This article explores the tradition of Bacha Posh in Afghan culture as depicted in Afghan-American Nadia Hashimiʼs debut novel The Pearl that Broke its Shell (2014). In this novel, Hashimi shows how Afghan girls are obliged to cross-dress and live dual lives as boys for several years to lay claim for their rights to education and freedom of…[Read more]

On Ernest Miller Hemingway’s 121st anniversary, this book review celebrates his nobel-winning masterpiece, Old Man and the Sea.

This article was written on the 75th anniversary of the classic work of George Orwell, Animal Farm. It was written amidst the first wave of Covid-19. There are many differences between a communist regime and a democratic system and both can’t be compared directly. But what I saw in India had certain elements in common with Animal Farm i.e. t…[Read more]

Nigeria as a developing country is on the fast track to the attainment of development, or supposedly so. In this endeavour, priority is inevitably placed on science and technology as the only routes for the attainment of this dream. Such one track minded disposition is mouthed to the exclusion of other factors that contribute to the development of…[Read more]

The drama of the Niger Delta region has enjoyed robust scholarship. This essay interrogates J. P. Clark-Bekederemo’s drama against the cultural milieu of the region and tries to investigate the connections between the rich folklore of the area and the wealth of poetry and imagery contained in his drama. The essay investigates the terrain,…[Read more]

Their words might have been different but both Ambedkar and Phule talked of the slavery of women and Shudras and Ati-shudras, their liberation and their unity. The concept of ‘Bahujan Literature’ was born to highlight the need to explore the socio-cultural foundation of the liberation and unity of Bahujans.

there is a broad unanimity among Hin…[Read more]

इस संपादकीय लेख में कहा गया है कि जोतिबा फुले और आम्बेडकर दोनों ने मुख्य रूप से अलग-अलग शब्दावली में शूदों-अतिशूद्रों तथा स्त्री की गुलामी और इससे मुक्ति के लिए इनकी एकता की बात की है। हिंदी में ‘बहुजन साहित्य’ का जन्म प्रकारांतर से इसी विचार के सांस्कृतिक-सामाजिक आधार की खोज की जरूरत पर बल देने के लिए हुआ है।
मध्यवर्ती जातियों और दलित जाति…[Read more]

लक्ष्मी नगर के मेट्रो स्टेशन से उत्तर की ओर बढ़ते ही शकरपुर का ‘स्कूल ब्लॉक’ मोहल्ला आता है। कुछ समय पहले तक इसकी एक गली पर एक हैरतअंगेज साइन-बोर्ड लगा था, जिस पर बड़े अक्षरों में लिखा था – ‘जाति जरूरी है’। बोर्ड में जाति के फायदों का उल्लेख करते हुए इसे हर जगह के लिए आवश्यक बताया गया था। बोर्ड एकदम मुख्य सड़क पर था। आते-जात…[Read more]

This is a slightly revised version of the text of a talk that I (Seo-Young Chu) gave as part of the Fall 2014 Franke Lectures in the Humanities at Yale University. I’m sharing the text here to make the lecture more accessible. Topics include: North Korea/the DPRK, the “uncanny body politic,” the uncanny valley, “dystopian poetics,” what it means…[Read more]