Towards a Tribal Literary Criticism in India: Engaging Northeast Tribal Voices in English Literature

Title

Towards a Tribal Literary Criticism in India: Engaging Northeast Tribal Voices in English Literature

Creator

Maisuangdibou, M.; Chandran, Abilash R.

Description

This article formulates and applies a tribal literary criticism to the tribal voices of Northeast India articulated in English literature. It moves beyond prevailing literary paradigms that have traditionally marginalised indigenous worldviews and viewpoints by adopting indigenous-tribal epistemologies and a decolonial approach. By applying tribal knowledge through close readings of selected tribal literary texts produced by tribal writers from the Northeastern regions of India, the study explores key concepts such as community, land, identity, and ecology, rooted in the tribal holistic worldview of the God-world-human continuum. Relying on tribal worldviews, oral traditions, memories, storytelling, and lived experiences, indigenous-tribal interpretative tools offer alternative frameworks. Furthermore, the study validates tribal ways of knowing and expands the field of literary criticism by including diverse epistemic traditions. 2026, Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. All rights reserved.

Source

3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature;Volume;32;Issue;1;pp.333-348

Date

01-01-2026

Publisher

Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Subject

decolonial reading; God-world-human continuum; Indigenous epistemologies; tribal literary criticism; tribalindigenous literature from Northeast India

Coverage

Maisuangdibou M., English and Cultural Studies, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, India; Chandran A.R., English and Cultural Studies, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, India

Rights

All Open Access; Gold Open Access

Relation

ISSN: 1285157;

Format

online

Language

English

Type

Article

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2026-3201-21

https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105034685182?origin=resultslist