MEJO The MELOW Journal of World Literature Volume 3 February 2019 ISSN: 2581-5768 A peer-refereed journal published annually by MELOW (The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the World) Space, Place, and Landscape in Literatures of the World Editor Manpreet Kaur Kang Volume Sub-Editors Neela Sarkar Barnali Saha 1 Editor Manpreet Kaur Kang, Professor of English, Guru Gobind Singh IP University, Delhi Email: [email protected] Volume Sub-Editors Neela Sarkar, Associate Professor, New Alipore College, W.B. Email: [email protected] Barnali Saha, Research Scholar, Guru Gobind Singh IP University, Delhi Email: [email protected] Editorial Board: Anil Raina, Professor of English, Panjab University Email: [email protected] Debarati Bandyopadhyay, Professor of English, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan Email: [email protected] Himadri Lahiri, Professor of English, University of Burdwan Email: [email protected] Manju Jaidka, Professor of English, Panjab University Email: [email protected] Rimika Singhvi, Associate Professor, IIS University, Jaipur Email: [email protected] Roshan Lal Sharma, Professor, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala Email: [email protected] 2 EDITORIAL NOTE MEJO, or the MELOW Journal of World Literature, is a peer-refereed E-journal brought out biannually by MELOW, the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the World. It is a reincarnation of the previous publications brought out in book or printed form by the Society right since its inception in 1998. MELOW is an academic organization, one of the foremost of its kind in India. The members are college and university teachers, scholars and critics interested in literature, particularly in World Literatures. The Organization meets every year over an international conference. It seeks to maintain academic standards, encourages and grooms younger scholars, and provides a forum for senior scholars in literature. The papers presented at MELOW conferences are screened, selected, edited and published by a Board of Editors especially appointed for the purpose. Whereas in the initial years the Society favoured a book publication, in subsequent years it was a journal that was published annually. With the changing times, MELOW decided to move on to online publication. The result is MEJO. Dear readers, this is the fourth issue of MEJO, the MELOW Journal. While the third issue brought out the essays selected from the 2017 conference held at Chandigarh, this issue contains essays from the 2018 conference held at Dharamshala. The papers have been selected by a panel of reviewers from the presented and revised submissions. We, at MELOW, wish you happy reading! EDITORS 3 About MELOW MELOW (The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the World) was first set up in 1998 as MELUS-India. It is an academic organization, among the foremost of its kind in India. The members are college and university teachers, scholars and critics interested in literature, particularly in world literatures, and literature across borders of time and space. The organization meets every year over an international conference. It seeks to maintain academic standards, encourages younger scholars and provides a forum for senior scholars in literature. The MELOW revamped journal has existed in hard print for about a decade. The present issue comprises a selection of papers presented at the 2018 MELOW Conference in Dharamshala. MELOW Office Bearers President: Prof Anil Raina (Chandigarh) Vice-President: Dr Vijay Sharma (Delhi) Secretary: Prof Manju Jaidka (Chandigarh) Jt. Secretary: Prof Manpreet Kaur Kang (Delhi) Treasurer: Dr Parminder Singh (Chandigarh) Executive Members: Prof Sushila Singh (Varanasi) Prof Dipankar Purkayastha (Silchar) Prof Debarati Bandopadhyay (Santiniketan) Prof T. Ravichandran (Kanpur) Dr Roshanlal Sharma (Dharamshala) Dr Seema Bhupendra (Udaipur) Dr Neela Sarkar (Kolkata) Dr Jyoti Mishra (Chattisgarh) Dr Vandhana Sharma (Jammu) Dr Suneeta Patnayak (Chandigarh) Dr Radha Gautam (Surat) Dr Neepa Sarkar (Bangalore) International Advisory Board Prof Giorgio Mariani (U of Rome, Italy) Prof Shirley Geok Lim (UCSB, USA) Prof Rajeshwari Pandharipande (U of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA) Prof Mukesh Williams (Soka University, Japan) Prof Pawel Jędrzejko (U of Silesia, Katowice, Poland) Reach us online http://www.melusmelow.blogspot.com/ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003036474708&fref=ts Published By: MELOW (The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the World) 11, NAC Manimajra, Chandigarh – 160 101 +91 172 4001614 | [email protected] 4 ISAAC SEQUEIRA MEMORIAL FUND +- Professor Isaac Sequeira (5 January 1930--7 September 2006) Professor Isaac Sequeira from Hyderabad, who worked at the Osmania University and was closely associated with the ASRC, Hyderabad, was a mentor and patron to several generations of academics in India. His sad demise in 2006 created a void hard to fill. We, at MELOW, wish to keep alive the memory of our Patron and guiding light who played a key role in all the activities of our organization. We have set up an Isaac Sequeira Memorial Fund out of which a cash prize of Rs.5,000 is awarded for the best paper presented at our conferences (see details below).* With effect from the 2010 conference, there is a Special Invited Lecture by a person of eminence funded by the Isaac Sequeira Memorial Fund. Several individuals have come forward to offer contributions towards the corpus and donated generously to the ISM fund. Donations of Rs.1,000 or more may be sent in cash/by draft payable to MELOW at Chandigarh. Contributions may be mailed by registered post/courier to Prof Anil Raina, Dept of English, Panjab University, Chandigarh-160014. *THE ISM AWARD In the memory of Prof Isaac Sequeira, MELOW annually awards a prize for the best paper presented at its conference. The award comprises a certificate and a cash prize of Rs.5,000. The competition is open to Indian citizens who are members of MELOW. The participant/delegate should be less than forty years of age at the time of the conference. The abstract and complete paper should be submitted by the stipulated deadlines before it is presented at the conference. A panel of Judges is appointed by the Office Bearers of MELOW. If required, these rules may be amended by a simple majority of members present and voting at the Conference. 5 CONTENTS 1 Plenary Lecture 7 Nature and Art in Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer Tej N Dhar 2 Isaac Sequeira Memorial Lecture 18 Culture, Nature and Literature Mohan Ramanan 3 ISM Awarded Paper 31 Mnemonic Maps of an Imagined Home: Exploring Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities Neepa Sarkar 4 Pictures of Native Nature in Old-Polish Literature (XVI-XVIII) 41 Daniel Kalinowski 5 That Funny, Nomadic Boy: Interrogating the Function of Intersecting Spaces in 48 Funny Boy Tarun Deep Singh 6 Academia as a Site of Feminist Heterotopia in Carolyn Heilbrun’s Death in a 60 Tenured Position Sangeeta Singh 7 Configurating the Spatial in Anita Desai’s Novels: A Study Through Imagery 67 Ranjita Pati 8 Space and Gender Politics: A Re-Reading of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The 76 Scarlet Letter Manpreet Kaur Kang 9 Problematizing Nostalgia: A Study of Selected Short Stories on Bengal 86 Partition Barnali Saha 10 That ‘Indian’ Girl Strolling on the Streets of Europe: Conjecturing and 95 Decoding the Flaneuse in Vikas Bahl’s Queen Rachit Verma 11 Re-Visiting Exile in Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s Srikanta 105 Anshita Sharma 12 From the ‘Real’ to the ‘Hyperreal’: A Study of the Postmodern and Dystopian 116 Cityscape in Ruchir Joshi’s The Last Jet-Engine Laugh and Prayaag Akbar’s Leila Pallabee Dasgupta 13 (Re)Creating Eden: Ecology and War in Romesh Gunesekera’s Heaven’s Edge 129 Somjeeta Pandey 6 Plenary Lecture Nature and Art in Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer Tej N Dhar Retired Professor of English Abstract: Barbara Kingsolver’s writings are intimately connected with her sustained interest in the world that is threatened by what Cheryll Glotfelty calls the “global environmental crisis.” Because of this, the connection between the natural and the human world, with a heavy accent on preserving the natural, is at the heart of her novel-writing. The essay provides a brief exposition of her views on literature and its role in our time that is threatened by environmental degradation and demonstrates how these are realized in their fullness in the Prodigal Summer. Kingsolver locates the novel in a familiar space that abounds in all species of natural growth—farms, forests, trees, and a variety of animals—weaves three narratives, seemingly different yet interconnected, centred round three major characters, who are also trained professionals, and focusses on their thinking, actions and interactions with other characters, but making sure that they are vibrant and engaging beings and not mere mechanical ploys. Combining this mechanism with her skilful use of language, Kingsolver succeeds in producing a novel that is both pleasurable and educative. Keywords: Ecology, Ecological consciousness, Environmental crisis, Land ethics, Location, Nature, Novelistic art Barbara Kingsolver is a novelist, poet, essayist, and political activist. Her views on the nature and function of art/literature, about which she has written in her essays, are intimately connected with her sustained interest in the world that is threatened by what Cheryll Glotfelty calls the “global