Return of the spirits: An interview with easterine kire

Abstract

Literature from North-East India has a diverse range of themes that includes among others, orality, expressed through community belief in myths and legends and the knowledge of the spirit world, and the theme of political conflict and violence. However, these themes are given inadequate representation in scholarship on North-East literature. This paucity is particularly true for literature that focuses on orality and the traditions of oral culture. The disproportionate focus of critics on the themes of conflict and violence overshadows (and at times erases) the very interesting use and deployment of indigenous aesthetics in literary works from the region. In this interview, Easterine Kire, a well-known writer in English from North-East India, discusses the narrative intersection of cultural and political themes in creative writing, the importance of engaging with tradition in contemporary literary narratives, and explains the significance of oral narratives as a highly developed form of literary expression. In doing so, Kire refers to the oral traditions of classical Indian literature and talks about the oral history of her native Naga society and the significant role of storytelling among the community. © The Author(s) 2019.