Cultural Memory

Indigenous literature and cultural practices have emerged as important areas of contemporary research, offering valuable insights into identity, community, history, knowledge systems, and human behaviour. This article examines the significance of indigenous storytelling as an oral and dynamic cultural practice through which beliefs, memories, values, and social experiences are transmitted across generations. It highlights how indigenous narratives function as sociological and cultural archives that connect individuals, communities, and broader social structures while maintaining links between the past, present, and future. The transition from oral traditions to written documentation, particularly during the colonial period in India, also raises concerns regarding cultural misrepresentation, appropriation, marginalisation, and the loss of indigenous agency. Although early folklorists produced valuable records, their interpretations were often influenced by limited understanding of indigenous languages and cultures. Later scholarship contributed to restoring greater recognition of indigenous voices and narratives. The article argues for a methodological shift in the study of indigenous cultures, moving beyond rigid external theoretical frameworks toward interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches that recognize cultural diversity, oral memory, ritual, religion, and community knowledge. Meaningful engagement with indigenous communities is essential for developing nuanced interpretations and safeguarding cultural heritage. Strengthening institutional support, research initiatives, and dedicated programmes in folklore and indigenous studies can further promote the preservation and scholarly understanding of indigenous literatures and cultural practices.

Pandemics and epidemics have repeatedly disrupted human societies, producing profound consequences for social, political, economic, and cultural life. Literature has documented these disruptions while also transforming experiences of disease, fear, migration, isolation, and social change into powerful narratives and metaphors. This article examines the representation of epidemics and pandemics in Indian and South Asian literature, with particular attention to Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Srikanto, Intizar Husain’s Basti, and Fakir Mohan Senapati’s Rebati. Drawing on the concept of the chronotope, the discussion explores how disease outbreaks create moments of disruption that expose existing social divisions while also creating possibilities for transformation. The narratives demonstrate how epidemics intersect with religion, caste, class, gender, migration, patriarchy, and communal relations. In Basti, plague and migration challenge established assumptions concerning religious identity, while Srikanto presents quarantine as a temporary space in which conventional social boundaries are weakened and humanitarian values gain prominence. Similarly, Rebati uses cholera as a metaphor for social resistance to women's education and the persistence of patriarchal beliefs. The article argues that literary representations of epidemics function as cultural records of historical crises and reveal the ways societies respond to uncertainty and disruption. The experience of COVID 19 has further reinforced the relevance of such literary perspectives, demonstrating how disease outbreaks can generate lasting changes in social, cultural, political, and economic life.