Editorial

Abstract

SABITA, the annual online journal of Humanities, an initiative of Asutosh College, was launched in the autumn of 2024, and I am now happy to announce that it has since been allotted e-ISSN.

This second issue, in keeping with the journal’s core vision of exploring varied areas of intellectual engagement within the broad spectrum of Humanities, presents seven research-oriented articles, and three book reviews.

The diversity of topics in this issue is worth noting. Social media and how our lives are evolving in a digital age are areas of extensive research today and two major social media-generated trends, those of ‘cancel culture’ and ‘self-love’ as it finds expression in a way that may be termed as ‘commodified aesthetic,’ are analysed in two of the articles. The question of displacement from a place and its associated issues form the basis of two articles, both of which explore how literary texts attempt to negotiate the same. One of these is subversive female individuality in the context of diaspora as reflected in a neo-Victorian novel, the other, how short fiction by a selection of writers from Tripura reflects the complex history of the state, a socio-economic and religious history shaped by the 1947 Partition of India and the Bangladesh Liberation war of 1971. An examination of Article 377 of the Indian Constitution, an article mired in controversy, in terms of a text/piece of literature, forms the basis of a very interesting essay, in that it discusses perspectives on non-heteronormativity in the light of selected well-known literary works. In line with this article, another article explores the challenges faced by queer (LGBTQ+) individuals within the educational system in neighbouring Nepal. Mainstream British literature, that seems to have fallen into neglect at the moment, makes its presence felt in an article that discusses the British Romantic poet Coleridge’s deep interest in Chemistry and how this interest found expression in the metaphors and images he used in his writings, especially in his poems.

There are three essays which are in the nature of reviews of three research-oriented books, one of which is a publication as recent as 2025. The areas are once again, diverse: studies of the Partition in Bengal through psycho-analytical lenses, society and culture of the metropolis of Calcutta/ Kolkata, and post-colonial theory and literature.

What is heartening and encouraging to note is that SABITA has gained recognition beyond India’s borders. One of the articles presented in this issue has been submitted for publication by two academicians from Nepal.

As is the practice, all submissions have gone through rigorous pre-publication peer review by external experts having desired knowledge in the concerned fields.

I would like to thank all the contributors for their submissions and all the experts who performed the task of reviewing each article and offering valuable suggestions and advice to the authors of the same. At the same time, I wish to acknowledge the efforts of the members of the Editorial Board in ensuring the success of this initiative.

SABITA continues on its journey in the hope that it will find an enthusiastic and serious readership both within and outside academia, and evolve as a significant academic publication on the virtual platform in the days to come.

Dr. Manas Kabi

Editor-in-Chief - SABITA

&

Principal

Asutosh College, Kolkata