[SPECIAL SECTION] Intercultural Negotiations of Identity, Place and Meaning Making in an Age of Vulnerability

Abstract

This special section comprises 6 research articles from a selection of the editorial board of the journal.  Its main objective is to present the current research that the editorial board members are involved in, as well as to project a sense of collegiality of this transregional academic community. The articles are linked by a common thematic thread that revolves around intercultural negotiations with identity and meaning making across a range of cultural texts. The collection takes off on a note of overt decoloniality through the presentation of a defiant translation praxis that not only represents the Bard in localised Filipino context but simultaneously decentres regional linguistic monoliths.  It then moves towards more recuperative tones of religious tolerance that is found amidst the bonds of captivity and the reworlding of communal estrangement through the arms of critical solace. Yet, the 21st century is also an age of   vulnerability, and this is explored in two articles that interrogate the complexities of weathering loss, both in terms of individual and ecological crisis. The final paper in the collection hearkens to the central significance of the evolution of English language studies as it emphasises the necessity of being mindful of widening contextual nets to accommodate new knowledge and the creation of novel phrases in an increasingly digital world. Ultimately, it is hoped that this special section by the members of the journal editorial board offers valuable insights into ways in which they strive to promote cross-cultural understanding through critical discourse in an increasingly vulnerable yet constantly interconnected world.