Dr. Samiran Kumar Paul’s Samiranic (2025) offers a profound re-articulation of cultural and national identity through a narrative that privileges memory, locality, and ethical continuity over political spectacle. This article examines how the novel construct’s identity not as a fixed ideological category but as a lived, evolving experience shaped by childhood, community, language, and environment. Rooted in the rural landscape of Champaran, Samiranic situates national identity within the intimate textures of everyday life, thereby challenging homogenizing notions of the nation. Drawing upon theories of cultural nationalism, postcolonial identity, and Indian philosophical traditions, the article argues that the novel presents a model of “ethical-national belonging” grounded in relationality, memory, and ecological consciousness. Through its meditative narrative technique, symbolic motifs, and emphasis on return, Samiranic redefines the nation as an experiential and affective space, where identity is formed through participation in shared cultural practices and moral values. The study demonstrates that Paul’s narrative transcends binaries of tradition and modernity, offering instead a vision of identity that is simultaneously local and universal, rooted and expansive.
Department of English B. M. D. College, Dayalpur, Vaishali B. R. A. Bihar University, Muzaffarpur
