Contemporary Literary Review India

1-11

Authors: Akanksha Barthwal

The wasteland seeks to portray a world which is dry from all human emotions and feelings. Eliot describes wasteland as a place which is barren, dry, infertile, desolate, inhospitable, sterile having no vegetation. He defines a generation of shock from world wars where there is no comfort and spiritualness. The poet discovers a condition of modern world, where man lives a purposeless life. In the poem, Eliot describes a condition of present world through myths, historical and literal references which offers a satirical lens to perceive and give meaning to present world. Eliot creates a parallel between past and present, where past is something which is unified, has spiritual significance, is joyous, harmonizing. The poet also fears his own end, therefore he too submits himself to the God. Through the poem Eliot highlights the need to belief in God, attain true self and be redeemed.

33-46

Authors: Arnab Chatterjee

It is a fundamental fact that an epic documents the exploits of certain characters on a scale that sometimes crosses the limits of both space and time; in fact, these features account for the “grand style” of any epic composed. Coupled with its bravura sweep, any epic is also a faithful documentation of the age in which it is written, something that Prof. E.M.W. Tillyard calls its “choric” quality. However, in the digital age, with the advent of animation and other such modes of representation, much of the erstwhile grandeur of the traditional epics seems to have been lost, and this brings us closer to Walter Benjamin’s remark that in the mechanical age, a work of art loses is pseudo-divine aura as we tend to have “copies” of the work that is readily consumed. Taking clues from such theorists, this proposed paper is an attempt to locate Beowulf in the digital age and within the ‘mechanics’ of representation called “animation pictures” and alternative narratological strategies that tend to compromise not only with its original tone, but also with the story line.

59-80

Authors: Narayan Jena

The central concern of the paper is to show that nature plays a significant role in shaping the spiritual self of a modern man. It tries to explore the possibility of the realization of the unity of life and integrated order in the world outside the confined territory of narrow human self. Such realization as the substratum of eco-spirituality, results in the extension of love and ascribing meaning to every object of nature. In the backdrop of such ideas the present paper intends to examine Gopinath Mohanty’s High Tide, Ebb Tide to show the fundamental ground of varied human consciousness being integrated with the unified principles of nature, and the possibilities of the realization of nature’s sacredness in the process of the realization of the ‘self’ as an extension of the unity of nature.

104-116

Authors: Kim John Farleigh

Break the Deadlock a story by Kim John Farleigh

157-161

Authors: Saligrama K. Aithal

Eastward Blows the Tempest a story by Saligrama K. Aithal

166-171

Authors: Christopher Barnes

Moonstop™ Brings You…,‘Mistletoe Balm’ For Dazzling Solutions, Tipplesun™ Galore, For Those Who Indulged That Vital Spark, All Set for Excellence a poeams by Christopher Barnes .

172-176

Authors: Divya Gautam

Someday, The Night Beckons a poeam by Divya Gautam

180-182

Authors: Dr Prashanta Chandra Panda

Journey of Job-star a poeam by Dr Prashanta Chandra Panda

185-187

Authors: Reena P.G.

Falling of Egoism a poeam by Reena P.G.

198-208

Authors: Neil Leadbeater

Book Review on The Best Asian Short Stories 2017

1-37

Authors: Dr. Anees Al-Absi

The concept of ‘authenticity’ informs the main argument of this paper that interrogates the very 'authenticity' of Richard Burton's Orientalist representation of Oriental women by tracing signs of Orientalist intertextuality and 'authorial subjectivity' in his erotic translation of the Arabian Nights. The idea of the Orient constructed through Burton's Orientalist imaginary rendering of the Nights marks a new emerging anti-realism in the nineteenth-century Orientalism, a response to the demand of readership for exoticism. My argument pertains to this phenomenon of the imaginary or fetish rendering of the Nights by Burton, which vividly exhibits a lack of authenticity, a crisis that appeared due to Burton’s affiliation with the Orientalist main authorities on the Orient and his personal and ideological inclinations. It is clearly problematic to think of Burton's erotic and imaginary rendering of the Nights as authentic and accurate, while he conflates between ethnographic reality and fantasy. In this paper, the examination of key passages from Burton's translation of the Nights makes it clear that he was not really true to his claims of validity for his translation, as he relied on delirious Orientalist imagination, inclined towards his ideological position and personal interests to claim authenticity for his translation.

54-64

Authors: Jayantika Chakraborty

The term “atonement” connotes the action of making amends for a wrong or sin. In Christian theology, it refers to the reconciliation of God and mankind through Jesus Christ. The movie Atonement is one of cumulative power, reflecting on the unfinished, unmoored mind of a vulnerable young woman, Briony Tallis, who is seemingly trapped by unimaginable guilt in a life of suspended animation. The denouement of the film siphons off with Briony atoning for her guilt that has, since her adolescence, tainted her life with treacherous effects. Her atonement comes off as a corrosively elegiac way of reconciling with the past, and is filmed beautifully, with pyrotechnic complexity, displaying adequately the scalding moral vision of war as a backdrop. With a luminous juxtaposition of the stream of consciousness mode of narration and multiple voices, montage and flashbacks, Joe Wright unilaterally weaves a tale of self-discovery and the retelling of a story that centers around guilt. Guilt, therefore, features as an inalienable poetry of experience in the film, coming off almost as apparent, real, and firm to the touch. In an interdisciplinary approach of psychological study of artistic work, this project illustrates the dynamics of guilt and atoning for it after over half a lifetime to reach psychological transcendence and attain a cohesiveness of the fragmented concept of “self”.

78-103

Authors: Sonali Ganguly

This paper is an extensive review of the origin and evolution of world literature. It begins with the discussion on the evolving theories and the counter arguments on world literature followed by a brief critical overview of the existing theories and trends in the study of world literature. Based on the above discussions, an attempt has been made to understand the two fundamental concepts. First, the entire process of production, publication, circulation, and reception of literary works in the world literary market, and second, the standing of Indian literature in the world forum. The paper is divided into two major segments. The initial section reviews and discusses the existing theories of world literature and sheds light on the technicalities associated with getting placed in world literature. The consequent segment of the paper highlights the challenges associated with world literature.

117-122

Authors: Jisha Rajesh

Aparajita – The Invincible a story by Jisha Rajesh.

137-143

Authors: Tuhin Harit

Rear View a story by Tuhin Harit.

172-175

Authors: Abhishek Banderao Chatorikar

Knowledge a poeam by Abhishek Banderao Chatorikar.

182-187

Authors: Debasish Parashar

there is a city inside your body,Infinity is Finite,Drunken Selfies a poeam by Debasish Parashar.

192-194

Authors: Feneena S Mohamed

The Flood a poeam by Feneena S Mohamed.

197-201

Authors: Ram Krishna Singh

Season’s Prick,Quakes in Elements,Nude Delight,Echoes Haunt a poeams by Ram Krishna Singh

209-210

Authors: Reena P. G.

Oasis a poeam by Reena P. G.

213-219

Authors: Vishal Khullar

Ghazal: Passage 1, Ghazal: Passage 2,Ghazal: Passage 3,Ghazal: Passage 4 a poeam by Vishal Khullar

227-233

Authors: Daniel Dragomirescu

Book Review on Daniel Dragomirescu’s Oameni și Marionete / Men and Puppets

1-17

Authors: Dr Tatavarty Radhakrishna Murty

Indian Writing in English is multi-dimensional. Prose is enriched by writers of diverse milieu. Freedom fighters, intellectuals, philosophers, journalists, lawyers, scientists, officers, diplomats, statesmen, politicians and persons of high offices have contributed to this genre. The writings of Indian Presidents deserve a close study and serve the purpose of course correction for the nation. This paper tries to make an overview of the writing, traces the patterns and erect a structure. The position of Indian President in Indian Constitution has been envisaged as conscience keeper of the nation and path finder. Indian Presidential writing naturally reflects the high values and thoughts of these statesmen, Rajendra Prasad, S. Radhakrishnan, Zakir Hussain, V.V. Giri, N.Sanjiva Reddy, Zail Singh, R. Venkataraman, S.D. Sharma, K. R. Narayan, Abdul Kalam and Pranab Mukherjee who occupied the office from 1947 onwards. Two streams of thought: progress of the nation and humanity; the evolution of thought beacons are evident in the writing. Paradigm shift and rethinking is imperative to reorient the statesman as a writer. Indian Presidents as writers are a class apart.

62-80

Authors: Dr. Namrata Pathak

In Mitra Phukan’s Hope (2006) and The Collector’s Wife (2005), the concept of death is imbued with strong significances. In Hope, there is an incessant reproduction of the terrorist’s (Shankar’s) violence, by casting his death into a viable “definition.” By the act of lending an identity to the terrorist, we tend to mourn a situation of loss, of peace and well-being. The fatality is there in the construction of such an identity; it lies at the core of the reconstruction of the terrorist’s life. Therefore, a profound morbidity is inherent here. Violence ceases to be an external event, or eventuality, and becomes instead the closeted content of a person’s identity. As such, death can no longer be termed as the guarantor of eternal peace, nor is it the secret truth of a person’s identity. In Shankar’s case, elimination through death is akin to the act of religiously contriving to kill. This is an act that kills the essence of a being. Rukmini, in The Collector’s Wife, upholds the viewpoint that in order to know what living is, one must negate it. In the similar vein, we can say that the measure of a thing is the effort made to destroy it. Here, death is a signifier with a varied and characteristically paradoxical function at work.

91-97

Authors: Dr Gontumukkala Nirmala

E.M. Forster is primarily known as a novelist, short story writer and a literary critic of a rare distinction. Though his contribution to English essay is substantial he has not received the critical due attention as an essayist. Unlike the other writers Forster began his literary carrier as a short story writer and a novelist and then turned to essay-writing. The aim of the paper is an attempt to analyse the prose style of E. M. Forster, in his two volumes of essays Abinger Harvest and Two Cheers for Democracy, which is characterised by its raciness, simplicity, directness and ‘ beautiful amusingness’. The style of a writer expresses the nature of his thoughts. Hence the popular view ‘style is the man.’ Bacon says that language is the instrument of thought. Any discussion of Forster as an essayist is incomplete without reference to his prose style.

120-126

Authors: Papa Rao Jayanthi

A Disastrous Peril a story by Papa Rao Jayanthi.

143-180

Authors: Siddhant Shekhar

Jannat a story by Siddhant Shekhar.

184-186

Authors: Shayan Sarkar

Blues I,Blues II,To Beloved poeam by Shayan Sarkar.

189-190

Authors: Ajit Kumar Khatai

A Wish of Hundred Souls poeam by Ajit Kumar Khatai.

196-203

Authors: Dr Richa Tripathi

Grateful, The Song of God poeam by Dr Richa Tripathi.

207-218

Authors: Shambhu Prasad Singh

Book Review on Shambhu P Singh’s Environment Conservation Through Religion

1-42

Authors: Salma Backroush Almaleki

This paper discusses the adaptation of Demeter and Persephone’s myth by two poets Alfred Tennyson and Carolyn Kizer. The poems are approached from a feminist point of view. The paper is divided into three sections, the first reviews the theoretical parts concerning mythology and feminism, the second presents the application of the feminist theories on Tennyson’s poem, the third sets forth a similar application of the feminist theories on Kizer’s poem. The study aims to provide answers to crucial questions of the differences between the poets’ interpretations, portrayals of Demeter and her daughter Persephone, and the myth’s reinvented themes, as well as their depictions as heroines. The study has arrived to some outcomes; first, Tennyson’s poem describes motherhood in Demeter’s actions, while Kizer’s poem highlights womanhood in Persephone’s individuation. Second, Tennyson’s version contemplates on social problems, whereas Kizer’s version explores woman’s psychological states. Third, both the poets have constructed their poems as dramatic monologue to give the rightful voice to their heroines.

68-85

Authors: Dr. Roghayeh Farsi

The theme of earth-consciousness is concerned with the problems of the threat of global nuclear war and environmental degradation. This theme is complementary to the theme of self-realisation as both of these are part of our two foundations, Dharma and Karma. The two fundamentals may be regarded as prerequisites for the attainment of a more environment consciousness world. This paper analyses the relation of Dharma and Karma.

97-116

Authors: Maheshwar Narayan Sinha

God in Chain is a story by Maheshwar Narayan Sinha.

125-131

Authors: Snehal Shashwat Basutkar

Who Wrote My Destiny? is a story by Snehal Shashwat Basutkar.

135-138

Authors: Irtika Kazi

The Tale of Sulasa’s Courage – A Mythological Poem is a poem by Irtika Kazi.

142-147

Authors: Amit Kumar Rath

My Life Tucked Snug is a poem by Amit Kumar Rath.

151-153

Authors: Seema Gupta

Beauty Engraved in Black is a poem by Seema Gupta.

159-182

Authors: Dr Dalip Khetarpal

Book Review on Phidalia Toi’s The Afternoon: Marathon Race To Acche Din – Part 3 by Dr Dalip Khetarpal.