Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025)

View Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025)

Editor-in-Chief

Professor (Dr.) Ashimananda Gangopadhyay

Journal of Cultural Research Studies

(ISSN: 2583-6137)

Vol. IV, Issue II,

December 2025

Published: 30-12-2025

Articles

  • Editorial Preface

    Professor (Dr.) Ashimananda Gangopadhyay
    i-ii
    Abstract views: 138Downloads: 96
    Abstract

    It is our immense pleasure to announce that the much-awaited Journal of Cultural Research Studies Vol. IV, Issue II, December 2025, is now ready to be published shortly. Apparently, this number comprises articles on both old and new trends that can interest our valued member-readers. This volume received an unprecedented number of articles, which made the peer-review process much prolonged. Articles were received from many parts of India and abroad on folk culture, folklore, partition literature, and the history of partition; yet all the articles went through multiple layers of selection and review; finally, selected articles were checked with the Plagiarism checking software, iThenticate.

  • Tracing Ecological Relationality A Posthumanist Critique of the Select Writings of Ruskin Bond

    Bapin Mallik
    1-12
    Abstract views: 126Downloads: 108
    Abstract

    Although the globe is currently experiencing environmental crises due to anthropogenic climate change and ecological destruction, dualisms of culture/nature, human/non-human, and mind/body play a significant role in which humans are treated as more important than non-humans. “The chronological and cultural growth of human beings as the most dominant and privileged species has resulted in a variety of complexity and divisions that have led to the formation of species supremacy” (Mallick & Dhar, 2024, p. 64). Based on the concept of self-fashioning, which necessitates the subordination of the racial, sexual, natural, and technological others, the Renaissance ideal of the human forms a hierarchy by positioning humans at the centre of all discourses. Hence, it is pertinent to redefine the conventional definition of “human” in the post-Covid-19 era, where the world is threatened by a climate disaster. Since the rise of Cartesian thought, posthumanism has been a discourse to criticise human exceptionalism. It tries to think of the relationship between humans and non-humans as always changing and interacting with itself. The present paper explores select writings of Ruskin Bond from a posthumanist perspective to dismantle the notion of human exceptionalism with a view to advocating the “intrinsic value” of nonhumans. The focus will also be given to how Bond questions the traditional assumption regarding the identity of humans to establish an alternative way of thinking for addressing the contemporary environmental crisis.

    Keywords: Posthumanism, Intrinsic Value, Dualism, Shallow Ecology, Instrumental Value

  • Lest Our Culture Wilts Away Interrogating Cultural Heritage and Leadership in Esanland, Edo State of Nigeria

    Charles Onomudo Aluede
    13-34
    Abstract views: 181Downloads: 110
    Abstract

    Esan people are a distinct group that is located in the Edo Central Senatorial District of Edo State, Nigeria. Although a subset of the larger Edo ethnic group in Nigeria, an examination of their cultural practices reveals peculiarities in their indigenous knowledge systems which include their cultural heritage and leadership structure. These cultural indices are found in their food, music, folk tales, folksongs, proverbs and aphorisms, belief systems, folk arts and crafts and ethno-medical health care delivery. This study relied heavily on the ethnographic method of inquiry as data were drawn through interviews, observation, question-and-answer sessions, literature search, telephone conversation and the internet. Fifteen Esan towns were selected from the five local government areas whose headquarters are Ubiaja, Uromi, Irrua, Ekpoma, and Igueben where this research was conducted. Of these Local Government Areas, except for Esan North-East Local Government which is made up of just two kingdoms, three kingdoms each were selected and investigated in each Local Government Area and they are: Uromi and Uzea in Esan North-East, Ekpoma, Ogwa and Urohi in Esan West, Igueben, Ebelle, and Ujiogba in Igueben local government area, Irrua, Ewu and Idoa in Esan Central, and Ubiaja, Oria and Ewohimi in Esan South-East.  Findings in this study suggest that some major age-old cultural practices of the people are wilting away with great rapidity under the watch of those who are supposedly the custodians of culture. Consequently, cultural reorientation, patriotism and collaborative efforts were suggested as ways to safeguard what is originally theirs for posterity.

    Keywords: Esan, Indigenous knowledge, Cultural heritage, TYraditional administration, Leadership

  • Beyond Facts and Formulas Humanist Resistance in Dickens’ Hard Times and Hirani’s 3 Idiots

    Dipanjan Ghosh
    35-44
    Abstract views: 90Downloads: 106
    Abstract

    The paper undertakes a comparative study of utilitarian models of education as dramatized in Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times (1854) and Rajkumar Hirani’s film 3 Idiots (2009). While Dickens’s Coketown and the pedagogical regime embodied by Thomas Gradgrind dramatize Victorian utilitarian pedagogy—reducing children to “facts” and instrumentalising education for industrial capital—Hirani’s ICE (Imperial College of Engineering) functions as a contemporary metonym for an Indian technocratic regime that privileges measurable performance, credentialism, and the attainment of economic ends. Reading these texts alongside classical utilitarian theory, contemporary educational criticism, and recent scholarship on both works, it is being argued that both narratives stage similar ethical and pedagogical failures arising from reductive, consequentialist educational logics: the repression of imagination, the erosion of individual agency, and severe social and psychological harm. Yet both of these texts also articulate different modes of resistance. Whereas Dickens does this through caricature, moral reform, and the restorative state of human feeling, Hirani through satire, humanist comedy, and an insistence on the primacy of vocation and intrinsic motivation. The paper concludes by reflecting on the persistence of utilitarian rationales in modern higher education and the implications of these literary/filmic critiques for current debates about assessment, meritocracy, and the purposes of learning.

    Keywords: Utilitarianism, Pedagogy, Moral reform, Intrinsic motivation, Facts, Learning

  • Female Agency and Moral Consciousness in Saadat Hasan Manto’s “Mozail” and “Kali Salwar”

    Deboleena Dutta
    45-59
    Abstract views: 1129Downloads: 63
    Abstract

    Saadat Hasan Manto’s short fiction constitutes a radical intervention in modern Urdu literature through its uncompromising engagement with social hypocrisy, patriarchal authority, and moral violence. Rejecting sentimentalism and reformist idealism, Manto foregrounds marginalized female experiences to expose the ethical failures embedded within religious, communal, and economic structures. This paper examines two of Manto’s short stories—Mozail and Kali Salwar—to analyze how female agency operates under conditions of communal violence and material deprivation. Through close textual analysis and sustained engagement with direct textual quotation, the study argues that Manto deliberately relocates moral authority away from dominant institutions and situates it within the lived experiences of women who exist outside social respectability. While Mozail presents a woman whose ethical clarity is expressed through visible defiance, autonomous choice, and decisive action during communal conflict, Kali Salwar offers a contrasting portrayal of resistance grounded in endurance, economic vulnerability, and everyday survival. By placing these narratives in dialogue, the paper demonstrates that Manto does not privilege one form of agency over another; rather, he expands the concept of resistance to include both moral action and quiet persistence. The study further contends that Manto’s refusal to provide narrative closure or moral consolation reinforces his realist aesthetic and humanist commitment to truth. Together, Mozail and Kali Salwar reveal Manto’s sustained critique of patriarchal hypocrisy and his enduring relevance to discussions of gender, power, and ethical responsibility in South Asian literature.

    Keywords: Saadat Hasan Manto, Mozail, Kali Salwar, Women, Agency, Patriarchy, Urdu literature

  • Normative Structure of Science & Socio-cultural Roots of Indian Democracy

    Keyoor Pathak, Rahul Patel, Dhiraj Kumar
    60-71
    Abstract views: 171Downloads: 62
    Abstract

    This review article explores the socio-cultural foundations of democracy in India, proposing that the potency and continuity of its democratic system derive fundamentally from the civilizational values and the deep-rooted socio-cultural traditions of the country rather than being merely a political import due to the colonial legacy and modernization. The Indian democratic ethos appears to have evolved organically within the pluralistic, dialogical, and inclusive frameworks of its civilization. The article discusses that the democratic resilience of India owes much to the embedded socio-cultural ethos that emphasizes tolerance, criticism, dialogue, debate, moral order, and collective welfare. To substantiate this argument, the authors employ Robert K. Merton’s normative structure of science, which articulates the principles of universalism, communism, disinterestedness, and organized skepticism. By drawing an analogy between the democratic process and the scientific spirit, the paper suggests that democracy, like science, flourishes where these normative conditions prevail. In the Indian context, elements of these values are discernible in the philosophical traditions of dharma, sahitya, and samvada (ethical conduct, shared knowledge, and dialogical engagement), which historically encouraged critical inquiry and participatory deliberation. This study reappraises and concludes that democracy in India (Bharat) is not merely a political institution, but a cultural and moral practice deeply rooted in the nation’s social and civilizational fabric. This cultural embeddedness serves as a lasting source of optimism for the continued vitality and sustainability of Indian democracy.

    Keywords: Socio-cultural democracy, Political democracy, Science, Organised-skepticism, Universalism, Communism, Disinterestedness

  • The Composite Monster Analysing the Syncretism of Slavic and Romanian Vampiric Folklore in Bram Stoker’s Dracula

    Rupen Mondal
    72-79
    Abstract views: 118Downloads: 66
    Abstract

    Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) is frequently analyzed as a singular, monolithic myth that birthed the modern vampire. However, a close mythological dissection reveals that the Count is not the product of a single cultural tradition, but rather a complex synthesis of two distinct, albeit related, folkloric systems: the Slavic upir/vampir and the Romanian strigoi. While Stoker’s geography places the novel explicitly in the Transylvanian (Romanian) sphere, the attributes he assigns to his antagonist are a selective curation of the corporeal, pestilential nature of the Slavic revenant and the magical, shapeshifting capabilities of the Romanian witch-vampire.

    Keywords: Vampire, Vampir, Strigoi, Moroi, Undead, Nos-Feratu

  • The Philosophy of Rain Rituals A Comparative Study of Practices in India and Northern Iran

    Bamshad Hekmatshoartabari, Bizhan Hekmatshoar Tabari
    80-91
    Abstract views: 156Downloads: 106
    Abstract

    Across rain-dependent agrarian societies, rituals for invoking rainfall are far more than vestiges of magical belief or mere folklore; they are living, adaptive social technologies—embodying philosophical frameworks through which communities negotiate agricultural unpredictability and ecological vulnerability. This article offers an integrated comparative analysis of rain rituals as practiced in India and Northern Iran (Mazandaran Province). Drawing from classical and contemporary anthropological theory, original fieldwork, ethnographic interviews, and newly translated local oral poetry, it explores key critical themes: gendered participation, childhood initiation, oral transmission, ecological relations, and ritual innovation under modernity. The discussion foregrounds the proactive agency of women and children, the evolving role of memory, and the ethical dimensions by which communities establish resilience and cosmological meaning. Employing the theoretical perspectives of Durkheim, Eliade, Lévi-Strauss, Douglas, Turner, Kapferer, and Seligman, the article argues for an understanding of ritual as both a site of cultural continuity and adaptation, as well as a medium for contesting social marginalization and re-envisioning environmental ethics. The case studies illuminate the broader significance of ritual not only in local worldviews but as part of emerging dialogues in the climate humanities concerning tradition’s ambiguous future, agency, and ethical response to environmental change.

    Keywords: Rain ritual; Gender; Oral tradition; Ritual resilience; India; Mazandaran (Iran)

  • লোককাহিনী এবং আখ্যান রূপান্তর সাংস্কৃতিক উত্তরাধিকার থেকে আধুনিক রূপান্তর

    Biplab Bagdi
    92-109
    Abstract views: 184Downloads: 115
    Abstract

    লোককাহিনী ও আখ্যান রূপান্তর বাংলার সাহিত্য ও সাংস্কৃতিক ইতিহাসে একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ অধ্যায়। এই গবেষণা পত্রে আখ্যান রূপান্তরের ধারণা, এর সামাজিক ও সাহিত্যিক গুরুত্ব, এবং আধুনিক সাহিত্যে, নাটক, চলচ্চিত্র ও ডিজিটাল মাধ্যমে এর প্রভাব বিশ্লেষণ করা হয়েছে। উনিশ শতকে বাংলার পণ্ডিতগণ যেমন দীনেশচন্দ্র সেন লোককাহিনী সংগ্রহ ও সংরক্ষণে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ভূমিকা পালন করেছিলেন। গ্রিম ভাইদের কাজ পশ্চিমা প্রেক্ষাপটে লোককাহিনীর সংগ্রহ ও রূপান্তরের অনুরূপ উদাহরণ হিসেবে বিবেচিত হয়। পত্রে ন্যারেটিভ থিওরি, প্রপ-এর আখ্যান কাঠামো এবং লোককাহিনীর চরিত্র ও প্রতীক বিশ্লেষণের মাধ্যমে দেখা যায় যে, লোককাহিনী শুধুমাত্র গল্প নয়, বরং সামাজিক মূল্যবোধ ও সাংস্কৃতিক পরিচয়ের এক গুরুত্বপূর্ণ মাধ্যম। বেহুলা-লখিন্দর ও মনসামঙ্গল কাব্য ইত্যাদি উদাহরণ আখ্যান রূপান্তরের প্রক্রিয়া প্রদর্শন করে, যেখানে মৌখিক কাহিনী লিখিত ও নাট্যরূপে রূপান্তরিত হয়েছে। সমকালীন সাহিত্য, নাটক ও চলচ্চিত্রে লোককাহিনী নতুন রূপে প্রাণ পেয়েছে, যেখানে এর সাংস্কৃতিক অর্থ ও প্রতীকী গভীরতা রক্ষিত থাকলেও কিছু ক্ষেত্রে পরিবর্তিত হয়েছে। ডিজিটাল মাধ্যম এ প্রক্রিয়াকে আরও বিস্তৃত করেছে। গবেষণায় প্রকাশিত হয়েছে যে, আখ্যান রূপান্তর শুধু সাহিত্যিক পরিবর্তন নয়, বরং একটি সামাজিক ও সাংস্কৃতিক পুনর্গঠন। এটি লোকঐতিহ্যের ধারাবাহিকতা ও আধুনিক যুগে তার প্রাসঙ্গিকতা নিশ্চিত করে।