MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies MZU JOURNAL OF LITERATURE AND CULTURAL STUDIES A Refereed UGC Approved Journal No. 64788 Volume V Issue II ISSN:2348-1188 Editor : Dr. Thongam Dhanajit Singh Editorial Board: Prof. Margaret Ch.Zama Prof. Sarangadhar Baral Prof. Margaret L.Pachuau Prof. K.C. Lalthlamuani Dr. Lalrindiki T. Fanai Dr. Cherrie Lalnunziri Chhangte Dr. Kristina Z. Zama Advisory Board: Prof. G.J.V. Prasad JNU, New Delhi Prof. Desmond Kharmawphlang, NEHU Shillong Prof. B.K. Danta, Tezpur University Prof. Bibhash Choudhury, Gauhati University Prof. R.L. Thanmawia, Mizoram University Prof. Nandini Saha, Jadavpur University Published by the Department of English Mizoram University 1 MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies 2 MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies FOREWORD MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies (MZUJLCS), a bi annual refereed UGC approved journal of the Department of English,Mizoram University has once again brought forth articles that make for worthy reading in arenas that are pertinent to both culture as well as literature. I take this opportunity to remind our readers that the journal can also be accessed, as in the past, at http://mzujlcs.wixsite.com/ mzujlcs. The present volume has focused upon the issue of marginality.While addressing this issue, we must remind ourselves that the idea of marginality is getting closer, to being just that: in terms of being ‘an idea’ because increasingly ,as most of the articles in this volume would reiterate marginality is now seemingly located at the centre and no longer at the periphery as it was, in the not so recent past. Questions concerning minority communities, as well as literature of the diaspora alongwith issues that are pertinent to literature of protest, as well as that of the notion of post colonial identities have been addressed within the ambit of the journal. It has also sought to put forth queries that are pertinent to the theme of marginalisation.For instance,what does literature have to denote in terms of the conflict between the global as well as that of the local, in terms of identities? Is there a dominant politics of historiography ,and if so, then who defines the paradigms that comprise the same? Can there be a wider framework in terms of addressing marginality in literature? Who defines what is marginalised? Also, is there a place for marginalisation and politics in terms of literature? These and 3 MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies many other issues have been posited in this very eclectic volume,even as critical essays have nestled alongwith the creative ambit in what one must affirm as an inherently seminal compendium. Margaret L.Pachuau Professor and Head Department of English Mizoram University 4 MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies EDITORIAL It is with immense pleasure that the editorial of the present issue of the journal is written after a long and tiresome work of editing. We have received a number of articles on various issues. However, with due respect and appreciation to all who have sent their articles, we are constrained to select only fourteen based on the thematic parameters outlined in our Call for Papers circulated earlier. The articles selected in this issue deal with various aspects of marginality such as the conflict between the global and the local, minority-majority dichotomy, re-assertion of indigenous identities in the postcolonial years, marginality caused by gendered existence, problem of geographical and historical locations of refugees, etc, seen in the different texts analysed by the paper contributors. An aberrant marginality is the case of ‘democratic’ state’s silencing of its own people in which the state acts as a protagonist in the process of marginalization through its ideological and repressive apparatuses. Most articles included in this issue try to interpret and analyse socio-cultural, political and economic spaces created in the due course of history where the marginalised peoples struggle in various ways to gain access to knowledge resources and equal participation in the development of societies. Some articles argue that marginality is not a matter of ‘small numbers’, to borrow Appadurai’s phrase, but a case of ideological dominance of a group of people by another while some other read the culture of violence, associated with societies under political conflicts, as the reflection of marginalization. It is also interesting to note that cultural 5 MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies activities performed in various ways such as festivals are also reflective of how elements of marginalization are registered in our cultural artifacts. Thus, language, cultural performances, literary texts, etc are the main areas the contributors have explored and identified marginality as an aspect to critically engage with. Readers may find that a large space is given in this issue to the articles that deal with the literature and culture of India’s Northeast. This is because of the theme we have outlined in the Call for Papers and the same is very close to the nature of political and social life of the people of this region. We also feel that literature and culture of this region should be given more academic attention in the wake of globalization and postcolonial reawakening. We, at the Department of English, Mizoram University, are happy with the overwhelming response of the paper contributors and hope that the same will continue in future too. Thongam Dhanajit Singh Editor 6 MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies CONTENTS 1. Victims at Border: Questioning the Politics of Victimization in Mohsin Hamid's Exit West .............. 11 Abhisek Ghosal 2. Colonialism and Travel Writing on Northeast India: Looking through Hooker's Himalayan Journals. ....................................................23 Dr. Arzuman Ara 3. Maintaining a Conspiracy of Silence: The Tuai in Mizo Culture ...........................................38 Dr. Zothanchhingi Khiangte 4. Sexism in Mizo Language ...........................................47 Laltleipuii and R. Lalruatdiki 5. Binary and Beyond: Exploring Gender Dynamics in Nee Devi's Lei Mana Amatang ..............62 Linthoingambi Chanu Ningthoujam 6. Deconstructing the Heteronormative Belief in Aarons' Prayers for Bobby ......................................73 C. Lalrinzuala and Prof. K. C. Lalthlamuani 7. Incest and Gender Bias in the Tripuri Folktale "Chethuang" .................................................87 Dr. Kshetrimayum Premchandra 8. Intersections between Space and Identity: Negotiating Kamila Shamsie's Kartography ..............99 Neha Chatterjee 7 MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies 9. Representation of Women in Mizo Folktales: A study of the Patriarchal Demarcation of Gendered Roles in Traditional Mizo Society........... 111 Josephine L. B. Zuali 10. Culture, Identity and Oral Tradition in Lai Haraoba of the Marginalised Meitei Community .....................................................125 Thoudam Abinash Devi 11. Marginalisation of Human Values and the New National Narrative in Khushwant Singh's Works. .......................................141 Prasenjit Datta Roy 12. Confluence of Myth and Reality in Son of the Thunder Cloud......................................................152 Debajyoti Biswas 13. Women and State: The Story of the Meira Paibis (Torch Bearers) of Manipur......................................174 Linthoingambi Thangjam 14. Lived Experience of the Mizo Rambuai .................188 Dr. Lalrindiki T Fanai Short Story and Folklore 1. How Creation Came to be ‘Folklore in translation from the original Mizo’ ....193 Prof. Margaret L.Pachuau 2 Beyond the Edge of Certainty ..................................198 Anju Sosan George 8 MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies Book Review l. Dawngi's Art as a Pattern of Paradox .....................210 Prof. Sarangadhar Baral Poetry 1 The Dying Sun............................................................216 Anil Boro 2. On the Bank of the Manas River..............................217 Anil Boro 3. The Image ...................................................................220 Bhaskar Roy Barman 4. The Japanese Doll ......................................................222 Manisha Mishra 5. To a Valley Known as Imphal ...................................224 Robin S Ngangom 6. The Dead Shall Mourn the Living ...........................226 Robin S Ngangom 9 MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies 10 MZU Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies Victims at Border: Questioning the Politics of Victimization in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West Abhisek Ghosal M.Phil. Research Scholar, Department of English and Cultural Studies University of Burdwan I Border is always in dialogue with a number of nuanced and polyvalent factors in terms of culture, politics, economics, migration, to name only a few and thus is fraught with complexities. Border is of various types including cultural, political, territorial, social, religious, ethical, among others. Border exists where two adjacent nation-states edge together and virtually turns out to be an interface between the two neighbouring nation-states. Commercial trading and human displacement, among others, constitute the grave and inevitable reality at border. In other words, border is, at times, a point of conflict between two nation-states at different levels and at once a mere territorial marker of difference. Whereas invisible border between nation-states, unofficially and tacitly,