Volume 10 Number 6 (November 11)

The Trauma and Self-purification of Lester Farley in The Human Stain

Ren Shuyi

Philip Roth’s The Human Stain uses Lester Farley, a traumatized Vietnam veteran, to expose America’s human stain-the moral corruption festering beneath postwar society. This paper argues that Farley’s transformation from idealistic soldier to murderer is not a personal failure but a systemic indictment. Through fragmented trauma narratives, Roth reveals how Farley’s war-induced PTSD collides with societal abandonment, culminating in his targeting of Coleman Silk, the symbol of the success and discourse power Farley is denied. The ice-fishing finale, where Zuckerman’s silence replaces legal judgment, becomes Roth’s ultimate critique: America’s violence and hypocrisy, not individual pathology, birthed Farley’s tragedy. By synthesizing trauma theory, cultural criticism, and masculinity studies, this analysis reframes Farley as Roth’s tragic vessel for condemning national amnesia and cyclical violence.

From Verona to Almore: Locating Cultural Hybridity in Habib Faisal’s Film Ishaqzaade

Mayukh Mondal

The presence of William Shakespeare in India is older and maybe more multifaceted than in any other country outside the Western world. Over the past few decades, Shakespeare’s reputation has been established in India through various film adaptations of his works in different languages. Although both adaptation and appropriation involve reimagining Shakespeare's works, adaptation seeks to maintain a connection to the original material while creating something new, whereas appropriation entails repurposing Shakespearean elements to convey completely different meanings or serve alternative artistic visions. This article will examine Habib Faisal’s Hindi film Ishaqzaade (2012) to unveil cultural hybridity. When adapting Shakespeare to the silver screen, Bollywood or Hindi film industry plays a dominant role, although Shakespeare has been adapted to other regional languages like Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, and so on. The regional language adaptations of Shakespeare try to capture the local colour through Shakespeare, as does the Bollywood film industry. This paper explores how Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been converted into a prolific site for the cinematic survey of the cultural hybridity of the Hindi-speaking people of India.

The Deconstruction of the US Government During the COVID-19 Pandemic Using Pictorial Metaphor -- Take Wuhe Qilin CG Cartoon “White House Painter” as an Example

Zihan Wang

The rise of social media and the advancement of digital technology have opened new avenues for the global dissemination of digital political cartoons and the construction of public opinion fields. Digital political cartoons consistently engage in the construction of ideology-laden metaphors, employing sophisticated artistic techniques and rich visual discourse to generate significant value in international communication and public opinion guidance. They also provide new perspectives and channels for the construction and expression of national image. This paper adopts a visual metaphor research approach to analyze the types of image metaphors utilized in Wuhe Qilin’s digital political cartoon White House Painter. Through five distinct metaphorical categories—“text-derived visual metaphor,” “metaphor of difference,” “light metaphor,” “color metaphor,” and “multi-element interaction metaphor”—the study examines its content presentation, value orientation, and communicative effects. It further explores diverse forms of deconstructing the U.S. national image and offers new insights for the construction and expression of China’s national image within social networks.

Tribal culture and Marginalisation as depicted in Kocharethi: The Araya Woman

Dr. Vinitha Vakkayil

Kocharethi: The Araya Woman is a mouthpiece of the life, the ways and practices of Malayarayars, the tribal people who abide in the Western Ghats of Kerala. The paper employs a thematic and discourse analysis by keeping a cultural and environmental perspective. It is also a tale of interdependence between nature and culture and resists the misrepresentations of the community. The poor and ignorant people of Araya community are evicted from their land and their resistance is crushed down ruthlessly. Lack of awareness and accessibility to standard health facilities coupled with alcoholism add misery to their lives. Natural disasters make them all the more vulnerable to the exploitation of upper caste money lenders who are better organised.

Intercultural Communication Conflicts and Competence Enhancement from Multicultural Dimensions: An Empirical Analysis Based on Cross-Cultural Cases

Yun Yilin

Against the background of globalization and the intensive implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, the frequency and depth of intercultural communication have reached an unprecedented level, making communication conflicts caused by cultural differences a core issue that must be addressed in fields such as international Chinese education. Grounded in Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory, Ting-Toomey's Face-Negotiation Theory, and Berry's Intercultural Competence Model, this study takes the researcher's firsthand cross-cultural interaction cases involving China-South Korea, China-U.S., and China-Italy dyads (with the researcher assuming the roles of event organizer, Chinese language teacher, and international student respectively) as empirical samples. It systematically analyzes the influence mechanisms of key cultural dimensions—including power distance, individualism versus collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation—on communicative behaviors in international Chinese education scenarios. The findings indicate that cognitive biases derived from insufficient perception of cultural dimension differences constitute the primary source of intercultural communication conflicts, while three-dimensional strategies consisting of systematic cultural cognition construction, targeted empathic ability training, and scenario-based behavioral adjustment are key pathways to enhancing intercultural communication competence. Following an analytical logic of "theoretical framework construction–case empirical validation–enhancement path refinement," this paper not only supplements empirical evidence for the application of cross-cultural communication theories in international Chinese education but also provides actionable practical guidance for Chinese language teachers, international education managers, and overseas students, thereby enriching the empirical research system of intercultural communication in the field of international Chinese education.

Navigating Autonomy and Consumer Culture: Postfeminist Identity in Sophie Kinsella’s Confessions of a Shopaholic

Dr Phiona Elizabeth Joshy

This paper examines how chick lit serves as a vibrant literary platform for articulating and interrogating postfeminist ideologies. Through a detailed analysis of seminal works such as Sophie Kinsella’s Confessions of a Shopaholic, the study explores how postfeminism emphasis on autonomy, individual choice, and flexible gender roles is reflected and complicated within the genre. The article investigates the genre’s negotiation of family, romance, and career—arguing that chick lit heroines embody the anxieties and opportunities faced by modern women who must manoeuvre self-presentation, financial independence, and relationship ideals in a market-driven, pluralist society.

Exploring Man-Animals Relationship through the Lens of Zoocriticism in the Novel the Alchemist

Noor Muhammad, Dr. Rafiq Nawab, Muhammad Ramzan

This study scrutinizes Paulo Coelho’s novel The Alchemist (1988) from a zoocritical perspective. It focuses on themes such as man-animal relationships, interconnections, interdependence, mutual understanding, and moral and ethical problems related to animals. The man-animal relationship is one of the most important relations in the world, they are connected in different ways, and can impact each other lives to a great extent. They rely on each other for their coexistence in the ecosystem to keep the balance of the ecosphere. Furthermore, it investigates the violation of animal rights and delves into the moral and ethical considerations of animals because animals are considered inferior to human beings. By applying a qualitative method for the analysis of man-animal relationships in the novel. This study reexamines The Alchemist from the perspective of animal studies, adding to the expanding field of zoocriticism. It draws attention to the ways that literature both challenges and upholds prevailing narratives about nonhuman life, providing fresh perspectives on the moral implications of storytelling. This study ultimately promotes a more sophisticated interpretation of animal representation in literature. Using Huggan & Tiffin, work as a theoretical framework interpret how the man-animal relationship is important and how often human considers animals as others in the ecosystem. This study presents the contribution of literary fiction and the impacts of literature on the representation of animals, challenges and advocates for animal rights.

The Colonial Narrative and Postcolonial Interpretation of Robinson Crusoe

Yaru Meng

This article takes the classic colonial literary work of the 18th century, Robinson Crusoe, as the research object. By analyzing the historical background of British colonial expansion in the 18th century and Defoe’s life experiences, and applying post-colonialist theory, it delves deeply into the colonialist logic contained in the novel from two dimensions: narrative construction of colonialism and post-colonialist criticism. The research found that Defoe legitimized Robinson’s colonial behavior by using colonial narrative strategies such as civilization, language and religion through the character of Robinson, and revealed the process of Friday’s “otherization” and cultural transformation by means of the binary opposition framework of “self and other”. In his novels, Defoe not only participated in the construction of colonial discourse but also implicitly criticized the injustice of the maritime empire through Robinson’s experience on the deserted island, conveying modern reflections and presenting to readers the inherent contradictions and ideological tensions of colonial narratives.

Negotiating Power and Identity: A Post-Colonial Discourse of Robinson Crusoe and The Tempest

Md. Nurul Haque, Israt Jahan, Sumona Sharmin, Sarah Tabassum

This study delves into the nuanced dimensions of post-colonial identity within Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Navigating the turbulent seas of colonialism and imperialism, the narratives unravel the human repercussions of external dominance and economic exploitation of indigenous communities. Drawing on Edward Said's Orientalism (1978), the research adeptly employs a balanced application of colonial and postcolonial theories to analyze the transformation of the protagonists, Robinson and Prospero, from isolation to mastery after saving their respective servants. The exploration emphasizes the depiction of colonizers appropriating native lands, altering traditions, and shaping intricate dynamics between master and servant, challenging prevailing authorial perspectives on race, gender, and ethnicity. Key findings uncover issues of subjugation, religious conversion, power abuse, dominance, and linguistic hegemony within the context of power politics. This research contributes to a nuanced understanding of the interplay between colonizer and colonized, enriching literary discourse and fostering a comprehensive understanding of postcolonial identity in these literary masterpieces.

Studying the Representation of ‘Desi’ Queers in Select Graphic Texts from the 21st Century

Sreya Bhattacharya

Focusing on the limited amount of Indian and Indian origin/desi representation in comics and graphic novels, especially its emergence and popularization in the last two decades, this dissertation seeks to explore the portrayal of LGBTQIA+ people in India and Indian originated community in graphic literature and also contextualises these graphic texts in the light of the anti LGBTQIA+ legal and social environments in India and Indian originated communities, and further situates them within a larger arc of representation of queer story in the Indian and Indian originated community. The primary texts under examination are printed graphic novels and Indian comics anthologies in India like Kari (2008), Apsara Engine (2021), Jukebox (2021), Keeping in mind the timeline and contemporary ages and society's treatment of the queer people especially in India, it mainly focuses on why there is a lack of representation of queer people, especially ‘Desi’ queer people in comics and graphic novels, the accuracy of the representation, their treatment & acceptance in the society as shown in these graphic novels, & how the narrative for the desi queer people changes over the years post 2000s? Also interestingly, why do so many authors often take the help of mythology and alternate realities to portray the stories of queer people in their graphic novels instead of portraying them in reality? Alongside these grounds, this dissertation will also take on how these queer graphic novels challenge the cis-heteropatriarchal norms of the society.

Who Shaped the Renaissance? — The Path of Artistic Revival from the Perspective of Patrons' Social Roles

Zhang Changchang

During the Renaissance, literary and artistic creation reached its peak level, fostering literature and artists represented by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and others, and creating classic works that will be remembered for generations to come. However, the works of this period could not have achieved such splendour without the contribution of patrons. These patrons provided funding and shelter for artists, so many artists travelled to Rome to exchange ideas and produce a large number of works of art, while patrons were able to enhance their political status and increase their social influence through patronage. Together they propelled the Renaissance to greatness. Taking the Renaissance as the research background, this paper takes patrons as the research object. Firstly, according to the social status of patrons in this period, they are classified into three categories, the church, the nobility and the guilds. Secondly, the psychological activities of the patrons and their potential purposes and motives are analysed through specific examples of patronage. Finally, the influences that patrons brought to literary and artistic works are explored. This paper aims to reveal the central role of the patronage system in the cultural ecology of the Renaissance and to provide a new perspective for understanding the interaction between art and social structures.

Gender, Power, and Prophecy: Reimagining the Feminine in Macbeth

Dr. Sarbani Sankar Panigrahi

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy deeply saturated with anxieties surrounding gender, power, and the instability of identity. The play’s portrayal of Lady Macbeth and the Weird Sisters disrupts conventional early modern notions of femininity, positioning women as both the source and the threat of male ambition. Through acts of prophecy, persuasion, and defiance, these figures blur the boundaries between masculine authority and feminine transgression. This article employs a feminist-critical framework, supported by psychoanalytic and new historicist perspectives, to interrogate how Macbeth reimagines the feminine as a locus of power that is simultaneously subversive and contained. Lady Macbeth’s invocation to “unsex me here” and the witches’ manipulative prophecies illustrate how female voice and agency are rendered both potent and perilous within a patriarchal world order. Ultimately, the play’s resolution reasserts masculine control, yet the haunting presence of feminine power continues to destabilize that authority. By examining the intersections of prophecy, gender, and ambition, this study contributes to Shakespearean and feminist scholarship by illuminating Macbeth as a text that stages not only the fear of female dominance but also the persistent allure of feminine knowledge and autonomy.

Unionism at Wesleyan University Philippines (WUP): The WUP Faculty and Staff Association (WUPFSA) Experience

This research investigated the experiences of union members from Wesleyan University Philippines (WUP) based on the WUP Faculty and Staff Association (WUPFSA). Employing a descriptive research design, the research sought to determine the advantages gained from being a member of the union and challenges faced by its members during the 2024–2025 academic year. A sample of 108 respondents was chosen using simple random sampling. The information indicated that union members agreed overwhelmingly that unionism had a favorable effect, with most in agreement that the union successfully guards members' rights, tends to specific needs, and reinforces a good sense of unity and fellow feeling among workers. The most highly recognized value was the perception of unity and belonging that comes with union membership, followed by its ability to negotiate improved working conditions and enhance employee morale and job satisfaction. While these are noted in positive terms, union members also reported moderate difficulties that affect their experiences. Some of the outstanding issues were recurrent resistance from the administration in putting agreed-upon benefits in place, communication breakdowns between the university administration and the union, and uncertainty regarding job security. The enforcement of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) also became an ongoing issue. These results imply that although the union is generally effective in providing assistance and enhancing solidarity, there remains a need to streamline communication avenues and maintain consistent enforcement of agreements. In general, the research indicates both the positive contribution of unionism at WUP as well as areas in need of strategic focus to improve labor relations and organizational harmony further.

Professors’ Feedback Strategies for Correcting Syntactic Errors in EFL Students’ Writing: A Qualitative Study

Dr Khalil Hsoune

Effective feedback is a cornerstone of second language writing instruction, particularly in addressing syntactic errors that hinder students’ linguistic development and communicative competence. This study investigates the strategies employed by university EFL professors to correct syntactic errors in students’ written compositions. Using a qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve EFL professors from diverse non-native English-speaking university contexts. Data were analysed using thematic coding in NVivo software, revealing four primary feedback strategies: direct correction and explanation, encouragement fostering autonomous learning, individualized feedback tailored to student needs, and varied feedback approaches. The study situates these strategies within the theoretical frameworks of interlanguage theory and error analysis, highlighting their effectiveness in promoting both syntactic accuracy and learner autonomy. Implications for EFL pedagogy, curriculum design, and teacher training programs are discussed, emphasizing the importance of adaptive, student-centered feedback practices.

Rewriting the Mythic: Cultural Hybridity and Speculative Reimagination in Samit Basu’s The GameWorld Trilogy

Srishti Khare

Samit Basu’s novel The GameWorld Trilogy presents a vibrant reworking of Indian myth through the imaginative framework of speculative fiction. This paper explores how Basu reconstructs mythic themes from Indian epics and folklore while blending them with the conventions of fantasy and modern storytelling. Building on Homi Bhabha’s theory of cultural hybridity and insights from fantasy studies, the research shows how Basu uses humor, parody, and intertextuality to reshape inherited narratives for a global readership. His writing transforms myth into a living, dynamic force that speaks to contemporary realities of identity, colonial history, and cultural change. The study argues that The GameWorld Trilogy is not only a playful work of fantasy but also an intellectual project that redefines myth and imagination in twenty-first-century Indian English literature.

ChatGPT as a tool for Enhancing Explanation Letter Writing Skills

Marguerite Alofa P. O’Brien-Melford, Sunliegh C. Gador

This study investigated the effectiveness of ChatGPT as an instructional support tool in enhancing the explanation letter writing skills of Technical Writing students at Cebu Doctors’ University. It aimed to address students’ recurring difficulties in applying the correct format, organization, elaboration, tone, and grammar, language usage, and mechanics in formal written communication. Employing a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design supported by a perception survey, the research examined measurable improvements in students’ performance following a ChatGPT-assisted intervention that incorporated guided modeling, interactive feedback, and revision-based activities. Fifty (50) first-year students from the EXCEL-Med Program participated in the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a paired sample t-test. Findings revealed statistically significant improvements across all five writing elements, with the largest effect observed in format, organization, elaboration, and tone, and a moderate improvement in grammar, language usage, and mechanics. Students’ perception ratings further indicated strong agreement that ChatGPT was easy to use, enhanced confidence and understanding, and effectively supported skill development. Overall, the study concludes that ChatGPT-assisted instruction significantly improves students’ explanation letter writing performance and fosters confidence and awareness in responsible AI use. The results emphasize the potential of integrating AI-based tools as complementary pedagogical aids that support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) by promoting digital literacy, communication competence, and ethical technology use in higher education.

A Quantitative Review of Ancient Chinese Book Digitization: Research Trends and Development Based on DeepSeek-V3 and BER Topic

Li Mingxia, Li Wenke

This study conducts a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the development and research trends of ancient Chinese book digitization over the past three decades. By employing advanced tools such as CiteSpace for bibliometric analysis, the BERTopic deep learning model for topic modeling, and the large language model DeepSeek-V3 for semantic trend interpretation, the research identifies the developmental stages of the field, eight major thematic areas, and emerging directions such as gamification, knowledge services, and AI model integration. Drawing upon a corpus of 562 peer-reviewed journal articles retrieved from the CNKI database, the study applies both statistical and semantic techniques to uncover key author clusters, topic evolution, and knowledge networks. This work contributes to the understanding of how digital and intelligent technologies are transforming the preservation, dissemination, and reuse of ancient texts, and provides theoretical support for the innovative transmission of traditional Chinese culture in the digital era.

The Myth and Reality of the American Dream as Depicted in Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby

Md. Shakhawat Hossain, Md. Abu Zobayer, Mohammad Mozammel Haque

The American Dream, which is highly regarded in American culture, is based on the belief that anyone, regardless of their background, can achieve wealth and success through hard work, determination, and pure ambition. In fictional narratives, this dream is paradoxically portrayed to highlight the inherent struggle of the ideal. Both Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1949) and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925) provide critical insights into the illusion of this dream and the tragic repercussions of adhering to such an ideal. This paper concentrates on these two texts and how they aim to dismantle the myths surrounding the American Dream. By examining its contradictions, shortcomings, and failures, while focusing on the characters and their personal lives, relationships, and the social dynamics influencing their existence, the researchers have constructed and analyzed the primary argument regarding how these works critique the American Dream and the idea of nationalism that transcends borders. Through the complexities and dilemmas associated with the American Dream, the realities faced by Gatsby and Loman have been revealed—their profound tragedies intertwined with the broader American tragedy.

Echoes of the Deep: Feminine Resilience through the Lens of Blue Humanities in Emilia Hart’s Siren

Ms. N. Tharani, Dr. M. Aarthika M

In English Literature studies, almost every writer is obsessed with oceans and seas. Many oceanic imageries were used by the writers in their works. The fact is as a human being, we have impacted so much with oceans and seas. Literature, culture, media and even anthropologies are so much influenced by oceans and seas. The concept explained above comes under Blue Humanities. Blue Humanities refers to the vast show of water specifically oceans and bodies and how these water bodies are represented in a text. This is such a cutting edge and an emerging field that bridges the gap between literature, culture, history and anthropology, making it an exciting topic for research and studies. In this connection, one of the most famous American works of Emilia Hart, “The Sirens” explores the experiences and stories of two sisters who is separated by hundreds of years and time but are connected by the sea. This book is a blend of historical fiction, magical realism followed by mystery as the character Lucy exposes family secrets and the magical lore of the sea through her evocative dreams. Feminine Resilience in Literature prospects how female characters bounce back from their traditional roles in family to recover their identity. Themes like sisterhood, feminine resilience, and female power that is drawn from the author's family history and compassion of the ocean can be studied in this novel. This paper explores how Emilia Hart’s Siren involves characters that merges Feminine Resilience and Blue ethics which is one of the core elements in the study of blue humanities.

Geographical Exile: The Dispossessed Place Between Diaspora and Loss of Land in The Inheritance by Sahar Khalifeh

Anhar Y. H. Ayyash, Venkatesh Puttaiah

This study examines representations of geographical exile in Sahar Khalifeh's novel The Inheritance, employing the theory of settler colonialism. The study demonstrates that exile in the novel is not presented as an individual experience or a fleeting historical event, but rather as a continuous structure reproduced generation after generation by the logic of elimination that characterizes the settler project. Through the character of Zayna, the text reveals that the homeland itself has been transformed into a strange and isolated space, no longer an extension of memory and belonging, but rather a place reshaped according to the representations of the settler. The study reveals that settler colonialism is not limited to the colonization of land but expands to encompass language, identity, family relationships, and cultural symbols. These elements become tools of obliteration, producing a sense of internal exile. It also becomes clear that return, which is supposed to be a moment of reclaiming self and homeland, turns into an experience of loss and disappointment, as the Palestinian discovers that the meaning and symbolism of the place has changed. The study reveals that Palestinians remain displaced both within the homeland and in the diaspora, and they confront a homeland devoid of authentic features. The study concludes that The Inheritance offers a profound literary representation of the structural and permanent nature of settler colonialism, demonstrating how exile becomes an ongoing existential condition that transcends space and time.

From Margin to Mainstream: Representation of Queer Women in Contemporary Global Cinema

Saptami Nath

Over the last decades, the cinema of the world has started to reveal more and more the daily existence of lesbian women in their narratives, and thus, the common obstacles of invisibility, stereotyping, and marginalization have been broken one after another. This paper looks at the subject of queer female identity in modern-day films from Hollywood, Bollywood and Europe, and it does so through the lens of authenticity, agency, and audience reception. It uses Judith Butler's Queer Theory (1990) and Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory (1975) as a theoretical framework to reveal the process whereby directors and viewers deal with the line separating representation from reality. The visual and narrative techniques that are responsible for the queer storytelling are analyzed through the case studies—Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, France), Sheer Qorma (2021, India), and Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013, France). The study reveals that there is a gradual movement or change in the way same-sex desire is depicted from that of voyeuristic portrayals to emotionally complex, authentic, and intersectional representations. In summary, the author asserts that despite the fact that a lot of improvements have already been done in the area of cinematic inclusivity, the representation of queer women is still a vibrant area that keeps challenging heteronormative aesthetics, politics of the industry and world cultural narratives.

Acculturation and Cultural Exchange in Perumal Murugan’s ‘The Last Cloth’ and its Movie Adaptation, Angammal

Dr. Surabhi Muthe. S

The paper explores the concept of acculturation in Perumal Murugan's short story "The Last Cloth" and its movie adaptation, Angammal, directed by Vipin Radhakrishnan. The narrative revolves around the complex relationship between a mother and her son, highlighting the cultural tensions that arise from the clash between traditional and modern values. The mother, a village dweller, is forced by her city-bred son to adopt modern attire, specifically wearing a blouse with her saree, which symbolizes the broader theme of acculturation. Through the lens of J.W. Berry's acculturation strategies, the paper analyzes the differing approaches adopted by the mother in the story and the movie. In the short story, the mother exemplifies the "separation" strategy, resisting the change imposed by her son. In contrast, Angammal, the mother in the movie, embodies the "integration" strategy, embracing modernity while maintaining her autonomy and cultural identity. The analysis reveals that the conflict between the mother and son stems from their divergent acculturation strategies. While the son seeks to assimilate into modern culture, the mother strives to preserve her traditional identity. The paper highlights the importance of respecting individual choices and cultural autonomy in the process of acculturation. Ultimately, the study demonstrates how the narrative sheds light on the complexities of cultural adaptation and the significance of understanding and acknowledging the perspectives of individuals from different cultural backgrounds. The comparison between the story and the movie adaptation provides valuable insights into the nuances of acculturation and its impact on personal relationships.

Emotional Study of “Araby” Based on Cognitive Stylistics

Chen Ziwei

This paper analyzes how linguistic features in James Joyce's short story "Araby" affect the expression and appreciation of emotions from the perspective of cognitive stylistics. The article first briefly introduces the theoretical foundations of cognitive stylistics that can be applied to the study of emotions in literature. It then discusses the impact of styles on emotional presentation from the aspects of lexicon, syntax, and phonetics in the original text. Combining three cognitive theories, Conceptual Metaphor, Image Schema, and Foregrounding, it connects the three dimensions of language, cognition, and emotion. The correlation is used to analyze the emotional changes of the characters and reveal the growth and disillusionment of the young boy in the pursuit of love.

Social Determinism and Identity Formation in Sudha Murthy’s Mahashweta

Mrs. S. Sangeetha, Dr. M. Aarthika

Sudha Murthy’s Mahashweta intricately explores the tension between individual identity and the socially constructed forces that shape and often suppress it.Moreover, it reveals the strict determinism of Indian patriarchal hierarchies based on class, caste, beauty, and gender via the heroine Anupama's path from social exaltation to ostracism and ultimately self-realization. This paper looks at how Murthy presents social determinism that reveals and constrains the process of identity creation. It explores the woman protagonist’s psychological transformation throughalienation, empowerment and rejection using Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory of identity development. In addition, it reveals that the author turns into a symbol of defiance against societal destiny. Therefore, the article shows how moral strength and self-awareness exceed deterministic constraints, even when identity is shaped by social circumstances.

Negotiating Identity and Womanhood: A Feminist Reading of One and a Half Wife by Meghna Pant

Khushnaaz

In One and a Half Wife, Meghna Pant writes a powerful story about what it means to be a woman while navigating concepts of identity, displacement, and self-realization through the lenses of patriarchy, migration, and cultural hybridity. In this paper I offer a feminist reading of the novel as I explore how Amara Malhotra, the protagonist, manoeuvres her identity and femininity in the face of clashing social demands and transnational realities. The story follows Amara as she navigates her way back and forth between India and the States, encapsulating the lives of many diasporic women who exist in the liminal space between tradition and modernity. Pant uses Amara’s shifting awareness to question how Indian and immigrant women have been shaped by entrenched patriarchal standards, exposing both the price of compliance and the power of self-assertion. Employing feminist theoretical insights from Simone de Beauvoir and Chandra Talpade Mohanty, this paper questions the representation of Amara in her role as an incomplete “half-wife,” a metaphor for the disjointed identity of women in a patriarchal system. It carries on to assess how Pant, by the deconstruction of the romanticized details on matrimony, chastity and sacrifice, discloses the cultural and religious patriarchy-enabled subjugation. In the end, Amara's road to self-acceptance and self-reliance is a reclamation of power, redefining what it means to be a woman outside of the expectations of society. Locating One and a Half Wife in the feminist/postcolonial discourses, the paper asserts that not only Pant raises the voicing of diasporic Indian woman but also questions the universals on gender, belonging and freedom. It is then that the novel transforms into a tale of rebellion and restoration, in which the notion of identity and womanhood are seen as moving acts of negotiation rather than static markers by which one is defined.

Women and the Great War: A Gendered Reading

Purbita Garai

Warfare has taken a great to strengthen the man-woman binary. It’s time to realize that this gender binary is no more than a myth just like the myths of ‘glory of war’ or ‘patriotic death’. Women not only played the role of a bereaved mother, wife or daughter in this war. A number of them were actively involved in it-be it as a disguised male soldier, a nurse or a worker of munitions factories. They have seen the wounds, the deaths, horror of the war and conveyed it through their writings. Their letters, reports, diaries are based on their real life experience of war. Their poems, novels and stories of war are no less passionate than those of their male counterparts. This present paper aims to bring some light to the willing forgetfulness about the women of WWI because if one has to get an unbiased and clear concept of the war he must pay the right dues to those neglected women folk of First World War.

Perseverance, honesty and struggle as characteristic spiritual streak in Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and Swarup’s The Accidental Apprentice

Dr. Sonu Lohat

Ernest Hemingway and Vikas Swarup can be critically found sharing nothing in common as the former is credited to have tried for transcendental while the latter presents kaleidoscopic facets of life with varied hues and colours. Nonetheless, in terms of characterization something runs as common thread in The Old Man and the Sea and The Accidental Apprentice. No critic would gainsay the fact that Santiago in the former novella represents, and serves as a metaphorical image, of a species (human) asserting his existential presence and obeying harmony with nature and other species. The perseverant protagonist does not give up to the colossal, human size in contrast to giant marlin is notwithstanding. The old man has been projected against the vast scheme of Nature wherein the novelist showcases man’s eternal struggle against indifferent nature apart from his adjustability. The protagonist in another novel does share with Hemingway’s old man in terms of true character in the vortex of life while passing through struggles and hardships. Sapna Sinha, though an ordinary proletarian girl, has strong perseverance and honesty to the given circumstances in her character. Through contrived plots Swarup puts the protagonist through odd vicissitudes as she has to pass the seven tests designed by Acharya Vinay. It is her streak of character with honesty, acceptability, perseverance that she emerges triumphant through hard tests; wiser, more refined and enlightened Sapna attains spiritual bit sublimity at the final pages of the novel.

Media’s Transformation in the Post-Nirbhaya Era: Reimagining Gender and Nation in Contemporary Hindi Cinema

Elia Mahmood

The 2012 Nirbhaya case marked a watershed moment in India’s gender discourse, triggering a paradigm shift in both journalistic and cinematic narratives. This study explores how the post-Nirbhaya decade (2011–2020) transformed the representation of gender and nation across Indian media, particularly Hindi cinema. Drawing upon feminist media theory and postcolonial gender perspectives, the paper investigates how public outrage and social media activism reshaped the narrative frameworks of mainstream entertainment and news. Through textual analysis of selected films—including Kahaani (2012), Queen (2014), Piku (2015), Raazi (2018), and Thappad (2020)—the study highlights the emergence of women-centric narratives that challenge patriarchal norms and foreground female subjectivity. Concurrently, evolving portrayals of masculinity reflect a gradual move toward emotional sensitivity and gender equality. The findings suggest that post-2011 media discourses signify a transformative shift: from sensationalized victimhood to empowered agency, and from gendered nationalism to inclusive citizenship. By situating these transformations within the broader socio-political context of digital activism and neoliberal reform, the paper argues that the post-Nirbhaya era represents a crucial cultural reorientation in India’s media ecosystem.

Enhancing Application Letter Writing Through Daily Journaling

Jia G. Milla, Dr. Sunliegh C. Gador

This study explored the effectiveness of daily journaling in enhancing application letter writing skills among Grade 11 students at Pardo National High School during the School Year 2024–2025. The research utilized a mixed-methods approach combining pretest-posttest assessments as quantitative method and student reflections as qualitative method. The intervention involved a four-week implementation of structured daily journaling aimed at improving five key writing competencies: tone, language use, organization, format, and mechanics. Initial findings revealed that 89.04% of students performed at the “Beginning” level, indicating minimal mastery of formal writing conventions. After the intervention, improvements were observed: 28.77% advanced to the “Developing” level, 8.22% to “Proficient,” and 2.74% to “Advanced.” A paired t-test analysis confirmed a statistically significant difference between pretest and post-test scores (t = 8.65, p < 0.001), validating the positive impact of journaling on students’ writing performance. Qualitative feedback also indicated increased writing confidence, vocabulary development, and improved clarity of expression, although challenges such as idea generation and consistency persisted. This study contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) by promoting inclusive, equitable, and skill-oriented learning through reflective writing practices. The development of enhanced teaching-learning materials based on the findings provides educators with a practical tool to build students’ formal communication skills. In the Filipino context, where written application letters are essential for employment, work immersion, and scholarship opportunities, strengthening this competency equips students for smoother transitions into the local workforce and broader socio-economic participation.

Reclaiming the Silenced Past: A Postcolonial Reading of Sally Morgan’s My Place

Aditya Singh Dulta

Australia today is acknowledged as a multicultural and multiethnic democracy. However, its history of a quarter millennium ago is neither spotless nor unblemished. Numerous heterogeneous Aboriginals tribes inhabited this island region for about 40,000 years until 1788. Nonetheless, their proportion of the total population in Australia has decreased to approximately 3.8% now. The missing 96.2% of Aboriginal population needs to be accounted for. The predominant narrative, woven by white scholars with a predominant Eurocentric viewpoint, conveniently ignores such uncomfortable enquiries. It distorts Australian history and culture, glorifying the colonisers who hoisted the Union Jack on the native land in 1788. The indigenous Aboriginal tribes were portrayed as savage heathens in urgent need of reform, civilisation, culture, and religion. It was used as an alibi to displace, dispossess, subjugate and annihilate the numerous native tribes. A small number of Indigenous populations, who have successfully achieved upward social mobility assume the crucial role of advocating for their community by sharing their narrative, historical experiences, cultural heritage, the injustices they have endured and continue to face and how they envision a dignified future. In this context, the present paper is a reading of one such life-writing by an Aboriginal woman, My Place by Sally Morgan.

Trend Analysis of Licensure Examination Performance across Selected Programs at Wesleyan University-Philippines (2021–2023)

This paper tracks how 11-degree programs at Wesleyan University-Philippines have fared on licensure tests between 2021 to 2023, based on documentary records. It looked at results for Bachelor of Elementary Education, Bachelor of Secondary Education, BS Accountancy, BS Social Work, BS Electronics Engineering, BS Medical Technology, BS Pharmacy, BS Physical Therapy, BS Radiologic Technology, BS Nursing, and BS Criminology. The analysis found that Elementary Education and Social Work kept performing above the national passing rate, a clear sign that those courses are doing something right. By contrast, Accountancy and Electronics Engineering students fell short more often, so faculty and management will need to step up their support. Medical Technology, Pharmacy, and Secondary Education swung up and down, pointing to gaps in training that call for sharper, piece-by-piece attention. Physical Therapy and Radiologic Technology, however, have taken noticeable leaps forward recently, while Nursing stayed solidly on top. Criminology scores stayed mostly high as well, dropping only once below the national average.

The Effectiveness of Student-Teams Achievement Divisions (STAD) on Vocabulary Acquisition among EFL learners

Dennishe S. Tumulak

This research examined the effectiveness of Student Teams -Achievement Divisions (STAD) in increasing the vocabulary learning process of the international students taking the Vocabulary Builder course at the Center of English Language Studies in the Lapu-Lapu Cebu International College. It was aimed to measure the learners’ performance before and after the adoption of the STAD strategy and to examine their experiences in using the approach during classroom activities. The study method consisted of a one-group experimental model with a qualitative investigation. A vocabulary test was created by the researcher to measure the learning objectives and a focus group discussion provided rich data about the perceptions, attitudes, and the challenges faced by the students in relation to STAD. A one-group experimental design was utilized to test 30 B1-level students from Japan, Taiwan, and Korea who participated in four weeks of STAD-based instruction involving whole-class teaching, team study, individual quizzes, and team recognition. The results showed that STAD implementation positively influenced vocabulary acquisition and encouraged greater participation when compared to traditional instruction design. Students had indicated that group work helped them develop a feeling of cooperation, enhanced confidence, and caused peer-to-peer support, which helped them to understand and remember newly learned lexical matters better. The positive experiences highlighted by the focus-group data were effective teamwork, increased motivation and exchange of perspectives; however, such problems as unequivalent contribution of the group members were observed. The experiment found that STAD is a good approach to use when enhancing learning vocabulary in multicultural EFL, and suggests using it in vocabulary instruction.

Psychological Determinants Influencing Performance Anxiety in Young Athletes in Haryana: A Comprehensive Study

Dr. Sukhbir Singh

This study examines the psychological factors influencing performance anxiety among young athletes in Haryana, a state renowned for its robust sporting culture and highly competitive standards. Using secondary data from research journals, sports psychology literature, government reports, and sports federation documents, the study identifies key psychological factors, including self-esteem, motivation, coping strategies, perfectionism, parental pressure, peer comparison, and the coach–athlete relationship, as major contributors to performance-related stress. The socio-cultural context of Haryana further amplifies these pressures, with community expectations, gender norms, and rural–urban differences shaping athletes’ mental experiences in distinct ways. Rural athletes often face community-driven pressure and limited psychological support, while urban athletes encounter dual expectations from academics and sports. The findings emphasise the importance of integrating psychological skill training, emotional regulation techniques, and supportive coaching practices into athlete development programs. The study asserts that addressing psychological determinants is crucial for improving long-term sports performance, preventing burnout, and supporting overall athlete well-being in Haryana. It concludes with recommendations for policy reforms, institutional support, and increased access to sports psychologists to foster a more balanced and mentally healthy sports environment.

An Epistemological Crisis in the Hilly Elite People Culminating in Persistent Hatred against Madheshis of Nepal

Dinesh Kumar Yadav

This research article has little to do with the text, emphasizing the discourse on the epistemological crisis [EC] studied in elite class Nepalese society. The epistemological crisis [EC] is a state devoid of logic, reasoning, and evidence. People lack when they create discourse for the manipulation of the circulation of power. This is analytical work based on the power abuse of one group over others through manipulated social discourse. The purpose of this research is to highlight how dominated groups, especially Madheshis, resist such abuse. The method employed uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) exclusively in line with the concepts of Van Dijk, Derrida, and Foucault. The discourse was analyzed to detect and analyze whatever hidden ideologies that might lie behind the use of language in different contexts and situations. The main finding is how Madheshis, a marginalized community in Nepal, are the victims of the false ideologies created by the elite class society through false public discourse against them and how they perceive those discourses and the power exercised upon them. It also highlights how the epistemological crisis [EC] fosters hate culture in the elite class against Madheshis.

Theorizing the Rural: Space, Identity, and Modernity in contemporary India

Vandana Joshi, Prof. Susmita Singh

Mahatma Gandhi, after returning from South Africa, said that “if the villages perish, India will perish too. It will be no more India. Her own mission in the world will get lost”. This research paper examines how the construction of rural space, identity, and modernity in contemporary India transforms both sociological theory and rural policy. The objective is to critically analyse how traditional village studies and evolving rural realities intersect with modern development discourses. How these dynamics influence the configuration of rural identities and spaces. The study employs a qualitative methodology, focusing on critical textual analysis of foundational and contemporary village studies, policy documents, and ethnographic accounts. The research framework draws on multi-sited and political ethnographies to move beyond single-village analysis. It’s specific focus on tracking interactions between villages and state institutions such as panchayats, local administrations, and development agencies. This approach aims to illuminate how narratives of the "village" are created. This also challenged, and redefined in present-day India, anchoring the analysis on the dynamic relationship between rural representation and development. Findings show that earlier studies treated villages as static, separate units, whereas recent work views them as fluid, socially constructed places. Here, identity, modernity, and development are always in negotiation. Insights from the sociology of space, postcolonial studies, and development theory reveal that the village is shaped by both state policies and changes such as migration, globalization, and new social aspirations. The study concludes that viewing villages through these new lenses is vital for understanding rural change and shaping better development policies.

Money Anxiety and Character Traits in John Steinbeck’s The Pearl

Dr. Raeshma Godsen

The American writer John Steinbeck is known for his realistic and imaginative writings which projects the societal condition and individual’s psyche in combination of humour and sympathy. The works of John Steinbeck reflects the life of common people, their struggles, sufferings and emotional disputes. Rather that projecting fantasy and bombastic life style the works of John Steinbeck reflects poverty, slums, inequality, violence, trails of survival and the American dream. This paper aims at exploring the anxiety prevailed in human beings before and after attaining wealth with reference to the character Kino from The Pearl. The character changes and instability of human nature are also further aimed to be explored in this paper.

From Postmemory to Prosthetic Memory: The Narrative Battle Over the Malabar Rebellion

Abinraj A

This paper interprets the dynamic collective memory of a historical event (Malabar Rebellion, 1921) in the light of the oral narratives that I collected during my research fieldwork in the region after a century of its occurrence. I argue that the orature of the Malabar Rebellion is undergoing gradual mnemonic changes in both individual and collective levels through a continuous process which mediates and remediates the memory of the subjects within the research population. The medium includes cultural formations like songs and stories prevalent within the Mappila community of Malabar, everyday conversations and interactions comprising the communicative memory of the subjects, formal and informal conferences conducted with the aim of commemorating the rebellion, print and electronic media which re-present the event and generate multiple narratives from time to time, and institutional actions by governmental agencies. Cultural identity and socio-political utility of the present dominated the narrative of the participants rather than the emotional connection with their ancestors’ past. Marianne Hirsch’s notion of postmemory is used as the starting point to analyse the construction of narratives from transmitted memory. David Herman’s theorisation of cognitive narratology acts as the methodological tool for the study.

Decolonising Futures: Afrofuturism and Indigenous Futurisms in Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean Literature

Saifun Nahar, Muztaba Rafid, Mohammad Mozammel Haque

Latin American and Caribbean literatures have increasingly turned to speculative genres to confront crises of ecology, race, and identity. Moving beyond the hegemony of magical realism, writers across the region employ Afrofuturism and Indigenous Futurisms to reimagine futures historically denied to marginalized communities. This article situates these currents within the broader speculative turn in the Americas, tracing how Afro-Caribbean and Indigenous epistemologies reshape science fiction, fantasy, and dystopian forms. Through close readings of works such as Rita Indiana’s La mucama de Omicunlé and Edmundo Paz Soldán’s Iris, alongside anthologies like Prietopunk, the study demonstrates how Afro-diasporic spirituality and Indigenous cosmovisions function as speculative technologies, disrupting colonial temporalities and projecting decolonial imaginaries. Afrofuturist texts foreground diasporic hybridity, queerness, and oceanic memory, while Indigenous Futurisms emphasize cyclical time, ecological survival, and sovereignty. Their convergence signals a hemispheric movement where speculative fiction operates as resistance literature, rehearsing cultural survival against extractivism and ecological collapse. By reading these strands together, the article argues that speculative fiction in the Americas is a central site of decolonial thought and world-making.

Constructed Spaces: Domination and Liberation in the Film Orlando

Yu Shiying

This essay examines Sally Potter’s 1992 film Orlando to explore how power dynamics like gender, hierarchy and ownership are constructed and represented through space presented in the film. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s The Production of Space, it argues that space in the film is not a neutral backdrop but functions as a powerful agent that shapes, constrains, and liberates an individual. By tracing Orlando’s transformation from man to woman, this essay analyzes how gender fluidity redefines spatial relations and reveals the gendered and artificially constructed nature of both private and public spaces. Through close readings of scenes involving clothing, domestic interiors, and natural landscapes, the discussion highlights the ways in which space reflects and enforces patriarchal, national, and class hierarchies. The essay also investigates moments of resistance, particularly Orlando’s rejection of ownership and return to nature, as acts of liberation from space. Ultimately, this essay argues that Orlando exposes the mechanisms through which space functions as both a social product and a site of emancipation, offering a critical reflection on how identity, power, and belonging are deeply involved with space.

Fractured Traditions and the Tragedy of Colonial Encounter in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

Dr. P Starlin Judith Venibha

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a profound narrative of cultural conflict, tragic heroism, and the collapse of indigenous structures under colonial intrusion. By re-centering African perspectives, Achebe challenges colonial stereotypes and articulates the complexity of Igbo society prior to European conquest. Okonkwo, the novel’s central figure, embodies both the strengths and contradictions of a traditional world destabilized by external forces and internal tensions. His downfall mirrors the fragmentation of Umuofia as European missionaries and administrators impose new religious, judicial, and political systems. Through close textual analysis, this study examines major themes such as masculinity, tradition, spirituality, community, and the violent intersections of cultures. Ultimately, this paper argues that Things Fall Apart functions not merely as a postcolonial response but also as a tragic narrative illustrating the universal consequences of cultural misunderstanding and rigid adherence to inflexible ideologies.

Understanding Characterization: The Young Adult Character in the Prose Fiction of Selected Ugandan Female Authors

Alice Jossy Kyobutungi

This article explores the details of characterisation, particularly that of the young adult character in the prose fiction of selected Ugandan female authors, through a thorough reading of Barbara Kimenye, Mary Karooro Okurut and Glaydah Namukasa's novels and short stories. This study positions the texts within the broader literary analytical realm of the fundamental analytical framework of characterisation. Drawing from the archetypal critical theory and young adult studies, the work locates young adult protagonists as they navigate life's complexities, expectations, and their own personal perceptions about family, peers at school, teachers, and other people in their lives. Different characters are studied from their different settings accorded to them by the different writers; the schools, street environments, and later a university setting, all of which offer adolescents spaces to discover who they are. They rebel, they bond, they conflict, and they grow even as they negotiate their spaces in a world that is dominated by adults. The study highlights the physique of characters, their actions, their reactions and narrative voice, which reflect their agency and their search for identity. This analysis of characterisation of the young adult in female-authored prose fictional works stresses the role of Ugandan literature in increasing worldwide understanding of the young adult character in prose fiction.

A Reflection on Cultural Dislocation in Jamuna Bini’s When an Adivasi Sings

Dr. Ram Lalit, Dr. Santosh Kumar Sonker

The present paper will try to understand the social, cultural, philosophical and political stand of Adivasis. How do they lead their life? How does intrusion affect their culture? How their culture should be addressed? The paper will adhere to the MLA 7th edition and will also follow 8th and 9th edition. Jamuna Bini, born in a Nyishi Adivasi family in Arunachal, North East India, is well acclaimed poet and literary figure. Her popular work, When an Adivasi Sings, is a collection of thirty-seven poems. Most of her poems delve deep into the tapestry of Adivasi faith, culture, and values. In her poems she knits her lived experiences amidst forest and mountain. Through her poems, she draws the attention of readers towards the challenges of protecting forest, water, land, Adivasi language, culture, identity, habitat, and existence. Adivasis are offered development and modern amenities at the cost of losing water, forest, land, mountain, culture, language, and identity.

Navigating the Labyrinth of Reality: A Postmodern, Psychoanalytic, and Structuralist Analysis of Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore

Anushila Jana

Haruki Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore" remains an exceptional illustration of postmodern writing, where divided stories and obscured real factors challenge customary narrating. Through characters like Kafka, Oshima, and Nakata, Murakami investigates the intricacies of personality, ease, and the exchange between cultural standards and individual encounters. This story's intricacy, improved by components of structuralism and deconstruction, welcomes readers to connect effectively, embrace vagueness, and question the limitations of the real world and creative mind, making "Kafka on the Shore" a dazzling excursion through the complex embroidery of the human life.

Literary Reflections of Womanhood in Colonial and Postcolonial Indian English Fiction

Dr. Ram Avtar, Dr. Rakhi Sharma

Tradition is not a force that modifies itself spontaneously; rather, tradition undergoes transformation only when members of society themselves enact deliberate change. The conceptualization of women within Indian society has evolved over decades—and often in abrupt, profound ways—marked by a succession of shifts that mirror changing historical, cultural, and ideological currents. The representation of “woman” has appeared in myriad forms, each reflecting different expectations, prescriptions, and aspirations imposed or cultivated within the social milieu. In literary domains, especially within the pages of early Indian English novels, one observes close examinations of these varying social identities—artfully revealing, through narrative and characterization, the altering masks worn by women in response to their time and context. This inquiry is an attempt to carefully identify and analyze those sites of change and continuity, as presented by pioneering novelists of the period. In composing this study, the objective is to gather and scrutinize the fragmented and diverse images of women, as they emerge from the multiple social layers and strata of Indian life—a reconstruction drawn from the nuanced tapestry that literature affords. It is essential to clarify that the analytical approach pursued does not advocate a position on either side of the feminist/anti-feminist divide. Instead, what is sought here is an exposition of the paradox inherent in women’s representations: both as fixed cultural symbols and as evolving agents within a dynamic society. The novels selected for examination comprise the works of both male and female authors, reinforcing the principle that the first duty of a writer is not to any specific ideological stance but to the honest chronicling and interpretation of society’s realities. By upholding this standard, the present study positions the writer as a true guardian of the social fabric—one whose role is to record, interrogate, and preserve the truths and contradictions of communal existence.

A Comparison of English-Chinese Subtitle Translation in the Film MULAN (2020)

Zeqi Liu

With the increasing openness of international cultural exchange, film has gained significant attention as a key medium for cross-cultural communication. High-quality subtitle translation is essential to help target audiences better understand foreign films. This thesis first introduces the fundamental aspects of subtitle translation, including its definition, classification, features, and constraints. It then presents Skopos theory, outlining its main principles and criteria, and discusses its applicability to subtitle translation. Using the film Mulan(2020) as a case study, the study analyzes the translation of stylistically marked language elements—such as culture-specific terms, allusions, idioms, and humor—from the perspective of Skopos theory. The findings reveal that, due to spatiotemporal limitations, subtitles do not always fully convey the original meaning, though such losses may be compensated by other filmic elements like visuals, sound, and actors' expressions. The study also finds that while the Skopos-oriented approach prioritizes the translation purpose, the strategies employed do not always optimally transfer the original content.

A Study on the Translation Strategies of the “Hongyan” (Wild Goose) Image in Xu Yuanchong’s Ancient Poetry Translations from the Perspective of Cultural Translation Theory

Liu Yan, Ren Yingchun

“Hongyan” (wild goose) is a core cultural image in ancient Chinese poetry, carrying profound cultural connotations. Its translation involves not only linguistic conversion but also cross-contextual transmission of cultural semantics. From the perspective of cultural translation theory, this study focuses on Xu Yuanchong’s English translations of ancient Chinese poetry. By sorting out the historical and cultural origins and multiple semantic orientations of the “Hongyan” image, it systematically analyzes the translation strategies adopted by Xu, image retention with contextual reinforcement, cultural compensation, aesthetic reconstruction, and strategic omission. The findings reveal that Xu was not a passive transmitter of linguistic content but an actively conscious “cultural mediator” who skillfully employed target-language poetic conventions and reader schemata to effectively transfer the high-context “Hongyan” image from Chinese culture into the English-speaking world, all while respecting the spirit of the source text. His practice exemplifies a dialectical unity of “creative treason” and “cultural confidence,” offering a paradigmatic model for Chinese literary translation that harmonizes aesthetic excellence with cross-cultural communicative efficacy.

Women as Other: Reflecting Underrepresentation and Objectification of Women in the Age of AI

Tanjina Binte Amin

We are living in a world that is continuously getting transformed by AI in more revolutionary ways than we can even imagine. Day by day, AI is becoming increasingly integrated into our daily lives. Applied in the economy, politics, healthcare, business, social media, entertainment, agriculture, and multiple industries, AI has brought about a groundbreaking change in the present world. However, in addition to its application in different sectors, it has also generated some complexities and discourses that need to be addressed with increasing insight. Living in the age of AI in the 21st century, we cannot think of a world free of gender bias, gender stereotypes, discrimination, and subordination. Hegel’s theory of Otherness posits that otherness is the unknown and opposite of oneself, or it may be defined as the outsider identified by certain signs such as race and gender. Thus, the concept of Otherness is closely associated with underrepresented, victimized, and objectified people in the social, cultural, technological, and political world. Philosopher Simon de Beauvoir modified and redefined the concept of the Other by setting its association with objectification and subordination in The Second Sex. In the recent world of AI, women are becoming victims as they are objectified, harassed, and robbed of their voices in many ways. This paper endeavors to examine the representation and situation of women as Other in diverse contexts in the age of AI from a feminist point of view.

The Sensory Landscape of Andaman: A Polysensorial Reading of Island’s End

Ancy Cyriac, Dr. Jyothimol P

Geocriticism is an interdisciplinary approach within literary theory that focuses on the spatial aspects of literature and the relationships between place and literature. A key concept in Geocriticism, polysensoriality stresses the point that the experience of an environment comes from all the senses. The dominance of the visual is challenged as the perception of our environment clearly involves all our senses. Padma Venkatraman’s 2011 novel Island’s End coordinates several types of spatial perceptions, forming a vast polysensory landscape. The novel is set in the Andaman Islands which situates in the turquoise blue waters of the Bay of Bengal, hundreds of miles east of India. The novel speaks about a native tribal group of the Andaman Islands, and how they survived the 2004 tsunami, which wreaked destruction across the globe. An ancient knowledge of the movement of winds and oceans and a sensitivity to the behaviour of sea birds and island creatures might have warned these native people to flee inland in the nick of time. The paper looks into the soundscape, the smellscape, the tactile kinaesthetic qualities of the Andaman archipelago, vividly portrayed in the novel, leading to the representation of a synesthetic landscape.

Transformation of Polylactic Acid (PLA) Microparticles in Soil and their Effects on Soil Properties: A Review

Hogard Adoboli, Zhang Feng, Yu Hao

Polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics have garnered significant attention because they are widely used as biodegradable alternatives to traditional plastics, especially in agriculture. This review examines the transformation mechanisms of PLA microparticles in soil and their subsequent effects on soil parameters, including physical, chemical, and biological factors. It integrates recent research and theoretical assessments of soil ecosystems to emphasize the importance of PLA microparticles in affecting soil pH, organic matter, and nutrient cycling. The review also explores key microbial interactions, focusing on how these particles influence microbial community composition and enzyme activity, which are essential for soil health and plant growth. Environmental factors such as moisture, temperature, and the presence of other organic materials are crucial mediators of PLA degradation and transformation in soil. Furthermore, the paper discusses the long-term ecological implications of PLA microplastics and highlights the need for extensive research to evaluate potential soil contamination and ecosystem disruptions. This synthesis aims to guide future research directions and develop effective strategies for incorporating biodegradable polymers into agricultural and environmental applications. Overall, this analysis provides a foundation for creating strategies to promote the long-term use of PLA microparticles to reduce plastic pollution while assessing their positive and negative impacts on soil systems.

Architecture as Feeling Engine: Affective Communal Reading of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas (2004) and Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries (2013)

This article examines how the narrative architectures of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas (2004) and Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries (2013) function as “feeling engines” that engage readers’ emotions and interpretive practices. The study proposes the Affective–Communal Reading Framework (ACRF), which integrates theories of affective poetics and reader-response criticism, to compare the two novels’ distinct forms Cloud Atlas’s nested Matryoshka-like structure and The Luminaries’s astrologically-scaled design, and their influence on gap-filling reading habits across interpretive communities. Three research questions guide the analysis: (1) How do Cloud Atlas’s nested narratives cue readers’ emotional responses and gap-filling processes? (2) How do The Luminaries’s astrological form and neo-Victorian conventions affect readers’ interpretations and communal reading norms? (3) In what ways can the ACRF illuminate the cooperative role of individual affect and social context in constructing each novel’s moral and aesthetic significance? This study argues that both novels, though structurally different, use formal deviation to defamiliarize readers and prompt “felt” shifts in understanding (Miall & Kuiken, 1994, 2002). By drawing on Wolfgang Iser’s concept of textual “gaps” and the “wandering viewpoint” of the reader (Iser, 1978) alongside Stanley Fish’s theory of interpretive communities (Fish, 1980), this paper demonstrates that readers’ emotional engagement and community-shaped assumptions work in tandem to complete the texts’ meanings.

Breaking the Barrier: Reinterpreting Dalit Autobiographical Narratives from Postcolonial Perspective

Dr. Dipanjoy Mukherjee

Dalit autobiographical literature has emerged as a powerful genre for contesting the hegemonic narratives of caste, class, and identity in postcolonial India. This paper re-interprets key Dalit autobiographies through a postcolonial lens, exploring how these narratives confront the lingering effects of colonialism and Brahmanical patriarchy. While postcolonial theory has largely focused on colonial subjugation, this study extends its boundaries to analyze the internal colonization of Dalits within the Indian socio-political framework. Texts such as Omprakash Valmiki’s Joothan, Bama’s Karukku, and Sharan Kumar Limbale’s The Outcaste (Akkarmashi) are examined as testaments of resistance, reclaiming agency, dignity, and cultural voice. These texts not only narrate individual trauma but also function as collective chronicles of social injustice, disrupting sanitized narratives of Indian nationalism. The article underscores the need to integrate Dalit perspectives into postcolonial discourse, emphasizing intersectionality and the politics of representation.

Designing ELT Syllabi for Industry-Ready Professionals

Prof. (Dr.) Rachna Rastogi

In an era of rapid technological disruption, global competition, and evolving workplace expectations, higher education institutions must revise and redesign curricula to produce industry-ready graduates. This paper argues that up skilling, workplace immersion, and a growth mindset are fundamental to bridging the academia–industry gap. The empirical study is based on a questionnaire administered to corporate heads, senior managers, and industry professionals. The findings reveal that digital communication etiquette, technical writing proficiency, persuasive presentation skills, active listening, workplace responsiveness, crisis communication, and conflict resolution abilities are among the most demanded competencies. The study proposes a collaborative model involving curriculum co-design, simulation labs, real-world documentation, industry mentorship, and experiential learning. It highlights existing challenges such as limited resources, inconsistent industry engagement, and slow curriculum revisions. The recommendations include structured collaboration frameworks, periodic industry mentoring followed by student’s assessment and feedback, increased funding, exposure of industrial practices for faculty. The paper concludes that integrating authentic workplace communication tasks into ELT syllabi can significantly enhance employability, industry readiness, and professional behaviour among learners.

Geography as Gendered Space: An Analysis of Female Perspectives in The Country of the Pointed Firs

Zhao Xin

Sarah Orne Jewett’s The Country of the Pointed Firs redefines literary realism through a distinctly female perspective, transforming the geographical space of Dunnet Landing into a vessel for women’s experiences and memories. Through the lens of an unnamed female narrator, Jewett challenges the male-dominated realist tradition by intertwining landscape with female consciousness, intimacy, and community. The novel emphasizes women’s resilience and wisdom, particularly through characters like Almira Todd, who embody a deep connection to nature and serve as emotional and cultural pillars of their rural society. Male characters are marginalized, further highlighting women’s central roles in sustaining community life. Jewett blends detailed realism with poetic romanticism, exploring themes of memory, solitude, and human connection. Her narrative strategy expands the boundaries of realism by prioritizing inner emotional landscapes and the symbiotic relationship between people and place, offering a profound critique of gender and narrative authority while affirming the enduring power of female-centered storytelling.

Innovative Research on the Cultivation of Compound Employment-Oriented Business English Talent under the Outcome-Based Education Framework

Chunyang Wang, Wei Bai, Xintong Huo, Wei Liu

In response to China’s strategic demand for cultivating interdisciplinary and application-oriented talents, the “New Liberal Arts” initiative is accelerating the transformation of traditional disciplines. However, a misalignment persists between university training and industry competency requirements, as conventional curricula often fail to meet the labor market’s demand for interdisciplinary professionals. Taking Business English—an emblematic interdisciplinary major—as the research subject, this study adopts the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) framework and focuses on competence setting under an employment-oriented perspective. It employs a dual-path approach through questionnaire surveys and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to identify students’ capability gaps and enterprises’ priority requirements for professional competencies. The findings reveal that while Business English majors value practice and internship opportunities, they tend to neglect soft skills such as risk management, resulting in a significant mismatch with industry expectations. This research aims to optimize the competence structure for Business English majors, providing empirical evidence for curriculum reform and university–industry collaborative training, thereby contributing to the improvement of educational quality and innovative talent cultivation models.

Migration, Music, and Memory in Diasporic Adivasi Narratives

Niranjan Lakra

Migration has always been central to the socio-cultural formation of Adivasi communities across India, but the scale, pressure, and compulsions of contemporary mobility have reconfigured Adivasi identity in unprecedented ways. This article examines the interconnectedness of migration, music, and memory in diasporic Adivasi narratives, with a special emphasis on the role of oral traditions particularly songs, chants, and ritual performances in shaping and preserving collective identity. Drawing on ethnographic scholarship, cultural anthropology, musicology, and emerging Adivasi writings in English, the study argues that music operates as a sonic archive that sustains ecological memory, emotional continuity, and cultural belonging among displaced tribal populations. Songs such as karma geet, jhumur, and sohara, transmitted through communal performances, not only retain fragments of ancestral landscapes but also recount the histories of forced migration, labour exploitation, and displacement. Diasporic narratives reveal how Adivasi migrants actively reconstitute cultural memory through song, enabling them to negotiate identity in unfamiliar geographies. Through textual analysis, theoretical framing, and case studies from Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and industrial migration corridors, the article demonstrates that music is not merely an expressive art but a political, mnemonic, and epistemic practice. It becomes a space of resistance, survival, and self-articulation that challenges dominant narratives of tribal erasure and documents the lived realities of displacement. Ultimately, the article argues that Adivasi musical traditions provide a powerful framework for understanding the emotional architecture of migration and the imaginative reconstruction of home.

Evaluation of Machine-Translated Subtitles for the Documentary China from a Cultural Translation Perspective

Xingxing Fan, Yu Liu

This study evaluates the English subtitle translation performance of two large language models, DeepSeek and Moonshot AI, for the documentary China Season 2 from the perspective of cultural translation. By collecting 875 subtitle data containing culture-loaded words, poems, and terms, and combining word frequency analysis, BLEU/ROUGE automated scoring, and in-depth case analysis, it is found that the two models show 63% consistency at the lexical semantic level, but differ significantly in phrasal structure and cultural strategy selection. DeepSeek excels in literal translation retention of calendrical terms such as "sui/si/zai " and rhythmic reconstruction of Du Fu's poems, while Moonshot AI has an advantage in cultural interpretation of metaphors like "the smell of wine and meat from the vermilion gates " and contextual coherence of Li Bai's image. The study reveals problems such as semantic deviation and format norm defects in AI-based cultural subtitle translation, providing an empirical basis for constructing a "technology-culture " two-dimensional evaluation framework.

Ethics on the Silver Screen: A Cultural Comparison of Chinese and Western AI Film and Television Text

Liu Jiang, Wang Guowei, Bai Wei

In recent years, the imagination of artificial intelligence on the screen has become a mirror reflecting social and cultural values. Western film and television works generally focus on how self-aware AI challenges human individual status and free will, with stories often revolving around boundaries, conflict, and control. In contrast, Chinese narratives tend to explore how AI is incorporated into existing networks of family and social relationships, emphasizing responsibility and integration. This paper selects representative Chinese and Western film and television texts to compare them from three aspects: AI role behavioral choices, linguistic expression, and role positioning, combined with audio-visual language analysis. The study finds that AI in Western stories mostly appears as a "challenger" seeking autonomy, with value choices favoring the individual; whereas AI in Chinese stories often serves as a "new member" integrating into the collective, with value reflected more in fulfilling family or social responsibilities. These two different screen imaginations correspond to the cultural mindsets of "prevention and boundary" and "integration and responsibility" respectively, indicating that the discussion of AI ethics needs to fully consider diverse cultural contexts to form a more inclusive consensus globally.

An Exploration of the Aesthetic Tension in Selected Indian English Poetry

Hilal Ashraf Bulakie, Dr. Romina Rashid

Indian poetry in English has undergone multiple transformations since its inception. It has evolved from its imitative phase of Western poetry to a position where it would be a serious scholarly error to not judge it on its own merits. This paper explores the selected poetry of Indian English poets and highlights how from an aesthetic point of view the poetry has metamorphosed to a position where it redefines the standards of Western aesthetics and demands judgement that requires the consideration of native socio-economic, political and cultural factors. The paper does so by questioning the fundamental ideas about aesthetics that have gone unchallenged for centuries by bringing in the question of postcoloniality that is specific to Indian English writing in general, and Indian poetry in English in particular. A paradigm of postcolonial aesthetics is imagined from the critical ideas of theorists like Bill Ashcroft, Adam Chemeielwski, Ayyappa Paniker and Keki N. Daruwalla which are then imposed on the selected poetry of Sarojni Naidu, A. K Ramanujan, Kamala Das, Rajagopal Parthasarathy, Jayanta Mahapatra etc to point out that the aesthetics of Indian English poetry lies in its giving “value” to the subjects beyond “beautiful” and “sublime” through the “materiality of the language.”

A Meta-analysis of the Relationship Between Foreign Language Anxiety and Academic Achievement

Jia Ningning

For nearly 40 years, research on foreign language anxiety (FLA) has received consistent attention from the academic community. However, the results of studies on the relationship between FLA and L2 academic achievement have been inconsistent, and previous meta-analysis results have also been divergent. Therefore, this study uses a meta-analysis method to integrate 79 independent effect sizes from 39 relevant studies, involving a total of 15,447 L2 learners. The aim is to discuss the relationship between FLA and L2 academic achievement, and to examine the overall effect size and the moderating effects of relevant influencing factors. The study finds that ..................

National Auditing, Common Prosperity, and New Quality Productive Forces

Yan Minjia

This study utilizes panel data from 30 Chinese provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) spanning 2010 to 2021 to empirically examine the impact of national auditing on new quality productive forces. The findings reveal that national auditing plays a significantly positive role in enhancing the level of new quality productive forces. Specifically, common prosperity exerts a significant mediating effect on the relationship between national auditing and new quality productive forces. Heterogeneity tests indicate that the eastern region, with its well-established auditing systems, high-quality talent, and advanced informatization, enables more effective fulfillment of supervisory functions. Conversely, the western region demonstrates more pronounced outcomes in common prosperity, leading to a stronger driving effect on new quality productive forces.

The Art of Kintsugi for Classroom Wellness

Sulatha Griselda Eric, Dr. Mangayarkarasi

In today's world of technology and intense competition students' mental health is very crucial in addition to the innovative teaching tools and methods. In this competitive world where technology is upbeat, competition is rife, expectations are high, students face several mental health issues which hamper their academic and personal growth. The objective of this study is to prepare students to face such mental issues and to grow through them. To improve mental health and to deal with stress successfully, the researcher used the ideology ‘Kintsugi’, the Japanese art of repairing fragmented pottery with gold, silver, or platinum lacquer. Rather than hiding the cracks, Kintsugi highlights them, celebrating the object's imperfections. By introducing the philosophy of Kintsugi, the researcher attempts to teach young students to accept flaws, embrace imperfections rather than concealing them or running away from challenges. The study found that those students who use this philosophy positively, accepted their mistakes and developed a spirit of resilience.

Romantic Ecology: Nature, Ethics and Environmental Consciousness in the British Romantic Poetry

Ms. Pooja

This research paper explores environmental themes in Romantic poetry, examining how major Romantic poets conceptualize nature as sacred, dynamic, restorative, and morally instructive. Through close readings of selected poems by William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats, and William Blake, this study demonstrates that Romantic poetry offers a proto-environmentalist critique of human domination over nature. The paper situates Romantic ecological thought within its historical context and connects it to contemporary environmental criticism, particularly ecocriticism.

Discussing Educational Traditions

Keerthivasan S, Dr. E. Sugantha Ezhil Mary

This paper discusses that how far English language process should be effective and how it has to be gone in the right path. It is the duty of the teachers and the students to include the skills in their learning development method. The teachers and students are the two important parameters of a learning process and the other elements supporting the learning process include the skills and traits of a teacher, the student development and behavior patterns etc. The traditions of learning are based on the four skills of learning. The traditions of education theory like social efficiency and critical tradition include teachers as the learners or the learning initiators but the progressive tradition includes both teachers and students as the learners. According to these traditions the teacher should be well skilled, experimental, leading and must teach the students the way to fight for injustice and to change the wrong norms of society.

Instagram as a Tool in Teaching Vocabulary among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Students

Jhonwindel B. Tibalan

Recent transitions from the conventional to digital teaching methods have been evaluated to assist educators in offering a more engaging education for the students. The study of Kukulska-Hulme & Shield (2008) is essential to comprehending how Mobile-assisted language instruction is effective for instructors to use it in the classroom. While studies have been done to use Instagram in Teaching, these studies have not specified a specific level of EFL students. The study's findings shed light on the notion of using Instagram as a tool in the classroom as opposed to using it merely as for students' entertainment. To address this, a quasi-experimental approach was employed to comprehend the effectiveness of Instagram in students' vocabulary learning in the Center for English Language Studies at Lapulapu-Cebu International College. These 30 students were divided into two groups, the control group and experimental group where they needed to answer a researcher-made questionnaire for their pretest and their posttest. The data is then treated using a t-test for correlated samples and t-test for two independent samples. The findings of this study proved that there was a significant difference between the control group and the experimental group’s posttest scores after the intervention was given. Although there was no significant difference between their score in the pretest, this only proves that the students have the same level before doing the study. This study concludes that Instagram is an effective tool towards teaching vocabulary among EFL students as this is supported by the result of the posttest scores of the experimental groups’ posttest scores. The researcher highly recommends further studies about using Facebook in teaching vocabulary, using Instagram in teaching grammar or using memes in teaching vocabulary among EFL students.

A Linguistic Analysis of Translation Shifts between English and Arabic in UN News Texts: A Catfordian Approach

Dr. Khalil Hsoune, Dr. Ikrame Chibani

This study examines the linguistic shifts that occur in the process of translating United Nations news texts between English and Arabic. Drawing upon Catford’s (1965) theory of translation shifts, it classifies and analyses structural and semantic variations in a selected corpus of audiovisual news items translated between the two languages. The analysis identifies level shifts, structure shifts, class shifts, unit shifts, intra-system shifts, and semantic shifts. Results show that structure and tense shifts are the most recurrent due to the deep grammatical contrasts between Arabic and English. Although the translations deviate from the form of the source text, they maintain meaning and communicative function, demonstrating that equivalence in translation is achieved through contextual and functional adaptation rather than formal correspondence.

Research on the Other Narrative in Nonverbal Symbols of Animated Films from the Perspective of Intercultural Communication

Xue Jiayi

In the era of the new media era, the nonverbal symbolic communication in animated films has become widely popular in contemporary social media, and its role is increasing indispensable. In intercultural communication, the traditional barriers of linguistic communication are gradually being dissolved by communication through language symbols carried out within the mobile internet framework, bringing about great changes in intercultural communication methods. Based on the relevant theories of intercultural communication, this paper focuses on the Otherness Narrative of nonverbal symbol as the research object, and then analyzes the dilemmas of the symbolic misinterpretation and stereotypes in intercultural communication. The aim is to provide theoretical reference for enhancing the effectiveness of intercultural communication in animated films.

Narrating Ambiguity: Spatial and Spectral Politics in Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Green House

Ashley Philip

This paper proposes that in Llosa’s The Green House the “movement” of narratives map terrains of power-invested ideological and discursive spaces which are allegories of postcolonial Peru. However, the multiple fragments of narrative time-lines challenge any understanding of these spaces as seamless and cohesive. I argue that the rhizomatic narrative courses tease out the discrepancies and contradictions inherent in modernity as a historical and social project, serving the interests of a liberal market economy and neo liberal state. The generic linearity of spatial allegories with its dominant voices and discourses of progress, development, and humanistic ethics disintegrates through hauntings of diverse perspectives and narrative discourses that reveal the past’s systemic excesses of violence, exploitation, exclusion, and normalization. By relating insights from spatial theories, specifically, literary cartography and geocriticism, to views of allegory as symbolic places of embodied movement infused with meaningful spatio-temporal memories and interactions of power, the idea of spatial allegories as discourse is employed to provide a critical frame for reading the text. Further, the concept of specters offers possibilities for understanding spaces as marked by tangible and intangible traces left by historical-political events and ideologies, which question the State’s claims of democracy and justice. A spatial reading of the text also reveals an ambiguity in Llosa’s portrayal of Latin American modernity, visible in the interpenetrative, dialectical spatial structures and geographies. This, I claim, is an artistic response of the novel to the challenges of adequately portraying the complexities of spaces and voices in postcolonial Peru.

Posthuman Identity and the Regulated Body in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale

Albesha Suna

Posthumanism offers a useful lens for examining how human identity is reshaped under systems of power and institutional control. In dystopian fiction, posthuman conditions often emerge not through advanced technology alone, but through social practices that redefine the body and limit agency. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale presents a society in which women’s bodies are regulated, monitored, and instrumentalised by the state in the name of survival and moral order. This paper examines how the novel reflects posthuman concerns by portraying the human body as a managed and functional entity rather than an autonomous self. Drawing on Donna Haraway’s understanding of the constructed body, the study explores how Gilead transforms women into biological resources while restricting memory, language, and personal identity. It argues that Atwood’s dystopia represents posthumanism as a condition of constrained agency, where survival occurs within systems that redefine what it means to be human. In doing so, the novel presents posthumanism not as futuristic speculation, but as an extension of existing power structures.

Apocalyptic Writing in Indian English Literature: An Overview

(Prof.) Dr. Satyajit Tejpal Patil

In recent decades, global literature has witnessed a surge in apocalyptic and dystopian narratives: stories imagining collapse, catastrophe, environmental ruin, social disintegration. Often associated with Western science-fiction traditions, such “apocalyptic writing” has increasingly been adopted and reinterpreted by writers worldwide. In India too, a nascent but growing body of literature in English imagines “apocalyptic Indias”: futures shaped by environmental disaster, climate crisis, social collapse, and political dystopia. This article examines the trajectory, characteristics, and significance of apocalyptic writing in Indian English, broadly understood to include dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and climate-fictional. It traces patterns in thematic concerns, narrative strategies, and ideological orientations; it highlights challenges and tensions; and it argues for the critical importance of reading such works as part of the broader cultural and ecological imagination of contemporary India. In doing so, the essay draws on recent scholarship — especially the work of Sagnik Yadaw and Rupsa Roy Chowdhury — which examines the representation of the Anthropocene in Indian English literature.

Ecology, Myth, and Indigenous Ethics in Easterine Kire’s When the River Sleeps: An Ecocritical Study

Manisha, Dr. Anu Rathee

This paper undertakes an ecocritical reading of Easterine Kire’s When the River Sleeps, foregrounding its articulation of an indigenous ecological ethic rooted in Naga cosmology. Drawing upon ecocritical frameworks such as deep ecology, indigenous ecocriticism, and eco-spirituality, the study examines how the novel reimagines the relationship between humans and the natural world beyond anthropocentric paradigms. Nature in the text—particularly the river and the forest—emerges not as a passive backdrop but as a living, moral presence endowed with agency, capable of testing, guiding, and judging human conduct. Through myth, folklore, and spiritual belief systems, Kire constructs an ecological worldview grounded in restraint, reciprocity, and communal responsibility, where exploitation of nature is met with ethical consequences. The paper further argues that When the River Sleeps implicitly critiques modernity’s extractive impulses and the erosion of indigenous environmental knowledge systems, positioning storytelling itself as a form of ecological resistance. By foregrounding indigenous ways of knowing and being, the novel challenges dominant Western models of development and offers an alternative ecological imagination based on coexistence rather than domination. Situated within the broader discourse of postcolonial ecocriticism, this study highlights the relevance of Northeast Indian literature in contemporary environmental debates, particularly in the context of the Anthropocene. Ultimately, the paper contends that Kire’s novel contributes significantly to ecocritical thought by affirming the ethical necessity of listening to nature and respecting its intrinsic value.

Symbolism in William Wordsworth's Poetry: An Analysis of Public and Private Symbols in Three Selected Works

Vuong Thi Hai Yen, Ta Hong Minh

This study examines the function and significance of symbolism in three selected poems by William Wordsworth: "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," "My Heart Leaps Up," and "The World Is Too Much with Us." Through qualitative thematic analysis and quantitative descriptive statistics, the research identifies seventeen distinct symbols (eleven public and six private) and analyzes their contribution to thematic development and Romantic philosophy. Findings reveal that Wordsworth employs natural imagery—clouds, daffodils, rainbows, and mythological references—to symbolize emotional states, philosophical reflection, and moral values. These symbols function on multiple levels, expressing Wordsworth's belief that nature serves as a moral guide, spiritual companion, and mirror of human consciousness. The analysis demonstrates how Wordsworth's symbolic language bridges the relationship between humanity and the natural world, exemplifying core Romantic ideals. This study contributes to deeper understanding of Wordsworth's poetic techniques and provides valuable insights for literary scholars and English language educators.

Gendered Ecologies and Ecofeminist Consciousness in Mamang Dai’s The Legends of Pensam

Md Shahazadi Begum

This paper examines the intersection of gender, ecology, and indigenous epistemologies in Mamang Dai’s The Legends of Pensam, arguing that the novel articulates a distinctly indigenous ecofeminist consciousness. Set within the ecological and cosmological terrain of Arunachal Pradesh, the text foregrounds women as pivotal custodians of ecological knowledge, ritual practice, and spiritual mediation. By engaging ecofeminist theories alongside indigenous feminist frameworks, the study demonstrates how Dai aligns the feminine with environmental stewardship, relational ethics, and intergenerational transmission of ecological memory. The analysis further contends that the novel critiques the gendered repercussions of ecological disruption, particularly those produced by modernization, militarization, and neocolonial development. Dai’s narrative structure, fragmented, mythic, and resonant with oral tradition, mirrors indigenous cosmologies in which human and non-human agencies coexist within a shared ecological continuum. This paper also argues that Dai’s work offers a decolonial ecological vision that challenges patriarchal and extractivist paradigms, proposing instead a model of ecological care grounded in indigenous worldviews and gendered ecologies.

Voicing the Voiceless: Exploring the Life of Precarity and Diasporic Subjectivity of the Migrant Workers in Deepak Unnikrishnan’s Temporary People (2017)

Puja Hansda

The term Diaspora is a multifaceted nuanced one, ranging from a wide variety of immigrant experiences in the context of contemporary socio-political global scenario. Migrant experiences across the globe contextualize different migrant subjectivities, depending on individual subject position. The conventional notion of the idea of an ideal ‘homeland’ or an indifferent ‘hostland’ has been problematised in the context of the dynamic process of Global migration, displacement and re-discovery of the ‘self’. In the context of present-day diaspora and mass exodus of people across borders, the term Diaspora points out to an ambivalence that helps re-think the idea of homeland/ hostland. Deepak Unnikrishnan’s Temporary People (2017) is such a testament of the precarity of the displaced migrant labourers that lays bare the predicament of the working class migrants in the gulf countries. Unnikrishnan, a writer from Abu Dhabi and a resident in the US, hails from a Malayali village in Kerala. Temporary People (2017) is his debut novel that poignantly explores the themes of precarity, homelessness and the predicament of migrant labourers in the gulf countries who are treated as modern day slaves due to the system of Kafala. Thus, Unnikrishnan lays bare the complex diasporic subjectivity by portraying the ‘lived experiences’ of the migrant labourers who are considered as disposable cheap labour, an indispensable part of the country’s economy, having no right to claim themselves as permanent citizens. Thus, my research paper aims at exploring the diasporic subjectivity of the migrant workers in the gulf countries who undergo the life of precarity, alienation and discrimination. By so doing, I would focus on how Unnikrishnan gives a voice to the ‘voiceless’ and exposes the varied diasporic experiences, affected due to the system of Kafala. I have employed the theoretical frameworks of Homi. K. Bhabha’s “Third Space” as brought out in his The Location of Culture ( 1994). In addition to these, I have employed other theoretical interventions of Vijay Mishra, Hannah Arendt and Giorgio Agamben..

Reading Eco-spirituality, Indigenous truths and Self-affirmation in Smitha Sehgal’s Brown God’s Child*

Dr. Shubha Dwivedi

Indian English literature with it’s well-established identity and evolved aesthetics seems to have garnered well-deserved attention from the most distinguished littérateurs and critics globally. As a matter of fact, the creative-critical field has re-invented itself in recent decades following a persistent battle against the hierarchies of power, while zealously guarding its local colour and retaining its foundation in the land’s socio-cultural ethos. Despite being seen as a contested territory for its complex affiliation with the language of the colonial masters,the Indian writings in English have emerged as a potent field for enabling its practitioners to regain their sense of the self by entering into meaningful interactions with fields such as history,philosophy,spirituality,feminism and ecopsychology.From the times of having ‘ambivalent’ attitude towards the politics and ideologies of imperialism, colonialism and capitalism to the point, where these writers, equipped with post-colonial stance and globalectical imagination are asserting their indigenous identity and eloquently transcribing their Indian experience with a renewed commitment to Indian thought, with due emphasis on it’s pluralistic, multilingual, syncretic and eco-spiritual philosophy, it can be stated that Indian English literature’s contribution to world literatures in English is quite definitive and tangible.These works,by maintaining an equilibrium between the anglophone and the native writing traditions, have secured a distinctive place in the literary ecosystem of India, existing alongside literatures being written in Indian languages.Indubitably, these writings have come to acquire deeper implications, for showing a sustained engagement with post colonial subjectivities, politics,cultural milieu as well as histories of the subaltern.In its post-modern, post-colonial avatar, Indian English Literature refuses to be reduced to a monolithic identity and is, characterized by a sense of unity in conveying unequivocal reflections on fragmented identities, intertextual relations, blurring of gender/caste/class/race/ethnicity based boundaries, inexhaustible thematic and stylistic variety and conscious attempts to be heterogeneous, equitable, conscientious and faithful to native traditions and humanistic impulses.The present paper situates contemporary Indian English poet, Smitha Sehgal’s second poetry anthology, Brown God’s Child, into the larger tradition of Indian Writings in English, probing intricately into the ideas of eco-spirituality, indigenous truths and self-affirmation in order to explore the possibility of a decolonized and critically self-aware literary sensibility .

East vs. West in Game of Thrones: Unpacking Edward Said’s Orientalism in the Fantasy World

Dr. Mariyam Ilyas Siddiqui

This article examines the way that Eastern and Western Cultures are represented in the TV show Game of Thrones (2007-2019), through the lens of Edward Said's work on Orientalism. Although Game of Thrones is a fantasy TV show that takes place in fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, it has created a clear distinction between the Civilized West and the Exotic East. In many ways, this dichotomy reflects the Orientalist framework that Said identifies in his book Orientalism. The author of this article will argue that the East is portrayed by Game of Thrones as an Exotic, Mysterious and Often Dangerous Other, as opposed to the Western ideals of Order, Power and Morality. Through an examination of the representation of Essos and specifically Daenerys Targaryen's interaction with the Dothraki and other Eastern cultures, the article will critically evaluate how the show reinforces traditional Orientalist tropes, while at the same time subverts them through acts of resistance and complexities. Overall, the author of this article will conclude that Game of Thrones uses the Orientalist framework to both reflect colonial histories, and to prompt viewers to consider what it means to be culturally imperialistic, to have power and to create and maintain one's identity in today's world.

Identity, Truth and Binary Instability: A Poststructuralist Reading of Bhasa’s Svapnavasavadattam

Ratan Mahali

This paper aims to analyse Bhasa’s Svapnavasavadattam through the lens of poststructuralist criticism. It reveals how the play itself constructs identity and truth as unstable and continually shifting. It seems, apparently, a conventional story of separation and reunion; but it is dramatically structured around acts of hiding, masking and withholding information. Drawing on Derrida’s concept of differance, his critique of binary opposition and Culler’s idea of boundless context, the study demonstrates that meaning in the drama is produced by difference, relationality and the interplay between absence and presence. Vasavadatta’s shifts from queen to disguised servant girl to image in a dream reveal a subjectivity that is determined by various contexts and perception. Yaugandharayana’s political maneuver collapses the distinction between truth and falsehood and reminds us that reality in the play is always mediated and contingent. Further, the ending of the drama contains remnants of uncertainty; the real Vasavadatta is inextricable from the roles she has enacted. This study, thus, situates Svapnavasavadattam as a classical text that has the traces of poststructuralist thinking. It argues that the instability of binary opposition and the endless play of meaning are not limited to modern literature but can be found in classical drama as well.

Analytical Study of Literary Style in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature

Deudjolbo Narcisse, Dr. Aboubakar Abdramane Mahamat Adam

This study explores Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature (1836); it examines how his prose reflects and enacts Transcendentalist philosophy. Through linguistic, rhetorical, and literary analysis, the research highlights Emerson’s diction, syntax, figurative language, and rhetorical strategies. The first edition of Nature was chosen to capture Emerson’s original stylistic expression. The analysis reveals that his stylistic choices are central to the philosophical impact of the text. Emerson blends spiritual, natural, and scientific language in his diction, while his syntax oscillates between long, complex sentences and short, impactful statements. His use of metaphor, analogy, and symbolism transforms nature into a symbol of spiritual insight, as demonstrated by the “transparent eyeball” passage. Rhetorical techniques like paradox, contrast, and a sermonic tone further strengthen the text's persuasive power. Emerson’s fusion of poetic and philosophical styles underscores that his prose is not merely ornamental, but integral to his argument, embodying the unity of matter and spirit, reason and imagination. The study concludes that Nature is a pioneering work in both literary and philosophical traditions that influenced later American writers such as Thoreau, Whitman, and modernists. It also contributes to the study of literary style by showing how style serves as a form of thought and persuasion.

Crossdressing in the Digital Age: An Exploration of Social media’s Impact on Identity, Community and practice

Awat Malone Embuta

Crossdressing, a multifaceted and complex phenomenon, has long been a site of fascination and contestation. This paper sets out to investigate social media’s influence on crossdressing identities and expressions. The study thus intends to answer the following research questions; how do crossdressers navigate binary gender norms in everyday life? What role does drag culture play in shaping crossdressing identities and practices? And how do online communities suporrt or challenge crossdressing individuals’ identity formation? By examining the motivations and reasons for crossdressing, the study seeks to present the effects of the practice of transvestism in the Cameroonian and Nigerian media space in particular, and Africa in general from a neutral perspective. The research problem is centered on the negotiation and construction of identity within societal norms by individuals who engage in crossdressing. The paper employs postmodernism and queer theory to deconstruct crossdressing, challenging traditional notions of identity, power and performance. By examining the fluidity of gender and sexuality, this study reveals crossdressing as a submersive practice that disrupts traditional notions of masculinity and femininity.

Same Sex Marriage and Constitutional Law: A Comparative Analysis

Renu Rani

This paper examines the constitutional dimensions of same-sex marriage in India through a comparative and rights-based lens. It analyses marriage as a civil institution governed by constitutional values of equality, dignity, liberty, privacy, and autonomy. Drawing upon Indian constitutional jurisprudence, the study traces the progressive recognition of LGBTQIA+ rights and evaluates recent judicial responses to claims for marriage equality. While courts have affirmed the constitutional legitimacy of same-sex relationships, they have exercised restraint in redefining marriage, emphasising separation of powers and legislative competence. The paper also situates the Indian debate within global constitutional developments, highlighting evolving notions of constitutional morality and expanding understandings of family and marriage in comparative jurisdictions. It further explores the social, legal, and economic consequences of non-recognition, particularly in relation to family life, inheritance, and social security. The paper concludes that a dialogic constitutional approach—where courts protect fundamental rights and legislatures institutionalise reform—offers the most sustainable path for harmonising constitutional principles with social realities and ensuring equal citizenship for sexual minorities.

Operational Efficiency and Capacity Utilisation in The Haryana Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd: A Comparative Analysis

Arun, Dr. Pardeep Kumar Sharma

This study examines the operational efficiency of The Haryana Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd. by analysing installed capacity, capacity utilisation, crop days, cane crushed, sugar production, sugar recovery, and workforce trends. The findings indicate structural expansion accompanied by fluctuating but gradually stabilising utilisation levels. Production performance shows a strong linkage between cane crushed and sugar output, while recovery rates influence technical efficiency. A steady decline in workforce size, despite the use of old machinery, reflects improved labour productivity and administrative rationalisation. The study highlights the importance of balancing workforce optimisation with technological modernisation to ensure sustained efficiency and long-term agro-industrial competitiveness.

Navigating AI Entrepreneurship: A Review of Artificial Intelligence in Startup Ecosystems

Rubi, Dr. Kapil Malhotra, Anamica Maan, Sushma Yadav

This research integrates the latest literature to decode the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in ensuring the success, sustainability, and innovation of startups. A structured literature review was performed to examine the latest empirical and conceptual research on AI-powered startups and entrepreneurial ecosystems. The results show that AI improves the survival rate of startups by reducing risk and enhancing decision-making accuracy. Proprietary data, AI-related human capital, and founders’ experience are key factors that improve funding and performance. AI adoption improves operational efficiency, agility, and innovation, while responsible AI adoption enhances stakeholder trust and sustainability. Moreover, technological agglomeration and regulatory environments strongly influence the formation and scalability of AI-powered startups. This research emphasizes that successful AI entrepreneurship requires not only technological adoption but also human capital, governance, and ecosystem readiness. Policymakers and startup entrepreneurs must, therefore, consider the technological, institutional, and ethical aspects of AI entrepreneurship to ensure sustainable and competitive AI-powered startups.

Changing Patterns of Summer Monsoon over North-West India

Prof. (Dr.) Satvir Singh, Ritika

Actually, the monsoon is a seasonal process formed due to the shifting of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) over the Tropic of Cancer during summer. India’s summer monsoon is a lifeline for its agriculture, economy, and overall sustenance. A successful monsoon season brings growth, stability, and prosperity, while a failed one can lead to drought, hunger, and economic hardship. Understanding monsoon is essential for managing agriculture, water resources, and disaster preparedness in affected regions. Despite ongoing research, there remains a limited understanding of the underlying causes and regional-scale manifestations of these changing rainfall patterns. This study aims to address these gaps by analyzing the spatial and temporal changes in summer monsoon rainfall over North-West (NW) India and identifying possible climatic drivers behind these shifts.

Ecological Imagination and Emotional Landscape in the Poetry of Kalidasa

Priya Sharma, Aditya Saini

This paper investigates the ecological vision in the major poetic compositions of Kalidasa, focusing on Meghaduta, Ritusamhara, Raghuvamsa, and Kumarasambhava. Through the lens of Ecocriticism, the study analyzes how these works articulate a meaningful relationship between the environment and human existence. It contends that the poet does not treat the natural world as mere embellishment; instead, he grants it agency, vitality, and moral significance within the poetic universe. In these texts, forests, mountains, rivers, clouds, and seasonal cycles are intricately woven into narrative and emotional structures. They influence characters’ experiences, intensify moods, and reflect spiritual states. Emotional transitions are often paralleled by shifts in landscape, suggesting a worldview in which inner life and external surroundings operate in continuity rather than separation. Such representations reveal a cosmology grounded in balance and order, where earthly and celestial elements coexist within an integrated whole. By applying ecocritical theory, the paper demonstrates that these compositions articulate an early form of environmental consciousness. The poetic imagination foregrounds harmony, reciprocity, and respect for the living world, thereby proposing an ethical orientation toward nature. Ultimately, the study argues that Kalidasa’s verse presents a philosophically rich and environmentally attuned vision that remains relevant to contemporary ecological discourse.

Using Zoom Breakout Room Interactions to Enhance EFL Students’ Speaking Fluency and Turn-Taking Skills

Assist. Prof. Dr. Lina Fathi Sidig

The internet-based learning has influenced the traditional teaching systems very much in the case of universities, especially in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes for graduate students. The research revealed that Zoom breakout rooms significantly support the development of fluency and turn-taking skills among master's students in media studies. For this purpose, various methodological data collection approach were used in this study such as pre-test and post-test of speaking sills, interaction analysis, and surveys. Over a period of eight weeks, a total of thirty-two students organized their participation in the conversations in the breakout rooms. The figures show a great development in their talking and turn-taking skills. The qualitative data from interviews indicates that students perceived themselves to be more independent and confident during oral communication. The findings lead to the conclusion that Zoom breakout rooms constitute an effective tool for students to refine their speaking skills in online EFL classes.