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Editorial
Editorial Note
Literary Voice: A Peer Reviewed Journal of English Studies (ISSN 2277-4521), Number 26, Volume 1, March 2026 comprises forty-four research articles which cover multiple genres of literature written/translated in English in Britain, America, Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa and other regions of the world. The researchers have investigated the nuanced impact of Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty on Samuel Beckett’s Theatre of the Absurd, the shift from the Anthropocene to the Novacene, analysed the process of political de-Europeanisation and its backlash, showcased cyber sexism prevalent in the contemporary scenario in Britain, explored the implications of the global fight against ecological destruction and social injustice, highlighted literature’s significant role in advocating the rights of the marginalized communities, promoted sustainable futures, and focused on the significant role of literature in reimagining domesticity as a contested terrain where queer identities could emerge, resist, and redefine prevailing cultural expectations.
The concept of Blue Humanities, its scope and magnitude in today’s interdisciplinary and fluid literary scenario, is one of the highlights of the current edition of the journal. Being relatively a recent trend, the article explains the rubrics of planetary water, the need to educate ourselves in oceanic literacy, and about resetting our relationship with marine life. Besides, the seasoned and budding researchers have (a) used bioethical analysis to understand the ethical considerations surrounding human reproductive cloning with a particular emphasis on its transgressions on autonomy, (b) explored art therapy approach to examine the importance of looking beyond words to heal trauma resulting from rape, (c) reimagined gender transition as a natural, embodied, and environmentally resonant experience, (d) redefined the body as a generative site of becoming, defying assimilation and working out possibilities for survival, intimacy, and self-definition, and (e) discussed the theme of internalised misogyny as experienced by a high-caste Hindu woman in late 19th-century colonial India, and attributed it to deep-rooted, archetypal narratives embedded in the collective unconscious of human society in transition.
The research articles under the rubric, Performance Studies, provide a multi-layered critique of gender and power dynamics, reflect contemporary anxieties about technological advancement and the ethics of artificial life, offer a sharp commentary on how legal institutional responses to psychological and social complexities often reinforce, rather than redress, systemic inequities, highlight the need to broaden our understanding of sexual identities and ensure visibility to asexual voices. While the research article on the scourge of slavery in America, argues that the psychological threats caused by oppression still exist and continue to affect the lives and relationships of people of African descent in America, the paper on the Partition Discourse investigates the significance of narrativizing Partition. The research papers critique the seamy side of the modern medicine, commodification and devaluation of women in surrogacy, Palestinian displacement, resistance, and survival, outdated casteism in the Indian cultural tradition, and how African writers have effectively used English language as a tool of resistance and self-empowerment to challenge hegemonic discourses. The current edition also offers three book reviews and two new voices in Poetry for the readers.
Dear readers, we look invariably for your feedback.
T.S. Anand
Content
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March, 2026
RESEARCH PAPERS
BRITISH LITERATURE
Beyond the Script: Artaudian Principles and Their Embodiment
in Samuel Beckett’s Absurdist Performance
Daniel Dabitlang M Cajee
Nabamita Das
From Anthropocene to Novacene: Reimagining Gaia and AI in
Claire Buss’s The Gaia Solution
Raman
Dr. Narinder K. Sharma
Gendered Narratives in BrexLit: A Study of Sam Byers’s Perfidious Albion
Mousumi Chowdhury
Reweaving Family Bonds: A Study on Colm Tóibín’s The Blackwater Lightship
Jerome Kumar A
Dr. John Love Joy J
A Transgression of Autonomy: Exploring Bioethical Issues
in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go
Dr. Grace George
Unsettling History, Nation and Identity in Andrea Levy’s
Fruit of the Lemon: A Postcolonial Analysis
Dr. Ashutosh Singh
Dr. Sahabuddin Ahamed
AMERICAN/CANADIAN LITERATURE
Personhood and Tragic Testimony: How Frederick Douglass Shaped
his Abolition Narrative in My Bondage and My Freedom
Dr. Debjani Dutta
Irony in the “Death of a Beautiful Woman”: Text’s Rebellion in
Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales
Ms. Ujjwal Kaur
Dr Preeti Puri
Beyond the Words: Finding Voice Through the Art of Drawing Trees in
Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak
Pallabi Maji
Nature’s Metaphor: Ecological Symbolism and Ecocritical Reflections on
Gender Transition in David Ebershoff’s The Danish Girl
Aditi Sharma
Prof. Nupur Tandon
Legible Yet Erased: Black Transfeminine Embodiment in the Poetry of
Justice Ameer and Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi
Silpa Joy
Dr. Reshma Jacob
Alternate History and Afrofuturism: A New-historicist Reading of
August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson
Sumita
Dr. Mayur Chhikara
Queering Domestic Spaces: Subverting Heteronormativity in
Abha Dawesar’s Babyji and Sharmila Mukherjee’s The Green Rose
Li Yan
Dr. Cho Wonil
Wounds, Resilience, and Revolution: Emotional Expression and Social
Change in Rupi Kaur’s Poetics of Migration
Dr. Aanchal Arora
Riya Sheokand
Negotiating the Cultural Differences: Immigrant as a Cultural Hybrid
in Selected Stories from Tales from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry
Ranjeet Kaur
INDIAN ENGLISH LITERATURE
Representing the Unrepresentable”: Contemplating on the Echoes
of Partition Discourse
Dr. Siddhi Tripathi
Voices from the Scrubs: Selected Indian Medical Autobiographies
and the Critique of Medical Modernity
Shalini Moorthi
Rhetoric of Resistance: A Study of Sarah Joseph’s Budhini and
Mahua Maji’s The Toxic Tribal Land of Marang Goda
Apurba Borbora
Unmasking the Patriarchal Motherhood: Feminist Pedagogy of Empowered
Mothering in Geetanjali Shree’s Mai: Silently Mother
Puja Ghosh
Dr. Averi Mukhopadhyay
Compromise or Co-optation? Respectable Femininity and Musical
Practices in Shashi Deshpande’s Small Remedies
Dr. P. Muralidhar Sharma
Cultural Conformity and Feminine Struggles: Examining Internalised Misogyny through
New Historicism and Collective Unconscious in Shevantibai M. Nikambe’s Ratanbai
Nivedita Pandey
Dr. Pratima Chaitanya
Jayanta Mahapatra: Poetic Voices of an Experimentalist
Subhi Kumari
Prof. Binod Mishra
Punitive Regularisation of Prohibited Caste Performances
in Perumal Murugan’s Pyre
Aazhi Arasi A
Dr Miruna George
A Study of Gendered Trauma and Narrative Resistance
in Danesh Rana’s Red Maize
Gurpreet Kour
Dr. Ankdeep Kaur Attwal
Dr. Baljeet Kaur
New Materialist Human–nonhuman ‘Intra-action’ and Disentanglement of Partition’s
Unspeakable Memory: A Posthuman Reading of Geetanjali Shree’s Tomb of Sand
Rabeya Khatun
Womb-on-Rent: Surrogacy and Ethical Dilemmas in
Madhavi Mahadevan’s Bride of the Forest
Ms Supriya Maity
Dr Pragya Shukla
Resistance Ecologies: Interlocking Power Struggle among Rulers,
Subjects, and Drones in Manjula Padmanabhan’s Escape
Sachin Kumar
Dr Aditya Prakash
Negotiating Masculinity: The Performance of Gender in
Anubha Yadav’s The Anger of Saintly Men
Dr. M. S. Veena
COLLECTANEA
Raskolnikov and the Murder: A Deleuzian Reframing of Crime and Punishment
Dr. Shivshankar Rajmohan AK
Aiswarya Suresha
Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Abrogation of English Language: A Critique
Dr. Sandeep Kaur Brar
Narrative Trauma and Resilience in Radwa Ashour’s The Woman from Tantoura
Dr. Jasleen Kaur Sahota
Simran Jaideep Kour
Literary Symbolism of Wind in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist
Dr. Rajat Sebastian
Indian Diaspora in Mauritius: Recreating Home in Ananda Devi’s Pagli
Ms. M. Mohanalakshmi
Dr. T. Priya
Echoes of Displacement and Unravelling Scars: A Poetic Exploration
of the Refugees in Jean Arasanayagam’s Apocalypse ‘83
Samuel Gnanaraj. R
From Ink to Pixels: How Digital Media is Revolutionizing Traditional Manga
Gautam Bala
Bhawna Singh
PERFORMANCE STUDIES
Beyond the Verdict: Understanding the Subjectivities of Justice
Frameworks through Primal Fear
Upasana Sarangi
Dr. Swati Samantaray
Redreaming the Doll House: Escaping Panopticon of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie
Dr. Urvi Sharma
Black Sheep of the Future: Posthumanism, Otherness, and Identity
in Automata and Chappie
Dr. Bibin Sebastian
Narratives of Neglect and Nurturance: The Discourse on
Elder Care in Malayalam Cinema
Dr. Neethu Mary Tomy
Desiring Otherwise: Reading Asexual Counter Narratives in Desire?
Anila Anandan
Dr Shyamkiran Kaur
Re-thinking the Economy of Labour/Leisure, Ambition and the Body in the
Lyrical World of Param Sundari
Krishanu Dhar
Prof. Alpna Saini
Decoding the complexity of Identity and Upbringing in Anvita Dutt’s Qala
Dr. Rashi Srivastava
LITERARY DISCOURSE
Discourse on the Poetics of Planetary Water: A Study on Blue Humanities
Dr. Preethamol MK
Medical Humanism and the Female Body: Rewriting Science in Nawal El Saadawi’s Fiction
Dr. Chitra Jha
Mrs. Jyoti Kumari
BOOK REVIEWS
Shuchi Agrawal’s Navigating Boundaries: A Comprehensive Study of
Postcolonial Theory and Literature
Prof. Swaraj Raj
Bhagyashree Varma’s Siesta: Poetic Vignettes of a
Solitary Thinker as Memoir of the Self.
Diwakar Anant Patankar
Tara’s Truce by Kavita Kane
Sunny Kumar
POETRY
Sanjida Sah
A Disguise in Affection
Ashes that Refuse Silence
Sometimes, I Resist: Poetics of Survival
Dr. Teresita D. Tajolosa
Curiositea
Iridescence
Yet When the Shooter Says “Cheese!”
(A New Year Struggle)
Beyond the Script: Artaudian Principles and Their Embodiment in Samuel Beckett’s Absurdist Performance
Daniel Dabitlang M Cajee – Nabamita Das
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 1-9 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.1
This study examines the nuanced impact of Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty on Samuel Beckett’s Theatre of the Absurd. It asserts that Artaud’s influence on Beckett is more profound in spirit and underlying aims than in direct stylistic imitation. While Artaud advocated a ritualistic assault on the senses to bypass rational thought, Beckett meticulously crafted existential despair through linguistic breakdown and repetitive actions. Employing a qualitative research paradigm with an interpretivist approach, this study moves beyond general theoretical connections and offers a detailed, performance-oriented analysis of how Artaudian principles are concretely “embodied” and enacted “beyond the script” in Beckett’s plays. Through textual analysis of Catastrophe, Act Without Words I, and Footfalls, the research systematically examines stage directions, character movement, sound, silence, and visual elements. Guided by key Artaudian concepts—including the de-emphasis on the word, the focus on the body and profound experience, the challenge to audience complacency, and the use of ritualistic elements—the study ultimately explores how Beckett’s non-textual choices contribute to the powerful impact of his absurdist performances. This approach aims to synthesize how Beckett’s minimalist aesthetic subtly manifests Artaud’s ‘cruelty,’ revealing a deeper symbiotic relationship between these two pivotal figures in twentieth-century theatre.
Keywords: Antonin Artaud, Samuel Beckett, Theatre of Cruelty, Absurdist Performance, Non-textual Elements, Beyond the Script.
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From Anthropocene to Novacene: Reimagining Gaia and AI in Claire Buss’s The Gaia Solution
Raman – Dr. Narinder K. Sharma
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 10-16 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.2
In an age marked by the dynamics of accelerating artificial intelligence and deepening ecological instability, theorists like James Lovelock contend that humanity is witnessing a shift from the Anthropocene, a human-centered epoch defined by environmental degradation, to the Novacene, a new era in which hyperintelligent entities may act as planetary stewards. This paper examines how Claire Buss’s The Gaia Solution (2019), a speculative eco-dystopia, probes this transition by imagining a future in which Gaia, AI systems, environmental collapse, and authoritarian governance converge. Notably, the novel envisions what may be called a hopeful dystopia—a narrative that, while depicting crisis and control, suggests the possibility of renewal through ethical co-evolution between humans and intelligent machines. The paper uses an interdisciplinary framework by integrating James Lovelock’s Novacene hypothesis, Ursula Heise’s concept of eco-cosmopolitanism, and Donna Haraway’s cyborg theory to analyse how Buss reimagines Gaia as both a mythic and scientific force to transcend anthropocentric frameworks. By combining literary analysis with posthuman and ecological theory, this study contributes to a growing body of fiction-driven ecocriticism that reinterprets agency, survival, and environmental ethics in light of technological futures.
Keywords: Gaia, Anthropocene, Novacene, AI, Cyborg Ethics, Posthumanism.
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Gendered Narratives in BrexLit: A Study of Sam Byers’s Perfidious Albion
Mousumi Chowdhury
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 17-24 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.3
Gender issues in Brexit discourses are a gorilla in the room—an obvious yet largely unaddressed topic of discussion. Britain’s withdrawal of membership from the European Union has given birth to a new subgenre, BrexLit, a variation of the Condition-of-England novel. The socio-political and economic ramifications of this watershed moment, as reflected in Brexit novels, have been widely critiqued; however, gender issues in Brexit fiction remain largely unexplored. This paper undertakes a textual analysis of Sam Byers’s 2018 novel Perfidious Albion, considered a major work of BrexLit, and attempts to showcase the cyber sexism prevalent in contemporary Britain. Byers’s narrative foregrounds a dystopic vision of present-day Britain and archives how both old and new media are used unethically to generate xenophobic and anti-immigrant toxicity. This paper further investigates how the process of political de-Europeanisation aggravates social backlash and attempts to unearth how, within this narrative framework, victims retaliate against diverse forms of misogyny, offering counter-narratives of empowerment and female solidarity.
Keywords: Brexlit, cyber sexism, women empowerment, xenophobic, female solidarity
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Reweaving Family Bonds: A Study on Colm Tóibín’s The Blackwater Lightship
Jerome Kumar A – Dr. John Love Joy J
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 25-33 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.4
Family Dysfunction is a social construct characterised by mental illness and unhealthy relationships, leading to emotional longings and the absence of transactional patterns in a family. While dysfunctions are pernicious to family functioning, family resilience enables family members to recover from persistent life challenges, fostering positive family functioning despite dysfunctions or myriad adversities. It is a nascent concept across all disciplines of study; nevertheless, the literary panorama of the research is diminutive. The present study negotiates a holistic appraisal of family dysfunctions and family resilience in Colm Tóibín’s The Blackwater Lightship, highlighting familial conflicts between three Devereux family women, Lily, Dora, and Helen, who forget all their differences and join with Declan’s friends to succour Declan in the last stages of his life. By adopting family resilience processes proposed by Dr. Walsh, it uncovers the strength oriented approaches of the family in the novel to argue and revitalise transactional patterns in surmounting dysfunctions. The findings unfold a synergistic examination of dysfunctional systems, highlighting the absence of transactional patterns, emotional dysphoria, and the quest for resilience among distressed family members that involves rejuvenating reparative potential and equanimity through the systemic study of family resilience. The study asserts that flummoxed family relationships within the human community must forge resilience despite dysfunctions to achieve positive outcomes for effective family functioning.
Keywords: Family Dysfunctions, Emotional Dysphoria, Family Resilience, Transactional
Patterns, Reparative Potential.
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A Transgression of Autonomy: Exploring Bioethical Issues in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go
Dr. Grace George
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 34-40 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.5
After the creation of the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, the notion of human cloning has emerged as a sensational subject that has engrossed the intellectual discourse of scientists, philosophers, and policymakers. It became a recurring subject in popular culture, elucidating the collective anxieties about futuristic technologies and analysing the potential ramifications that could result from them. Attempting to replicate human beings utilising existing technology entails inherent risks as it may jeopardise the lives of the subjects. The existing concerns regarding human cloning primarily revolve around procedural inefficacy and an inherent aversion towards artificially creating human beings within the confines of a laboratory. This article on Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is intended to be an extensive bioethical analysis to understand the ethical considerations surrounding human reproductive cloning, with a particular emphasis on its transgressions on autonomy.
Keywords: Autonomy; Human Cloning; Kazuo Ishiguro; Biomedical Ethics; Immanuel Kant
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Unsettling History, Nation and Identity in Andrea Levy’s Fruit of the Lemon: A Postcolonial Analysis
Dr. Ashutosh Singh – Dr. Sahabuddin Ahamed
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 41-49 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.6
This article critically analyzes how the London-born protagonist Faith Jackson attempts to unfold historical silences about Jamaican heritage and black experiences and rewrite the overlooked interconnected relationships between Jamaica and Britain in Andrea Levy’s novel Fruit of the Lemon (1999) in the light of postcolonial theory. It focuses on the role of individuals and nations in denying ethnic minority community’s history and identity that is entangled with the legacy of the British Empire. By highlighting the tensions between written colonial archive and individual oral storytelling and emphasizing dialogic and cross-cultural histories and experiences, Levy’s novel employs a postcolonial counter-narrative that resists dominant discourses. This article seeks to examine how recognizing entangled and interconnected histories helps Faith understand her family tree, black British experience and hybrid identity and contest racism and discrimination in the contemporary post-imperial moment. The polyphonic novel exhibits how the myth of ‘Mother Country’ i.e. Britain is transformed into a hybridized postcolonial nation because of the appearance of post-war mass immigration to the nation since the end of the Second World War. London-born children of Jamaican immigrants attempt to recuperate Jamaican heritage and redefine Britain in relation to Jamaica, thereby reconfiguring the monocultural notions of Britain and Britishness.
Keywords: colonialism, interdependent history, Caribbean legacy, polyphonic narrative, interracial kinship, cultural hybridity, postcolonial Britain
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AMERICAN/CANADIAN LITERATURE
Personhood and Tragic Testimony: How Frederick Douglass Shaped his Abolition Narrative in My Bondage and My Freedom
Dr. Debjani Dutta
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 50-57 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.7
In 1855’s My Bondage and My Freedom, Frederick Douglass refashions the experiences he first set down in his previous autobiography Narrative. It is the popularity and reception of the first text which encouraged Douglass to pen a revised version, aiming as it did more towards the educated white elite who favoured the cause of abolition, both within the shores of the United States and beyond. This paper will attempt to shed light on the episodes which Douglass highlights towards the cause of the abolitionist slave narrative tradition, while also looking at the power of his personal testimony which broke down in detail the wide implications of the ‘peculiar institution.’ The duality of art and authenticity will be parsed to understand fully the consequences of Douglass’s evolution as the ‘Representative American man’ in the backdrop of the struggle for emancipation, and the foregrounding of an ideology of equitable rights through the vessel of affirmative testimonials.
Keywords: autobiography, narration, enslavement, abolition, representation, dialectic.
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Irony in the “Death of a Beautiful Woman”: Text’s Rebellion in Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales
Ms. Ujjwal Kaur – Dr. Preeti Puri
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 58-65 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.8
This article offers a Deleuzo-Guattarian interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, arguing that his pursuit of a “unity of effect” arises not from narrative coherence but from a dismantling of linear structure and the emergence of discrete elements that Deleuze and Guattari describe as “partial objects.” These fragments form dynamic, nonhierarchical connections that enable a free flow of desire, challenging the authority of a centralized plot. Through this lens, the article reconceptualizes Poe’s Dark Romanticism as a space where identity is not fixed but dispersed, and meaning is not imposed but generated through affective and narrative intensities. This reading foregrounds the ongoing tension in Poe’s work between the drive for formal unity and the inevitable fragmentation that characterizes both identity and narrative production.
Keywords: Deleuze and Guattari; dark romanticism; death; Edgar Allan Poe; identity
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Beyond the Words: Finding Voice Through the Art of Drawing Trees in Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak
Pallabi Maji
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 66-72 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.9
The strong bond between human life and the world of Nature has been explored perennially by literary artists and wordsmiths. While a traumatic experience like rape can be harrowing, the epiphany attained by a creative journey through Nature is equally rewarding. Laurie Halse Anderson powerfully uses this trope in her novel, Speak. While the immovable nature of the trees indicates the lingering effect of the trauma, their firm rootedness suggests the strength to hold the entire tree in its place and overcome any adverse weather. The silent trees become the mouthpiece for Melinda, the protagonist of the novel, to speak about her trauma. This paper aims to study the revival of the lost communication not through words but through the subject of Melinda’s drawing, trees. This paper uses art therapy approach to examine the importance of looking beyond words to heal from trauma resulting from rape.
Keywords: rape, trauma, silence, trees, art therapy, healing
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Nature’s Metaphor: Ecological Symbolism and Ecocritical Reflections on Gender Transition in David Ebershoff’s The Danish Girl
Aditi Sharma – Prof. Nupur Tandon
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 73-80 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.10
How does nature serve as a mirror for human transformation? Can the changing landscapes, seasons, and elements of the natural world reflect the inner conflicts and self-discovery of a transitioning identity? The Danish Girl employs ecological symbolism to convey Einar Wegner’s gender transition, where water, seasons, flowers, and light are metaphors for his psychological and material evolution. These natural motifs are aesthetic elements and symbolic structures that mirror Einar’s internal conflicts, liminality, and emergence. Applying the concepts of ecocriticism and material ecocriticism, this deconstruction probes these natural segments, consequently formulating Einar’s metamorphosis as an organic approach weaved with the cadences of the natural world. The analysis reveals how ecological symbolism demonstrates that gender, like nature, is a fluid, evolving, and profoundly entangled phenomenon, reinforcing the environmental dimensions of trans identity and how The Danish Girl reimagines gender transition as a natural, embodied, and environmentally resonant experience.
Keywords: Identity, Environment, Gender Transition, Ecological Symbolism.
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Legible Yet Erased: Black Transfeminine Embodiment in the Poetry of Justice Ameer and Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi
Silpa Joy – Dr. Reshma Jacob
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 81-88 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.11
This paper examines the poetics of Black transfeminine embodiment in the works of Justice Ameer and Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, arguing that their poetry exposes and resists the intertwined forces of racialized gender regulation, historical erasure, and the precarious legibility imposed upon Black trans feminine bodies. Through close readings of “body without the ‘d’,” “My Beauty,” “Life Turns,” “t for t,” “Amnesia,” and “History Lesson,” this study illuminates how these poets articulate the fraught experiences of dysphoria, hypervisibility, and sexual violence as enduring legacies of anti-Black and cisnormative structures. Rather than merely documenting suffering, their works foreground acts of self-authorship, intimate negotiation, and radical reclamation of beauty and desire. By centering Black transfeminine voices, this paper argues that Ameer and Edidi redefine the body as a generative site of becoming, crafting a poetics that refuses assimilation and reimagines possibilities for survival, intimacy, and self-definition beyond the bounds of state-sanctioned legibility and systemic violence.
Keywords: Black transfeminine poetics, gender legibility, erasure and visibility, trans self-authorship, racialized embodiment
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Alternate History and Afrofuturism: A New-historicist Reading of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson
Sumita – Dr. Mayur Chhikara
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 89-95 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.12
Various envisioned futures have been presented in the canonical literature by portraying connections between the present and future. However, for canonical literature imagination has been restricted to futuristic imagination only. In contrast, Afrofuturists often return to the past and reconstruct their history to imagine a fully liberated future. This paper analyses The Piano Lesson as a rewriting of the history of black Americans via a new historicist lens. The present research argues that even if the categorical oppression caused by slavery might have ended in the past, the psychological threats caused by oppression still exist and continue to affect the lives and relationships of people of African descent in America. The analysis illuminates how August Wilson rewrites the history of the African American people by equipping his characters and ghosts with self-fashioning and self-cancellation to imagine a better future.
Keywords: Afrofuturism, alternate history, counter-discourse, self-cancellation, self-fashioning.
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Queering Domestic Spaces: Subverting Heteronormativity in Abha Dawesar’s Babyji and Sharmila Mukherjee’s The Green Rose
Li Yan – Dr. Cho Wonil
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 96-102 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.13
This paper investigates the deployment of domestic spaces in contemporary South Asian novels, specifically Abha Dawesar’s Babyji and Sharmila Mukherjee’s The Green Rose, as sites of resistance against prevailing heteronormative structures. Utilizing the theoretical frameworks of queer theory and spatial theory, informed by Judith Butler’s concept of gender performativity and Gaston Bachelard’s poetics of space, this study argues that intimate settings—such as bedrooms, gardens, and closets—are strategically reclaimed to challenge normative expectations. In Babyji, the protagonist Anamika navigates and subverts prescribed desires within the confines of her bedroom, employing bodily rituals to contest the patriarchal scripting of domestic respectability. The Green Rose utilizes the garden as a liminal space wherein lesbian identity intersects with natural imagery, thereby resisting rigid gendered divisions inherent in traditional family structures. Both novels illuminate the ways in which micro-spatial practices—including secret intimacies, symbolic landscapes, and acts of cultural negotiation—disrupt the hegemonic narrative of the “ideal” South Asian home. Ultimately, this paper highlights the significant role of literature in reimagining domesticity as a contested terrain where queer identities can emerge, resist, and redefine prevailing cultural expectations.
Keywords: Queer theory; Spatial theory; South Asian fiction; Domestic spaces; Heteronormativity; Gender performativity
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Wounds, Resilience, and Revolution: Emotional Expression and Social Change in Rupi Kaur’s Poetics of Migration
Dr. Aanchal Arora – Riya Sheokand
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 103-110 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.14
The article explores the relationship between emotion, identity, and power in selected poetry of Rupi Kaur about displacement and migration, particularly from her collection home body (2020). Using Sara Ahmed’s The Cultural Politics of Emotion (2004) as a theoretical framework, the analysis challenges the idea that emotions are not just personal, instead relies on Ahmed’s contention that emotions are socially conditioned and politically productive, influencing the boundaries of community, nation, and identity. Through her work with themes of displacement, cultural memory, and healing, this study explores how Kaur’s art, which is based on her own experiences, simultaneously reflects and challenges socially enforced emotional norms, especially for women and diasporic people.
Keywords: home body, emotions, displacement, The Cultural Politics of Emotion and migration
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Negotiating the Cultural Differences: Immigrant as a Cultural Hybrid in Selected Stories from Tales from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry
Ranjeet Kaur
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 111-117 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.15
Diaspora, transcending national boundaries, has challenged and destabilised the exclusionary notions of cultural identity by fragmenting cultural codes and emphasising cultural plurality and difference. This paper critically analyses selected stories from Tales from Firozshah Baag by Rohinton Mistry to highlight practices of ‘Othering’ and the displacement experienced by an immigrant who feels culturally estranged in his Western host country. Focusing on cultural engagement as well as the alienation of the immigrant from both his old and new cultures, the paper explores how this transcultural space unsettles and disrupts essentialising constructions of identity and creates hybrid identities. The immigrant then uses his cultural hybrid position as a mode of resistance against the power dynamics and regimes of representation that categorize, fix, and view immigrant communities in their host societies.
Keywords: Cultural Difference, Cultural Otherness, Hybrid Identity, In-between Space, Third Space, Cultural Identity, Immigrant
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INDIAN ENGLISH LITERATURE
Representing the Unrepresentable”: Contemplating on the Echoes of Partition Discourse
Dr. Siddhi Tripathi
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 118-125 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.16
Inquiries into the politics of Partition have amply acquired a dominant space in academic discourse. The stronghold of intertwined trajectories of Partition violence, nationhood and communalism for past seven decades in the official narratives has relegated its human experience to an ephemeral occurrence. Majority of Partition literature restricts the representation of trauma by branding the violence as communal insanity that need not be recorded, revisited, and retold. Perhaps, the historians feared that the discussion of this communal cataclysm would herald a similar recurrence. Thus, Partition historiography shunned the existence of the personal testimonies of its victims. The traditional cannon falls short at portraying the historical memory of debilitating loss and horrific trauma which became the truth of its survivors. Only recently have the academicians begun to appreciate the implications of the indelible mark of the memories of violence left on human history. This paper attempts to probe into the unheard echoes of Partition Discourse to investigate the significance of narrativising Partition violence, which has been left behind the shadows.
Keywords: Partition, echoes, testimony, violence, trauma, and memory.
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Voices from the Scrubs: Selected Indian Medical Autobiographies and the Critique of Medical Modernity
Shalini Moorthi
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 126-134 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.17
This paper delves into the unheard illness narratives from the Indian doctor’s scrubs. Thus, it focuses on two autobiographies by Indian physicians, Padma Shri Dr Rajagopal’s Walk with the Weary: Life-Changing Lessons in Healthcare (2022) and Padma Shri Dr Noshir H. Anita’s A Life of Change: The Autobiography of a Doctor (2009). The paper investigates how the selected doctors use life-writing as a forum to critique modern medicine while narrating their lives and times. In a country where illness permeates the quotidian of life, these narratives give away the dehumanising healthcare realities to the public sphere and emphasise the need for holistic healing in the medical sphere. Divided into three sections, the paper probes into the social, clinical, and humane importance of these narratives. It will be done by close reading and thematic analysis of the selected medical autobiographies, relying on the framework of literary studies and the literature and medicine field.
Keywords: Indian Physician autobiographies, life writing, medical technocracy, medical reductionism, medicalisation of life, social aspect of medicine
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Rhetoric of Resistance: A Study of Sarah Joseph’s Budhini and Mahua Maji’s The Toxic Tribal Land of Marang Goda
Apurba Borbora
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 135-143 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.18
Writing can be a powerful form of resistance in the hands of writers intending to bring about change. In contemporary society, environmental resistance grounded on indigenous knowledge, has emerged as a significant concern for the writers in the context of globalization and neoliberalism. Indian writers in vernacular languages as Sarah Joseph and Mahua Maji, effectively voice the issues and perspectives of Indigenous communities worldwide who suffer from pollution, radiation and displacement in the name of resource development. This paper aims to examine Sarah Joseph’s Budhini (translated from Malayalam) alongside Mahua Maji’s The Toxic Tribal Land of Marang Goda (translated from Hindi), as literary texts pleading for resistance against the resource-extractive capitalist model of development. For this purpose, the discussion employs the framework of the rhetoric of resistance and environmentalism of the poor. The paper highlights strategic use of counter-memory, testimony and irony that constitute tools of the rhetoric of resistance in the texts. By doing so, it seeks to uncover the texts’ broader implications in the global fight against ecological destruction and social injustice, underlining literature’s significant role in advocating for the rights of the marginalized communities, and promoting sustainable futures.
Keywords: Rhetoric of Resistance, Environmentalism, Development, Countermemory, Testimony, Irony
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Unmasking the Patriarchal Motherhood: Feminist Pedagogy of Empowered Mothering in Geetanjali Shree’s Mai: Silently Mother
Puja Ghosh – Dr. Averi Mukhopadhyay
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 144-152 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.19
Indian patriarchy shrouds a canopy of ideologies by mythicizing and naturalizing motherhood. In this context, motherhood is the embellished cult of domesticity without the actual scope of empowerment for mother. To relinquish the deified halo of patriarchal motherhood, the empowered mothering is the only feminist pedagogy for resistance. Geetanjali Shree’s debut novel, Mai: Silently Mother, focuses on the darkness under the halo of celebrated motherhood by emphasizing on the need of resisting practice of feminist mothering even in a patriarchal system. Mai, the mother in the novel, nurtures her daughter against the very grain of patriarchal gendered norms. She brings a radical change in the understanding of Indian mothers. The present paper examines how the ideological construct of motherhood is contested emphatically by Mai in the novel.
Keywords: Motherhood, Empowered Mothering, Feminist Pedagogy, Ideology, Feminist Consciousness
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Compromise or Co-optation? Respectable Femininity and Musical Practices in Shashi Deshpande’s Small Remedies
Dr. P. Muralidhar Sharma
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 153-160 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.20
This article intends to examine how music’s internalization of the continued ideological legacies of cultural nationalism and the consolidation of a dominant patriarchy combined to marginalize the woman performer, followed by a radical recasting in more acceptable roles that confirmed to the newly constituted moral standards of the nation-space. Through a reading of Shashi Deshpande’s Small Remedies (2000), the article interests itself in investigating the polemical interventions which ensured that the woman artist did not rise beyond her preordained role as a mere companion and consort to the central icon of the male musical progenitor, a guru or ustad of a gharana. Public representation of women’s musical practices premises itself on a dynamic aesthetics of reclamation that reinforces their respectably married status through emblems like the mangalasutra, reinstating their conformity to conventional, heteronormative structures.
Keywords: Women musicians, Hindusthani music, Small Remedies, gharana, cultural nationalism
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Cultural Conformity and Feminine Struggles: Examining Internalised Misogyny through New Historicism and Collective Unconscious in Shevantibai M. Nikambe’s Ratanbai
Nivedita Pandey – Dr. Pratima Chaitanya
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 161-167 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.21
The study critically examines cultural conformity and internalised misogyny in Nikambe’s Ratanbai, which serves as a site of cultural negotiation, highlighting the tension between tradition and modernity. The paper, framed through the interdisciplinary lenses of Stephen Greenblatt’s New Historicism and Carl Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious, explores the theme of internalised misogyny as experienced by a high-caste Hindu woman in late 19th-century colonial India. Internalised misogyny is not only the result of historical and cultural conditions but also a representation of deep-rooted, archetypal narratives that are embedded in the collective unconscious of a society in transition. Employing the concept of the collective unconscious and situating Ratanbai’s struggles within the context of broader historical transitions, this analysis integrates Stephen Greenblatt’s theory of cultural improvisation, and it evaluates the archetypal and symbolic mechanisms that sustain patriarchal ideologies in the female psyche. The novella offers a multitude of perspectives regarding the interactions of gender, class, culture, and history in colonised India, particularly regarding the dichotomy of traditional obedience and modern self-determination, as well as the themes of education through which women pursue consciousness and the metaphorical framing of Ratanbai’s journey as a moral and spiritual struggle.
Keywords: internalised misogyny, new historicism, collective unconscious, cultural improvisation, archetypes and narratives, patriarchal narratives.
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Jayanta Mahapatra: Poetic Voices of an Experimentalist
Subhi Kumari – Prof. Binod Mishra
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 168-174 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.22
Jayanta Mahapatra is considered among the representative poets without whom the oeuvre of Indian English literature remains incomplete. Drawing pride in his roots and regional identity, Mahapatra’s works are also critical of the outdated aspects of the Indian cultural tradition. He takes the material from his local setting and critically addresses the position of the marginalised. His poems blend past and present, memory and desire, to create a realm of unique realist-aesthetic experience. This article seeks to explore the reasons behind the presence of experimental voices in the select poems of Jayant Mahapatra and how those experiments contribute to opening new realms in the tradition of Indian English poetry. Though Mahapatra’s poetic corpus is too wide, the present paper, in its ambit, analyses select poems like Dawn at Puri, Hunger, Close the Sky, Ten by Ten, A Rain of Rites, Ash and Relationship from different collections to serve its critical purpose.
Keywords: Experimentalist, Jayant Mahapatra, Memory, Silence, Meaninglessness
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Punitive Regularisation of Prohibited Caste Performances in Perumal Murugan’s Pyre
Aazhi Arasi A – Dr. Miruna George
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 175-183 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.23
Contesting the essentialist foundations of identities, postmodernism, staying true to its anti-authoritarian spirit, holds all social identities performative. By extending Judith Butler’s idea of (gender) performativity to the social institution of caste, the performative constitution and regularisation of the identity can be studied, opening new avenues in the field of caste studies. Similar to gender, caste identity is a “performative accomplishment compelled by social sanction and taboo” and caste norms are produced and maintained through sustained processes of disciplinary regularisation. This paper analyses how the prohibited caste performance of exogamy/miscegenation – marrying a member from another caste – is punished through punitive measures in Perumal Murugan’s novel Pyre. Set within the theoretical framework of Judith Butler’s performativity, Michel Foucault’s disciplinary measures and B R Ambedkar’s caste mechanisms, the paper attempts to understand caste operation in Tamil Nadu, a microcosm of the larger Indian society, as represented in the text.
Keywords: Caste performativity, punitive measures, Tamil society, endogamy, prohibition
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A Study of Gendered Trauma and Narrative Resistance in Danesh Rana’s Red Maize
Gurpreet Kour – Dr. Ankdeep Kaur Attwal – Dr. Baljeet Kaur
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 184-189 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.24
This study explores how ordinary individuals—particularly women—are victimised by state and insurgent violence in conflict-ridden regions, with a focus on Danesh Rana’s novel Red Maize (2015). Drawing on Rana’s lived experience as a police officer in the violence-torn Doda district during the late 1990s, the novel offers an intimate portrayal of trauma and survival amid geopolitical turmoil. The paper analyses the novel’s depiction of gendered trauma, alternating narrative voices, symbolic representations such as the maize crop, and the roles of female agency and resilience in a militarised zone. Through a trauma-theoretical lens, this paper examines how Red Maize functions as a site of resistance literature that illuminates both individual suffering and collective resilience.
Keywords: Kashmir conflict, gendered trauma, resistance, violence.
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New Materialist Human–nonhuman ‘Intra-action’ and Disentanglement of Partition’s Unspeakable Memory: A Posthuman Reading of Geetanjali Shree’s Tomb of Sand
Rabeya Khatun
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 190-197 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.25
Posthumanism and new materialism radically decentralizes, interrogates and reconceptualizes the universalized privileging notion of human anthropocentric autonomy and subsequently eradicate the anthropocentric binary between human and the non-human. This binary is dismantled through the concepts such as Karen Barad’s new materialist onto-epistemology of ‘intra-action’ and Stacy Alaimo’s posthuman ‘trans-corporeality’. Each concept highlights the embeddedness and mutual interdependence of human and the non-human, and through this intra-action of interference a new diffractive configuration emerges. Trauma theorists like Cathy Caruth present the notion of unspeakability of the traumatic memories. Partition genocide rendered the traumatic memories of survivors unspeakable due to the overwhelming intensity of psychological pain. The article reads Geetanjali Shree’s Tomb of Sand through the concept of ‘intra-action’ to recalibrate a new, complex diffractive entanglement of speakability that undermines the utter despondency encompassing the inexpressibility of partition memory. The present paper focuses on the role of non-human objects in generating the sequestered memories of partition violence that distorted the speaking power of the partition survivor, Ma, in the novel. It also incorporates Rosi Braidotti’s posthuman notion of interconnectedness of human and non-human to facilitate the role of intra-acting agencies, which reflect how the trope of contiguousness between the protagonist Ma, and non-human entities lifts the veil of horrific partition memory.
Keywords: Intra-action, Diffraction, Trans-corporeality, Posthumanism, New materialism, Partition Memory.
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Womb-on-Rent: Surrogacy and Ethical Dilemmas in Madhavi Mahadevan’s Bride of the Forest
Ms Supriya Maity – Dr Pragya Shukla
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 198-205 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.26
The paper focuses on Drishadvati (also known as Madhavi), a character rooted in the Indian epic Mahabharata and arguably the earliest instance of ‘womb-on-rent.’ Analysing Madhavi’s journey as a surrogate mother offers a thoughtful commentary on the emotional and psychological challenges faced by those who choose to become surrogate mothers. The paper integrates real-life experiences documented by scholars and highlights the commodification and devaluation of women in surrogacy. By juxtaposing emotional strains, dehumanisation, and objectification with narratives of love and intimacy articulated by some surrogates, the article advocates for ethical considerations and the establishment of robust support mechanisms for womb renters.
Keywords: Surrogacy, ethical dilemmas, autonomy, motherhood, challenges
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Resistance Ecologies: Interlocking Power Struggle among Rulers, Subjects, and Drones in Manjula Padmanabhan’s Escape
Sachin Kumar – Dr. Aditya Prakash
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 206-213 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.27
This article investigates how power and resistance play out in Manjula Padmanabhan’s Escape (2008) between authoritarian Generals and their people and among the oppressed, considering human-drone hierarchies. The study examines important characters—Meiji, her uncles, and the drones—and finds that resistance manifests as overt disobedience, covert subversion, and intra-group conflict. While Youngest and Meiji’s escape indicates tactical resistance, their privileged position raises concerns about the underprivileged who remain behind. The drones’ paradoxical autonomy undermines traditional power dynamics by demonstrating posthuman agency within oppressive systems. The study contends that Escape deconstructs binary notions of oppressor and oppressed, instead portraying resistance as cyclical and intrinsically unstable. This study combines feminist perspectives, Foucault’s biopower, and contemporary theories to provide a sociopolitical reading of Padmanabhan’s apocalyptic narrative.
Keywords: Manjula Padmanabhan, Escape, Resistance, Dystopia, Power
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Negotiating Masculinity: The Performance of Gender in Anubha Yadav’s The Anger of Saintly Men
Dr. M. S. Veena
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 214-220 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.28
This paper examines masculinity in Anubha Yadav’s The Anger of Saintly Men through Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity. By analysing the characters of the father and his three sons Sonu, Anu, and Vicky, the study argues that masculine identities are not inherent, but are produced and maintained through repeated, socially regulated acts. Set within a patriarchal lower middle-class Indian household, the novel depicts masculinity as fragile, shaped by negotiations around control, dominance, and heterosexual competence. The paper interrogates how these expectations manifest in familial roles, sexual conduct and silence, and how moments of failure, shame, or quiet resistance reveal masculinity as a contested and evolving identity.
Keywords: masculinity, anger, submission, patriarchy, performance
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Raskolnikov and the Murder: A Deleuzian Reframing of Crime and Punishment
Dr. Shivshankar Rajmohan AK – Aiswarya Sureshan
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 221-228 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.29
The paper attempts to provide a detailed and systematic analysis of one of the most celebrated characters of Dostoevsky, Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment. It examines the act of crime committed by Raskolnikov through the theoretical frame provided by Deleuze and Guttari. To be precise, the paper employs the notion of rhizome and paranoia to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of Raskolnikov’s motivations for his nerve chilling acts of crime. The paper intends to study the notion of crime in detail. It juxtaposes the fictional text with the actual discussions on crime and punishment that happened in Russia during and after the publication of the novel. It also intends to analyse the nature of ‘repentance’ experienced by Raskolnikov.
Keywords: Dostoevsky, Deleuze, Crime and Punishment, rhizome, paranoia, territorialisation
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Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Abrogation of English Language: A Critique
Dr. Sandeep Kaur Brar
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 229-236 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.30
Ngugi wa Thiong’o is a significant figure in postcolonial theory associated with the abrogation of English language. For him, language is not only a means of communication but also an agent that carries the weight of civilization. It is through language that culture develops, articulates, and transmits itself from one generation to another. He is the pioneer of linguistic decolonization, staunchly advocating for a definitive stop to the pervasive spread of English, especially in postcolonial countries, where English was previously a language of oppression. For him, English is a colonial language rather than a neutral means of communication. Realising this, he abrogated English language and shifted to Gikuyu, his mother tongue after seventeen years of engagement with this colonial language. The present paper seeks to offer a critical analysis of Ngugi’s decision to reject English language as a means to achieve decolonization. Furthermore, it posits that his assertion regarding writing exclusively in native languages may not be universally applicable, particularly in regions such as Africa, where English language serves as a unifying force. Also, English language has been effectively utilised by African writers as a tool of resistance and self-empowerment to challenge hegemonic discourses.
Keywords: Abrogation, Appropriation, Decolonisation, English Language, Hybridity, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Mimicry
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Narrative Trauma and Resilience in Radwa Ashour’s The Woman from Tantoura
Dr. Jasleen Kaur Sahota – Simran Jaideep Kour
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 237-245 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.31
The world has witnessed multiple wars since the last century. These, including the Holocaust and Nakba have left innumerable individuals traumatised and displaced. The present paper will examine The Woman from Tantoura by Radwa Ashour through the prism of trauma theories of Cathy Caruth and Judith Herman. The discussion will revolve around the persona of Ruqayya whose tale of suffering and trauma symbolise the plight of many Palestinians who witnessed Nakba and its long-term devastating effects on their lives. This paper explores how trauma is constructed and manifested through fragmented memory, enforced silence and the act of witnessing, ultimately enabling the protagonist to reclaim agency over her narrative. The paper will also analyse Peirre Nora’s concept of sites of memories and explicate the novel as a site for the collective memory of Palestinian displacement, resistance, and survival. By doing so, the study underscores the political and emotional significance of narrative as a medium of memory, mourning, and resilience in post-Nakba Palestinian literature.
Keywords: Memory, Forgetting, Trauma, Nakba, Sites of memory.
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Literary Symbolism of Wind in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist
Dr. Rajat Sebastian
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 246-251 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.32
Paulo Coelho’s works are known for their motivational qualities and the use of literary symbolism. Regarded as a work that inspires its readers, his novel The Alchemist narrates the troublesome journey of a young shepherd boy searching for a treasure, guided by omens and natural signs to succeed. As Coelho used various natural elements as signs and symbols throughout The Alchemist, the symbolism of wind stands out in the novel. This research paper closely analyses how the natural element wind symbolises spiritual influx in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. It further probes the complexity of symbolising wind in the context of natural signs.
Keywords: Fiction, Novel, Paulo Coelho, Symbol, Wind, The Alchemist
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Indian Diaspora in Mauritius: Recreating Home in Ananda Devi’s Pagli
Ms. M. Mohanalakshmi – Dr. T. Priya
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 252-259 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.33
The Indian diaspora in Mauritius, shaped by centuries of migration and indentured labour continues to maintain strong ties to its ancestral heritage. The Hindu religion serves as a vital cultural anchor for the Indian community in Mauritius with its rituals, customs and traditions helping to maintain a strong sense of cultural identity within the island’s diverse multicultural society. Ananda Devi is a prominent Francophone writer who navigates the cultural landscapes of the Indian diaspora in Mauritius. This paper explores the cultural dynamics of the Indian diaspora as manifest in Ananda Devi’s Pagli, by drawing from the theories of Avtar Brah, Paolo Boccagni, and Stuart Hall. The paper attempts to highlight how the Indo-Mauritians recreate home through their rituals, traditions, and customs to establish a sense of belonging and connection to their homeland, Mother India.
Keywords: Homing, Hindu cultural practices, ancestral heritage, Indian diaspora
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Echoes of Displacement and Unravelling Scars: A Poetic Exploration of the Refugees in Jean Arasanayagam’s Apocalypse ‘83
Samuel Gnanaraj. R
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 260-269 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.34
Jean Arasanayagam’s Apocalypse ‘83 paints a stark portrait of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict through
the lens of poetry. This paper delves into the verses, using them as a gateway to comprehend
the profound hardships encountered by Sri Lankan refugees. By exploring their memories, the
analysis goes beyond the battlefield, illuminating the human cost of war and the psychological
impact on civilians. The paper examines how these refugees remember their struggles, aiming to
unearth the historical context embedded within the poems. Through this exploration, the research
sheds light on the social fabric of these minority groups and the deep injustices they endured.
Ultimately, the analysis focuses on the refugees’ journey, using their memories to reclaim their
identities shattered by war.
Keywords: Identity, Memory, Refugee, Sri Lanka, Trauma.
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From Ink to Pixels: How Digital Media is Revolutionizing Traditional Manga
Gautam Bala – Bhawna Singh
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 270-227 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.35
Digital media has changed the way traditional manga is created and shared. It has introduced new tools and methods into the process of manga-making. This paper looks at how these new changes are transforming the manga industry. These include the use of digital software to create manga and the rise of online comics (webtoons). The transition from hand-drawn methods to modern production tools has forever changed the landscape for the manga industry. This paper explores how digital technologies affect the artists who create manga works. This paper also focuses on how these stories are told and how readers interact with manga. This paper shows that while digital media presents some challenges to traditional manga, it also offers exciting new opportunities for creativity and reaching audiences around the world.
Keywords: Manga, Digital Media, Online Comics, Creativity, Reader Interaction.
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PERFORMANCE STUDIES
Beyond the Verdict: Understanding the Subjectivities of Justice Frameworks through Primal Fear
Upasana Sarangi – Dr. Swati Samantaray
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 278-286 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.36
This study examines how Primal Fear (Prime 1996) directed by Gregory Hoblit problematises the ability of traditional justice frameworks in addressing crimes rooted in institutionalised power imbalances. The film uses its intricate narrative structure, nuanced characterisation, and psychological depth to challenge the presumed objectivity and moral authority of the legal apparatus. Central to this exploration is the protagonist Aaron Stampler, whose disrupted mental state not only destabilises the juridical certainties but also transforms trauma into a performative and ambiguous spectacle. The film’s depiction of the legal proceedings reveals the tension between truth and the power holding authorities who attempt to conceal it. Hence, the study adopts an interdisciplinary approach, by situating the film within the realm of law, mental health, and cinematic representations of justice. Finally, it argues that the film offers a potent critique of how legal institutional responses to psychological and social complexities often reinforce, rather than redress, systemic inequities.
Keywords: justice frameworks, mental health, interdisciplinary research, law and cinema, social structures
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Redreaming the Doll House: Escaping Panopticon of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie
Dr. Urvi Sharma
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 287-289 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.37
This paper assesses how Greta Gerwig’s Barbie provides a multi-layered critique of gender and power dynamics to enable continuous re-examination and societal change in the real world. It analyses the relationship between power and knowledge to assess how the visit of Barbie and Ken into a real (patriarchal) world alter the structure of panoptics in the Barbie world. The paper undertakes a critical analysis of the movie and purviews its cultural dynamics, specifically with an emphasis on gender performances and gender roles. In addition, Juliet Mitchell’s feminist analysis of the characters and their behavioural patterns under the lens of psychoanalysis is studied to interpret the gender roles and the significance of their enactment in the movie. The intersection of these approaches helps in contextualising the power-dynamics of complex gender representation in the given text within broader socio-cultural frameworks.
Keywords: Barbie, Panopticon, Foucault, Gender, Feminism, Patriarchy
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Black Sheep of the Future: Posthumanism, Otherness, and Identity in Automata and Chappie
Dr. Bibin Sebastian
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 295-303 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.38
This paper explores the representation of posthumanism, otherness, and identity in the science fiction films Automata (2014) and Chappie (2015). Drawing on theoretical frameworks from N. Katherine Hayles and others, it examines how these films challenge essentialist notions of humanness by depicting posthuman figures as both a continuation of and a challenge to human identity. Through close analysis of key scenes and dialogues, the study highlights how embodiment, consciousness, and autonomy are central to the construction of posthuman subjectivity. The films are shown to reflect contemporary anxieties and aspirations regarding technological advancement, raising questions about agency, control, and the ethics of artificial life. Ultimately, the paper argues that science fiction cinema serves as a vital space for reimagining the boundaries of humanity, prompting critical reflection on the future of identity in an increasingly technologized world. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.
Keywords: Posthumanism, Science Fiction Film, Artificial Intelligence, Otherness, Identity
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Narratives of Neglect and Nurturance: The Discourse on Elder Care in Malayalam Cinema
Dr. Neethu Mary Tomy
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 304-313 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.39
This scholarly inquiry situated within the theoretical framework of literary gerontology, delves into the multifaceted representation of ageing in post-2020 Malayalam cinema. It critically examines how cinematic portrayals intersect with broader societal discourses and cultural narratives concerning senescence. Within the purview of literary gerontology, a diachronic examination of ageing narratives across ages and cultures reveals a persistent tension between reductive stereotypes and complex, individualized portrayals. The purpose of this study would be to question the ‘claims’ of the ageing narratives that forcefully associate old age with weakness and decline. Through a rigorous analysis of key films, including Jananam 1947; Pranayam Thudarunnu and Home, the paper explores the recurring themes, characters, and narrative structures that characterize the representation of ageing in the cinematic landscape of Kerala.
By examining these films, the paper contributes to a broader understanding of the ways in which Malayalam cinema has contributed to a more nuanced and inclusive representation of ageing. It also raises important questions about the role of cinema in shaping societal attitudes towards old age and the challenges faced by older adults, inviting further scholarly exploration and critical engagement.
Keywords: Literary Gerontology, Malayalam cinema, Ageing, Representation, Subversion.
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Desiring Otherwise: Reading Asexual Counter Narratives in Desire?
Anila Anandan – Dr Shyamkiran Kaur
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 314-322 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.40
Desire? is a 30-minute Indian documentary directed by Garima Kaul that has been screened at several international festivals, including the Scottish Queer International Film Festival and the Glasgow Short Film Festival. This performance-based documentary focuses on asexuality- an often-overlooked identity in both mainstream and queer discussions. It challenges the dominant idea that sexuality must always involve desire or attraction by bringing forward the real-life experiences of asexual individuals in India. Through personal stories, visual performances, and reflective narration, the film questions how society defines desire and normalises sexual behaviour. This paper uses queer theory to analyze how Desire? opens up space for thinking differently about sexuality in Indian culture. It argues that the film helps to reimagine desire as something that does not have to fit into fixed or conventional categories. By doing so, it gives visibility to asexual voices and highlights the need to broaden our understanding of sexual identities.
Keywords: Asexuality, Queer Theory, Indian Documentary, Desire, Sexual Norms, Representation
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Re-thinking the Economy of Labour/Leisure, Ambition and the Body in the Lyrical World of Param Sundari
Krishanu Dhar – Prof. Alpna Saini
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 323-331 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.41
Desire? is a 30-minute Indian documentary directed by Garima Kaul that has been screened at several international festivals, including the Scottish Queer International Film Festival and the Glasgow Short Film Festival. This performance-based documentary focuses on asexuality- an often-overlooked identity in both mainstream and queer discussions. It challenges the dominant idea that sexuality must always involve desire or attraction by bringing forward the real-life experiences of asexual individuals in India. Through personal stories, visual performances, and reflective narration, the film questions how society defines desire and normalises sexual behaviour. This paper uses queer theory to analyze how Desire? opens up space for thinking differently about sexuality in Indian culture. It argues that the film helps to reimagine desire as something that does not have to fit into fixed or conventional categories. By doing so, it gives visibility to asexual voices and highlights the need to broaden our understanding of sexual identities.
Keywords: Asexuality, Queer Theory, Indian Documentary, Desire, Sexual Norms, Representation
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Decoding the complexity of Identity and Upbringing in Anvita Dutt’s Qala
Dr. Rashi Srivastava
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 332-339 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.42
Identity and association are some of the key aspects that govern life of an individual. Human intricacies generate curiosity among academicians which leads them to explore the human psyche. Qala, a Hindi film released in the year 2022 deals with many human follies and intricacies. Set in the late 1930s and early 1940s, it is the story of the eponymous character, Qala Manjushree, who wants to make a career in the music industry. But, amidst the fame and glory of the music world, Qala’s suppressed and subdued emotions keeps haunting her. The story deals with the issues of upbringing, identity, gender, patriarchy, mental health and complexity of human psychology, which had intrigued the audience. Through psychoanalytic theory of Freud and John Bowlby’s theory of attachment, the paper aims to explore the identity crisis and suffocation of Qala and also her mother, which often is a result of a troubled upbringing.
Keywords: Identity, Upbringing, Psychology, Mental Health, Patriarchy
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LITERARY DISCOURSE
Discourse on the Poetics of Planetary Water: A Study on Blue Humanities
Dr. Preethamol MK
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 340-346 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.43
The article introduces the concept of Blue Humanities, its scope and magnitude in today’s interdisciplinary and fluid literary scenario. Being relatively a recent trend, the article explains the rubrics of planetary water, the need to educate ourselves in oceanic literacy, and about resetting our relationship with marine life. The contingency to manage our marine environment for sustainable development and to conserve biodiversity are inevitable spectrums in the dynamics of oceanic deliberations. ‘Biophilia’ can be traced back to a very long past, but with changes that has happened to the planet, oceanic narrative is an imperative discourse in literary circles. The modern shift in the narrative dimension thus is from the green to the blue, from land to the ocean. The article also touches on the recent discussions and imperatives in blue humanities as being part of environmental humanities.
Keywords: Blue humanities, fluidity, conservation, water centric thinking, oceanic studies, environmental humanities
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Medical Humanism and the Female Body: Rewriting Science in Nawal El Saadawi’s Fiction
Dr Chitra Jha – Mrs Jyoti Kumari
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 347-355 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.44
The rise of Medical Humanities in the last several decades has posed a challenge to biomedicine’s hegemony by placing an emphasis on the ways in which narrative, culture, and illness all interact. Memoirs, autobiographies, pathographies, and sickness narratives—life writings that shed light on the social and emotional aspects of suffering that clinical medicine frequently ignores—are at the heart of this multidisciplinary field. Books like The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby stress the need of speaking up and taking control when one’s body is vulnerable. They serve as a sobering reminder that the medical field is both a science and a deeply human endeavour, impacted by the forces of politics, history, and power dynamics. Nawal El Saadawi, an Egyptian doctor, feminist, and writer, occupies a special position in this international framework. By combining her literary skills with her activism and medical training, she turns the female body into a place of resistance and oppression, where scientific discourses meet the lived experiences of gender and power. Using Memoirs of a Woman Doctor (1958), Woman at Point Zero (1975), and Two Women in One (1983), three of Saadawi’s foundational works, this study examines how her fiction reimagines healing as a feminist, ethical, and narrative activity, challenging patriarchal conceptions of medicine. Analysing Saadawi’s work closely, it contends that she reveals how the clinical gaze of medicine separates women from their bodies while also providing them with story as a tool for survival and reclaiming it. Focussing on Saadawi’s narrative techniques—testimonial framing, symbolism of dissection and doubling, first-person confession, and fragmentation of voice—this reading draws on theoretical frameworks from Michel Foucault, Elaine Scarry, Susan Sontag, and more contemporary feminist thinkers like Sara Ahmed and Chandra Mohanty. Saadawi dramatises the reclaiming of agency by women in areas meant to silence them by centring the voices of her protagonists, who range from the estranged doctor to the convicted prisoner and the split student. This study concludes by situating Saadawi within the broader feminist medical humanities movement and demonstrating how her writings offer new opportunities for narrative medicine while also criticising institutional brutality. Reimagining the female body in literature as a means to reshape the world is a potent act, and her fiction shows that healing requires empathy, justice, and voice.
Keywords: Body, Gaze, Gender, Illness, Medicine, Voice, Woman
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BOOK REVIEWS
Shuchi Agrawal’s Navigating Boundaries: A Comprehensive Study of Postcolonial Theory and Literature
Dr. Swaraj Raj
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 356-359 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.45
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Bhagyashree Varma’s Siesta: Poetic Vignettes of a Solitary Thinker as Memoir of the Self
Diwakar Anant Patankar
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 360-365 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.46
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Tara’s Truce by Kavita Kane
Sunny Kumar
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 366-368 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59136/lv.2026.26.1.47
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POETRY
A Disguise in Affection
Ashes that Refuse Silence
Sometimes, I Resist: Poetics of Survival
Sanjida Sah
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 369-370
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Curiositea
Iridescence
Yet When the Shooter Says “Cheese!”
(A New Year Struggle)
Dr. Teresita D. Tajolosa
Literary Voice | Number-26, Volume-1 | March 2026 | Page 371-372
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