Coinciding with the 65th Birthday of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo today, the Bhutan and Himalaya Research Centre at the College of Language and Culture Studies in Trongsa launched its first-ever journal, International Journal of Bhutan & Himalayan Research.
The journal aims to advance research and scholarship in all fields pertaining to social, culture, religion and humanities relevant to Bhutan and Himalayan region. It covered a wider range of papers in English and Dzongkha based on theoretical or empirical research, perspectives, conference reports and book reviews which can contribute to the scholarship on Bhutan and Himalayan studies.
The contributors from within and outside of Bhutan edited the first inaugural issue which was themed as “Contemporary Bhutanese Literature”. It revealed the evolution of contemporary Bhutanese literature, including contemporary genres and works in Dzongkha and English.
And the research articles or contents of journal touched on the distinct issues, and moments in contemporary Bhutanese literature including styles of poetry from the early twentieth century as literary antecedents, the challenges faced in the development of Dzongkha literature since the 1970s, the role of Bhutanese works in English in forging new national literature, and the recent novels by Bhutanese women writers.
The college plans to publish the journal annually hereafter.
Passang