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Editorial

Sreetanwi Chakraborty
Chief-Editor- Litinfinite Journal
Assistant Professor, Amity Institute of English Studies and Research, Amity University Kolkata. West Bengal, India.

Mail ID: litinfinitejournal@gmail.com | ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2936-222X

Migrancy, Mobility, Diaspora and Transnational Cultural Flows in Literature and Social Science – the theme for the December 2025 issue of Litinfinite Journal tries to interrogate several multilayered and nuanced patterns of movement, types of mobility and their various consequences in terms of negotiating borders, boundaries and transnational cultural paradigms across global literature segments. These negotiations are important parts of Postcolonial Studies, Cultural and Linguistic Studies, Sociology, History and Migration Studies. Migration has all the elements of nostalgia, hybridity, sense of displacement and cultural negotiation. For instance, Chathushkie Samurdha Jayasinghe’s paper ‘What Constitutes Mediocre Writing? A Study of Excessive Sinhala Usage in English Fiction Through Manuka Wijesighe’s Theravada Man (2009)’ delves deeper into the new forms of postcolonial language always create sites of contestation and conflict. Whenever there is use of the interruptive language, it gives rise to alternative identity formation by the expatriates. The paper discusses the effects of war, the advancement of technology and the possible problematics created by dogmatic beliefs. The use of Sinhala usage also plays a prominent role in understanding the layers of translation. Dr. Jemima Sakum Phipon’s paper ‘Lores and Lyrics of Basain Sarain in the Select Works of Prajwal Parajuly’ is yet another instance of how basain sarai and migration in select works of Prajwal Parajuly have also been resulting from the Nepali short stories, poems and songs that tell of the British era, and the post-independence conditions of the working class in the Nepali society. As Phipon writes, “The dukha (sorrow), poverty resulting from the exploitative feudal system, the rigid caste hierarchy and the regressive moral codes of conduct under the 19^th century Gorkha regime forced multitudes to leave their muluk (native land) for Muglan (land of the Mughlas, British India) where money seemed to grow in tea bushes (chiya ko botma paisa phalcha). The fact that Muglan or India was comparatively liberal and hence free from the oppressive socio-religious customs and practices of Nepal served as a potent pull factor for immigrants from Nepal.”

The next paper titled ‘Translating Chitra Mudgal’s novel – Post Box No.203, Nala Sopara: Theory and praxis’ is by Madhu Sriwastav, a paper that elaborates how “After a text is translated, a scholar may evaluate it to see which theories or methods the translator has applied. Translation is a complex process. Critics have formulated many theories about translation over the ages. Richardson dives deep into the nature of translation, “there remains a gap between what I want to say and what the language will let me say (or even think).” (Richardson 267) He dwells upon the impossibility of accurate communication, “We can never understand anyone’s meaning in its pristine state.” Translation is not just about the source and the target language, but while analyzing the paper, it becomes a clear objective that mobility and cultural flow can be of various regulatory methods during the process of translation. Formation of a new identity and cultural practice, understanding the nuances of translation, and embracing the otherness while not sacrificing or appropriating the stances of difference within a source text. In fact, any single reading of any text to be translated is not always enough. Nala Sopara follows the epistolary structure, and hence there is always a subjective, personal touch to the translation that is done. Mobility, even if it occurs, it is more about cultural invasion, percolation of ideas, myths, storytelling, everyday narratives that come to occupy a shattering reality of Vinod’s life. Home, shelter, house, and the stress on displacement, grief and never coming back to occupy the same space are instances that highlight the major aspects of Nala Sopara. It is not just about the translation of an address, but a whole gamut of emotions.

In this issue, we also have Amit Pandey’s fresh take on ‘Human-Monster Interactions, Lawlessness and Plasticity in Lord of the Flies: An Interdisciplinary Exploration’ in which the scholar unveils the postmodern and Anthropocene take on the work. He further adds the monster theory and the invasion of humanity in and across realms of nature.

The current issue also has two book reviews – ‘How All Stories Should End: A Review of The Sky Husband by Easterine Kire’ a review by Dr. Lalthansangi Ralte and the review of The D’Costa Family, Rochelle Potkar’s novel by Mohan Ramanan. In Easterine Kire’s book, there is a combination of Naga legends, love confessions, forest songs and events of trauma narrating the development of the major characters in the stories. Ramanan, on the other hand, points out, “Let us also remind ourselves, as Nietzsche knew, that no writer is free from the confessional habit. Callian, where much of the action unfolds, is in fact Kalyan, the Bombay suburb where Rochelle was raised in a Goan landlord’s home. She has said that from the eccentrics of this community, she has through the application of imagination created a gangster world filled with dark secrets, mysteries, affairs, and, yes, murders.” And hence, what Rochelle has woven into the Goanese cultural narratives, also talk about the developments in new literature in English.

I hope our readers, scholars, researchers and faculty will derive the necessary academic nourishment from Litinfinite Vol. 7, Issue 2.

I express my heartfelt thanks to all our esteemed editors and contributors.

I offer my sincerest thanks to Penprints Publication, for their constant technical support.

Thanking You,

Sreetanwi Chakraborty

Editor-in-Chief

Litinfinite Journal

Kolkata