Caesurae: Poetics of Cultural Translation, Vol 6: 2, July 2025

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Chief Editor’s Column

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dear Readers,

 

We have completed ten years of our journey! There have been times of bad weather, yet by the grace of some scholars who have lent support to the journal and the Caesurae Collective Society, we are looking forward to a brighter future!

 

This Issue introduces a new chapter in the journal dedicated to ‘Indic Studies’. We are extremely grateful to stalwarts and young scholars who have come forward to join us in this venture. As there have been different approaches to this discipline by the Indian scholars and the Western scholars, this new chapter looks forward to engaging in interdisciplinary methodologies, to compare and contrast different kinds of research conducted in this area. We invite translations in this section, from the Indian Archive, from an insider to the culture. Someone who is not by birth an Indian, but in spirit is, is an insider. Sir  John Woodroffe was an insider, so was Carl Jung.

Yet someone who attempts to flatten the contours of the sacred signs, symbols and significations under the banner of Consciousness Studies is not! Say for example, Jeffrey Kripal’s book Kali’s Child (1995), based on his doctoral research, is not the material we are looking for. We are looking for “insiders”, who try to fathom our sages and their works from Indian Consciousness and Indian traditions.

 

The ‘Interventions Section’, of this issue is on “Cultural Translation of Buddhism in Asia”, and we continue with this theme for the next issue as well. In these  conflicting times, Buddhism has taken on many directions. Keeping in mind that the essence of the Buddha nature is maitrī, we intend to explore the tāttvic similarities in the two religions and other cultures, which share deities, upāsanās and sacred shrines as well.

 

 

The Creative sections, namely ‘MANA’, ‘Translation Studies’, ‘Spring Rhythm’ and ‘Ekhphrases’ together have a rich fare to offer. There are some extremely sensitive contributions in MANA and these sections which I am sure will resonate with all of you. ‘Hill Cultures’ Section offers some interesting essays. We are looking forward to contributions from the western Himalayas, or the other hill cultures in India, for our next issue.

 

Last but not the least, the ‘Special Feature’ of this issue is on the “Literature, Art, Architecture, Culture and Heritage of Rajasthan”. If you miss this section you will definitely miss a slice of our rich cultural history! There are some in depth research essays on stepwells, kavāds, folklore, texts and contexts.

 

We are open to receiving Book Reviews throughout the year.

 

With these words, we invite the readers to a very enriching experience of surfing this issue of the journal.

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                                                                                                                                                                       Jayita Sengupta

                                                                                                                                                                Chief & Managing Editor

                                                                                                                                                                           July 2025