thing remains static – the disagreement between the lived experiences of women about their bodies and the way it is perceived in a given cultural situation.

66-80

Authors: Mohana Das

Audre Lorde, popularly known for her speeches and commanding voice on women role, life, rights and revolutionary attitude, was also a great ‘autobiographer’. Apart from her excellency in the debatable position as a feminist, and civil rights activist, her works have paved a greater voice to the audience. Audre Lorde was self-described who was "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,"……..“dedicated both her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia." Similarly, Zami (1982) became a receptacle for all her self-described thoughts. The autobiography fuses myth, history, personal thoughts and reminiscences into a flashback style that carries the readers to her informative-memory lane. Zami (1982) stands appropriate to the title “A New Spelling of My Name” as through her prolong quest in society both as a writer and as an activist, she had transformed her thoughts to a dignified freedom struggle. In Zami (1982), her new style (bio-mythography) and technical mastery has been successfully able to present reader a memory lane that is crooked, rough, unpolished, savaged, and bruised of emotional expressions. The unheard tales of society brings out anger and outrage in the her that is delt with positivism and good comprehension. In this particular work, Lorde, throughout her life, talks not only as an artist but as a random being who presents her life, raw, unheard and abled. The narration is filled with flashback, personal notes, pauses with stark delivery that makes the work more powerful. Zami presents through this powerful text, a voice that awakens readers, to identify and accept oneself as it is formed and improvise it with time. This can be justified by her words: “If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.” The intricated narration through ‘acceptance’ and ‘remembrance’ makes this work a voice for ‘black feminist’, lesbian-feminist’, and feminist of her time, but lay everlasting influence on tradition of literature. Lorde and her Zami (1982) stood out in terms of style, emotional expression and conviction to all people in search of an identity.

88-91

Authors: Ashok Vinayak Kulthe

A Little Brown Cat: A story of a cat is a story by Ashok Vinayak Kulthe.

108-116

Authors: Madyanis Santiago Díaz

Tea Judgement is a story by Madyanis Santiago Díaz.

127-131

Authors: Paul Michael Melo e Castro

Half-Chewed Counsellors and Statesmen is a story translated by Paul Michael Melo e Castro. This story was originally written in Portuguese and published in 1923 by the Goan author José da Silva Coelho (1889-1944).

148-149

Authors: Ankit Mangal Singh

The air became smoke is a poem by Ankit Singh.

154-157

Authors: Dr. B.H.S. Thimmappa

Slices of Life is a poem by Dr. B.H.S. Thimmappa.

164-166

Authors: Danny Patrick Barbare

Caramel Apple Cider and Autumn's Leaf are two poems by Danny Patrick Barbare.

167-169

Authors: Natalie Bisso

Masters of Pen and Word, A Simple Weirdo, Blues Music, Paris for Me, and White Road are the poems by Natalie Bisso.

183-185

Authors: Saara Parijaat

Kindle my kindness is a poem by Saara Parijaat.

191-193

Authors: Shuvam Dewanjee

Victor Sen is a poem by Shuvam Dewanjee.

197-207

Authors: Ananya Dutta Gupta

Book Review of Kunal Basu’s Filmi Stories: The Return of the Storyteller by Ananya Dutta Gupta.

213-218

Authors: Subhajit Bhadra

Book Review of Dwipantarer Katha’s The Story of Deportation by Subhajit Bhadra.