ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE MILLENNIAL ...

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN

THE MILLENNIAL MILIEU

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN


Edited By

Dr. K. KANTHIMATHI | Dr. S. BALAKRISHNAN

Published by

L ORDINE NUOVO PUBLICATION

[email protected]

www.nuovopublication.com

http://www.nuovopublication.com/

Book Title : ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN


Editors : Dr. K. KANTHIMATHI

Assistant Professor of English

SDNB Vaishnav College for Women (Autonomous)

Chromepet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Dr. S. BALAKRISHNAN

Publisher & Editor

Bodhi International Journal, India

Book Subject : Language and Literature

Book Category : Edited Volume

Copy Right : Editors

First Edition : March 2020

Book Size : B5

Paper : 21 kg, Maplitho NS

Price : Rs.900

Published by : L ORDINE NUOVO PUBLICATION

E-mail: [email protected]

www.nuovopublication.com

Mobile: 9944212131.

ISBN Assigned by

Raja Rammohun Roy National Agency for ISBN New Delhi – 110066 (India)

ISBN:978-93-90084-00-5

9 789390 084005

ISBN 939008400-8

Disclaimer: The Publisher and editors cannot be held responsible for errors or any consequences

arising from the use of information in this Book; the views and opinions expressed herein are of the

authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher and editors.

SHRIMATHI DEVKUNVAR NANALAL BHATT

VAISHNAV COLLEGE FOR WOMEN

(Autonomous) Affiliated to the University of Madras

Re-accredited with A+ by NAAC (3rd

Cycle) Chromepet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 044

www.sdnbvc.edu.in

_________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. R. GEETHA

Principal

FOREWORD

The Department of English has always spearheaded in academically enriching themselves by

conducting Workshops and Seminars and Conferences. The department has always endeavoured to

offer an enriching academic environment for the holistic growth of its students. The recent

International Conference on Revisiting Language and Literature in the Millennial Milieu 2020

was a grand success inviting papers from scholars and academicians. The conference was one of its

kind providing platform to augment research skills and discuss innovative ideas.

I appreciate the sincere efforts of the Department of English in this ground-breaking attempt of

publishing research papers into a book. I hope this book enlightens the research in English Language

and Literature. The publication of this book accomplishes the academic and research participation

which the Department is moving towards. The publication consists of worthy articles of researchers

and scholars of English Language and Literature.

I appreciate the support of the management members who have been the driving force of such

academic endeavors.

I wish the Department all success in all-round academic development and such fruitful

intellectual activities.

EDITORIAL

This book on ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE MILLENNIAL MILIEU

is a mirror that reflects the multicultural aspects of the globalized world in the literary context. In the

globalized world where there is multiplicity, conflicts also exist. We see this diversity replicated in

language, literature, and culture. The research papers explore broad and also fathom minute areas of

themes that are truly challenging. The scholarly articles of English Language and Literature give a

glimpse of the critical acumen of the researchers and their perspectives in proclaiming their research

prerogatives. The revisiting of literary works in the globalized scenario with new theoretical

perceptions, suggesting English Language teaching methods for the global citizens and studying

recent trends in Language and Literature, elucidates the scholarly pursuits that stimulates thinking,

resolves conflicts, and creates space for further explorations.

We wish you are bestowed with novel exploration ideas, scientific research experiences and

educational publishing practice.

Editors-in-Chief

Dr. K. KANTHIMATHI


SDNB Vaishnav College for Women (Autonomous)

Chromepet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Dr. S. BALAKRISHNAN

Publisher & Editor

Bodhi International Journal, India

Editorial Board

Dr. Kalvikkarasi

Dr. V. Ganesan

Dr. Daniel David

Dr. Binay Kumar Paddhan

Dr. Uma Sharma

Dr. ShyamKiran Kaur

Advisory Board

Dr. R. Geetha

Ms. S. Ezhilarasi

CONTENTS

S.No Chapters Page.No

1 STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA AND THE ROLE OF

POSTCOLONIAL WRITING

Dr. Rakhi Radh Krishna

1

2 PERFORMANCE AS COMMUNICATION: AN INTER-

DISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF DANDANATA IN

WESTERN ODISHA

Bijay Kumar Padhan

6

3 THE ART OF TRANSLATION: BRIDGING THE TWO LITERARY

MINDS

Dr. Shaleen Kumar Singh

10

4 FIXING RESURGENCE AND REJUVENATION: REINVIGORATING

AND REPLENISHING THE VOIDS IN GLOBAL LITERARY ARENA

A.N. Suhana

13

5 VOICE AGAINST RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKS OF

BLACK AMERICAN AUTHORS

Alka Sharma & Dr. Kalpna Rajput

15

6 THE SIGNIFICANCE AND ROLE OF FAIRIES IN THE MOST

FAMOUS FAIRY TALES

Dr. Jayeeta Ray

19

7 DEPICTION OF THE DISTRICTS AND THE DYSTOPIAN

CONCEPT IN SUZANNE COLLINS‟S THE HUNGER GAMES

M.K. Priyanka & Dr. M.R. Kumaraswamy

23

8 THE PERCEPTION OF ECOLOGY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO

R.K.NARAYAN‟S FICTION “THE ENGLISH TEACHER”

Dr. M. Radha

29

9 AGAINST THE HEGEMONIC CLASP OF OPPRESSION

Smitha Mary Sebastian

34

10 DIASPORICIDENTITY AND HYBRIDIZATION IN V.S. NAIPAUL‟S

THE MIMIC MEN

Vanaja Kuniyil

38

11 CULTURAL IDENTITIES IN THE SELECT NOVELS OF

JUMPA LAHRI AND KIRAN DESAI-A STUDY

P. Pardhasaradhi & Dr. Y. Vijaya Babu

43

12 “TRANSLATING POETRY: A CREATIVE TRANSPOSITION” –

EXPLORING THROUGH ROBERT FROST‟S POEM

Dr. A. Ponnammal

48

13 HISTORY FINDS ITSELF IN FICTION: ANALYSIS OF PORTRAYAL

OF THE BENE ISRAEL HISTORY IN THE FICTION OF ESTHER

DAVID

Roshan Chacko

54

14 IS HOME A HAVEN FOR MRINAL OF RABINDRANATH TAGORE‟S

„A WIFE‟S LETTER‟?

Dr. P. Kulalmolial

59

15 CONGOLOMERATEDCULTURES IN CHIMAMANDA‟S

‘AMERICANAH’

Janice Sandra David & Dr. V. Bhuvaneswari

64

16 WHY JUST WAR NEEDS CULTURE AND NATURE IN ECO-

GENDER WITH THE HUMAN ENLIGHTEN OF THE

ANTHROPOCENTRIC NOW MORE THAN EVER

T. Samuvel Raja & Dr. Ann Thomas

68

17 THE ECOCRITICAL BOND BETWEEN MAN AND NATURE IN THE

NOVEL THE HUNGRY TIDE BY AMITAV GHOSH

Dr. D. Muthumari

74

18 CULTURAL INCONGRUITY IN SHAUNA SINGH BALDWIN‟S

ENGLISH LESSONS AND OTHER STORIES

Dr. R. Deepa

79

19 A MULTICULTURAL VIEW OF ATTACHMENT THEORY IN

SELECT NOVELS: NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND AND

INVISIBLE MAN

S.H. Fathima Naseem & M. Sangeetha

83

20 PLURALITY OF INDIAN CULTURE IN KIRAN DESAI‟S

HULLABALOO IN THE GUAVA ORCHARD

T. Rameshbabu & Dr. S. Shakila Sherif

88

21 SENSE OF ALIENATION IN JHUMPA LAHIRI‟S THE LOWLAND

V. Aparna Sri & Dr. S. Ramya

92

22 THE CEASELESS SUFFERINGS FACED BY WOMEN IN

SIVAGAMI‟S “THE TAMING OF THE WOMEN”

K. Gayathri

95

23 LITERATURE OF THE MARGINALISED

J. Divya

98

24 THE EMOTIONAL CATACLYSM IN MAHESH DATTANI‟S TARA

C. Saranya

101

25 LITERATURE OF THE MARGINALIZED IN LOUIS NOWRA‟

THE GOLDEN AGE

D. Mahalakshmi

104

26 SHADEISM IN THE NOVEL GOD HELP THE CHILD BY

TONI MORRISON

U. Pushpalatha

107

27 POPULARFICTIONS - RECEPTION AND CRITICISM

Velselvi Mathan

110

28 THE UNHEALABLE WOUND: THE REPRESENTATION OF

WAR IN SRI LANKAN DIASPORA

S. Sutharsan

113

29 INDIAN DIASPORIC LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

Dr. Ravindra Kumar Singh

117

30 EMERGENCE OF THE NEW WOMAN IN THE MODERN ERA

Dr. P.G. Shridevi

126

31 INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS IN ANITA DESAI‟S

FASTING, FEASTING

B. Mercy Gnanabai

130

32 CHILDRREN‟S LITERATURE-VIOLENCE IN COMICS

B.S. Rekha

133

33 AN INTRODUCTION BY KAMALA DAS THROUGH MY LENSES:

A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON

AN INDIVIDUAL

Priya Darshini & Dr. V. Jaisre

137

34 THE POST CULTURAL COGNITION AND FRAGILE CIVILIZATION

IN DENIS JOHNSON‟S FISKADORO

R. Priyanga Gandhi, Dr.J. Anil Premraj & P. Gopikrishna

141

35 ESSENCE OF EXISTENTIALISM

Dr. Bisma Khursheed

144

36 ASSIMILATING THE PLURALITY OF CULTURE IN THE

POSTCOLONIAL CONTEXT OF BEN OKRI‟S SONGS OF

ENCHANTMENT

V. Ajitha & Dr. Lizie Williams

150

37 THE EXILIC MEDITATIONS: FATWA IN SALMAN RUSHDIE‟S TWO

YEARS EIGHT MONTHS AND TWENTY-EIGHT NIGHTS

Muralidharan Anjali

155

38 PSYCHOANALYTIC EXPLICATION OF SELECT POEMS OF

SYLVIA PLATH AND KAMALA DAS

A. Parthipan & R. Divya

161

39 CHILDREN‟S LITERATURE – VIOLENCE IN COMICS

“COMIC RESTRAIN”

V.C. Arjun

164

40 RACIAL VIOLENCE IN RURAL WOMEN

Dr.T.S.Bala Gomala & Dr.S.Baluchamy

168

41 DOCUMENTATION OF AFRICAN CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN THE

NOVELS OF CHINUA ACHEBE

S.Mohammad Shafiullah

173

42 LITERATURE: A CHISELING TOOL FOR PROFESSIONAL

STUDENTS

Dr. B. Rathika

176

43 THE USE OF VIDEO IN ENGLISH AS SECOND LANGUAGE

CLASSROOMS: A REVIEW

D. Regina & Dr. V. Anitha Devi

180

44 A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS‟ PRONUNCIATION SKILLS

IN THE SCHOOLS OF CHENNAI AND THE REMEDIAL MEASURES

B. Maria Arul Antony Bobby & Dr. K. Kanthimathi

182

45 SECOND LANGUAGE AS A CHALLENGE TO SOUTH RURAL

STUDENTS: A SURVEY STUDY

N. Aruna Devi

187

46 THE USE OF POLITICAL RHETORIC IN THE SPEECHES OF

SASHI THAROOR AND ARUNDHATI ROY

S. Revathy & Dr. T. Senthamarai

189

47 THE POLITICS OF LANGUAGE IN SOCIOLINGUISTIC

TRANSLATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO K.A.

GUNASEKARAN‟S THE SCAR

S. Adline Jereena Mary

194

48 TRASLATION ISSUES IN THE TRANSLATION OF PREMCHAND‟S

GODAN FROM HINDI TO ENGLISH BY DR.MOHD MAZHAR

L. Melitha & Prof. Dr. Ruby Ebenezar

199

English Language and Literature in the Millennial Milieu

1

CHAPTER 1

STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA AND THE ROLE OF

POSTCOLONIAL WRITING

Dr. RAKHI RADH KRISHNA

Assistant Professor, PG Department of English

Christ College, Irinjalakuda

In the Vedic period, women enjoyed equality with men in almost every sphere of life. No religious

rite or ritual was completed without their presence. Women received proper education, and they

participated in philosophical debates with men. No less than twenty women were among the

composers of the Rig Vedic hymns. Gargi and Atreyi were the leading philosophers of the times.

There were also a class of women, who were called Brahmavadinis, who continued their studies all

their life time.

Marriage was conducted for girls long after they attained puberty. Even in the matter of

choosing the partner, they exerted a good deal of influence. The major purpose of marriage was to

increase progeny. Though there are references to bride-price in Vedic literature, it was given by an

undesirable groom. In the same way, dowry was also given when the girl had some physical

deformity. There was a prevailing desire for male children but, once born, the daughters were

probably entitled to all the privileges given to a son.

Monogamy was the usual practice in the Rig Vedic society. Polygamy also existed, but only

among the Kings and the chiefs. Rig Veda does not have any reference to polyandry. Widows were

allowed to enter into a second marriage. The ill-practices like sati system, pardah (―veil‖) system, and

the early marriage of girls belong to a later date. Women enjoyed the freedom to move about freely

in the public during Vedic time. They also attended fairs, festivals, and meetings. On the whole, in

this period, though within the framework of patriarchal society the position of women was high.

Women of epic age did not enjoy the same social honour which they enjoyed previously during

the Vedic era. The epic period may be referred to as the formative period of women‘s subordination,

because the deliberate process of the subjugation of women and their confinement to the four walls

of the house had already commenced then. The laws ofManu had a particular influence during this

time in depicting a pattern of life which was later to be accepted as ideal for society. Other Smruti

writers also made a considerable contribution in idealizing and giving fixity to the pattern. This

idealized pattern might have subsequently paved way for the declining of the status of women by

denying education, lowering down the age of marriage, prohibiting remarriage, and by increasing

several other curtailments to women‘s freedom.

Just as in Vedic age, male children were desired by parents during epic period as well. There are

many references in the epics to the performing of sacrifice and practicing of penance for the sake of

a son, but none of such practices for obtaining a daughter. This preference must be based on the

2

belief that a son delivers his father from hell. Male children remained as the perpetuators of family

line during the time. Considering the circumstances in which Sita is described to have been found

by Janaka in Ramayana, there are certain scholars who opine that the exposure of female children

was not unknown in the times of Valmiki. Such an opinion may seem difficult either to maintain or

to neglect. However, the unique practice of giving and taking girl children in adoption was

prevalent, which is evident from a number of incidents in Ramayana and Mahabharata. In addition to

that Upanayana, which marked the period of studentship for both boys and girls in the Vedic time,

was denied to the female children and measures were taken to keep them inaccessible to the sacred

scriptures. Yet the fact cannot be denied that the epic heroines were the products of an efficient

system of education, which shows the possibility for a private education system utilised by the

daughters of nobility. This exclusive privilege was not available for girls who were born in ordinary

families.

Early marriages further distanced the prospect of pursuing formal education for girls. Girls

were married away as early as possible in the belief that the foremost duty of a father is to perform

his daughter‘s marriage, for she was a pledge entrusted by the Creator in the hands of the father to

keep carefully for her husband. Failure in performing this duty amounted to the great sin of

Brahmahatya. Even a rationalist like Kautilya, in his Arthashastra, interprets the age of twelve years as

that of maturity for girls. The intention underlying this urge for early marriage is not difficult to

apprehend as the concern for the physical chastity of the bride. Pre-marriage chastity had been

given much importance during this period. It should be noted that the virginity as the qualification

of marriage was stressed even in the earlier Dharmasutras.

Various kinds of marriage were prevalent during epic times known as Paisacha, Rakshasa, Asura,

Gandharva, Prajapatya, Arsha, Daiva and Brahma. Among them Paisacha, Rakshasa and Asura forms

completely violated the basic rights of a woman, while in the other four forms, except in Gandharva

marriage, fathers played the major role. In the Gandharvamarriage, however, the self-will of the

bride was upheld. Though monogamy was considered ideal, polygamy was also existed and was a

common practice among Kshatriyas. Sometimes, the practice was taken so much for granted that

even an old hero with so many wives was thought to be a competent bridegroom for a young

princess. There are only a very few reference to polyandry in the epic texts. Even though polyandry

gave the same right to women as polygamy to men, the men always enjoyed the superior position in

the family.

The practice of giving bride price and dowry were prevalent during the age. It was Manu who

developed the concept of Stridhan (―dowry‖) which he described as ―what was given to her [the

bride] before the nuptial fire in bridal procession in token of love and which she has received from

brother, mother, father or husband.‖(Desai 16)

The dignity wives enjoyed during Vedic times as Sahadharmini gave way for the destructive

Pativrata concept by epic times. From the role of a companion and guide, a wife‘s status was brought

down to the level of a worshipper of her husband. The Manava Code recommended that ―the wife

should tender implicit obedience to her husband even though he be devoid of virtue, seeks pleasure

outside home or beats her‖ (Desai 14). The girl children were made to believe that their entire world


3

was centred on their husbands whom they considered the highest stage of life (asrama) and the holy

place of pilgrimage (tirtha). Even the distinctive terms for husband bharta and wife bharya means ‗the

protector/the maintainer‘ and ‗the protected/the maintained‘ respectively. This dependence status

reduced a wife to the position of a house-maid. Unswerving devotion and perfect obedience were

regarded as the highest virtues of a woman. Such a woman was offered a seat in heaven also. The

epic writers have attributed many extraordinary powers to the Pativratas who completely obeyed

their husbands and served them unswervingly.

It was believed during epic age that a man was born with three debts–debts to the rshis, to the

deities, and to the ancestors (Pitris)–which compelled every man to take a wife, for he could not

discharge two of his three debts without her. A wife by associating with her husband in sacrifices

helped him to discharge the debt to the gods, and by giving birth to a son absolved him of the debt

to the Pitris. The success of a wife thus came to be regarded equal with her chances of bearing male

children. As such was the importance given to the duty of child-bearing, it is not surprising that a

barren wife was thought to be useless and was abandoned by her husband.

The freedom of movement was curtailed for women during epic period. Kautilya did not permit

women to move alone in the public and see spectacles. Manu advocated only domestic duties for

her. The reference to the elite women‘s custom of wearing veil when they met strangers or appeared

in public indicates that the Gosha (―veil‖) system was also prevalent during the time. Under

ordinary circumstances, a woman was allowed to hold no properties except the streedhan which she

was offered during the occasion of marriage. Remarriage for widows were prohibited during the

age which would have consequently encouraged the practice of Sati. Though Manu Samhita and

Arthashastra do not refer to the custom of Sati, there are many instances of the custom being

practised by many women in the epic texts. The social insecurity and the insignificant position they

held might have facilitated this brutal custom to gain further ground.

Manu and his philosophies have had a great role in preparing a mental outlook for the future

subordination of women. He declined the status of Shudras and women by imparting them an

inferior status, and by conferring new privileges to the Brahmin class. The theoretical basis for the

social and legal subordination of women and the lower class was thus laid down. The theoretical

degradation further got strengthened ideologically when the Bhagavad Gita preached of a new path

of devotion which advocated the way for liberation to the Vaishya, the Shudra and women.

Position of women during Cankam age does not vary much from that of the epic age. Similar to

epic period, the birth of a son was welcomed more than a daughter. The boy child was looked upon

as the preserver of the family‘s prestige and was trained to be the head of the family. The education

of girls seems to have been improved in Cankam period. More than fifty women are ranked among

the Cankam poets, which indicate that the girls received a good education during this time,

especially in literature, music and drama. Female children were also given a good training in

preparing delicious food. The entire girlhood was a kind of preparatory ground for marriage and

wifehood. The boys were considered marriageable at sixteen years and the girls at twelve. It was

believed that a man, who could not get his daughter married off before puberty, was a sinful man

4

who had to forgo certain extraordinary amenities in the next world. This belief encouraged the

custom of child marriages and also increased the number of child-widows.

Two forms of marriages were prevalent in the ancient Tamilakam, the kalavu(―marriage in

secrecy‖) and the karpu(―marriage in the open‖). The kalavu marriage roughly corresponded to the

Gandharva form of marriage where the young people court each other in secrecy. Monogamy was

the accepted convention in the society, though it was accounted no disgrace for a man to visit

prostitutes. Women‘s chastity (karpu) was glorified. A wife was expected to discharge domestic

duties with earnestness and complete devotion to her husband. For this end, she was made to learn

everything that would amuse, please, and captivate the minds of men. Tirukkural, one of the most

important texts in Tamil literature written by Thiruvalluvar, has granted a wife the power to

command rains if she worships not God but her husband every morning. Tirukkural refers to women

in three roles–wives, mothers, and the distracters of men from doing their ―manly‖ duties. The life

of a widow was very pathetic. She was subjected to several inhibitions and restrictions. The practice

of Sati or self-immolation on the husband‘s funeral pyre was also prevalent during the time.

According to the Tamil language, the word for man an has multiple shades of meaning. Though

it generally refers to the masculine gender among human beings, it specially connotes a person who

has the power of control. The Tamil word for woman Penn is derived from the root petpu signifying

love, desire etc. Thus, the words to signify the genders themselves indicate the roles of both genders

in society.

The influence of patriarchy was clearly discernible in the very framework of the society in the

later stage, which forbade women from pronouncing the divine syllable Om in the belief that

women were not fit for it. The society also enforced certain other prohibitions on women such as

keeping them away as impure and untouchable during the time of menstruation. They had to stay

in a secluded place at this time, and they were not allowed to touch any vessels at home. In spite of

all these exclusions, they were still called goddesses if they remained husband-worshipping wives

and stayed faithful to the norms of the society. Hence it is clear that there had been ulterior motives

behind such extraordinary exaltation of women.

Not only in Cankam age, in all the ages in Indian history a woman was held high with a deep

sense of divine veneration if she adhered strictly to the patriarchal notion of a woman and the

respective roles. If one of them was disregarded by her, she was punished heavily by the scorchers

of the patriarchal ideology even without the basic concern for a human being. This attitude, either to

deify or to denigrate women, had been there in the very structure of the society in India since

ancient times and still continues to remain the same way.

Women have already been recognised worldwide as the oppressed ―Fourth World‖–a colony

yet to be liberated. Though the history of violence against women cannot be tracked exactly, it is

verified that violence against women has been accepted, sometimes overlooked, and even legally

sanctioned throughout the history. In this regard, the situation in India is not much different from

many other countries that face the same issue. Female infanticide has become a ―custom-ritual‖ in

India because of the preference for male children. The Indian women have been kept aside

consciously from the social, political, economic, academic and spiritual realms for centuries by the

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiruvalluvar


5

suppressive patriarchal structures. They are being controlled by the rigid codes, various exclusions,

and the institution of marriage. In the Hindu context, notions of chastity, service to the husband and

motherhood detrimentally lead towards an erasure of women‘s needs, desires, and even identity.

Women are forced to assimilate into the traditional feminine value system by the fear of being

isolated, and losing gendered/communal identity. The dialogue of morality yet again regulates

women‘s freedom through silencing the discourse of female sexuality. The hierarchy of structural

oppression places the tribal, lower-caste, lower-class, differently-abled, and lesbian women further

down the scale.

The political independence and the project of nation-building have only side-lined the women‘s

rights and freedom in various aspects. When patriarchy maintained its structures, postcolonial

liberalism continued to keep control over the nation‘s women through cultural and social policing of

dress code, language use, and marriage/divorce laws. Religious doctrines and theology have also

facilitated in justifying gender inequality and the biased social structures.

All dialogues regarding the suppression of women and other discriminations in India make one

point clear that nothing has changed in effect; there had always been ―colonizers‖ such as British

government, patriarchy, and the elites and ―colonized‖ such as lower-class, lower-castes and

women. The names of the colonizers and the colonized might have changed by the passage of time

but the hierarchic structures remain intact giving exclusive privileges for a few while neglecting

even the fundamental rights for others.

The authoritative texts of the nation have greatly influenced the cultural formation of India. The

ideals set by these narratives remain the moral authority of the nation for centuries. Though many

modern writers have tried to de-idealize the construction of unrealistic norms in these texts

believing that they may inflict substantial social damage, theycontinuetoinfluence the collective

consciousness of Indian public. The existence of hierarchical standards in the minds of people is also

considered to be the reflection of the ideals set by the authoritative texts.

Postcolonial writings of women in India have taken particular care to observe how factors like

society, economy, politics, and literacy have contributed to the present condition of women in the

country. They try to increase the awareness of women‘s role in constructing identities, and to

explore the strategies to escape/negotiate the power relation between genders. They look upon

cultural identity as evolving rather than fixed, plural rather than singular, and adapted rather than

inherited. The postcolonial writings seek the ways and means by which power structures are

created in the society through narratives and deconstruct them in their own writings.

Histories should undergo constant transformation. A new culture should stem from the root of

older tradition to fit into the new context. As everything else in the postcolonial culture is in a state

of flux and transformation, the traditional concept of gender roles and feminine values also has to

undergo modification in accordance with the change of time.

6

CHAPTER 2

PERFORMANCE AS COMMUNICATION: AN INTER-DISCIPLINARY

APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF DANDANATA IN

WESTERN ODISHA

BIJAY KUMAR PADHAN

Assistant Professor, Department of English

Swami Shraddhanand College, (University of Delhi), Alipur, Delhi

Dandanata is a performing art that can be described as a compilation of music, sound, body

movement, dance, songs, dialogue and performance. The dialogues are expressed through songs

and we find less of speeches. It is a crucial and powerful cultural mechanism of creating meaning

and transmitting local values. Though no written text of Dandanata is found, it has been transmitted

from generation to generation through language expressing the social structure, religious belief, and

environmental issues and cultural life of the people of Odisha. It is an art form that marks the

personal, cultural, social, political and ethnic identity of the people of Odisha. Dandanata can be

described as an art form that transmits values, ideals, and models of behavior. The personal and

collective crisis performed in Dandanataleading to reintegration set an example for the people. The

concern of the people for their village and its surroundings represents the social responsibility of the

people.

Dandanata is being performed in Western Odisha by the agricultural communities once a year,

which starts from March-April (Chaitra Purnima) and it continues for 13 days, somewhere 21 days

(till Pana Sankranti). Those days of performance forms an ordeal that culminates the day of

MahashivaShankranti locally known as Panasankranti. The forms of Dandanata can be witnessed in

four distinct elements out of which the first three seems to be more devotional in nature and the

fourth one fits into the notion of dramatic performance. The first three devotional segments are

Dhuli (soil or sand) Danda, Pani or Paen (water) Danda and Agni (fire) Danda. The DhuliDanda is

performed on the village street in the afternoon where the Bhoktas (performers) ground themselves

on the floor under extreme sun heat but never show any pain on their body. They worship Lord

Shiva, their God Almighty for the welfare of the person who has invited them or for the whole

villagers. After this extreme performance, the second segment the PaniDanda begins at the village

pond where the performers accompanied by the villagers proceed where they show many theatrical

skills with the use of songs and dance. All the them take holy bath over there which signify the

cleansing of sins ever made by the host as well as the villagers.The third segment, the Agni Danda is

very dangerous but occasional in which the Danduas walk on the fire to please Lord Shiva. Some

critics finds similarities of this form with Lord Shiva's Tandava Nritya. The last Non-devotional

element of this festival Danda Natya resembles what we normally find as theatrical performance.


7

This is more of entertainment for the villagers with songs and dance which is generally held in the

night time.

It consists of short sequence that represent a mixture of sports, military drill, yoga, fertility rites,

sacred drama, divine procession, dance and other form of cultural performance , physical exercise,

pranks, ritualized sequence are combined with one another to form a fluid, sometimes ambiguous,

but a perfectly dynamic structure.

The rural agricultural communities of Odisha perform Dandanataonce in a year starting at the

beginning of April (i.e. from pratipadaof Chaitra month) for over a period of 13th days or somewhere

it is 21 days ordeal that culminates on the day of Mahavisuva Sankranti, locally called as panasankranti.

There is no restriction of caste in performing Dandanata but generally the people belong to so called

low ranking society participate. There are thirteen danduascalled as bhoktasperform Dandanata. They

strictly follow the principles of Dandanata. According to danduasthere is no restriction for the women

to participate in Dandanata but during field work no women participant is found. The female

characters are performed by male danduas using female costume like women dressing pattern.

This has been widely believed by the critics that reliance upon an emotionally charged

worldview based largely on revelation or poetic imagination, is a way of escaping from the burdens

of reality. At the same time, religion is also condemned as an 'opiate' of the masses. So it is inferred

that the religious mentality can be described as a sedative or an opiate. On the other hand religious

mentality also plays a role of an opening door of creativityof multiple kinds. There is enough

historical evidence to prove that a community was bagged up in quicksand of immediate

experience, it helps to spur it on new activity which eventually led to a clearance from the bondages

of that time (P.2, Nulkar).

In the material development occurring recently, the people of the region possess a great

capacity, i.e. the mentality to the narrowed definitions imposed on them by comparative inflexibility

of their language. I have, time and again, observed from the belief system of the performers of

Dandanata that it has not been widely contaminated by intercourse of a specific nature with the

semi-Hinduisedoverloads, the Odia. Though the Odia language is being used as the lingua franca of

these selected group of people, they too change their tone with lingustic varieties such as Koshali-

Sambalpuri, Behrampuri and Angulia. Still the Danduas (performers of Dandanata) as well as the

audience are always attached with the values of Deity, Soul or Spirit.

Sacred Geography

While approaching a folk area in the performance of folk dramas in India, we come across a

strikingly large tree, a small plant, a pot or a water source pond or a river, a waterfall etc as the

shrine of the people. In the folk performances like Dandanata, the shrine generally consists of a

simple-pointed or a vermillion-marked stone or a set of few metal or wooden poles piled up to a

half or a meter. An earthen alter and kumkum plastered and surface cleaned with cow dung paste

and having some earthen pots represent the tribal deity. The sacred geography of the village

envisages two things, i.e. the sacred areas and the sacred centres where the former talks about the

8

particular portion of the locality which is dedicated to gods and deities and the latter the particular

places or spots where the gods reside (P. 114; Nulkar).

Sacred Performance

The sacred performances are mainly performed by the PataBhokta (the chief priest) and he is well

accompanied and complimented by the thirteen Bhoktas (performers). The central motive behind

this performance in this respect is sacrifice to propitiate the god or deity. The customary sacrificed

objects used to be buffalos, goats and country chicken, but this practice has gradually become liberal

to some extents and they are being replaced by sweets, coconut, flowers, vegetables etc. In some

places even the country liquor is also offered to the God. While making the offering, suitable

utterances are also made by the PataBhokta and the Bhoktas as well as the villagers follow him

simultaneously. When the PataBhokta is busy with the worship and sacrifice, mercy of the deity for

good health, prosperity and happiness of the family by whose invitation this dramatic group has

come,as well as the whole village as a whole is invoked.

At the end of the worship, the villagers eagerly wait for the feast, drink and dance. This finally

takes the shape of a festival which is part of their sacred performances and marks their end.

While watching the performance in various types, the sacred performances can be categorized

into four types. They are:

1. Sacred performances performed on different occasions on rites-de-passage of an individual on

the axis of self, which starts as soon asone comes in the womb or foetus and lasts till his death.

2. Sacred performances for ancestral worship- it is performed to invoke the Jiv or spirit of the dead

to join the band of ancestral spirits and look after the welfare of the family and the clan.

3. Sacred performances for the fulfillment of the vows, promises, ordeals and aoths.

4. Festivals which give the village people their ritual calendar (Pp. 145-145; Nulkar).

The ritual performance of Dandanata is reflected on third type of sacred form of the individual

performances when a family invites the Dandanata troupe to perform to get blessings of a baby for

the first time after a long interval. The PataBhokta worship the gods with invocation 'Kala

Rudramani' loudly and the thirteen Bhoktas accompany them with same vigor and equal tune.

The worship of different matas, the spirit of small-pox and devi, the spirit of cholera, is performed.

The worship is also conducted to get good rain next year, get rid of the insects in their agricultural

fields as well as to increase in the output of crops.

The sacred performances are also carried out in the ordeals and oaths too. When an individual

is socially accused of some mischief, he/she is brought to a sacred centre of the village and asked to

take an oath in the name of the powerful God or spirit. The villagers believe that anybody who tells

a lie after taking an oath in the name of God, he suffers a lot and may even die of some diseases.

The self-licking ceremony, walking on fire, licking of red-hot iron are the popular ordeals prevalent

among the villagers. But in the performance of Dandanata, all the performers ground themselves on

the floor of the village street under extreme sun heat and try to please the village deity and Lord

Shiva and they never show any sign of pain.


9

Another form of sacred Danda ritual performance is the festival named as DandaNatya which

makes the people jubilant and enthusiastic. This festival is performed in the night time when the

villagers are free from their day-to-day activities. They become euphoric watching the performances

performed by the Danduas in form of songs and dances. Various folk musical instruments such as

Dhol, Muhuri, Mrudunga, Gini etc. provide wonderful accompaniment to tune of the songs and

dances. Most of the themes of the performances are borrowed from the Ramayana and the

Mahabharata and they are localized into the local themes of the common villagers. This function

which consists of 13 to 21 days takes the form of a festival which is otherwise named as Danda

Yatra. Throughout the days of this performance, all the villagers actively participate by observing

strict rules coined by Dandanata. Thus they play the role both of the obedient participants and the

recipients on the outcome of the festival.

Conclusion

From the above discussion it can be said that there has been constant communication between the

performers and the audience. Starting from the invitation of the Danduas by the villager till the

conclusion of the Danda Yatra, communication flows from both side. Since this dramatic form is

oral in nature which transmit from one generation to other, and there is no written sources, the

modernization and globalization have diverted the real ethos of its performances. During the

election time, Dandanata has been used as a political tool to propagate their personal and political

agenda. Even many songs are recently seen with double meaning to please the young audience. So

more research on Dandanata is required for its survival.

10

CHAPTER 3

THE ART OF TRANSLATION:

BRIDGING THE TWO LITERARY MINDS

Dr. SHALEEN KUMAR SINGH

Assistant Professor & Head, Department of English

Swami Shukdevanand P. G. College, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh

The art of translation is an age old art that transmits the thoughts and emotions of one creative piece

into another yet creative piece of literature in quite a different language. Translation can also be

called the replacement of source material into another language that is targeted for translation. The

need of translation arises to confer the exotic and mesmerizing ideas to the literature of the whole

world. The world have is an amalgam of diversified languages and the translation targets all the

languages to meet at one platform where all the thoughts of all languages are transmitted into all

languages interchangeably. From the very beginning of civilization, the need of translation had been

felt. In the beginning, trade and commerce were the main source to bring culture and civilization of

one country into another one. But as the time passed by and as the age progressed and due to the

invention of printing press more and more people got educated. Now, books and newspapers

became a good medium to bring thoughts from one country to another country but there felt an

urgent need for translation when language became as barrier to a follower of particular language

when he/she wanted to read a literary work in a foreign language. Then, there was felt a need to

translate that literary work in other languages too.

In the third century BCE, the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek and in English it was

regarded as the first translation. So interesting process for translation was adopted that each of

seventy translators was put into solitary confinement for the work and surprisingly, all seventy

translationsproved very similar in content and expression and mood. Cicero knew very well the

sanctity of good translation so he in ‗On the Orator‘ delivered instruction to touch the very soul of

the source language. He objected on ‗word for word‘ translation and restricted the act of counting

words like coins while translating.

During middle age, Latin became a prominent language. Geoffrey Chaucer, who is widely

famed as the father of English poetry, is also the first produce of perfect translation. He made

translation as the foundation of the English literary tradition. A specific piece of translation was

‗Wycliffe‘s Bible‘ which was translated by John Wycliffe from Latin it into English.

In English prose, Thomas Malory‘s Le Morte d‟ Arthur is known as the fine piece of translation

from prose. In 16th century, William Tyndale translated New Testament and it was the first time when

Bible was directly translated from Hebrew and Greek.

Then, Bible was also translated into French, Dutch, Spanish, Czech and Slovene. In 17th century,

Cervantes expressed his views on translation. John Dryden, Alexander Pope was also the prominent


11

name is developing the art of translation. During 18th century Alexander Tytleran Scottish Historian

stated that while translating, dictionaries are not so significant as is the assiduous reading.

Nineteenth century was glorified by the translation of poems of Omar Khayyam, a Persian poet,

mathematician and astronomer, by Edward Fitzgerald, an English poet. In twentieth century, Joseph

Conrad‘s works were translated into Polish language by his niece Aniela Zagorska and Conrad

advised his niece beautifully by telling her every intricacy of good translation and emphasized the

need of interpreting a source text into target text. Twenty first Century studded one more gem to the

art of translation by adding ‗loanwords‘ (words added in the target text without translating them

from source language). Now, in the present times, the art of translation has become interdisciplinary.

The text which is going to be translated need a careful and close reading and then adopt a

suitable method of translation. The difficulty arises when there comesome words in the source

languagewhichcreate different image in different culture like the word ‗Aai‘ in Marathi means

‗mother‘ which the same word ‗Aai‟ refers to ‗for‘ in Malayalam. So such word presentsdifferent

images in different cultures. While translating a text, a close reading includes the antithesis of ‗in the

context‘ and ‗out of the context‘.

There is required the search for intention, as to what is the intention of the author of the text

while writing and that cannot be objectified from understanding of the translator. Both the

translator and the creator go in the same direction, still the difficult arises while translating the very

first line in translation that is ‗the title of the work in translation‘ that encompass the existence of the

whole text in target language and also in such way that it may not mar the soul of the original text.

Thus, the intention of the translator must be identical with that of the author. The quality of writing

also matters a lot and the intention of the author must necessarily adhere to the need of the subject

matter. The choice of right words, method of writing minimum level of redundancy and syntax

make the subject of translation worthy of shifting in another language within the perfect mood of

the target language.Jeremy Munday says, ―Translation exists separately but in conjunction with the

original, coming after it, emerging from its ‗afterlife‘ but alsogiving the original ‗continued

life.‖(Munday 169).

The need of spontaneity is significant factor while translating literary text. Often a translator

comes under the clutches of words and he searches most identical meaning of the word in target

language and he also adopts the same syntax in the target language. The blind following of these

factors makes the works of translation just the compilation or assemblage of facts into another

language. The originality or say, the very nature and mood of the target language is not reached and

not only an avid reader, but simply an average brain speculates it as a work of translation while a

good translation requires an inherent quality of being considered it as a work in original language

without even raising an into of doubt in the mind of the reader. Initially, a work of translation is

recognized from it syntactic system and selection of words. Gill Paul is of the opinion, ―A good

translation allows a reader to experience firsthand a different world, hearing the sounds, tasting

local fare, seeing the sights and what lies beneath them, and feeling what the protagonists feel and

what the author wants them to feel.‖(Gill 55)

12

There are also some languages which cannot find translators and often the idea to translate from

language like Dutch or Finnish hasto abandon. But, English is a cementing language that easily

assimilates diverse languages, cultures, civilizations and literatures into one uniform text. English

has also one more crown on its head that id a work is translated into English language, it can easily

be translated into other languages also and has the target could not be met with the work was

translated into n other language.

A good translator is a translator who translates text by adopting the thoughts and intents of the

author as his/her own. He should cast a fresh eye on the text and assess how it should have been

said or written in another language. Actually, art of translation bridges the two literary minds and

both reach the same point if both the works are evaluated. The pure language in the target language

comes only when original author and translation co exits on a particular thought.


13

CHAPTER 4

FIXING RESURGENCE AND REJUVENATION: REINVIGORATING

AND REPLENISHING THE VOIDS IN GLOBAL LITERARY ARENA

A.N. SUHANA

H.S.S.T English, Sree Narayana Vilasom Hr.Sec.School

Panayara, Varkala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Supremacism, political systems and social practices or beliefs based on language, ethnicity, gender,

sexuality, culture, and inheritable traits endured by the marginalized sect impeccably devises

retaliation. Americanahis Adichie‘s third novel and it revolves around the affair between Ifemelu and

Obinze, two teenagers in a Lagos secondary school. As Nigeria experiences military dictatorships

that were led by the Nigerian Armed Forces (1966–79 and 1983–98), the people confronts a situation

to leave their country. Ifemelu departs to United States to pursue higher studies but she witnessed

there racial segregation, prejudice and discrimination. Americanah dexterously portrays the cultural

isolation, otherness, antagonism and hierarchical ranking that ultimately makes Ifemelu feel ―Black

Identity‖. In discussion of Aristotle, racism, and the ancient world, historian Dante A. Puzzo opines:

Racism rests on two basic assumptions: that a correlation exists between physical characteristics

and moral qualities; that mankind is divisible into superior and inferior stocks. Racism, thus

defined, is a modern conception, for prior to the XVIth century there was virtually nothing in

the life and thought of the West that can be described as racist. To prevent misunderstanding a

clear distinction must be made between racism and ethnocentrism ...

Obinzetoo tries to follow Ifemelu, but he is denied a visato U.S after the world trade centre attack,

9/11. Later he plans to go to London and the novel treats him as an undocumented immigrant when

his visa expires. From the derisive and scornful circumstances she faced as a non-American black,

Ifemelu rejuvenate herself by her blog on race in America, titled "Raceteenth or Various Observations

about American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black". Though

Ifemelu commenced an affair with Blaine, an African American professor. Blaine‘s blog on race and

culture made her attracted towards him. But she finally returns to Nigeria to join Obinze.

Adichie explores racial segregration in Half of a Yellow Sun which fixes the resurgence and

rejuvenation of the colonized:“The real tragedy of our postcolonial world is not that themajorityofpeople

had no say in whether or not they wanted this new world; rather, it is that the majority have not been

given the tools to negotiate this new world.‖(129)But in Americanah, she skilfully unleashes Ifemelu‘s

search for identity in a puritan postcolonial society. Adichie‘s novels capture the withering aspects

of perceiving as ―other‖, that too woven in a collage of love and war, as in Half of a Yellow Sun.

Americanization is the quintessence of Americanah, America being pictured as a mark of hope,

industry, economy and the future. But everyone get migrated to Nigeria. Ifemelu becomes voice of

the unvoiced. Adichie pays attention to the perspectives of young generation of Nigeria on sexual

education. Poverty, sex, race, love, war, hatred and reconciliation have always been the recurrent

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supremacism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_systems

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_dictatorship

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_Armed_Forces

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchical

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnocentrism

14

themes of marginalised narratives. Resilience of the human spirit plays to the core. Indian dalit

literature too justifies a return march to regain power. Limbale‘s Akkarmashi as well as Coetzee‘s

Disgrace reread history – treat disdainful and insolent issues like cultural marginalization, loneliness

and unemployment. Half of a Yellow Sun revolves around the growth ofUgwu, a thirteen year boy

who is being taught by his professor-master, Odenigbo. Adichie reminds us the political and ethnic

struggle in Nigeria through these words:

Of course, of course, but my point is that the only authentic identity for the African is the tribe,‖

Master said. ―I am Nigerian because a white man created Nigeria and gave me that identity.

I am black because the white man constructed black to be as different as possible from his white.

But I was Igbo before the white man came (25).

The novel documents the attempt by the Igbo to break away from Nigeria to become the

Republic of Biafra. ―Odenigbo climbed up to the podium waving his Biafran flag: swaths of red, black,

and green and, at the center, a luminous half of a yellow sun.‖ (205). Towards the end of the story, one

finds Ugwu, the houseboy becomes a writer.The formidable talent of Adichie is evident as the

protagonist writes on Biafran conflict, The World Was Silent When We Died.

While the supercilious and biting caste system, political, social and economic hardships, deniel

of higher education and limited job opportunities form the crux of Limbale‘s The Outcaste, Elnathan

John through his protagonist, Dantala in Born on a Tuesday records the mordacious religious extremism

in Nigeria. It deftly navigates attempt of Dantala to find a position against the background of

religious fundamentalism and political violence. The beauty of friendship, love and family

extraordinarily canvassed in the novel. Dantalas‘ friend Jibril taught him English language, marks

the touchstone of history: the black retaliates. Abubakar Adam Ibrahim with his two protagonists,

HajiyaBintaZubairu and Hassan Reza Babale highlights both the violation of religious ethics andalso

theabandoning of the privations of widowhood and a vagrancy they suffered. It narrates the illegal

relationship between fifty five old widow Binta and the young Reza. The novel tactfully sketches how

they satisfy their primal urges. A struggle for survival as well as a genuine attempt to move from an

ordeal to an order is evident in the fiction. The role of literature to fix a space for the suppressed and

the sidelined and to transform the biddable class to a more enlightened elite race demands much

attention here.

There is a unique blend of pulverizing religious extremism, Nigerian and Indian perspectives on life,

religion, relationships, culture, class and race, European attitude and racialized consciousness and

the distinction between black and white literatures are adroitly woven in these novels. Literature

fastidiously explores the reflexive interstices, announces the subaltern cause and presents a

therapeutic effect. The pliable, ingenious and inevitable role of literature to kaleidoscope the global

mode of ideas of humanity and consciousness, hope and rebirth of modern structures of

domination, postcolonial idioms of violence and separation and the resistance of the colonized to

emerge themselves as a giant power to return the gaze of their master are remarkably the

illustrations of ―writing back‖. The redemptive power of language, whether transnational or

translational melts down the colonial perspectives, ultimately succeeds in tracking new space to

replenish the voids, once created in the global literary arena.


15

CHAPTER 5

VOICE AGAINST RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN

THE WORKS OF BLACK AMERICAN AUTHORS

ALKA SHARMA


Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi, Lodhi Road, New Delhi

Dr. KALPNA RAJPUT


S.D.M.R.K. Mahavidhyalay, Nigohi, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh

Racial discrimination is the discrimination on social, political and economic grounds in which the

people of a particular race or ethnicity are devoid of basic facilities to live respectably in the society

and such discrimination is rampant in the whole world.White Americans associate racial

discrimination with the individual conditions of black Americans and not the discrimination on the

part of white Americans, government policies and social milieu. They think that black Americans

have the same job opportunities as white Americans have. Most of the Black American authors have

raised their voices against such inhuman practice. African American literature is enwrapped in the

experiences of black Americans which is seen in most of their works. The present paper is designed

to cite and interpret the works of major black American authors i.e. Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka,

Octavia Butler, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, W.E.B. Du Bois, Alex Haley, Langston Hughes,

Richard Wright and Toni Morrison who voiced boldly against racism, violence, agony of the black

and also the love and beauty widespread in the world. The racial or ethnic discrimination here

referred to as violence, prejudice, dislike, exploitation and discrimination against a particular race.

Maya Angelou began her literary career with her biography in which she adroitly gave voice to

the hidden truths about the life of black women. In her masterpiece work I Know Why the Caged Bird

Sings, she gives her valued outpourings on how daughters, women orblack women who wish to be

an author or poet are mal treated the society and how they had come out from the oppression of the

so called whites. Giving the details of her personal life and experiences Angelou narrates the pitfalls

came in the way of her becoming a writer. She has generalized her experiences with that of other

women of her country. Her poems give the glimpse of racism and slavery is one of them. Her poems

show anger and angst which have become the part of age long tradition of torture and

discrimination. Her poem 'My Guilt' seems to be dipped in deep depression as she says:

My Guilt

My guilt is ―slavery‘s chains‖ too long

The clang of iron falls down the years.

This brother‘s sold, this sister‘s gone,

16

Is bitter wax, lining my ears.

My guilt made music with tears.(Maya 30)

The lives of Black American and White American are severely criticised by Maya with their life

styles which makes it clear as to who is at stake or who is not.

Black

Your momma took shouting,

Your poppa‘s gone to war,

Your sister‘s in the streets,

Your brother in the bar,

White

your momma kissed the chauffeur,

your poppa balled the cook

your sister did the dirty,

In the middle of the book,

The thirteens.RightOn.Thethirteens.Right On. (Maya 31)

Another poet, Amiri Baraka is an activist who expressed his opinions on racism through his

poems. He has been widely criticized for his support to black supremacy. In his autobiography, he

expresses his direction quite different than that of those white Americans.

His first two volumes of poetry are Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note and The Dead Lecturer.

His scientific socialism turned out of racial discrimination find place in his poems.His famous play

Dutchman visualizes the close encounter between a black woman and a so called white American

man shows the angst between suppressed identity of blacks and the supremacy of white Americans.

Octavia E. Butler was born in the atmosphere official or ethnic segregation when white males

were dominating in the field of writing.In her work Parable of the Sower, she says that racism in any

form is the generator of capitalism and blacks are only destined to slavery and rest everything

bright goes in favour of White Americans. His novel Kindred again explores the idea of racism in

which an Afro-American lady travels back in the time and brings out her experiences and finds that

racism is not the outcome of people's opinion to each other, rather this discrimination is the result of

the circumstances of the society itself. Thus, it comes out that racism is a behaviour that is being

practiced and it is not in the behaviour of people of the society. James Baldwin, a novelist,and an

essayist is also not an insignificant name in highlighting the racial discrimination in America. He is

an acute witness of racial discrimination and in his works, he not only explores the impact of

discrimination on the psychology of the oppressed, but also on the mind of the oppressors. His

bestseller works like Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next

Time evaporate his high aggressiveness on the burning issue of racism and violence and indifference

of white Americans. His other works like NobodyKnows My Name, Notes of a Native Son, The Fire Next

Time, The Evidence of Things Not Seen and No Name in the Street are a pen picture of black Americans

in twentieth century America. His essays also touch the themes of identity, self-determination and

analytical issues related to human life. His significant work Go Tell Iton the Mountain talks about the

struggles and pains of man which each one faces in the life in which love, sexuality, balance and

religion go hand in hand.

http://thirteens.right/






17

Next black American author, Ralph Waldo Ellison is famous for his novel 'Invisible Man' which

gives metaphorical and symbolic representation of racial discrimination prevalent in America. In the

novel, the identity crises depress the narrator and his grand-father says:

Son, after Iam gone, I want you to keep up the good fight. I never told you, but our life is a war

and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy‘s country ever since I give up my

gun back in the reconstruction. Live with your head in the lion‘s mouth. I want you to

overcome‘em with yeses, undermine‘em with grins, agree‘em to death and destruction.

Let‘emswoller you till they vomit or bust wide open. Learn it to the young‘uns.(R 16)

The exemplary life of the narrator makes other black Americans unconsciouslyconscious about

the discrimination around them in America. The different stages of narrator's life well explore the

diverse kinds of discrimination in human life. He is too far from nationalistic tendency on the issue

of racial discrimination.

Another author W.E.B. Du Bois's thesis The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United

States of America,(1638-1870) gives fine glimpses of racial discrimination in America. Bois casts his

humane light on cruel, oppressive and inexplicable and anti-black attitude of white Americans. His

movement of anti-blackness proved very fatal and disturbing one in the contemporary outlook.

According to him, white man enshrines every right to live an honourable life and black man

enshrines no right to live even. Another very cruel denomination of white Americans is this that

from the very inception, white Americans take enjoyment in black suffering. He says, ―We have

seen, you and I, city after city, drunk and furious with ungovernable lust of blood… what have we

not seen, right here in America, of orgy, cruelty, barbarism and murder done to men and women of

Negro descent?‖ (Bois 16)According to Bois, white Americans think themselves as demi Gods

destined to suck the blood of black Americans.

Alex Haley is an American novelists and biographer who expressed his dark experiences on

racism in America. In his novel Roots, he has narrated how Africans maintained their identity in

America and what they had to undergo to keep it. In this novel, the concept of racism is discussed

from many aspects. The identity of black is present everywhere in the novel and these blacks are in

their roots always by grandfathers' reflecting upon his past incidents. Kunta begins to hate whites

from his childhood for the ways these black are treated like savages. Their journey from Africa to

America is not easy, they are chained, shackled, writhing in pain with hands and legs bleeding. "He

is bitten for four days without mercy. Finding himself gagged, blindfolded, and bound with his

wrists behind him and his ankles hobbled with knotted ropeFor Haley, all white Americans are pro

racist if they do not think about it, similarly as all men are chauvinists till they do not think about

it.‖(Alexander 197)Langston Hughes is another name among black American authors and poets. He

thinks that one day this segregation will come to an end and where will black find equality and

justice if they do not find it in United States. His poem 'I Too' makes it quite clear that blacks are

discriminated a lot and they have no option than to live in depression. He wrote this poem in

response to Walt Whitman's 'I Hear America Singing'. He sings thus:

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

tel:1638-1870

18

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

………

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

"Eat in the kitchen,"

Then.

Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.(Rampersad)

The poem brings to light the deeply felt agony of black Americans who wish to have their own

identity and they too wish to live as white Americans live. The poem wishes to change the outlook

of white Americans and want to see blacks from the perspectives of their personality, character and

merits and not from their skin colour.

Richard Wright as a fiction writer brings to light the oppression done by white Americans upon

black Americans. His novels Black Boy and American Hunger narrate his experiences of being black in

American society. His collection of novella Uncle Tom's Children is a real story of his life as child and

as an adult in American society dominated by white skins. His protesting attitude over racial issues

heaped his novels with aggressive characters who were ready to take revenge for their victimized

character. Wherever Wright casts his eyes, he sees wide discrimination, violence, injustice and

inequality in American society. He believes that blacks are denied of the rights and living conditions

which had to be given to them while they are bereft of all these practices of common man's life. Still

he believes in the goodness things and finds life worth living.

Toni Morrison is yet another exemplary novelist highlighting the fictional texts with the racial

issues of black Americans. Her novel The Bluest Eye is a journey into the life of black Americans. In

the novel, Pecola Breddlove, the daughter of a poor family wants to have blue eyes like white

Americans. Here, racial discrimination is being touched in a very different manner. The girl comes

to know that the black can neither have beauty nor charm. Toni is of the opinion that Americans

have their own literature and stunningly it is because of the blacks whose protest resulted the birth

of American literature. Most of the American literature adopt their themes from black literature. For

half a century, Toni's subjects of novels have been the part of racial prejudices. She highlights the

racial prejudices in such a way that makes the benevolent society uncomfortable.

Writers often avoid labels of any kind, but Morrison has no prejudice against labelling her as

black writer. Her novel 'Beloved' received Pulitzer Prize which shows the life of a slave girl Sethe,

who wants to avoid her reality but her past haunts her. This novel is yet not received with heart by

American people as it hits their prevalent superiority complex.

Thus, literature written on racial discrimination is also known as slave narrative where lives of the

black Americans find place who could have no right to equality, justice, freedom and they had to

live a life devoid of any identity. The above-mentioned American writers expressed their agonies,

miseries and pains in the most reliable forms in their writings.


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CHAPTER 6

THE SIGNIFICANCE AND ROLE OF FAIRIES IN

THE MOST FAMOUS FAIRY TALES

Dr. JAYEETA RAY

Assistant Professor (Stage 3), Department of English

Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata

Fairiesmay be regarded as the spirits of the dead or one of the forefathers returning with gifts of

wisdom or warning. It was a common belief of the Celtic people that the land of the fairies was also

the domain of the dead. However, there has been a notion and a fixation on the nature and character

of fairies. It is a common belief that fairies are angles from the lowly sections of the angelic ranks,

always there to watch, guide and bless us whereas on the other hand people also believe that devils

are the ones who lead us astray.‖Fairies may neither be angels nor devils, however, but a sort of

inferior spirit that got caught on the earth plane and never could make it to paradise‖. (Moorey 11).

Another less fanciful belief may be that they are pygmy-type creatures or a strange animal or bird

glimpsed only rarely that is quiet similar to the sight of Yeti. However, whatever may be the

opinion on the origin and descent of fairies, their presence and their actions always lend a positive

influence to the people who are basically good and pure. Such a blessing has been seen to have been

showered on many characters from fairy tales like‖ Cindrella ―, ―The Little Mermaid‖ etc. Fairies

also are the ones who shape human nature and prevent them from moving on wrong paths like

what happened in Pinocchio‘s case where these angles put a curb on his noxious habit of fibbing.

The most common belief regarding fairies is that they are the denizens of the other world-a

dimension of existence which is closest to our own and which overlaps with ours from time- to-

time and from place- to- place. Fairies come across mostly as nature‘s spirits who helps in the

growth of trees; plants and are the elemental entities of air, the water and earth. They are also

the angels or ―messenger bearing spirits‖ and spirits of wisdom who may also be the creatures

of mischief. Many are playful and fascinating. In the wake of our discussion on fairies it would

be justified to note that the fairies are found to visit those people and places where they find a

―oneness‖ of the Universe where men are tuned to nature, there remains these spirits and there

we find tranquility in the truest sense of the term to paraphrase T.S. Eliot, ―We shall keep

exploring and the end of exploration we shall find ourselves back where we started but able

now to see clearly.‖(Moorey 15)

Not going into the details and elaboration on fairies let us first discuss in detail the way each

fairy tale is linked to the positive role and function of the fairies and angels. Starting with the story

of Cindrella who is an orphan having lost her mother at a tender age and being forced by

circumstances to put up with her stepmother and step sisters who ill-treat her and are extremely

cruel to her. They dressed up for a party thrown by the Prince of the country and their mother was

20

eager that her daughters would be found winsome by the Prince and Cindrella was forced to slog

out at home. This made her very unhappy and fell a crying, and then suddenly an angel appeared

before her and asked her, her heart‘s desire. Cindrella, the minute she expressed her deep desire

was turned to a beautiful princess with a crown on her head and splendid glass slippers on her feet.

Cindrella was utterly taken aback by her complete makeover. She went to the palace and became

the cynosure of all eyes. The Prince danced only with her for all the rounds and the jealous spiteful

sisters only became angrier. However, her clothes and slippers were time- bound. When the clock

struck twelve, Cindrella was supposed to turn into her original form. So Cindrella quite unmindful

of the clock was busy dancing but when she looked at the clock she scampered and in great hurry

one of her pair of slippers came off and she left for home. But the prince was very sad to learn about

the sudden disappearance of Cindrella and realized that he had actually fallen in love with her . The

Prince sent messengers throughout the length and breadth of the palace grounds with that one pair

of slippers to recognize the owner. At last he came to the doors of Cindrella and when her feet fitted

that slipper she was overjoyed and they married. Through this simple, innocent story we realize

how the good and the noble are rewarded and the wicked punished and the agents for doing so are

the fairies. Even in the tale ―The Shoemaker and the Elves‖ we understand that there lived a poor

shoemaker with his kind- hearted wife who were going through great tough times. Their financial

condition was worsening with the day. Finally, he was left with a piece of leather which was good

enough for only one pair of shoes. The shoemaker was running short of money to buy more leather.

Deciding to make a pair of shoes with that piece of leather, he cut the leather and left it in the room.

The very next morning he went inside the room to make the shoes but was greatly amazed when he

saw a magnificient pair of shoes ready there. The pair of shoes were such finely stitched and made

that they were sold out quickly at a good price. The shoemaker purchased leather for two pair of

shoes with the money got by selling them. He cut the leather at night and left it in the room so that

he could sew it the following day. These incidents went on day after day till the shoemaker became

very rich and famous. The shoemaker became the favourite shoemaker of the noble class of the

kingdom. The shoemaker‗s family had now all the bliss and happiness that one could dream of.

The shoemaker and his wife were still the simple, kind and thankful people. The wife suggested the

husband that they needed to thank the person who helped them so. So they both decided to hide

themselves to see what the mystery was. At the stroke of midnight, they saw two elves coming

inside the room jumping and laughing. They made beautiful shoes with the leather that they found

in the room, working throughout the night with their hammers and needles. By dawn, a whole row

of marvellously carved and finely stitched shoes were visible on the bench. In wonder and gratitude

the shoemaker and his wife decided to do something for the tiny beings. They both began to think

of a good way to thank the elves and in a similar manner they also left beautifully stitched dresses

for the elves. The shoemaker also made little shoes with the best leather available in the kingdom

and in this way the elves succeeded in bringing out the best in the shoemaker and his wife. In the

next famous fairy tale we have the story of a puppet Pinocchio who had a large nose and who was

in the habit of fibbing. Gepetto, the carpenter who had created Pinocchio and got him admitted to a

school quite far away. The very next day, Pinocchio got ready to go to school. With the notebook


21

under his arm, he began to walk towards the school. While he was passing through a field, he found

five gold coins. He picked up the gold coins and decided to give them to his poor father. Suddenly

he came across an injured fox and a blind cat going together. However, Pinocchio was chased by the

greedy, cunning fox and was saved by a fairy white as wax and blue hair. The beautiful fairy freed

little Pinocchio from the trap and instructed him in her sweet voice, ―Take the gold coins to your

father‖. But Pinocchio, a compulsive liar lied saying that he did not have the gold coins and

immediately after, Pinocchio‘s nose which was already long became longer. Pinocchio immediately

realized his mistake and requested the fairy to return his nose to its normal size and then one

adventure followed another, Pinocchio was able to save his father Gepetto from drowning and then

free him from the mouth of a giant shark. Pinocchio promised the kind and good fairy that he

would become a good and an obedient boy. Since his birth as a puppet, Pinocchio had always

dreamed of becoming a real boy.He thanked the fairy and left for his home along with his dear

father as a real boy. He never lied again and lived happily with his father ever after.

Moreover, the role of fairies has been noticed even in ―The Little Mermaid‖. The Little Mermaid

was also saved by the fairies when she was on the verge of death invited by her own self. She was

one of the five daughters of the king of the ocean. The sparkling blue ocean was their home where

they lived in crimson castles of gold and played with the shining white pearls which were scattered

all over the sea bed. The most beautiful of the mermaids was Caroline, the youngest one. Her long

and curly golden hair was more dazzling than gold itself. She owned the most melodious voice too.

In her family it was a tradition that girls could go to the shores only after they reached their

sixteenth birthday. Even in the case of Carolina the rule was the same. Carolina‘s sister would tell

her the stories of the humans. So, Carolina was always eager to see the world of the human beings.

At last, the day came when Carolina completed her fifteen years and stepped into her sixteenth

year. There was a grand celebration. The king, the queen and her four elder sisters showered their

blessings on her. Carolina felt overjoyed amongst the colourful fishes. The sisters then took her up

to the surface of the water to introduce her to the outside world that vastly belonged to the human

beings. They all sat on the rock and there Carolina‘s eyes fell upon a prince, tall, young and

handsome who was on a sea voyage with his attendants. Carolina had lost her heart to the prince

and wanted to see him from close quarters. The prince in the meantime too had caught a glimpse of

the mermaid. Carolina got a chance to save the prince when their ship was facing turbulent waves.

She bravely jumped into the raging water and saved his life. She planned to save him and very

cleverly pulled him to the doorsteps of a palace and rang the bell. Soon three beautiful maidens

opened the doors with lanterns in their hands. The Prince after coming back to his senses thanked

them for saving his life. Carolina who was watching all this stealthily heaved a sigh of relief and

vanished into the waves. Now back to her palace with her parents, she fell very silent and pined for

her lost love with the passing of time. She even stopped eating. The queen finally took her daughter

to a witch as she got very worried t to see her worsening condition. The witch promised to turn her

into human being provided Carolina gave her lovely voice. The witch soon gave syrup by which she

changed her tail into two supportive limbs and very soon the prince and Carolina started spending

wonderful days together. But sweet days end soon and Carolina‘s happy days were also numbered

22

for one fine day the prince expressed to the dumb Carolina that he was the happiest man for the

princess had agreed to marry him. Carolina was stunned for one of the conditions that the witch

had given her was that once Carolina‘s love was not reciprocated, her human form would disappear

and she would be turned to dust.But the fairies in fact saved her life. In a similar manner in Through

the Looking Glass too we find how Alice gets saved by the good fairies.

Thus we see how the fairies and spirits help people in hours of need and even help them to become

good humans. In this world of competition and complexities, therole of fairies is very relevant and

inspiring. It is a great reminder to us that even in these times of multiculturalism fairies which are

actually the metaphor for oneness, goodness and purity in humans and nature help in maintaining

the balance in nature as well as between humans and nature.


23

CHAPTER 7

DEPICTION OF THE DISTRICTS AND THE DYSTOPIAN

CONCEPT IN SUZANNE COLLINS‟S THE HUNGER GAMES

M.K. PRIYANKA

M.Phil. Research Scholar, Department of English

Gobi Arts and Science College, Gobichettipalayam

Dr. M.R. KUMARASWAMY

Head, Department of English

Gobi Arts and Science College, Gobichettipalayam

Introduction

The setting of The Hunger Games takes place almost 100-150 years in the future. It reveals how riots

were beginning to break out and how the people raised their voice against the government. The

description of each district may pin point the regions in America. The Hunger Games is a dystopian

novel, which depicts the depressions and oppressions of the ruling class that may happen

throughout the world. Even though the time period is not specified it is obvious that the novel has

been set in a future period.

Characteristic Features of the Districts

Each of the districts has certain key features that are meant to have certain purposes. District 1 is

meant for the making luxury items for the Capitol and therefore considered a wealthy district but

the other wealthier area is none other than the Capitol itself. It is located in the northern region of

the Capitol. Based on its luxurious nature, the people in the districts are offered with jobs like

making perfume, goldsmith, hair stylist, etc.

District2 is Masonry. It is provided with industries for the manufacturing of weapons, making

trains and supply of peacekeepers. This district is particularly meant for the main military complex,

which is known to be Nut. Citizens of District 2 are often called to be ―the pets‖ of the Capitol.

Because of their tremendous support to the capitol they are pampered and provided with many

additional conveniences. This district may be said to be located in the south or south east of the

Capitol. The children of this district grow with a mindset of having all the features of warriors and

they do all the necessary preparation for becoming peacekeepers. For them winning is a great glory

because they are career tributes. They tend to have strong preparation like other careers from

District 1 and District 4 but with the additional quality of brutal discipline.

District 3 is a technology seal that primarily consists of general electronics and various

mechanical products like automobiles and firearms. So naturally the tributes in this district are

skilled in electronics and electronic equipment. This district is located in the northwestern region of

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District 12. So this district cannot be called as a career district. ‗Career district‘ is a term that is used

to denote the wealthier districts that can have a common positive orientation towards the Hunger

games. Though District 3 focuses on technological industry, it offers jobs like technical support,

assembly operator, engineer, tester, technician, electronic installation, experimental physicist and

inventor.

District 4 is noted for its fishing industry and most of the residents in this district have much

experience in using nets and tridents. The district is located on the west coast of North America. It

has four victors. Because of the fishing industry, the district provides jobs like long liner, trawler,

canner, ship captain, deckhand and fisherman. Their way of living is very much specialized with

fishing; even their breed is tinted green with the seaweeds. Even though this district has severe

oppressions, they are very much healthy enough to rebel against the Capitol.

District 5 serves as a power industry. In this district, the tributes are noted for their power.

According to the location portrayed in Catching Fire, it is located in the southwest region of the

Capitol that is fairly close to it. Because of the power industry District 5 allotted the people with jobs

like power plant security officers, geologist, equipment manager, system analyst and maintenances.

District 6 is an industry of transportation. According to the map shown in Catching Fire, District

6 is located directly under Lake Michigan. The people in this district are porters, routers, mechanics,

conductors and baggage handlers. It is one of the largest districts that holds a large number of

population and is also extremely unstable. Because of these facts it is considered to be the lower

middle class district.

District 7 is noted for the lumber industry where most of its residents are skillful in handling

hatchets, axes and other cutting tools. The children belonging to this district begin to work at their

early age. This district is located in the upper north region near District 4. The people in this district

are offered with jobs like lumber jacks, load pullers, land pullers, lead climbers, furniture builders,

carpenters and paper makers. The tributes of this district are skillful because they learn to throw

axes at a very early age. Because of this they choose axe as their weapons. One of the biggest

advantages of this district is that they know everything about cutting tools and also have enough

experience in the arenas of brutal environment. This district is regarded to be an upper middle class

district.

District 8 meant for the textile industry is primarily used for making uniforms for the

Peacekeepers. This district is located in the south of Lake Ontario which is shown in the Panem map

in Catching fire. On the basis of the textile industry, people in this are offered with jobs like factory

workers, weavers, dressmakers, designers, warehouse managers, teachers and tailors. The income in

this district is shown to be fairly low. It is one of the sixth largest districts in terms of population and

fifth most impoverished district that is stated to be a lower middle class district.

District 9 is noted for the grain industry that contains a lot of farmlands. It is located near the

northern region of District 10. With the processing of grain production, the people in this district are

offered jobs like croppers, farmers, plowman and harvesters. It is considered to be the eleventh

largest district in terms of population and fourth most impoverished district.


25

Livestock is the industry focused by the people in District 10. It is located in the southern area of

North America. Because of the livestock industry the people in this district are offered with jobs like

butchers, milkman, ranchers, barn managers, breeders and farmers. It is the tenth largest district in

terms of population and the third most impoverished district.

District 11 is based on agriculture that contains orchards, grains and cotton. All the cultivated

products are shipped directly to the Capitol. The Peacekeepers are very strict towards this district

because it is one of the poorest districts. Even though it is based on the agricultural industry, the

residents of this district are generally underfed and they suffer with malnourishments. It is located

near Atlanta, which is quite large. Based on the agricultural industry jobs provided are sorters,

irrigators, farmhand, harvesters and gardeners. The general description given to the people of this

district is that they have dark hair and dark skin. Because of this reference the people of this district

are considered to be African American or of Native American decent. This is possibly the biggest

district because of their need for farming which needs bigger space. It is also one of the districts to

rebel against the Capitol rule and helped the rebellion to serve food to the rebelling districts with

the hope of victory in the war. It is one of the fourth largest district in terms of population and

second most impoverished district. It is a poor district.

District 12 is based on coal and mining industry. It has the distinction of being poorer than

District 11. This district is located in the Appalachian Mountains as shown in Panem map in ‗The

Hunger Games‘. Unlike other districts, this is segmented into four different areas namely The Seam,

The Merchant Section, The Victor‘s Village and The Hob. The entire area is covered with coal dust

because of the mining activities. It is one of the smallest of all the twelve operational districts in

terms of population and the most impoverished districts of Panem.

District 13 is the last of all the districts in Panem. It is based on nuclear weapons and graphite

industry. This district was annihilated at the times of the Dark Days. This annihilation was meant to

be a warning to the other twelve districts by the Capitol. The present state of this district is said to

be uninhabitable. The ruins faced by this district still have smolders from the toxic bombs that were

dropped on it. Even though this district was seceded from the nation of Panem, it has been

discovered that this nation is still in operational condition with nuclear technology research and

developments including weapons as revealed in ‗Mocking jay‘. The people of this district are

offered with jobs like nuclear weapon makers, soldiers, doctors, healers, cooks, hovercraft pilots,

hackers, hunters, teachers, farmers, spies, weapon testers and nuclear engineers. They have tracking

devices attached to their ankle. Because of its independence from the Panem, it gained its valuable

assets in nuclear weapons and was ensured with safety.

And finally, the Capitol, which is a Utopian city with all its technological advancements. It is a

colloquial name given for the ruling government of Panem. The Hunger games are organized and

celebrated inside the walls of this Capitol. It is a tyrannical dictatorship that holds total political and

economical dominance over all the districts. It maintains its rule by assigning an army of

peacekeepers, capital punishments and propaganda and hunger games. It is meant to be located in

the northwestern region of the former United States of America. In order to maintain plutocracies,

outrageous sense of style and fashion are considered very important in this Capitol.

26

Conclusions Arrived from the Districts

On analysis of the Districts, we find that the industries and wealth of each district is that District 1,2

and 4 are known to be the ―career districts‖ which have much positive orientation towards the

Hunger games. Even though there is poverty and malnutrition prevailing in some of the

impoverished districts, their tributes are generally healthy and strong enough to participate in the

Hunger games. These districts give much importance to the volunteers who can gain victory and

hence regarded to be the highest. The children in these districts are often raised specifically to

participate in the Hunger games even though it is against the rule of the Hunger games. They are

thus trained in the arts of combat and survival. These children are typically known to be called as

―careers‖ or ―carrier tributes‖.

Because of the oppressive fashion of ruling by the Capitol, the various districts of Panem start to

rebel against the Capitol. This is dated approximately seventy-four years before the start of ―The

Hunger Games‖ trilogy. This insurrection against the Capitol makes it to claim that, for every death

of a citizen in the Capitol, two rebels are supposed to die. The Capitol has defeated all the twelve

districts and obliterated the thirteenth district entirely from the nation of the Panem. As a

punishment or we may regard that Capitol has introduced the ‗Hunger games‘ in order to engage

their minds within the limits of entertainment. The Capitol thinks that this type of engaging people

for the mere cause may distract the attention of people to ask for their birthrights. All these settings

and background of the novel favours the concept of Dystopia.

Dystopian Concept

The term ―Utopia‖ was first used by Sir Thomas More and he depicts a vision of an ideal state. It is a

society of highly desirable perfect qualities. The important characteristics of the Utopia are peaceful

government, equality among the citizens, accessing education, health care, employment and

enabling the safest environment.

Dystopia is nothing but an offshoot from Utopia in which the explorations of social and political

structures are clearly brought out. It has often been referred in apocalyptic literature also. There is a

contradiction between Utopia and Dystopia where we consider Dystopia as something complete

opposite to Utopia. Dystopian literature visualizes nightmare visions of the future. The word

―Dystopia‖ can be literally translated as ―not good place‖ and is often set in a future.

The proliferations of the dystopian images began in the last decades of the nineteenth century. It

is a fictional world that is very much debased from the current world. It focuses on the negative

elements in the societies like poverty, mistrust, sufferings, oppression and all the squalid elements.

Basically many of the dystopian elements are the extrapolation of political warning by the

suppression of justice, freedom and happiness. It is the propaganda of controlling the minds of the

people in which rational thinking and independent thoughts are banned completely. The societies

that are reflected in dystopias often portrayed the real world issues with regard to the society,

environment, politics, economics, religion, psychology, ethics, science and technology. Basically

they are the pessimistic views of the upper crust government that employs its brutal charges

towards the people. The society that is portrayed is typically antagonist by itself, which works


27

actively against the aims and desires. It holds a close resemblance to the oppressions made by the

totalitarian or authoritarian government that leads to the loss of civil liberties and untenable living

conditions under various circumstances.

Concept of Dystopia in The Hunger Games

In order to portray the problems that exist in the society, Suzanne Collins uses dystopian themes.

She portrays the problems of fictional events with a satirical exaggeration. In The Hunger Games, the

nation of Panem and its government is portrayed as a dictator that controls each and every district

and forces the children to fight for their survival through death. The flaws in this government are

also exposed in an exaggerated method. It seems to be that the lives of each and every individual is

entirely controlled by the Panem government by imposing strict rules and inflicts torments to all the

citizens of that nation within its boundaries.

Suzanne Collins uses a historical background that signifies the war fields. Through this

historical significance she ridicules the present war that is rooted deeply in the form of dictatorship

that forces each and every citizen to slay one another just for the sake of entertainment. Collins

wrote The Hunger Games by reading the headlines about flu, terrorism, global warming and the

prevalent war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Collins has created fictional events that are very much out of

reason. The ideas that we read and watch are completely impossible and also very much baleful

with the reality that makes us scary for the things that are not actually real.

In this novel, Collins portrays a negative connotation of love with the dystopian theme creating

an imperfect triangle relationship between Katniss, Peeta and Gale. Even the society tries to conceal

the fake relationship between Katniss and Peeta by saying that they are ―happily ever after‖ as if

portrayed to be a positive outcome but on the contrary, in dystopian novels there is an utterly

negative outcome. Dystopia mostly depicts the human foibles, weakness and messiness that could

suppress all the attempts for creating a perfect society. Even though Katniss denies her relationship

with Gale by hiding all her feelings, it is clearly expressed in ‗Catching Fire‘ that:

Gale is mine, I am his. Anything else is unthinkable. Why did it take him being whipped within an inch of

his life to see it?

The conflict that is created by Katniss in a negative viewpoint favours the dystopian theme.

The actions and choices by the characters also put forth the dystopian mood all throughout the

games. The strong will of the characters for their survival only fuels where they fight to kill one

another. This kind of killing seems to be barbaric which also exaggerates the lack of peace between

the human races. Often the moods in dystopia are dark, pessimistic and reflect hysteria.

Then, Collins tries to create satirical events in which she ridicules the conforming nature to the

trends in such an order, which has to be accepted by the society. Mostly in dystopias, the

exaggeration of the contemporary social trends offers a series of social criticism. In The Hunger

Games, Collins writes to create a message of individuality in such a way that she creates Katniss as a

symbol of rebellion and the trend to rebel against as in the form of Capitol‘s style.

The sense of family being lost because Katniss has no father and the loss of the loved one in a

broken family also favors the dystopian concept where there is no perfect bonding and the family

28

has to struggle. Katniss develops hatred towards her mother for giving up and the lack of care

shown by her mother towards her and her sister. Even though family problems are not developed

much and given only less importance, Collins points out some of the family problems that have to

be dealt with.

The theme of identity is also found in the entire novel. This is seen when Katniss wants to prove

her own identity in the hunger games. During the training period all the tributes are asked to

express their survival skills. When Katniss is asked to present herself, because of nervousness her

shot goes clumsy. The game makers are very much concerned only about the huge roasted pig.

Katniss is infuriated and shoots the arrow straight into the apple in the pig‘s mouth and finally

thanks them for their considerations. All through the novel Katniss is mentioned only as a ‗girl on

fire‘. This is because in order to captivate the minds of the game makers and also the audience she is

put into a chariot that catches fire at the time of the parade and she also wears a dress that catches

fire in her introduction.

Yet another theme is starvation. Because of the limitation of the growing food they suffer in

extreme starvation and they are forced to scavenge. Even nature portrayed in this novel favours a

dystopian concept. This is how an artificial environment is created by the game mongers in such a

way that causes a series of hazards to the tributes by a number of challenges by challenging their

survival from death.

Conclusion

All these specific events are exhibited in such a manner that, they convey the social issues such as

family problems, the weakness of love and negative outcomes of the choice of people and actions

upon the society on other issues. These depictions in a fictional story with complete exaggeration

are trussed together for a dystopian society where the laws are forced upon citizens for creating

human misery. Thus in this novel, Collins depicts almost all the themes that come under Dystopia

where we can see the dictatorship of the Capitol‘s rule. The cruel rules imposed on the plebs of

Panem make all the people forget their needs and engage in mere entertainment. We can also

analyze the reason for the creation of the hunger games. It is only a reminder of the Capitol‘s power

over the nations and if anyone attempts to overthrow the government are supposed to face the

harsh and lasting punishments.


29

CHAPTER 8

THE PERCEPTION OF ECOLOGY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO

R.K.NARAYAN‟S FICTION “THE ENGLISH TEACHER”

Dr. M. RADHA


R.V Government Arts College, Chengalpet

R. K. Narayan‘s The English Teacher is focusing on the space occupied by the major personae

namely, Krishnan and his wife, Susila in the plot. The literary universe of The English Teacher

comprises of three Zones of action; The village. Malgudi and the other world. The village is the

location of Krishna‘s family. We are told that the town nearest this village is kavadi with a distance

of fifteen miles between them. To Krishna the village meant the large, sprawling home, the coconut

garden, harvest and revenue demand.

The second Zone, namely, Malgudi is the locus of the protagonist, Krishnan. It is neither a

village, nor city but something in between the two. Some of the important landmarks of this town

are: Albert Mission College, Ellamrnan Street, (Where Krishna‘s house is situated), Market Road,

Bombay Ananda Bhavan, Fort Area, Race Course Road, Vinayak Mudali Street, South Extension

and Lawley Extension, The Sarayu River, The Railway Station. Nallappa‘s Grove and the Cremation

Ground and so on.

―Lawley Extension formed the southernmost portion of the town and consisted of well laid out

residential buildings, lining the neat roads and cross roads. It was the very end of the town,

beyond which passed the Trichy trunk Road, shaded with trees... the extension developed

farther south; even beyond the trunk road the town exceeding. There was general scramble for

these sites and housc& which received an uninterrupted southern breeze following across the

fields, a most satisfiictoryout look aesthetically, the corn fields, which were receding in the face

of the buildings waving in sunlight (P-56)

Though the third zone, namely, the others world is not described in the novel, it is an important

locus where dwells susila after her death in order to visit Krishnan and initiate him in to the

mysteries of synoptic existence. The three zones redefine the being of the central personae Krishna

and susila. As for Kirshna, he dwells in Malgudi and for a while in the other world. His contact with

the village is mainly through letters and memory.

We found kirshna is saying ―my father‘s letter brought back to me not only the air of the village

and all my childhood, but along with it all the facts home, coconut garden, harvest, revenue

demand. The letters also bring alive the village through the sense of smell. Talking about his wife‘s

letter he says. ―I smelt my wife‘s letter before opening it.

30

It carried with it the fragrance of her trunk in which she akvays kept her stationery a mild

jasmine smell surrounded her and all her possessions ever since I had known her‖. One of the main

links between the village and Malgudi seems to be jasmine, which is a metonym for susila.

When he is about to move out of the hosted of the college to a house of his own, the only thing

that arrests his attention and holds him back to nothing but a jasmine bush. The following lines

express their strange bonding.

―While crossing the quadrangle, my eyes fell on a jasmine bush which completely covered our

library wall. I had seen it as a very young sapling years and years ago. When I was a student, I

had taken a special interest in its growth, and trained it up a small bamboo bower which I had

put up with the help of singaram the old peon... It was a struggle for existence for that plant, all

kinds of course tresspassing into the compound and biting off the stalk. It went up and down

several times caving me unending anxiety. And one day I got the suggestion that he might take

its flowers, they appeared, to his womenfolk at home and for god during the celebration of the

vinayaka festival in the hostel... The rest of the quadrangle was mere mud, scorched by Malgudi

son‖ (P-20-21)

The association of jasmine with susila comes through in the house hunting episode on a Sunday

morning as Krishna and Susila are about to start their expedition. there stand Susila at the kitchen

doorway, like a vision, clad in her indigo saree and hair gleaming and jasmine covered. She spread

the fragrance of jasmine more than ever. The divine creature she was a phantom of delight

whenfirst she gleamed upon my sight‘

If Krishnan‘s fondness for Jasmine could be traced back to his rural upbringing, it lights

him up to the other world by virtue of its association, in Tamil imagination, with the spiritual

beings.

Significantly. one such spirit being its Mohini, believed to be a female spirit clad in white with

plenty of Jasmine flowers in hair, whose anklet bells jingle as she follows a male viction she intends

to bewitch. Mohini is also regarded as one of vishnu‘s nine forms of female power, the sanskritised

name for the Tamil Pastoral (scrub jungle) deity.

The characteristic flower of the pastoral region is Jasmine, and quite interestingly, Mohini is also

the name of the flower of a species of Jasmine. Jasmine is called so because its scent is strong enough

to make one fain as lose consciousness. In short, jasmine is Mohini because it causes moha‘ (loss of

consciousness). Now it beconies clear that through jasmine. Susila is already deified as Mohini, the

consort of Krishna who also goes by the name vishnu.

Being an autobiographical novel, the identification of Krishna with Narayan could also be

established. Apparently. The ultimate setting of this plot could be the pastoral region, known

as mullaittinaleariy Tamil tradition. Reinforcing her sacred status, susila is referred to as

‗phantom‘.

The term ―phantom‖ is not accidental at all. It also position Susila in the other world by

transforming her into ―a shadowy likeness of a dead person that seems to appear on earth‖ The

―phantom‖ exudes an earthly loveliness even as jasmine. ―I will call you Jasmine, hereafter,‖ I said

―I‘ve long waited to tell you that...‖ Soon the reader realizes the potential of damage inherent in


31

such a rare ethereal thing of beauty, of all the houses in Lawley Extension it is the one Krishna

would love to call the ―Jasmine Home‖ that proves fatal. One might also see the Jasmine home as

something other than a femme fatale, as the site of transfiguration where susila leaves behind her

mortal coil and becomes a spirit with which jasmine is associated. Susila hereby confirms this

association in these words:

―If you want my evidence of my presence, pluck about ten jasmine buds and keep them near

your pillow tonight. Before I go away I will take their scent with me, that I can do you will see

the difference when you smell the flowers in the morning‖ (P-133)

Strangely., the confirmation at the end of the novel is not merely verbal but study of human

action. When krishnans mind became a chamber of jasmine fragrance; there she was sitting on his

bed looking at him with an extraordinary smile in her eyes‖

―What is more, she also took the Jasmine flowers, stuck them in a

curve on the back of her head and transported Krishna to a climate

mystic experience‖ (P-I 84)

The novel begins with a note of despair about the monotony of a diatopic existence Krishna is

disenchanted with ―He wants to cease to live like a cow... eating, working in a manner of speaking,

walking, talking etc — all done to perfection, I was sure, but always bearing behind a sense of

something missing‖. In this diatopic life Krishna is plagued by the gap between his thoughts about

a back in his life and the fulfillment of the back.

The action of the novel ends when this lack is fulfilled; when Krishna able to bridge the gap

between his desire to unit with Susila and his union with her. However, before Krishna could reach

this stage of development, Susila had already attained it she describes this stage in the following

words:

―Between thought and fulfillment there is no interval. Thought is fulfillment, motion and

everything. That is the main difference between our physical state and yours. In your state a

thought to be realized must always be followed by effort dissected towards conquering

obstruction and inertia that is the nature of the material world. But in our condition, no such

obstruction exists. When I think of you or you of me jam at your side‘ (P-I 31-132)

When Susila was already enjoying this sort of syntopic made of existence. Krishna was still

making his efforts to attain it. In Susila‘s words,

―I see you, lying in your green canvas easy chair and also trying to be present here at the same

time, seeing you now in your old chair as you shut your eyes and try to keep your mind still, I

forget for a moment that we are in two totally different modicurns of existence‖. ..(P- 152)

He perfects this art only in the blissful mystic experience narrated at the end of the novel. Now,

we may ask ourselves the question why the novelist chooses to make Susila comfortable with the

syntopic mode of life and play the guide who leads her husband into the pleasures of such life. By

virtue of his learning and position as teachers, it is Krishna who would fit the role of a .u.de better

than Susila But in matters of syntopic existence he does not seem to possess any knowIge or

experience. Strangely, it is his learning which seems to be the impediment here. His western

32

education is based on the kind of logic that has come down to the moderns enough such classical

thinkers as Aristotle.

According to this logic, an object cannot occupy two places at the same time. In other words, it

will not be possible for Susila to be in the other world and in Kirshnans everyday world the same

time. as she claims to be nor can she claim that there is no interval between thought and fulfillment;

that she finds herself sitting by the side of Krishna the moment she thinks of him. By this logic her

experience of having a garment on her, when she thinks of one is simply ridiculous.

However, the narrative shows us the appeal and truth of the claim of Susila‘s. Though a logical

or Meta — logical, the reader finds Krishna yielding to its power. He does not dismiss such

experience as plain superstition. On the contrary, he dwells under the shadow of this magic lure,

and closer towards it leaving behind Aristotle and erudition.

Gradually, he comes to understand that what he had been hitherto missing in his pedestrian

cow-like life is nothing but the lesson he had to learn from his irrationality rather than rationality.

This is what the sense of ―Vague disaffection‖ symptom meant for him at the very beginning. But at

that point he could not diagnose his own condition properly. Only Susila could help him do that,

did the novelist choose to make Susila the guide because she was free from the

relative influence of a logical world view? Because she was more open to the play of irrational

forces in life?

Malgudi in ―The English‘Teacher‖is a many-sided affair. It is many things. It is for example,

railway station, municipality, Albert Mission College, Village, Variety Hall, Bombay Anand l3havan

Restaurant, Trichy Trunk Road, Krishna Medical Hall, Ellamann Street, Market Road, Bombay Cloth

Emporium, The Headmaster‘s School, Mempi Forest, Trichinopoly, Kavadi, Varity Cinema Hall,

The Bus Stand retreat, pond. lotus, sunset, tamarind tree, the casuarinas tree jasmine, and the river.

There are many other things. It is in a state of eternal flux. It is always extending. There is Lawley

Extension where Krishna and Susila go to purchase a house. It is open to be influenced by other

places, at least it is related to them in one way or the other. It is related To Hyderabad, Madras,

Vellore, Cochin. Delhi, Rangoon, England and Europe. No, it is not only vast. It is very vast. It is

related to heaven. Krishna communicates with his wife, susila who is now in heaven.

The city Malgudi is materialistic. Like the court life of As You Like It, it is a corrupting

influence. Before Jagan moves to the retreat he is in the city Malgudi so materialistic that hecounts

his earned money in the stillness of midnight. He is so corrupt that he sets aside a part ofmoney as

free income-tax. Margayya in ―The Financial Expert‖ living in the city Malgudi is somaterialistic

that he likes a financial wizard, thinks only of earning more and more money. Let usnow take

examples from The English teacher. All kinds of dirtiness. corruption and miserable condition is

rampant in the city Malgudi. The condition of the college hostel bathrooms is so miserable that

when God asks his assistant to take a culprit to the hell, the assistant takes him to the hostel

bathroom passage because the bathrooms are engaged Krishna paces the little Malgudi railway

station‖. He finds fault with the railway authorities in regard to the carriage door dimension. Susila

is imprisoned into the hell-like foul lavatory which leads her to death. There is dirtiness

everywhere. Half a dozen files dot the face of the dead susila. Even on such a holy place like the

cremation ground corruption is rampant. Lively discussions over prices and quality go on.

The trappings of trade do not leave us even here. Malgudi has earned notoriety for its municipal


33

affairs the municipal staff do not do any work. Their work of cleanliness is done by the sun, the

wind and the rain. Like the villain gutter in ―The Financial Expert‖here is a gutter gurgling in front

of the house of the headmaster. The buses always run late. The bus from Trichinopoly to arrive at

eleven was not showing any signs even after an hour later. Thus, we see all kind of dirtiness,

materialism and corruption in the city Malgudi.

The Nature Malgudi is spiritual. Whereas the city Malgudi. like a villain, has a malignant

influence on the characters, the Nature Malgudi, like a hero, has a benign influence on them. The

river and the ruined temple exerts a healthy influence on Savitri. The temple and the Sarayu

transform the criminal Raju into the scantly .Raju. The retreat transforms Jagan who almost

renounces the world. Under the salubrious influence of serene nature, Krishna becomes so spiritual

that he begins to communicate with the soul otsusila. Nature is, to Krishna a heaven.

―It hi looked like a green heaven. Acres and acres of trees, shrubs and orchards. Far off

casuarinas leaves murmured The mediinn and Krishna can communicate with the souls in heaven

in the natur&s background: ‗the casuarinas looked more and more enchanting than ever. Purple

lotus bloomed on the pond surface.. Gentle ripples splashed against the bank. The murmur of the

casuarinas provided the music for the great occasion. We took our seat on the pedestal of the little

shrine. My friend shut his eyes and prayed, ‗Great souls, here we are. You have vouchsafed to us a

vision for peace and understanding. Here, we are ready to serve in the cause of illumination‖.

The souls have selected the friend of Krishna as medium because in the communion of Nature

he ‗1 has attained the spiritual power. The Medium is so much exultant in the communion of Nature

that he does not desire anything else:

―This casuarinas and the setting sun and the river create a sort of peace to which I‘ve become

more and more addicted. I spend long hours here, and desire nothing better than to be left here

to this peace. It gives one the feeling that it is a place which belongs to Eternity, and that it will

not be touched by time or disease or decay‖. (P-212)

We find in ―The English Teacher‖ the blending of the material Malgudi and the

spiritualMalgudi. Here they are both of them together: ―Jingling bullockcarts, talkative villagers

returning home from the town, and the miscellaneous crowd on the dusty path leading to the Tayur

Road on the other side.. The sun inclined to the west...The west was a blaze with the sun below the

horizon. Dust would soon fall on us.‖ In the above paragraph we have both the bullockcarts and the

setting sun juxtaposed. In the following paragraph we have both the retreat and the railway line

mingled;

―He liked the pond the temple and the trees, he wanted to be out of town, but near enough to be

able to run into it. ―My views have always been that it must be a quiet retreat, but a railway line

must be visible from your veranda or at least a trunk road‖.

The two Malgudies come closer, united and harmonious. Thus, the Malgudi brings about a

unity. It unites everything, materialism and spiritualism, characters,plot, earth and heaven. In ―The

Vendor of Sweets‖, the twinkling stars at which Jagan gazes are the Malgudian stars. Here,1the

heaven from which the soul of Susila communicates with Krishna is Malgudian heaven.

Thus,Malgudi unites even heaven and earth. Malgudi is both reality and fantasy united together.

The calamitous premature death of Susila is a start reality; her communication with her husband

from heaven is a dream-like fantasy.

34

CHAPTER 9

AGAINST THE HEGEMONIC CLASP OF OPPRESSION

SMITHA MARY SEBASTIAN

Assistant Professor

Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore

Dalits in India narrate a story of pain, agony and discrimination gruesomely painted in every page

of their life. Etymology traces the word Dalitto its Sanskrit derivative which means ‗split, broken or

scattered‘. True to the core, the term has segregated and branded an indelible mark on a group of

people bereaving them even an existence. This is one term in history whichwas used and abused a

zillion times. Be it Dalit, Depressed Classes, Harijan, neechjati or Scheduled Castes their lives are

invariably tied to deplorable conditions. They suffered more violence at the hands of the

dominating castes who exerted themselves contending a superior lineage.

The social structure of India denigrates Dalit to the lowest rung of the ladder and the question is

what is the position of a dalit woman? In a milieu where women all over the world are fighting for

their voices to be heard, what dreams or aspirations can a Dalit woman have? Is she destined to lead

an anonymous, faceless, nameless existence because of her sex and caste? Urmila Pawar in The

Weave of My Life: A Dalit Women‟s Memoir paints the naked picture of the plight which women are

forced to endure silently throughout her life. The work belongs to the genre of autobiography and

expresses the stark realities of dalit women‘s life without any facade of pretentiousness.In brief, the

patriarchal hold on women‘s lives had not changed.

Phansavale village had a school till fourth standard but girls were not allowed to enrol there.

Pawar sadly recalls her sister‘s fate which forbids her education, just because she was a girl. This

kind of internalization among women was not limited to education and social or moral conduct but

it was viciously extended to households where the daughter-in-laws were brutally harassed and

physically tortured by the mother-in-laws. Married young women suffered most in their in-laws

house and were subdued to raise voice against the unjust practices. This has almost become a

custom in rural areas of India where nobody bothered to question neither inequality nor injustice.

They believed in hegemonic masculinity and they forcefully crushed women under their control.

Once married, ‗helplessness‘, ‗vulnerability‘, ‗defencelessness‘ rules their destiny from all angles of

lives. Even their maternal homes turn back at them when they stand isolated.

Pawar explicitly portrays the fatal condition women encounter in their in-laws houses as well as

the negligence these married young women had to face from their maternal homes. Her former

positions as a daughter, sister and even as a member of the family was easily forgotten once she was

married and sent to the in-laws. Once married woman loses her control in the household and she

always remains as an unwelcomed, uninvited and unaccepted visitor in her own house. She no


35

more belongs to her family. She was bred and raised as if a cattle which at once has to be sent to the

slaughter house.

While depicting her life, Pawar now and then sarcastically points out the seems-to-silly but

cunning contrived customs and rituals performed within her community during wedding

ceremonies which can be identified as typical examples which strengthens the hegemonic

masculinity and power inequality:

There was a game which taught groom how to deal with his wife. The bride would be given a

pot to carry water on her head and also a small jug and sent away with four or five karavalis or

girl attendants to some distance. Then the groom would be made to sit on the threshold at the

backdoor of the house, with a stick in his hand. They would teach him the lines he would have

to tell the wife when she returned. When the bride came back with the water, he would strike

the ground with the stick and demand an explanation, ‗Why are you so late?‘ The women

would help the bride to come up with answers such as, ‗I was late because the cows had

muddied the water, so I had to wait till the water cleared,‘ or ‗The rope fell into the well and I

had to wait till it could be brought out‘ and so on. Then they would make her swear that she

would never be late again.

There was a game for the mother-in-law as well. The women would throw some very tiny black

beads into the bride‘s hair. Then the sasu would comb the bride‘s hair with a phani- a lice comb

She would show the black beads on the comb to all and say, ‗Oh, look at this! See how her head

is infested with lice! What a dirty girl this one is!‘ Then she would laugh loudly along with the

other women and admonish the bride, ‗I will not tolerate such filthiness in my house!‘(62)

For the father-in-law there is a game in which he pretends to leave the house for Kashi. The

bride and bridegroom call him back and promise to take care of him. All these games were basically

intended to control the bride and keep her in check. But when they were being played, everybody

laughed, enjoyed and had a good time. These were the happy occasions in their lives. Pawar‘s own

life events have great importance when speaking in terms of feminine sensibility as she is a woman

as well as the protagonist of the text.

Though Pawar struggles through her writing for the liberation of her own race, at times she

shamelessly admits the fact that the sense of inferiority and submission of female race which is

inflicted by their forefathers still subsides in their psyche. She reveals this crucial problem of

inferiority complex women undergo in their lives through her choice of name as a part of her

wedding ceremony: ―I had liked this name for a long time. Urmila is a character from the Ramayana.

She is Lakshman‘s wife, always marginalised.‖(180) This shows how even a daring woman like

Urmila Pawar, who strongly advocates women empowerment and liberation unconsciously falls

under the messy complex spell of dalit patriarchy and its stalkingshadow.

Urmila Pawar‘s life in Mumbai added a new dimension to her monotonous routine. She started

exploring and experimenting her potential. She educated herself questing new avenues and zenith

which awaited her. After a long struggle she proved herself as a gifted writer and a staunch social

activist. But life proved she was no exception of Dalit patriarchy. She too had to confront with the

base philosophy of these men. Though independent in the eyes of spectators, Pawar was deeply

36

wounded and struggled within to overcome the troubles her husband posed on her way. She felt

miserable at the hands of her husband when he followed the path of other men who find themselves

valiant when they controlled their wives like masters. She sadly revives those heart-burning

incidents in her marital life which tried to restrict her life in its harsh clutches of patriarchy. But

unlike other women of her community she fought with all her strength to break these age old rigid

walls of masculine hegemony and racial discrimination.

Harishchandra, Pawar‘s husband was unwilling to reinforce her talent for education and

writing. Instead he started to pull her down when she tried to strengthen her weaknesses and

achieve recognition. While Pawar empathetically describes the tough lives of women in her village

and in her in-laws‘ house through her writing, Mr.Pawar expected her to be like the same village

women he had seen in his youth. But Pawar could no longer confine to the trivial parameters of

superfluous gender rules which her husband bears in mind as a token of their community‘s

patriarchal ideology. Her husband was not only reluctant about her idea of doing masters but also

he strongly disagreed with her attitude towards education.

On one side Pawar was tormented at heart as she received negative criticism from her husband

but on the other side she fought hard with all her power because, she wanted to do something for

those unfortunate women she had seen in her childhood, something for every female figure she

knows in her life and something for the whole female race of the world. Pawar believed she was

destined to do this for the Mahar women of Konkan region and those settled as working class in

metros. She started to bring about a change in the social and domestic condition of women through

her writing and won wide recognition as a writer of true lives. She opens her heart in the

autobiography why she continued her writing and social activities despite her husband‘s

disagreement and community‘s rejection. In the beginning she was bewildered at her own thought

to rise as an activist and a writer. But she introspected herself as an individual, citizen, woman and

realised that she has no definite identity of her own. The ‗thought of identity‘ reverberated in her

and disfigured her feminine consciousness to a greater extent. She realised this was the condition of

every single woman and determined to find to her own path consciously disregarding the

remonstrating voices she heard.

Pawarconveys to her readers what life meant to poor village women whom the writer had

encountered in her childhood. A continuous struggle for the gratification of others ‗desires through

self-sacrifice is what their life‘s motto. Nobody ever tried to sense their feelings and they never said

they had feelings because they knew they are dumb and the patriarchs are deaf. Pawar moves back

to her past and contemplates how much space these patriarchs and their rules seize in a woman‘s

life.

Pawar rightly said as she herself experienced the lack of this space in one‘s life. She knew how

important it is to have a room of one‘s own. Pawar then turns to her own past where she lacked this

‗space‘ as she was a woman. She discloses the resentment she had to face from her colleagues in the

office when she was promoted and also their disapproval to accept a ‗dalit woman‘ as their

forewoman. She points out the discrimination of caste and gender in government offices of metro

like Mumbai.


37

In spite of all these humiliations Pawar strove hard to achieve her ends.She joined and worked

for many women‘s organisation with a perspective to widen her role as a women activist. She

enriched and enlarged her knowledge as a feminist as well as assisted the victims of rape, domestic

violence, desertion, caste discrimination, dowry deaths and torture, sexual harassment and all

atrocities against women. Pawar came across many critical women‘s issues regarding caste and

gender, and struggled for women empowerment. Ceaselessly she worked for the welfare of women

and got initiated into Ambedkarite movement, Dalit literature, women‘s movement, women‘s

literature and so on. She attended many major meetings, panel discussions, seminars, movements

and also highlighted Ambedkar‘sinclusion of particular clauses for women in the Hindu Code Bill

and the rights of working women.

On behalf of the new initiative, Pawar made along with her friends to form a Dalitliteracy

organisation for women, she started collecting funds from her office. Irrespective of the caste, rank

and gender Pawar approached her chief officer for donation. She had a very annoying response

from her senior officer and in addition to that even the peon of her office insulted her with his

patriarchal tongue. Similar was the experience of other activists too.

These collected experiences of hurt, humiliation and negligence was burning inside Pawar

intensifying in her a strong sense to redefine her feminine self. This persistent rejection from human

beings of the same world engendered defiance within her to the encompassing people and society.

The troubled conscience of Pawar propelled her to do something from her part to oppose these

oppressors, who incessantly haunted the In this determined quest for the affirmation of female

equality and their significance in the history on a national level, Pawar put forth the idea of

rewriting the long ago told history which excluded women:

Thus after challenging sessions of research, meetings and interviews Pawar documented an

amazing history of women‘s participation in the AmbedkariteDalit movement in her book, Together

We Made History in collaboration with her friend, Meenakshi Moon. This was an important text in

the arena of dalit literature which unveiled the long concealed truth regarding the dalit women,

who ceaselessly revolted to demolish the caste-based discrimination. Pawar cherishes their memory

in her autobiography too.

This book has restored the golden memories of women who experienced political radicalization at

Mahad, participated in the conferences of the Scheduled Caste Federation in the 1940s, lead the

Sathyagrahaagainst the Pune Pact, formed the Dalit Mahila Federation and built Buddhist Mahila

Mandals in the 1950s. This dauntless act of bringing together the forgotten past of women of

importance in the history, to the forefront well established Pawar‘s identity as a Dalit-Feminist

writer. Together We Made History can be considered as Pawar‘s exuberant reaction to all the utmost

humiliations she had faced and witnessed in her life as a dalit, woman and human being from the

egotistical male chauvinists. Pawar relieves the burning burden of her heart as she feels herself

grateful in recording the lives of these forgotten female warriors of history, through the book.

38

CHAPTER 10

DIASPORICIDENTITY AND HYBRIDIZATION IN V.S. NAIPAUL‟S

THE MIMIC MEN

VANAJA KUNIYIL


Mahatma Gandhi Government Arts College, Mahe

The major themes that emerge from a reading from V.S. Naipauls novels are related to the problems

of the colonized people: their sense of alienation, their identity crisis, the paradox of freedom and

the problem of neo-colonialism in the ex-colonies. Naipaul has predicted the predicament in newly

independent yet economically dependent countries honestly and sympathetically through his

protagonist of The Mimic Men. The novel is a vivid transcript of the description of the old order, the

chaos of the present and the uncertainty of the future in the contemporary post-colonial society.

The Mimic Men represents the memoir of a Caribbean politician exiled in London.Ralph Sing

considers his life in the world as a sort of play-acting.Stepping out of his mimetic world, he

discovers the transitoriness, vanity, and despair of his persistent attempt to keep drama alive.

According to the birth certificate,he is RanjithKripal Singh. But he breaks Kripal Sing into two and

adds Ralph, and signs his name as R.R.K. Singh. So he is known as Ralph Singh at school.

As being a writer of Diaspora, Naipaul expresses his expatriate, dislocated, displaced

subjectivenes and experiences through a continuous flow of ideas, feelings and thought in a stream

of consciousness.He also explores the many-layered marks of the impoverished Indians who shed

their colonial past in their new homeland and re-imagines themselves in the new culture of the

Caribbean islands.The cultural shift among Indo-Caribbean is visible in the illustration of Ralph

Singh. Ralph has been contemplating as leaving the island since his childhood days. He wants to

start life afresh in a strange place. He thinks that the change alone could wipe off his past.

Fortunately for him, he secures a seat in a London school. Before leaving the island for higher

studies in England, Ralph Singh visits ‗Gurudeva‘ his father and he pays off his father‘s debt to

Dalip in a symbolic gesture of snapping all connection with the past.

The spatial shift from the island to the city provides the next act of self-extention for

Ralph.Throughout the novel, he reminds us of the fact that he is living in a hotel in suburban

London.While seeking order he lands in disorder. He has no fascination for the city in general, or for

London in particular.To his great dismay, he could find disorder in the city too. ‗So quickly had

London gone sour on me. The great city, centre of the world, in which fleeing disorder, I had hoped

to find the beginning of order‘1

Naipaul has used his own personal experiences as material for his fiction. But such an attempt

invariably ends up in each character being identified with its creator. So it becomes impossible to

ignore the correspondences between Ralph Sing and his creator.Ralph Singh‘s intellectual and


39

emotional development and the conclusions he draws about himself, his society and human

experiences in general are exactly those of Naipaul himself. The loneliness and isolation that drive

Ralph Singh to the verge of a nervous breakdown is, in fact, close to Naipaul‘s own experiences in

London as described in Area of Darkness ―I came to London – and I was lost. London was not the

centre of my world.I had been misled; but there was no where else to go […..] I was confined to a

smaller world than I had ever known‖ 2

Naipaul always occupied the ―nomans land‖ because he belongs to neither India nor Trinidad

and nor even England. His literary works achieve universal fame as he experiences different

cultures by reflecting the idea that alienation is the universal predicament of the contemporary

world. Naipaul‘s basic concern is with the displaced individual of the post colonial societies. It was

Trinidad that made Naipaul a sensitive diasporic writer with its diverse races, cultures and

religions. All the heterogeneouspeople lived in this land, have sharing common characteristics of

diaspora.

On the verge of a breakdown Ralph Singh meets Sandra. They have one common feature

between them, their isolation. She too has no community, no group identity, and has also rejected

her family. She emerges as a source of inspiration and strength in his darkest moments. He returns

to Isabella along with Sandra. Soon Sandra‘s interest in the island vanishes. Finally Sandra leaves

him as well as the island for good. After all the search for the order is futile. Ralph goes restlessly

and wanders aimlessly from one place to the other only to discover disorder.

―Singh lives with each group of people and each encounter pushes him deeper into emptiness.

His non-entity is mirrored in the nameless English society. He pretends to be what people expect

him to be. He finds the people two dimensional and becomes one like them. With Leini, a son –

lover- brother, and with Batrice, a sensitive young man. But Ralph fails to fashion order out of those

unrelated adventures and encounters. He cannot reciprocate their affection. He indulges in

promiscuity. His various relationships only bring a sense of failure, deficiency and distortion.

Finding himself on the fringe of society, Ralph is unable to distinguish between reality and

unreality‖3

For the generation born in exile, life in the foreign soil proves almost fatal, as they have not been

blessed with the insularity of their ancestors, who migrated from India. Ralph Singh is the only son

of a Hindu family on the fictional Caribbean island of Isabella. He is the man with an uneasy

childhood, a disturbed youth, a broken marriage and a failed political career behind him. He reveals

himself as a man with a psychological wound that makes him incapable of love or intimacy. In a

way he is incapable of forming meaningful or lasting relationships. He has, too a passion for order

and coherence. For him reality and order are not to be found in the island. At one time, Ralph flees

from the tainted life of his European immigrant friends and seeks the true world that keeps evading

him. The feeling of alienation and loneliness only intensifies. He restlessly moves from place to

place unsuccessfully searching for the ideal world.

Ralph travels from Isabella to London and back again to Isabella. He tries to seek his Aryan

heritage in imagination, to escape to London and returns home like any other West Indian. He had

been dreaming of going to London, his promised land. He has considered London to be the centre

40

of his world and escape to London meant an escape from all miseries. But every where he

experiences a sense of alienationandloss of identity. His dream land turns out to be a mere illusion.

―Here was the city, the world. I waited for the flowing to come to me […..]. In the great city, so

solid in its light, which gave colour even to unrendered concrete – to me as colourless as rotting

wodden fences and new corrugated – iron roofs- in this solid city life was two-dimensional.‖4

Naipaul‘s major interest in The Mimic Men is the psychological effect of colonialism on the

modern man. It is an account of the experiences of a displaced, disillusioned and alienated person

representing the modern man. Ralph Singh, though a native of Isabella, never feels part of it. Since

his childhood he has felt shipwrecked and thought that Isabella is an island of disorder. He finds the

value system on the Caribbean island inadequate and goes to London in searchofaperfect value

system. But he finds that there is greater disorder, greater shipwreck. He is frustrated between two

cultures, between the obscurity of Isabella and the sterility of London life. He is unable to surrender

himself or to get a place in either of the two. Thus he becomes a mimic man, a subject of ridicule. He

became a puppet in the hands of destiny. He is a hollow man who has no culture and morals of his

own. He knows that the model he is imitating is not an ideal one.He helplessly imitating it because

that is the only model available to him and so he is restless inside.

The displaced man must learn to accept the finality of his displacement.Alienation and exile are

to be found everywhere. The cause of man‘s isolation and rootlessness, is not physical or

geographical – but spiritual. It is within him and not without. This realisation comes to Ralph Singh

cumulatively through the stages of dislocation he experiences. Naipaul is primarily interested in the

development of Ralph Singh‘s personality as he wrestles with the difficulty of finding reality,

conditioned as he has been to settle for mimicry. Naipaul‘s technique is to emphasize his growing

suspicion of the concrete world and the growing need with which each individual has to isolate and

define himself if he wishes to have any permanence in this changing, artificial and synthetic world.

The individual must be his own touch stone. In The Mimic Men Ralph Singh‘s view of his situation is

dominated by the shipwreck metaphor. It both describes his Isabellan predicament as a kind of

Indian castway and his sense of abandonment in London,so that even as he begins his memoir he

feels that he does so as a man whose journey has ended in the shipwreck which all my life I had

sought to avoid‖5

The Mimic Men is not essentially a political novel. It is rather a novel of character and sensibility.

This sensibility is crucial determinant of his story as suggested in tableau form on both the first and

last pages of the novel, where in each case Ralph is positioned between distasteful sexual emblems.

In tracing the events of his hectic political life of his times which truly represents the political milieu

not only of Isabella but also of all the third world nations in the aftermath of independence. Ralph

Singh, playing the game ofpolitics on larger scale, unable to compromise with himself, is forced to

leave the country in disgrace. Deprived of all social standards of success (wife, home,

money,friends, status, leadership and children) he experiences an abject lose of aspiration. Ralph

Singh fails because he tries to find out external solutions for the internal problems, solutions to the

problems of his own culture by adopting forms and manners of an alien culture.


41

The feeling of loneliness that Naipaul depicts in his diasporiccharacters is a result of the inner

psyche of the characters as well as also their external circumstances. Loneliness is a manifestation of

both inner and outer conditions. It is not easy for the exiles in Caribbean Island to preserve their

socio-cultural identity as they are bound to the influence of heterogeneous culture which brought

themaway from their past. Naipaul‘s multiple heritage allow him to present the experiences of

living with multiple culture and identity. For Ralph, exile begins in his colonial inheritance and and

the many flights of exiles before him from colony to metropolis.

Same like that of the creator, the pattern of Ralph Singh‘s life is characterised by homelessness

and sense of alienation. Ralph turns to writing as an assertion of existence. It is the only means of

survival, for in politics he has exhausted the scope of the ‗good life‘. The art of writing is a recovery

of balance. It offers different kinds of satisfaction. He turns to narration as ameans of the final

emptying out of the past self in order to start a new life afresh totake up the challenge of the west.

To find himself on to give meaning to his meaningless, disordered life, he turns to writing and the

result is the representative autobiographical sketch of a displaced person. Ralph Singh never takes

any active part in politics in the real sense and when he does take, it is because of his friend,

Browne, that he is thrown into political world and there also he finds himself at dismay. But he is

the product of the historical and political situation around him which is the result of colonialism. As

he himself is a middle class man he doesn‘t have enough potentialities to overcome the situation

and create a new order.

Naipaul is charged withpessimism in The Mimic Men. But what he portrays is the factual reality

and no writer can be blamed for reflecting his own society. Actually he has universalised his hero

Ralph Singh. Ralph is not an active agent but just drifts with the flow of time. He is a hollow man

who has no culture and morals of his own. Ralph Singh represents the directionless and aimless

modern man who goes on doing things without any motive behind it.

The novel deals with the effects of colonial education, the loneliness and despair, corruption and

rootlessness which deny the possibility of integration, the problems and conflicts that the colonised

countries face after independence. All these are examined in terms of the central figure Ralph Singh.

The colonial rule had exploited and influenced the natives so much that even after independence,

they have continued to suffer from mental slavery. In their efforts to attain cultural, politicaland

social identity, these people have lost the sense of direction because they are unable to cope with the

new forms. The impact was so deep that without mimicry they found themselves culturally

dispalced.

Ralph Singh is a typical product of the complex colonial ethos. He is pictured as a victim of the

colonial system. The Mimic Men is an account of the experience of a displaced, disillusioned and

alienated person representing the modern man. Ralph performs escapism and takes flight from one

place to another. He attempts all possibilities but however does he find his authentic self and so he

fails and the result is mental suffering.

Naipaul‘s despair is effectively conveyed in the grim and humorless tone of his novels.

In almost all the novels except in The Mimic Men. Naipaul maintains his separatenessfrom his

characters through the use of irony. Surprisingly, in The Mimic Men Naipaul makes no attempt to

42

maintain separate identity. Ralph Singh never becomes the target of Naipaul‘s irony. There are

instances in the novel where Ralph Singh sounds very much like Naipaul. Like Naipaul, Ralph

Singh admires people with money. Ralph Singh‘s account of his childhood reveals the materialistic

nature of the society of Isabella. It is a disgrace to be poor in Isabella. Ralph Singh expresses his

loyalty to his mother‘s family because they are rich compared to his father who is only a poor school

teacher.

Naipaul tries to convey the idea that identity is feeble entity for colonials through Ralph Singh. He

tries out many ways to over come his sense of inadequacy. He changes his names from Ramjith to

Ralph because he believes that a change of name would make him a different person.Later on he

decides to leave Isabella and settle in London to start a new life. Ralph believes that it is the colonial

education that leads him to deny the reality around him. This colonization ultimately led to other

displacement and alienation. Finally Ralph Singh has arrived at self knowledge which is a pre-

requisite for an authentic consciousness and is prepared to begin a fresh life.


43

CHAPTER 11

CULTURAL IDENTITIES IN THE SELECT NOVELS OF

JUMPA LAHRI AND KIRAN DESAI – A STUDY

P. PARDHASARADHI

Ph.D. Research Scholar, HSS Department

National Institute of Technology, Raipur, Chhattisgarh

Dr. Y. VIJAYA BABU

Assistant Professor, HSS Department

National Institute of Technology, Raipur, Chhattisgarh

Introduction

The feeling of belonging to a group is cultural identity. It isaself-conception and self –perception

andrelated to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality. So cultural identity is

characteristic of individuals and identical group of members sharing the same cultural identity [5].

Cultural Identity is central to a person‘s identity and his relation to the world. These cultural

identifiers are the result of various conditions such as gender, location, race, ethnicity history,

nationality, religious beliefs, languageaesthetics, andfood. Religion, ancestry, skin, color, language,

education, profession, class, skill and attitudes influence cultural identity which caters to all

positions of our lives. The main component of cultural identity is language. Its success is

characterized by a clear confident acceptance of oneself and an internalization of one‘s cultural

identity [5].

Cultural identities are central, dynamic, and multifaceted components of one‘s self concept‖.The

sense of ―We-ness‖ makes lacuna of culture [4]. Cultural identity can be defined as the identity of an

individual as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a group. In the U.S. and Canada, the

people are ethnically diverse but social unity is primarily based on social values and beliefs.

The books are composed in green on the stem and included nationality, dialect, lesson, sexual orientation and

family structure. The gather made the sprout of the rose. At the conclusion of the novel age, course,

geographic affiliation, family part, and a few identity characteristics are included. Creating identity intersections

as a group activity during a literature discussion extends discussion as group members debate the

important aspects of the character and theyinfluencetheir lives [7].

Cultural Identity in the Light of Literature

Indian writers are muscling into the positions of best English-language journalists, making their

way onto the best-seller records and snapping up a unbalanced share of the scholarly grants. Names

such as Anita Desai, Arundhati Roy, Amitav Ghosh, Shalman Rushdie, Vikram Chandra, Jumpa

Lahri, Kiran Desai, Aravind Adiga, and are fair those who come to the minds of thepursuers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationality

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnicity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locality_(settlement)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_(classification_of_human_beings)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationality

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_beliefs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesthetics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food

44

without exertion. Inside this pantheon of scholarly achievers. Before going profound within the

different angles of social personality, it is unavoidable to go through the concept of culture [20].

Culture can be characterized as the cohesive shape of perceiving, understanding, esteeming and

communicating that plans a people‘s way of life.

Values, standards, images, dialect and information are the fundamentals of culture. Culture could be

a social bunch in which one lives and this bunch decides the part of person which is the root

ofcharacter. Social character is shaped by a complex set of variables which arerelatedwith the

method of advancement and convictions of individuals. Hybridity the conceptcreated by Homi

Bhabha alludes mix or defilement of societies knowing that no culture is truly unadulterated as at

any point of time they may have come in contact with the other culture. He states that thesocieties

are not particular wonders, but being continuously in contact with one another, we discover

debasement of societies [6].

Culture as a manner of survival is each transnational and translational. It is transnational since

modern postcolonial talks are established specially histories of social uprooting. The transnational

dimension of social transformation–migration, Diaspora, relocation, migration-makes the approach

of social interpretation a complex shape of meaning [5].

More or less, Said too inscribed that the beginning isn't that imperative as the coherence since a

individual in relocation takes a versatile approach and attempt to alter with the modern circumstance.

‗No one nowadays is simply one thing. Names like Indian … or American are no more than

starting-points, which on the off chance that taken after into genuine encounter for as it were a

minute are rapidly cleared out behind. ‘For Ghosh, whose life has been checked by numerous

developments over geographic, etymological, national and social boundaries, diaspora offers a

profitable ‗transnational‘ viewpoint from social boundaries, which to destabilize homogeneous

conceptions of culture and character [3]. His grasp of the diaspora tasteful is proved in his crucial

dismissal of the immaculateness of social personalities. He expressed, my definition of diaspora, at

that point, as a half breed, transnational space offers a system in and through which to see social

identity as continuously moving, never arrived at, as existing in pressure and intervention between

roots and course.

The two eminent Indo-American novelists JumpaLahri and Kiran Desai deliberately expressed

the problems of immigrants in their successful novels. Besides discussing many aspects, cultural

identity is a notable one.Both conveyed the same problem of immigrants but vary in tone, language,

style adding their own experiences. JumpaLahri‘s the first and prize winning novel, The Namesake

deals with the difficulties of the immigrants in a foreign land and the emotional confusion of cross

cultural dilemmas. Their journey towards home and identity, being recognized as unsettling race

through alienation, cultural conflict and hybrid culture. In her novel "The Namesake‖ cultural

identity is nucleus that the immigrants are anxious for a new set up in foreign country.On the other

hand Kiran Desai themes are of human deprivation, trauma, identity and indifference.She casts

colorful characters from different cultures show certain multicultural concerns like diversity,

identity, minority, and ethnic rights [9]. Culturalists opined that diversity is invited and celebrated

as it has immense value to society. The novel shows the master craftsman ship of Desai in


45

portraying a wide range of characters. The characters are in niggling thoughts between cultures and

homeland.The characters are transformed from their ‗native‘ identity into a ‗‗westernized native.‖

and suffer from non-identity.They are all frequented by questions frequently inquired by an

immigrant: Who am I? Where do I belong? [9] They are caught between cultures. The misfortune

of character and it voyages through eras as a sense of misfortune. All the characters with in the

novel endure from a sense of irresoluteness that inevitably leads them tocreate a sense of misfortune.

Cultural Identity in Kiran Desai‟s The Inheritance of Loss

The novel starts with Sai, an adolescent young lady a casualty of circumstances who misplaced her

guardians in a mishap in Russia living with her anglophile fanatic grandfather, resigned judge

within the town of Kalimpong India. She lived in Darjeeling within the religious community. Since

starting she experienced biting sentiments of uprooting and division. Sai adored her guide, Gyan

[1]. He is an ethnic Nepali, and she is an upper-class western-educated Indian young lady so their

adore is destined from the begin. The cook anticipates that Gyan does not take advantage of Sai‘s

great heart and he stresses around his child Biju within the U.S.

The cook anticipates that Gyan does not take advantage of Sai‘s great heart and he stresses

around his child Biju within the U.S. He is normal Indian worker and remains illicitly, working for

little compensation within the kitchen cellars of New York City. He is uses and beaten by his managers

and especially by an Indian [1]. He was disturbed with the life there and he misses his father so he

decides to take off the U.S. with his profit and returns to India. For Biju America could be a world of

disappointment and lose hope.The story of Biju is compared to the judge with respect to his

encounter as a non-native. When an individual relocates from a society of his birth most of

the convictions of that society takes after the vagrant to the nation of movement, the concept which

is named within the able express of a humanist N. Jayaram as the ―socio-cultural baggage‘‘ carried

by a worker. Biju carried with him his biased sees of Pakistani and dark individuals.

His convictions around distinctive races start to alter when he met Saeed, an African Muslim.

They got to be great companions indeed in spite of the fact that Indians have moosupposition

towards Africans. Biju, just like the judge, is met with threatening vibe and separation from other

higher-class societies. He finds his local Indian personality has come in his way and supremacist

America will never acknowledge him [13]. It is superior to be destitute Indian in India than

adespised Indian in America. The family individuals cannot get the judge‘s behavior and a

fewindeed taunt him. He is cut off from the colonial center and he is cut off from his family

members.

In this novel, ready to see the sufferings of Biju who has lost his personality and culture in

America, and he ought to alter himself concurring to his environment. Gyan appears his genuine

patriotism for his personality and culture. Sai has misplaced her character whose guardians were

kicked the bucket in car mishap in Russia. This novel is the genuine representation of post-colonial

period and multicultural angles in a genuine sense. The characters within the novel accept that

multiculturalism is to fault for ghettoizing minorities and obstructing their integration into

fundamental stream society [7].

46

Cultural Identity in JumpaLahri‟s Novel The Name Sake

JumpaLahri‘s novel "The Namesake" moves circular the life of Ashima and Ashok Ganguli the

Indian worker individuals who came to begin a modern life within the College of Rural areas in

Boston. Ashima, a pregnant woman taken to the clinic for conveyance. She does not discover

anything standard in America. Ashima feels so happy to get to be mother additionally the danger of

raising the child in a modern put, America [12]. Being a conventional Indian lady Ashima learnt

from the childhood to donate up her possess needs and desires to fulfill her spouse and family.

She needs to go back to her claim nation at the same time she does not like to harm her spouse and

guardians. Ashima alters herself to the modern environs. She starts to acknowledge the living ways

of America but crave for her domestic nation in her is kept same. When her child Gogol is six

months, they know sufficient individuals to celebrate the event of Gogol's Annaprasanon an appropriate

scale [16]. Entirely taking after the ceremonies are portion of Indian culture so they keep association

and contact with Indian culture.

By getting recognizable with all the Bengali families living around, Ashok and Ashima make a

sense of Indianness. She moreover keeps up address books of each Indian whom she meets by

chance. She is cheerful whereas collecting the names and addresses of Indians and feels blessed to

share rice with them in a outside arrive". The fear of losing one's character in an outside arrives is

passed on to the coming era moreover.

For missing self-esteem or tremendousness, Gogol is disappointed with his title and loathes it.

Atitle is a strange personality to the world but Gogol loathes his title when he is young. He

doesn‘tneed to tell individuals his title because it has no meaning in Indian... he hates his title it is

bothsenseless and troublesome to get it and does not deliver character to the world who he is and he

is not one or the other Indian nor American but of all things Russian‖[12]. ―The Namesake‟ the title

of the novel mirrors the battle of Gogol Ganguli to character with his abnormal title. His try for

settling his distinction is difold. It does not provide him his unique personality and as a child of

immigrants to America, he has got to battle continually with clashes arising for his sense of having a

place and personality misfortune. For the primary time in his life, Gogol takes a free choice

and chooses to alter his title as Nikhl. With the unused title Nikhil, Gogol faces the bind of settling

his genuine personality. He has two reasons with respect to his title alter. Gogol, the child of Indian

guardians takes after Indian culture and values; whereas Nikhil is the open disapproved individual,

who has cleared out his past and nothing to do with theancienttitle Gogol [10].

Gogols guardians continuously takeafter their routine social morals andante detected the nearness

of deep-rooted recollections in their behavior, Gogol and Sonia watch in an unexpected way their

multi-cultural life. In arrange to fulfill the children the Ganguli‘s blend the American way of living

into their lives and they celebrate both Christmas and adore of Durga and Saraswati. He oversees to

have a double presence - a presence having both Indian and American social values. Gogol speaks

to the Indian portion where as Nikhil speaks to all the social values that he has guzzled from

America. In spite of the fact that he is born and brought up in America however he is still an Indian

to Americans.


47

Gogol, the foremost character could be a commonplace Indian American makes exertion to

bediversefrom his guardians. He needs to be free from the Bengali culture from the conventions that

keep him down to a country and culture. He needs to be a local American. Gogol, the vital character

may be a ordinary Indian American makes exertion to be diverse from his guardians. He needs to be

free from the Bengali culture from the conventions that keep him down to a country and culture.

He needs to be a local American. He feels he is an American and needs to be absent from Indian or

Bengali [11]. The locals treat his guardians and with doubt and scorn which was seen by Gogol.

They humiliated and isolated his guardians. Gogol chooses to be distant from similar elements

in his individual life and get a sense of belongingness and he is prepared to give up his possess and

imbibe a culture where he was born and brought up. The feeling of misfortune of personality is

nbroad within the Indian Diaspora and within the hearts of Indians living in India, discover

themselves confined from the arrive of their birth.

The foreigner‘s involvement is the central subject of the novel. Gogol needs to be free from his

Indian foundations but the Indian values which he had acquired after his father‘s passing. He is to

move closer to his mother and his sister coming about in fix his relationship with

issweetheartMaxine.The sudden passing of his father makes him turn towards his family and takes

up duty as a senior child, as he had lived in India. Gogol's explore for character may be a never –

finishing [12].

Conclusion

Identity is the important thing in the world which decides the value of the individuals. In the

Inheritance of Loss the character Biju we can see how he fights for his identity in America, but he

fails in it. In the Name Sake Gogol is in the cultural dilemma at last he doesn‘t quit Indian culture

and not fully accept the American culture[9]. They are vacillating for their cultural identity. In Uma

Parameswaran‘s drama Rootless but Green is the boulevard trees express the loss of identity,

culture, etc. In the drama, everyone loses their hope of living in alienated society, but Jayant is the

character who withstands the situation and persuades to live in the alienated society without any

identity like boulevard trees. Both Jumpa Lahri and Kiran Desai speak about the western countries,

India and the issues of cultural identity sounds true[14]. Artistic craftsmanship of these writers is

very impressive because they focused on the human issues. All parts of the two novelsreject their

struggles andadvise to develop love for human values-love for reason, truth, and justice, love for

liberty, equality, and fraternity, love for peace and harmony, love for one‘s native soil, culture and

identity. Thus we can conclude with the words of UmaParameswaran your motherland is that

where your feet are[18]. Both the novelists Kiran Desai and Jumpa Lahri give utmost priority to

humanity and human values rather than struggling for chaotic notions which will result in suffering

rather than achieving anything and hints to learn to live in all societies and cultures.

48

CHAPTER 12

“TRANSLATING POETRY: A CREATIVE TRANSPOSITION” –

EXPLORING THROUGH ROBERT FROST‟S POEM

Dr. A. PONNAMMAL

Head & Assistant Professor, Department of English

St.Joseph‟s College of Arts&Science, Chennai

Introduction

Translation means transforming or transferring ideas or messages from one language to another or

sometimes within the same language, from one dialect to another. This transportation occurs in all

fields as in Literature too. Literary translation is one of the most popular forms of translation as it

enriches the languages with literature of other languages. It is also to be considered that in

interlingual communication, while translating social, cultural and dialectical aspects from one

language to other, the translator strives hard to make the reader understand the text without any

obstacles. ―In addition to overcoming the linguistic barrier, the translator has to surmount the

cultural barrier, to make sure that the receptors of the target text are provided with the

presuppositions required for their access to the message contents‖. (V.N.Komissarov, 1991) Hence,

the translator has to be very keen in bringing out the social and cultural elements from the SL text,

to the TL text to avoid the TL text as an amorphous rendition of the original one. The translator

should understand that the literary text is made up of a complex set of systems. Susan Bassnet in her

Translation Studies says that sometimes the translators fail to understand that literary text is made

up of a complex set of system and they focus on only one particular aspect. She further quotes

Lotman who determines four essential positions of a translator as a reader, where he i) focuses on

the content as a matter where he ii) grasps the complexity of the structure of work, where he iii)

deliberately extrapolates one level of the work for a specific purpose and where he iv) discovers

elements not basic to the genesis of the text and uses the text for his own purposes. She further adds

―The translator first reads/translates in the SL and then, through a further process of decoding,

translates the text into the TL language. In this he is not doing less than the reader of the SL text

alone, he is actually doing more, for the SL text is being approached through more than one set of

systems‖(Bassnett, 2002). Hence it is not acceptable if any one argues that the task of the translator is

only to translate and not to interpret, as if they were two separate exercises. She claims that the

interlingual translation is bound to reflect the translator‘s own creative interpretation of the SL

text.Apart from this, in all the fields of literary translation, poetry translation consumed more time

in investigating the problems of translation. While translating poetry ,not only a good deal of

interpretation aboutintent and effect is involved, but it aims at finding a corollary mood, tone, voice,

sound and response. For a poet like, John Nims, the pure music of the poem is more crucial and for

him sound is more important while translating poetry. Thus, considering all these views on


49

translating poetry, the presenter of the paper attempts to translate the poem of Robert Frost‘s

―Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening‖ to justify Octavio Paz, the Mexican Nobel prize

winning poet‘s saying ―poetry is what gets transformed.‖

Robert Frost

Robert Frost, in full Robert Lee Frost, (born March 26, 1874, San Francisco, California, U.S.—died

January 29, 1963, Boston, Massachusetts), American poet who was much admired for his depictions

of the rural life of New England, his command of American colloquial speech, and his realistic verse

portraying ordinary people in everyday situations.(Wikipedia)

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound‘s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

-Robert Frost

Paraphrase

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is a lonely poem, as the speaker in the poem finds himself

far away from any other human being. After a long travel the poet entered a wood. He wondered to

whom the wood belongs to. He was actually standing between the woods and a frozen lake. The

time was evening. The poet felt that the woods are lovely, dark and deep. But, he realized that he

had worldly commitments which would not allow him to stop in the woods for a long time. It ends

with him reminding himself that, despite the loveliness of the view, "I have promises to keep, / And

miles to go before I sleep."

https://www.britannica.com/place/San-Francisco-California

https://www.britannica.com/place/California-state

https://www.britannica.com/place/New-England

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colloquial

50

Translating Poetry

The beauty of the poem, the theme of nature and vivid imagery of Robert Frost‘s famous poemwill

make anyone to read itagain and again. And as in the case of the presenter of the paper, the poem is

so alluring that it leads to an attempt to a translation of the poem.

Translation of the poem, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”

Version- 1

kulirmaazhaipozhthil…

iNtha vanamaanathu yaarukku choNthamaanathu

ithae kiraamaththil Ethoa oruveettil avan iruNthapoathum

pani pozhiNtha avan vanaththai Naan kanNdu kaLippathai

eppatiyum avanaal kanNtupitikka iyalaathu.

PanNnNai veedaethum illaatha itamonRil

iRanGki Naan NinRu vaetikkai paarppathu

viNthaiyaana cheyal enRae en kuthirai NinaikkiRathu

atarNtha kaattukkum uRaiNtha Erikkum Natuvae aNtha vanaththin

irunNta maalai kazhikinRathu.

enna aayiRRu enpathu poal than chinnak kazhuththachaiththu

en kuthirai ennai ERitukiRathu

athan kativaaLa manNi thavirththu

thavazhum kaaRRin chaththamum , tharai vizhum paniyin oachaiyum

kaadu muzhuthum NirambukinRathu.

azhakaanathaay, atarNthathaay, mika aazhNthathaay

iNtha vanam kaatchi tharukinRathu.

Ayin, en cheyya? katamai ennai

vaa vaa enRazhaikkinRathu.

kanN ayarum Noti munnae veku thooram Naan

katakka vaentiyirukkinRathu

kanN ayarum Noti munnae veku thooram Naan

katakka vaentiyirukkinRathu

This version of translating Frost endeavours to convey the semantic substance of the original

poem without adding any flavor to it. Nothing is being added or nothing omitted as in doing justice

to the original text. The sentence structure too was not altered much. But, after a close reading of the

translation, the translator feels the music which should present in poetry is missing. Ezra Pound, in

―How To read,‖ describes three aspects of the language of poetry: melopoeia, its music;phanopoeia, the

imagistic quality; and logopoeia, ―the dance of the intellect among words.‖ (Jackson.R, 2011) Hence


51

by all means, the music, quality of images or intellect in words should not have left out in a poem.

The translator (the presenter of this paper) then aspires for another version.

Version-2

panivizhumvanamarukae

aaL aravamillaa vanaaNthiram

akkam pakkam yaarumaRRa chuthaNthiram

thikkuth theriyaatha kaatuthaan

iruNthum iRanGkinaen kuthirai vittu.

yaarutaiya kaatithu? enGkiruppaan avan?

inGkiruNthu avan kaattai Naan rachippathai

enGkaenum aRivaana aavan?

ethaRku iRanGkinaay enpathu poal

en kuthirai enai paarththathu

evarumillaa itaNthanil enna vaelai enpathupoal

than thalaiyai chaRRae achaiththathu

athan kativaaLa manNi chaRRae chinNunGki oliththathu

ERittu paarkkiRaen

thiRaNtha kaattai

pani mootikkontirukkinRathu

uRai panic kaalaththin avachara iravu

uLLae NuzhaiNthu kontirukkinRathu.

iruLaal NiRaiNtha kaatu

oata mutiyaathu kuLiraal uRaiNth aaaRu

iranNtukkumitaiyae aNthapparuvaththin

atarNtha maalaikkul Naan

karaiNthukon NtirukkiRaen

enGkum Nichaptham

melliya paniththuLi chithaRum chaththam,

chillenRa kaaRRin thavazhum chaththam

ithu thavira enGkum Nichaptham!

atar kaatu… aazhNtha amaithi…azhakoa azhaku!

Ayin en cheyya?

kanN mootich choarvatharkkuL Naan

katakka vaenNtiyathu veku thooram!

In the first version, starting from the first line, the translator begins the translation, word-for-

word, as in ―Whose woods these are‖ as ―iNtha vanamaanathu yaarukku choNthamaanathu?‖ to

the last line, ―I have miles to go before I sleep‖ as, ―kanN ayarum Noti munnae veku thooram Naan

katakka vaentiyirukkinRathu‖. No words are added in seeking poetic beauty or no words are being

52

left over considering it as a barrier of translating. An attempt of strict adherence to word order,

semantics is made. But in Version-2, many words are being added without doing any damage to

the original text. The first line, ―aal aravamilla vanaaNthiram akkam pakkam yaarumaRRa

chuthaNthiram‖, which means, ―the woods with no people around; the freedom of staying alone‖

is not literally written in the original poem, but the tone and voice of the poem made the translator

to translate like this. The word choice ―chuthaNthiram‖ which means ―freedom‖ canbe found

appropriate on reading the critical appreciation of the poem.

―The woods seem to epitomize a certain freedom for the speaker. In the woods, as in lines 1 and

4, the speaker can move easily and freely, without the owner noticing. The woods offer the speaker

a kind of radical freedom that is unencumbered by the normal rules or regulations of society‖

(www.litcharts.com)

Thus, in one phrase, ―yaarumaRRa chuthaNthiram‖, the translator wants to fix the mood of the

poet.

Likewise, the lines,―thiRaNtha kaattai pani mootikkontirukkinRathu; uRai panic kaalaththin

avachara iravu ullae nuzhainthu kontirukkintrathu, which mean ―the woods are being covered with

snow and the quick evening of the winter month is making its entry‖ are only added just to bring

out the setting of the poem, the winter season.

Irulaal niRaiNtha kaatu

oata mutiyaathu kuliraal uRaiNtha aaRu

IranNtukkumitaiyae aNthap paruvaththin

atarNtha maalaikkul naan

karaiNthu konNtirukkiraen

These lines which mean ―standing between the dense forests and the frozen lake I am loosing

myself into the dark evening of that winter month‖ is an elaborate translation of the lines,

―Between the woods and frozen lake; the darkest evening of the year‖

―The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep‖.

These lines are translated as,

atar kaatu… aazhNtha amaithi…azhkoa azhaku!

Ayin en cheyya?

kanN mootich choarvathuRkkul naan

katakka vaentiyathu veku thooram!

Here, the word ―sleep‖ is not directly translated into the TL as uRakkam or thookkam. Many of

the interpretation of the poem goes like, "sleep" may be read as the woods' larger symbolism as a

place of ultimate rest, or death, which offer the ultimate escape from the burdens of life and


53

society‖. So, the translator avoided a literal translation for sleep. Also she cannot find an equivalent

for eternal sleep/ death as the poet Frost didn‘t use that word directly, but only said, ―Before

I sleep‖ Hence the word choice becomes, ―kanNmootichchorvathaRkkul‖ which means, ―before

closing eyes‖.

Thus the whole translation becomes a sense for sense translation rather than a word-for-word.

Poetry Translation: Views of Theorists

In ―Translation, Adaptation and Transformation: The Poet as a Translator" Richard Jackson, pointed

out that literary translation differs in many important respects from the kind of translation that is

usual in a language class. He quotes, John Dryden, the great neoclassical poet, who wrote in his

―Preface to Pindaric Odes, ―that translation should be ―not so loose as do not paraphrase, nor so

close as metaphrase.‖Jackson further talks about a chinese poet, who expresses his views on poetry

translation.

―Where does this leave us? Yang Wan-Li, a Chinese poet, once wrote about poetry and

translation: ―If you say it is a matter of words, I will say a good poet gets rid of words. If you say it

is a matter of meaning, I will say a good poet gets rid of meaning. ‗But,‘ you ask ‗without words and

without meaning, where is the poetry?‘ To this I reply: ‗get rid of words and get rid of meaning, and

still there is poetry.‘‖ It is that intangible that is left that is the object, I suggest, of good translation‖.

Jane Hirshfield, the contemporary poet and translator, says:―A literal word-for-word trot is not a

translation. The attempt to recreate qualities of sound is not translation. The simple conveyance of

meaning is not translation.‖(Jackson.R, 2002)

Conclusion

The paper presenter translates the poem of Robert Frost, which is so ironical as Frost himself was of

the opinion that, ―Poetry is what is lost in translation,‖ But, thanks to the Russian poet, Joseph

Brodsky, the Nobel prize winner who has said, ―Poetry is what is gained in translation‖ and Octavio

Paz, the Mexican Nobel prize winning poet, who says, ―poetry is what gets transformed.‖ In poetry

translation, verbal equations are considered as constructive principle of the text. Richard Jakobson

rightly says, ―Syntactic and morphological categories, roots, and affixes, phonemes and their

components- in short any constituents of the verbal code- are confronted, juxtaposed, brought into

contiguous relation according to the principal of similarity and contrast and carry their own

autonomous signification‖(Jakobson.R, 1950). He makes clear the point that, Phonemic translation is

sensed as semantic relationship. The pun or any wise technique can be ruled over by poetic art, and

whether its rule is absolute or limited, poetry by translation is untranslatable. Only creative

transposition is possible.Thus, the paper presenter to her heart‘s desire, attempts to translate a poem

to justify the theory, ‗Poetry translation is a creative transposition‘.

54

CHAPTER 13

HISTORY FINDS ITSELF IN FICTION: ANALYSIS OF

PORTRAYAL OF THE BENE ISRAEL HISTORY IN

THE FICTION OF ESTHER DAVID

ROSHAN CHACKO

Assistant Professor of English Triple Main Department

Devamatha College, Kuravilangad, Kerala

Judaism was one of the monotheistic religions that reached India before the first century.They lived

and sustained here, unlike Jewish communities in rest of the world, without any interference from

other communities and occurrences of anti-Semitism. Jews in India, unlike those across the globe,

are divided into three distinct groups as per their geographical and cultural location-the Cochin

Jews, the Bene Israeli and the Baghdadi Jews. All three categories of Jews have arrived at different

points in time and formed their own identity.Esther David belongs to the Bene Israel community,

whose works are mostly concerned with her own cultural history and geography. This research is to

bring out the historical nature of fictions of Esther David focusing mainly on the Book of Esther.

The question to be met with is how does the history of the Bene Israel get fictionalized at present?

The Cochin Jews who first arrived in the contemporary state of Kerala are dated to about 50 AD.

It is believed that they left their homeland-Israel after the destruction of their temple at Jerusalem

and they were well received by Cheraman Perumal, the ruler of the Chera dynasty. The Bene Israeli,

that numerically forms the largest Jewish group in India, belongs to the region in and around

Maharashtra and Konkan. Local legends on their arrival suggest that the Bene Israeli had arrived

between 1600 and 1800 years back, when they were shipwrecked on the Konkan coast. The Bene

Israeli community is believed to be originated from the northern part of Israel. The Baghdadi

Jews are said to be part of the most recent wave of Jewish entry into India. By the mid 18th and 19th

century, the Baghdadi Jews are said to have moved in to create a strong entrepreneurial class in the

British port cities of India like Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai) and Rangoon (Yangon).

According to the statistics of Hebrew University demographer Sergio DellaPergola‘sWorldJewish

Population, 2016, India is home to between 5,000 and 7,000 Jews presently (DellaPergola, Jewish

Population 2). They are unique in their historic ties to the country and maintaining their religion

and heritage among religious, cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversities in India. India had a

fabulous population of approximately 30000 Jews at the time of formation of Israel as a state in 1948.

According to Professor Nathan Katz ―The study of Indian Jewish communities demonstrates that in

Indian culture, an immigrant group gains status precisely by maintaining its own identity‖ (Katz

Nathan, Who are Jews? 15). Even though there were seven Jewish groups at the beginning constant


55

emigration to Israel made them to three. They formed their own Jewish identity as per the historical

forces operant in India at that time.

It is unfortunate that the representations of Jewish elements in Indian literature and films are

very scarce. Indian literary aesthetics has often excluded this cultural community and their

contributions to the literature. There have been only two films in India which speak of Jewishness.

One is Gramaphone from Malayalam and Mr. & Mrs. Iyer from English in which there is a minor

Jewish character. So it became the duty of the writers of the community to make their cultural

elements vibrant in the modern literary discourses. Writers like Sheela Rohekar, Esther David,

Meera Mahadevan are meticulous in depicting their cultural roots.

Most of the contemporary Indian Jewish fictions have emerged from Bene Israel community.

While Bene Israel has experienced the most dramatic population drop of any of India‘s Jewish

communities (from roughly 20000 individuals in 1948 to less than 5000 today), it remains India‘s

most vibrant and best organized, both in the subcontinent and outside. One of the important writers

among them is Esther David whose works are self reflexive. Even though the dawn of Jewish

themes in Indian literature was started with the publication of Miss Samuel: A Jewish Saga by Sheela

Rohekar, it was actually ignited by the works of Esther. Her main works like The Walled city, Book of

Esther and Book of Rachel speak of the demography and culture of Jewry. The identity and cultural

signification of own community is displayed through her works. History is created and refreshed

which otherwise would not have taken place.

The Walled City is a coming age story which has Indian independence as the backdrop. As the

title signifies The Walled city, is set in the urban background of Ahmedabad in Gujarat a period

before independence to the post-independence India. This is an exceptional work which embraces

author‘s community, religious symbols, rituals, roots and history of the Bene Israel. Her later

published works are mere extensions of what is stated in The Walled City.

Even though there has been a conscious effort to assimilate themselves into the mainstream

majority community, they show no laxity in upholding their roots and rituals. For instance the

narrator‘s Granny insists: ―…we should dress in Indian costumes, and that I would look perfect

either as a Konkani fisherwoman from the scene of our shipwreck, or a ‗cultured‘ Bengali

lady‖(Esther, The Book of Esther 11).They were aware that Konkani and Bengali were the

mainstream and socially elite mode of being in the country of the majority. The community has been

on the tip of extinction as demographically the community is being deteriorated every day. So they

do have to compromise with the majority in certain matters. Granny desperately says, ―We have to

make concessions, otherwise our small community will diappear‖( Book of Esther,16). The

womenfolk of the novel are so obsessed with the fear of the city that ―Together they make a wall

around me as though they are guarding me against death‖( Book of Esther,17).

The metaphorical walls of the city of Ahmedabad symbolize the historical walls of Jerusalem

Temple. This is the city and the wall they have been hoping for. These walls are their hope and

protection. Like the Jerusalem walls, these walls also have witnessed warm sighs of fear, anxiety

and frustration. SudhamahiRegunathan says ―The wall, which is believed to be divine, has been

56

receiving the prayers of devout Jews and others who have been making the pilgrimage for our 2500

years‖ (Book of Esther, 18). So these walls recall the original wall of wailing.

In the book of Esther, the eponymous heroine speaks of the history of Bene Israel, through a

system of half fiction and half truth. The text is framed in four-part chronicle of her family history

from the late 18th century to present times. It is ordered as to start with the descent from Bathsheba,

through her great grandson David, to Joshua, the narrator's father, to Esther herself. Even though it

is modeled on Book of Esther in the Old Testament, it has nothing to do with the content except in

some names and places.

According to Esther David, the arrival of the Bene Israel in the konkan is associated with a

shipwreck in Navgaon. She analyses this oral tradition which has come down from generation to

generation. Bethsheba‘s great grandfather had told her:

―We were running away from the Greek ruler Antioch. He wanted to destroy us. We fled in a

ship with our families and belongings. For months we were at sea. One stormy night, we were

sure we would drown and the fish would eat us up. Suddenly the ship rocked dangerously and

crashed on the islands of Chanderi and Underi. Some of us swam to the shore, some died, but

we lost our ark and the books‖ (Book of Esther, 29).

The first section of the novel Bathsheba speaks of the roots and upbringing of Bene Israel

community in India. They used to discuss their lineage and whenever they gathered for prayer they

were reminded of the uniqueness of their race and purity of the blood as they were the direct

descendants of Israelites. They had no official prayer book or written code of laws to follow. But

they kept themselves unique by sticking on to the principles and laws issued by their ancestors.

The book of Esther is neither a historical fiction nor a fictional history. ―The fictional history in

contrast with historical fiction pretends to deal with real persons and events, but actually reshapes

them- and thus rewrites the real past‖ (Curren,Richard.Fiction as History 77).But she authenticates

the fiction as history by assuming the support from various sources, is seen in the novel. According

to her; ―There were seven couples when their ship had crashed on the Konkan coast. They said, ‗The

shipwreck was known to have taken place near Chaul, the port near Navgaon. It is mentioned in the

Puranas that while Parshuram circled the earth to exterminate the kshatriyas and give more power

to the Brahmins, he had seen fourteen corpses on the Konkan coasr. The bodies were burnt and

charred. They appeared to be foreigners. He realized that they belonged to an ancient race‖ (Book of

Esther, 28). Here she seeks the support of Puranas to state the establishment of Bene Israelite

community.

The episode of the Tipu Sultan is used as another occasion to prove the existence of Bene Isral

soldiers and their participation in the independence struggle. When Tipu heard of the presence of

some strangers among the captives who were neither Hindus and Christians nor Muslims, he

agreed to meet them in the presence of queen mother, which eventually led to the recognition and

immediate releasing of the Bene Jews. Subedar major Samuel EzkielDevekar is another historical

figure who is associated with independence struggle.

There are references to the arrival and existence of the Jews of Cochin in multiple times. The

character Essaji said ―The Jews of Cochin arrived on the shores of Cranganore or Shingly, perhaps


57

from Marjoca in Spain or from North Africa. Till the fifteenth century they had their own little

kingdom in India and the Rabban family presided over them like a royal family. In the olden days

Shingly was the only Indian port known to the outside world. Perhaps the Jews came here looking

for ivory, peacock feathers, gold and monkeys‖( Book of Esther, 64). She also speaks of the pivotal

position held by Rabbans in the society at that time. ―There are some indications of their arrival such

as a hillock named Judah Kunnu and a tank called Judah kulam. They are the ancient shrines of the

Jews, and a copper plate has the signatures of four Jewish witnesses. The language on the copper

plate is in Vattezhuthu characters, an ancient Tamil script, and the meaning of the writing is: the

following gift of land has been given by His Majesty Sri ParkranIraviVanmar‖( Book of Esther, 64).

King was pleased to make following gifts: ―we have granted to Joseph Rabban the Village of

Anjuvannam together with seventy two propriety rights, the revenue, land tax, weight tax, tolls ,

boats, carts and the title of Anjuvannam- the lamp of the day‖( Book of Esther, 64).

Essaji makes a chronological development of the Jewish community from pre-Christian era to

the present time. There were travelers who had noticed the presence of Jews in Cochin before the

Christian era. They had described it as a Jewish kingdom of India. He speaks of the discrimination

that evolved among Jews between black and white Jews. He says; ―in the fourteenth century, things

changed. The vicious seed o black and white Jew was planted amongst the Jews. The fair-skinned

Jews had a superior status, the blacks were inferior‖( Book of Esther, 65). Essaji finishes his story

covering entire history and cultural growth of the Jews.

The second part- David, describes the ancestors of the family and their role in making the

Dandekar family a reality. David is the great grandson of Bathsheba. The narrative is based on

history or legends. So it cannot be strictly labeled as a historical narrative or an ethnographic

document. Esther is meticulous in analyzing even the ethnographical and religious attitude of the

community. Joseph, her grandson was one among them. ―There was already some dissent in the

family as he refused to wear dhotis, angarkhas and tubans. He had taken to the dress usually worn

by Muslims and Parsis-loose, flared pants, a long-sleeved shirt and a long, flowing coat. He wore a

fez, and sometimes changed it for a tall conical hat. For a festival or celebration, however, he agreed

to wear a turban of bright colours‖( Book of Esther, 87).

Esther points out the linguistic change occurred in the community during the time of Joseph.

―At that point Marthi had become their mother tongue, though they sometimes still spoke Konkani

amongst themselves. As they had lived close to the farming communities of the Konkan like the

Kolis and the Agaris, their Marathi had words typical of these communities‖( Book of Esther, 87).

Soon another linguistic phenomenon happened as English became the colloquial language among

Dandekars. As the younger generation began going to English-medium missionary schools, the

Dandekars started speaking in English.

Esther often analyses the political influences that shaped her community throughout year. Her

grandfather David Solomon Dandekar met Bal Gangadhar Tilk in 1898, when the latter was

imprisoned in Yerwada jail. At the time the British had imposed a ban on giving writing paper to

Tilak. But David smuggled in sheets of paper for him in his medicine bag. Later when he was

caught, he was transferred to Satlasana as a punishment. Later he resigned from the British

58

company and he decided that he would never work for the British Empire anymore and rather

would devote himself to the service of the people. He was attracted to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,

whom he considered as an unshakeable pillar in the freedom struggle. The life and mission of Patel

had drawn him into the freedom movement. He joined the Congress party and later won a

prestigious municipal election in 1920 and defeated a prosperous mill owner ShethMafatGagal of

Ahmedabad. Defeating MafatGagal was a great achievement for a Jewish doctor in those days.

The third part- Joshua, narrates the story of Joshua – the father of the narrator. She clearly

describes the way he was brought up and how his psychology was built up. He was obsessed with

animals. There was an unexpected offer given to Joshua to make a zoo in Ahmedabad. He accepted

the offer and built the zoo around Huz-i-Kutb or Kankaria Lake. It was named Hill Garden zoo. It

was inaugurated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru then prime minister of India. The inaugural function

is depicted meticulously, just as a historical document, without leaving anything that happened

there.It became known as the best zoo in Asia later.

The best part of the book is its fourth section- Esther, which is named after the life of the

narrator cum author. It tells the life of the narrator, a severely repressed and lonely single child

growing into a traumatized single mother of two children. Ester manages to display the

ambivalence she had in between being a Jew and an Indian. There are sharply drawn and detailed

portraits of strong characters like Joshua, Naomi, Manechem, uncle, Mani and so on.However it

ends with the protagonist‘s immigration to Israel and her return to India after her unsuccessful

attempt to settle down in Israel. Her attempts to clear the ambivalence between her Indianness and

Jewishness made this work more beautiful.

Esther throughout her works speaks of the cultural history and cultural geography of the Bene Jews

in India. She combines the approaches of anthropology, religion, culture and history in her works to

bring out the essential nature of her community. The Walled City and The Book of Esther can be

classified as historical fiction since it substantiates the very nature of it.―The essential element of

historical fiction is that, it is set in the past and heeds attention to the manners, social conditions and

other details of the period illustrated‖ (CurrentRichard, Fiction as History, 55). It is a fact that

historical narratives fit into two broad forms: ―the first places its events within an historical

backdrop or period; the second employs historical fact to tell its story. These are ‗Once Upon A

Time‘ and ‗According To‘ narratives respectively‖( Young, Contemporary Historical Fiction1).

Esther‘s fictions belong to the second category of the ‗According to‖. Her fictions are framed with

roots, tradition and culture of her community.


59

CHAPTER 14

IS HOME A HAVEN FOR MRINAL OF RABINDRANATH

TAGORE‟S „A WIFE‟S LETTER‟?

Dr. P. KULALMOLIAL

Professor & Head, Department of English

AMET University, Kanathur, Chennai

Tagore‘s short stories are a great gift to Indian literature. It is not an exaggeration to say that Tagore

was the first to give the Bengali short story a universal status .Most of his stories have the rural

Bengali villages as its background. His stories are about all classes of Indian society ranging from

the starving peasants to the princes, kings, aristocrats and millionaires at the other end.

Dr.Seethalakshmi in her article, ‗Tagore and Education‘ says,

As one of the earliest educators to think in terms of the global village, Rabindranath Tagore‘s

educational model has a unique sensitivity and aptness for education within multi-racial, multi-

lingual and multi-cultural situations. . . . Education can bring a person to a very high level in a

single generation. It is acting as a life‘s measuring device and makes the world a home (24).

Tagore says that education is for life and that education should help the human faculties in

completing their development and to attain the fullness of life. He stresses that every child must

have access to education and that the educational and pedagogical system are to be correlated and

connected to the child‘s life and future.

Tagore addresses the issue of women‘s education. In his essay ‗The Education of Women‘ which

was originally written in Bengali and later translated into English and published in 1915, Tagore

states that there should be equality in education:

. . . whatever is worth knowing is knowledge. It should be known equally

by men and women – not for the sake of practical utility, but for the sake of

knowing , , , the desire to know is the law of human nature( Shiksha 181).

He also has insisted that knowledge has

. . . two departments: one, pure knowledge; the other, utilitarian knowledge. In

the field of pure knowledge, there is no distinction between men and women;

distinction exists in the sphere of practical utility. Women should acquire pure

knowledge and utilitarian knowledge for becoming true women( Shiksha 183).

Tagore‘s role in the liberation of women was a seminal one. He had exposed the plight of

women and argued for their autonomy through his essays, short stories and novels. Through his

writings, he was able to construct new and vital female role models to inspire a new generation of

Indian women.

Tagore‘s short story, ‗A Wife‘s Letter‘ reflects the inner consciousness of Mrinal looking at self

as a human and her visit to Puri Jagannath temple foregrounds the latent force and latent selfhood

60

inside her. She learns the meaning of dignity and learns what is to be a woman. Indian society is

rigid which had a strict view concerning gender and caste. The story ‗A Wife‘s Letter‘ reveals the

condition of women whether they are of upper or lower caste, whether they are rich or poor,

whether educated or illiterate and whether they are intelligent or innocent.

Mrinal of ‗A Wife‘s Letter‘ rejects man-made social values and comes out of the house breaking

the shackles and bondages to prove that all the rules and regulations are made by men according to

their necessity. She rejects the law of man and the law of caste which does not allow a poor woman

to take shelter in their house on ground that she is an orphan.

Tagore used literature as a means to create a better world for women. He wanted to establish a

world free of exploitation, fear, slavery or any other social evils which threaten women in a

patriarchal world. He was a profound believer of freedom of individual selves. His writings profess

that women think in a different way and they use home as their platform to move forward and at

the same time, if that home does not prove to be a shelter or a haven for them, they do not hesitate

to break that barrier to come out of the same home which the men have made or constructed or

restricted for them.

In India, women are brought up as obedient, submissive, silent and meek daughters or sisters or

wives or mothers. They are not given the rights to hold any important or respectable position in the

society or at home. They are the second sex, Simone de Beauvoir, the French Existentialist, in her

book The Second Sex talks about the unfortunate status of a wife and the indispensable situation of

her marriage in the following lines

It is the duplicity of the husband that dooms the wife to a misfortune of which hecomplaints

later that he is himself the victim. Just as he wants her to be at once warm and cool in bed, he

requires her to be wholly his . . . he wishes her to establish him in a fixed place on earth and to

leave him free, to assume the monotonous daily round and not to bore him, to be always at

hand and never importunate; he wants to have her all to himself and not to belong to her; to live

as one of the couple and to remain alone. Thus she is betrayed from the day he marries her

(497).

The Second Sex is published in 1949. It is a powerful analysis of the Western notion ofwoman and a

revolutionary exploration of inequality and otherness. The western notion ofwomen as proposed by

Simone de Beauvoir becomes applicable all over the world andespecially, the Indian women.

Beauvoir exposes the hypocrisy of men and their exploitation ofwomen and the same isbrought into

limelight by Rabindranath Tagore also.

Generally, Indian women face oppression, suppression and repression in the hands of their own

men. This is common to all women whether they are educated or illiterate, rich or poor, beautiful or

not, employed or unemployed. This Paper focuses on Mrinal, a beautiful as well as intelligent

woman. Men want their wife to be beautiful but not intelligent. Even for the beautiful women, the

right place for them is considered to be the home where they are confined to the kitchen. The male-

dominated society assigns that a woman‘s place is her home where she is like a beautiful ornament

with the only business of looking after husband and children. Home is considered to be giving

shelter to women.


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What is home? There are various definitions for the word ‗home‘. Macmillan Dictionary defines

home as a place to live or a building to live in. Cambridge Dictionary defines home as a house or an

apartment etc. where people live especially with their family. Collins Dictionary defines home as a

house, a flat, birthplace, hometown, homeland etc. Vocabulary.com defines home in the following

words: ―home is where you live; your house, apartment. . . . It‘s also the place we feel more

comfortable, loved, and protected – where we most feel at home‖.Smithsonian.com defines home as

―it‘s a way of organizing space in our minds. Home is home, and everything else is not – home‖.

Home is many things to many people. It is the place where people live and the place one likes. It is

also the place where we feel comfortable, loved and protected.

Mrinal of ‗A Wife‘s Letter‘ is beautiful. Like all mothers-in-law, Mrinal‘s mother-in-law also

wanted her daughter-in-law to be very beautiful. The first daughter-in-law of this family is neither

beautiful nor rich. Even then, she became the daughter-in-law because of her lineage. Mrinal herself

tells her husband what his mother has expected: ― your mother was determined that her second

daughter-n-law‘s looks should make the elder one‘s deficiency in beauty‖(SSS205). Mrinal‘s beauty

had won not only the heart of the mother-in-law but also everyone‘s. After the marriage, not only

her husband, but also the whole family comes to know that Mrinal is not only beautiful but also

intelligent. But that intelligence is an impediment for the husband as well as for the family. When

she is on a pilgrimage to Puri, she writes a letter to her husband. In her letter, she says,

It did not take long for you to forget that I had beauty – but you were forced to

each step that I had brains. This intelligence is so much a part of my nature that it

has survived even fifteen years in your household , , , your family had abused me

daily as an over-clever female( SSS207).

Even before marriage, Mrinal‘s mother was worried about her daughter‘s intelligence. She

says,‖My mother was always very troubled by my intelligence; for a woman it‘s an

affliction!‖(SSS207). Besides being intelligent, Mrinal is also capable of writing poetry which has not

been known to the entire family as well as to her husband even though they are living in the same

home / house for fifteen years. She states,

I had one possession beyond your household, which none of you know about. I

used to write poems in secret .Whatever rubbish they were, the walls of your

women‘s quarters had not grown around them. In there lay my freedom. I was

myself in them , , , in fifteen years you never discovered that I am a poet.

(SSS208).

Mrinal also mentions in her letter how she has been looked upon by her family members. She

reminiscences,

Among the earliest memories that I have of your house, the one that comes to mind is of your

cowshed . . . when I first arrived at your house, those two cows and three calves struck me as

being the only friends I had in the entire city. When I was a new bride, I would give my food to

them; when I grew older, bantering acquaintances, observing the attention I show the cows,

would express their suspicions about my family and ancestral occupation: all cowherds, they

said(SSS208).

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When Bindu, the younger sister of BoroBou, seeks refuge in their house, all the people in the

house humiliated her. BoroBou is not courageous enough to defend her sister but Mrinal cannot

withstand that sight and gives her shelter in her room. Mrinal wages a battle against her in-laws for

their disapproval of her active support for the helpless Bindu and her husband‘s unawareness of her

individuality. She says, ―It is impossible for me to limit myself in every point. When I decide that

something is right, it is not my nature to be persuaded for someone else‘s sake that it is

wrong‖(SSS210). In order to get away with Bindu, her marriage has been arranged with a madman.

Even though mad, he is a man. Unable to tolerate his tortures, Bindu comes back to their house but

she has been sent back to her marital home saying, ―She‘s nothing more than a woman. The groom

may be insane, but he‘s a man‖( SSS213). But she finds solace in death.

There are three women characters in ‗A Wife‘s Letter‘ – BoroBou, Mrinal and Bindu. All the

three are leading loveless marriage. At least BoroBou and Mrinal are given shelter, security and

sustenance in that household but Bindu is deprived of all these. Mrinal tells her husband through

letter,

In your world I didn‘t suffer what people would normally call grief. In your house

there was no lack of food or clothing; , , , there was nothing that I could complain

to the Lord, nothing I could call terrible , , , I don‘t want to raise my head in

complaint aboutyou – this letter is not for that(SSS216).

She is not complaining but charging her husband as

You had shrouded me over in the darkness of your habits and customs. The dark

veil of your custom had cloaked me completely, but for an instant Bindu came

and touched me through a gap in the veil, and by her own death she tore that

awful veil to shreds. Today I see there is no longer any need to maintain your

family‘s dignity or self-pride .He who smiles at this unloved face of mine is in

front of me today, looking at me with the sublime expanse of His sky. Now Mejo

Bou dies(SSS218).

Mrinal is assuring her husband that she won‘t commit suicide like Bindu. ―You think Iam going

to kill myself – don‘t be afraid. I wouldn‘t play an old joke on you all‖(SSS218). She makes a

reference about mythical Mirabai, the devotee of Lord Krishna. Mirabai was a Rajput princess who

renounced all worldly responsibilities associated with a royal woman out of her respect and

dedication to Lord Krishna. Mrinal says, ―Meera-Bai too was a woman, like me; her chains too, were

no less heavy; and she didn‘t have to die to be saved‖(SSS218). By comparing herself with Meera

Bai, Mrinal says, ―I too will be saved. I am saved‖(SSS218). She is determined to live but at the same

time he writes in her letter, ―I will never again return to your house at number 27, MakhanBaral

lane, I have seen Bindu. I have learnt what it means to be a woman in this domestic world. I need no

more of it(SSS217). She has decided not to return to her husband‘s house which has never been a

home for her and has never been a shelter for her feelings even though she has lived there for fifteen

years.

Mrinal writes her first letter to her husband and expresses herself only after renouncing her

perfect-wife virtue which she personally feels stifling. She writes in her letter about herself as ― for a


63

woman, it is an impediment‖(SSS207). From a non-entity, Mrinal becomes aware of her identity.

After fifteen years of ‗wifely slough‘ and after coming to Puri, she becomes courageous enough to

write to her husband as

Today, after fifteen years, standing by the ocean‘s shore, I have learnt that I

have a different relation as well with the world and the Lord and the World.

that is why I have taken courage to write this letter(SSS205).

She begins her letter with the traditional reverential way of addressing her husband as ―My

submission at your lotus feet‖ but ends with ―Bereft of the shelter of your family‘s feet – Mrinal‖.

The selection of her words ―bereft of the shelter of your family‘s feet‖ shows that the shelter so far

offered by the family members in the name of home is no more a home for her. The home which has

to be a haven for women has never been a haven for Mrinal that she comes out of it and is bold

enough to say that her husband‘s house has never been a home or a haven for her.

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CHAPTER 15

CONGOLOMERATEDCULTURES IN CHIMAMANDA‟S

‘AMERICANAH’

JANICE SANDRA DAVID

Research Scholar, Department of English

School of Social Sciences and Languages, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore

Dr. V. BHUVANESWARI

Associate Professor, Department of English


Multiculturism has become common in everyday world. The concept of hybridity plays an

important role in negotiating the hybrid culture. The term hybridity has a dominant form over

stabilization and restructuring of power in colonial society. The term hybridity is can also be

referred as creolization,diaspora,transculturation,meitissage.Hybridity according to postcolonial

identity is an element that discusses how the original tradition blends with culture.According to

Bhabha, the ―Colonial hybridity is not a problem of genealogy or identity between two different

cultures…It is that the difference of cultures that can no longer be identified or evaluated as objects

of epistemological or moral contemplation‖(Bhabha,1994).Bhabha developed the concept of

hybridity of cultures which balances different cultures, values and customs. Hybridization

constructs new identities that creates a dual sense of being both beyond and within the margins of

nationality, ethnicity, race, linguistic diversity and class.

The immigrants move from one culture to another culture trying to find a balance and adapt to

society that they become a part. Homi Bhabha says that immigrants can end up in between two

cultures which develops a cultural identity which mimics the culture.Therefore the individual losses

the purity and authenticity of a particular identity creating a ‗hybrid form‘because of the

conglomeration of two cultures.The immigrants lose their old conventions and ways of life. The

hybrid form fixes itself in between the two cultures of precolonial and colonial subjects rejecting the

notions of single sense identity .The influence of the mix of cultures creates a dominant culture over

the individual which empowers and enables one self. The empoweringand celebration of the

dominant culture forms the ‗hybrid space‘ which Bhabha calls the third space. ―It is from this hybrid

location of cultural value -the transnational as the translational -that the postcolonial intellectual

attempts to elaborate a historical and literary project.‖ (Bhabha, 1994)

Chimamanda‘s novel‗Americanah‟ published in 2013 is a story of a Nigerian couple who sets out

in the globalized world as immigrants who struggle hard in their academics because of the

problems they encounter as immigrants .They hurdle through a series of social exclusion ,black-

white segregation and disenfranchisement .But in the latter stages the protagonist Ifemelu becomesa


65

successful blogger who starts to voice out the problems she faces as an immigrant in America

.Finding the sense of belonging and understanding of her Nigerian identity makes Ifemelu return to

Nigeria with a new identity called ‗Afropolitian‘. An identity that blends the lives of people in

cosmopolitan and African world.The novel therefore deal with the changes within the characters

.The characters build themselves on a positive note were existence in the new country builds the

individual in such a way that they don‘t abandon their possibility of returning back to their origins

.The protagonist of the novel Ifemeluis caught between the two poles of culture .The novel focuses

on several stages of the protagonist of which first stage focuses on the growth of the character in her

country Nigeria,the second stage marks the transition were she moves to United States .The third

stage is the process of getting assimilated in her way .The fourth stage isknowing herself and

becoming fully inclined to her roots .The character in the latter stages gets drifted backwards

towards Nigeria ,she reasserts herself not only mentally but also physically and gets reacquainted

with her Nigerian identity.

Identity goes through a process of movement,development and change. The way Ifemelucarries

herself, the change in accent, the way she tries to change her hairstyle, the acceptance of her state of

being in America to the values and norms all indicates her adaptability to new culture. Adichie uses

multiple levels to describe the process of change towards culture and life. Identity is therefore

questioned ―Whether identity of a person is changeable and whether people themselves can change

their identity.‖ (Smith,2011).but poststructuralist theorist like Derrida,Foucault and Althusser says

that identity is formed through discourse and culture.

Stuart Hall says that the ―Modern mind means for the individual to find escape from

uncertainty.‖Ifemelu unlike Obinze does not always dream about going to America rather she

applies for a scholarship to go to Americahalfheartedly.Her uncertainty of academic life in Nigeria

urges her to move to America. After she moves she feels lost in the transition inspite of having her

Aunt Uju to help her.She tries to acquaint herself with new culture.Adichie poignantly points out

Ifemelu‘s Trauma thus: ―She hungers [s] to understand everything about America.‖ (Adichie

2013).Ifemelu connects herself with the country by reading mythical books of America which makes

her clear about Race and ideologies of the region which convinces her.

Language in transition constructs culture. Ifemelu accent changes when she starts to mimic the

new culture that she fits herself into.The step that she takes to perfect and practice the American

accent marks herself as an outsider.She does not feel proud of herself when she attains the stage of a

perfected American accent. She says ―Why was it a compliment, an accomplishment, to sound

American?‖ (Adichie, 2013).Therefore, she refuses to use her American accent and tries to be herself

to mark her Nigerian identity. Iain Chambers points out that ―Language is not primarily a means of

communication; it is, above all, a means of cultural construction in which our very selves and sense

are constituted‖. (Chambers, 1994). She decides not to fake her accent and is caught between the two

accents neither reflecting Nigerian nor American creating a ‗Hybrid form‘.She develops this hybrid

nature of shifting between two accents which most of the immigrants find hard to acquire. This

enables her to find a privileged position in the society compared to the other immigrants. Linguistic

hybrid identities therefore can be considered as double-edged swords as it works in two ways it

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functions on a positive way creating a sense of belonging were the immigrants try to define

themselves and oppose ‗Others‘(West).

Adichie acutely brings in the concept of racism by highlighting even the smallest or the neglible

part that influencesa person‘s character .Adichie focuses on the issue of hair which she considers in

terms with racism ―the perfect metaphor for race in America.‖(Adichie,2013).Ifemeluprefers to wear

a straighten hair that is perceived by others as American.She is influenced by the others that she

adopts to wear a hair that changes her racial background .She learns from others that straighten

hairs are considered to be professionalbefore she goes to a job interview: ―Lose the braids and

straighten your hair. Nobody says this kind of stuff but it matters‖ (Adichie,2013).She learns that

she needs ―to look professional for this interview, and professional means straight is best but if it‘s

going to be curly then it has to be the white kind of curly, loose curls or, at worst, spiral curls, but

never kinky‖ (Adichie,2013).The American culture needs to embrace the difference and they should

try not to force their ideals onto others .Adichie focuses on the American and African feminity

throughout the novel she uses hair as a metaphor to knit together the brokenness.The author uses

grooming and personnel connections as monologues and dialogues between characters as an

emphasis on cultural spaces that holds an implication with the African diaspora.When the character

chooses to straighten her hair she sufferswithhealth and rejects to use relaxers for

straightening.Ifemelu faces her consequences through comments from her co-workers when she

denies to use relaxers. She ends up hearing comments on sexual and political orientation.

―Does it mean anything? Like, something political?‖ or, when she wears her hair short, after it

has been damaged by the relaxer, ―Why did you cut your hair, hon? Are you a lesbian?‖

(Adichie,2013). ―No, it‘s not political. No, I am not an artist or poet or singer. Not an earth mother

either‖ (Adichie,2013), and thus makes it clear that hair should notbe ideally seen as a political

statement but rather as an stylistic marker .Bhabha states that the imitation of another culture and

begin open to interactionsbecomes ―profound and disturbing‖ for both the colonizer and the

colonized and states uses the term ‗Ambivalence‘.―Ambivalence suggeststhatcomplicity and

resistanceexistina fluctuatingrelation withinthecolonialsubject.‖ (Ashcroft,2006). The characters

rejection and acceptance of a culture occurs when two cultures have the same effect which brings in

conflict over the colonized people.Therefore, the concept of ambivalence is related to hybridity as it

‗decentres‘ its authority from the place of power to become hybridized .

The protagonist refuses herself to conform ideals and values of American culture. Her blogs

become an indicative of the character‘s development through the discrepancy that she faces .She

acknowledges and understands the negativity with a different respect to the host culture. Her

perspective becomes clear and it changes,she feels that her feelings are pulled back to Nigeria. The

years that Ifemelu spends in America alters her so much that she hardly recognizes Lagos.―She had

the dizzying sensation of falling, falling into the new person she had become, falling into the strange

familiar. Had it always been like this or had it changed so much in her absence?‖ (Adichie,2013).

She is neither accepted as a Nigerian nor as a person who belonged to the American society

.Theoxymoron‗strange familiar‘ shows her confusion of accepting the culture she belonged .Her

friends call her ‗Americanah‘when she returns to Nigeria ,as she shares her experiences about


67

America ―list the things they missed about America‖ (Adichie,2013). Ifemelu misses ―fresh green

salads and steamed still-firm vegetables‖ (Adichie,2013) ―loved eating all the things she had missed

while away, jollof rice cooked with a lot of oil, fried plantains, boiled yams‖ (Adichie,2013). These

lines tell the strangeness of familiarity that she faces because of the cultural hybridity.

Stories matter.Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to

empower and humanize. Stories can break the dignity of people but stories can also repair that

broken dignity. (Adichie,2013). The author therefore brings light on the cultural ambiguity that

humans forget to realize that identities are poised with moving identities. Ifemeluexperiences the

changes in identity during her time in America and even after she returnsshe faces her insecurities

with challenges. The novel represents a trope of new identity and the conflicts of the survival of the

characters.The sustainability of the African identity and the creation of the new identity thus lingers

throughout the novel.

Chimamanda finds herself as an proponent for an ideal globalization that respects identities of

humans in the world wherever they belonged too. Ifemelu‘swillingness to accept her sense of

belonging to Nigeria with the hurdles she faces and so on fits Americanah into Fanon‘s third

‗Revolutionary phase of fighting literature‘ (Fanon, 2007). Adichie‘s narrative philosophy

intertwines with the other black writers who re-imagine a new multicultural space with the west for

immigrants. The bicultural immigrant represents racism as colonial ideology that is challenged by

the hybrid form.The character in the novel tries to understand and relocate herself in the cultural

background and relates herself to the people around her inspite of the differences in culture

.Adichie uses the disillusionment and depression that the immigrant undergoes as a platform for

identifying the ‗self‘ by taking the characters to nostalgia , Bhabha says that―the prejudicial way of

viewing the human world as composed of separate and unequal cultures rather than as an integral

world perpetuates the myth of imaginary people and places.‖(Bhabha,1994)„Americanah‟ therefore

focuses on living with shared values without inherited identities. The author emphasis on the

strength and capability of an individual rather than an inherited identity. Adichie brings an

enlightenment to the social togetherness with respect and discernment of the articulate miniorities

through multiracial power of socialdevelopment.The interaction of human beings with diverse

culture contributes to humanity with stability and sustainability of an individual identity.Each

culture has its own uniqueness as humans its our duty to respect and accommodate other culture so

that the world can be devoid of ethnic wars.

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CHAPTER 16

WHY JUST WAR NEEDS CULTURE AND NATURE IN ECO-GENDER

WITH THE HUMAN ENLIGHTEN OF THE ANTHROPOCENTRIC

NOW MORE THAN EVER

T. SAMUVEL RAJA


Madras Christian College, Chennai

Dr. ANN THOMAS


Madras Christian College, Chennai

Introduction

This article notes the just war tradition‘s distress adapting to 21st century warfare, its susceptibility

to political appropriation, its lack of conceptual clarity, and its blindness to the gender

subordination inherent in its theoretical assumptions. Still, fair minded war theory cannot be

discarded — it is a ‗necessary evil,‘ due to both its popularity in political discourse and the necessity

of having a framework for moral analysis of war. This article proposes a feminist reinterpretation of

just war theory as the revitalization that just war theory desired. It explains this feminist just war

theory deployed on relational autonomy, political marginality, empathy, and care. It introduces

some feminist ‗standards‘ for considering the morality of war. After brief applicatory explorations

into the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, it concludes by arguing that the added normative

strength and expository power imminent from a feminist perspective is something just war theory

sorely needs, now further ever.

The Gendered Just War Tradition

Early feminist accounts of the objective war tradition argued that its theories have historically

abortive to address the differential impacts of war on men andwomen, gender-specific period

atrocities (such as rape as a weapon of war), or the impact of war on sex equality norms in society

(e.g., Stiehm, 1983; Elshtain, 1987). In the late 1980, feminist scholars began to spotligh tthat

theomission of womanhood from just war discourse wasnot incidental, but a structural feature

ofjustwar thinking (Elshtain, 1987; Pierson, 1989). These pupilsargue that the objective war narrative

reliedon men‘s willingness to fill the role of‗just warriors‘ justified by definition to fight wars to

protect women (Elshtain,1987, 1992; Tickner, 1992). In these narratives, whatsoever the actual

impact of war on womanhood, womanhood discursively categorised as ‗beautiful souls‘: innocent,

uninvolved (thus unstained), andshelteredby their objectivewarriors (Elshtain, 1992; Sjoberg, 2006a).

These gender-based ideal-types at once obscure women‘ssuffering and perpetuatea cycle of war and


69

conflict (Sjoberg, 2006b). Feministtheorists argued that just war theory ought to be tempered (Peach,

1994) ordiscarded entirely (Ruddick, 1989; Cohn and Ruddick, 2002) for the reason that of its

gendered understandings andthe insidious impacts of those biases.

In response to these arguments, there are individuals who have argued that thegender bias in

objectivewar theory and practice is actually for rather thanagainstwomen (Carpenter, 2005,

2006).Basedon her observation that transcontinental advocacy clusters feature women in their

campaigns for civilian immunity, Carpenter argues that there is abias towards the protection of

women over (andperhaps even exclusive of) the protection of men (2005). Still, others (Kinsella,

2003, Sjoberg, 2006b) have pointed out that women‘s prominence in backingliteraturefor

civilians could notmeanthat women are protected and men not. Instead, ‗‗it is not that the use of

‗women and children‘ as a proxy protects women and neglects men. Instead, the evidence

demonstrates that it stereotypes women as helpless and perpetuates the gender-subordinating

effects of war-fighting‘‘(Sjoberg, 2006b, 891).Causally, ‗it is not the advocacy groups‘ words that are

responsible for the perpetration of gendered war-fighting, but the salience of gendered war-fighting

that inspires the advocacy groups‘ ‗words(Sjoberg, 2006b, 891). If the emphasis on women‘s needs in

the civilian backingnetworks capitals anything, it ‗reflects gender essentialism inherent in millennia

of just war theories and continues the gender subordination perpetrated by the gendered just war

tradition‘ (Sjoberg, 2006b, 892).

The element of just war theory that great number of feminists note spans each one time

andculture is that the image of women as the protected and the prize, ‗beautiful souls‟, in war. For

example, Helen of Troy was at once described as uninvolved andunaffected by the Trojan War and as

the goal of the war (both in terms ofprotection and victory). If solitary imagespelled triumph for the

Coalition in thefirst Gulf War, it had been the image of a dishevelled-looking American women,

dressed in a white dress and holding a baby, turn out wella plane subsequentbeingtrapped in the

United States embassy in Baghdad for the duration of the conflict (Sjoberg, 2006a). The

employmentof this image inthe media implied that the war had accomplished its purpose:protective

innocent women and children. The woman,neverthelessshe wasaffectedwith the conflict,

maintainedeachher feminity and her innocence.Feminists argue that the constructionof womenas

‗beautiful souls‘ at once assistanceas righteous justification for war-fighting stronger than the

underlying jusad bellum standards (protecting innocent matron and children), obscureswomen‘s

actual suffering in war (given the moral reliance of war-fighting onwomen‘s being shieldedfrom the

actions and effects of war), and props up gender subordination a lotof usually (by limiting women‘s

capabilities indoorwar and supporting gender differentiation in citizenship dignity and over

plus socialroles). As such, the just war tradition‘s reliance on gendered ideal-typesinthenon-

combatant immunity principle has real negative impacts, pair indoor andoutside of the substance of

war. The gender subordination that justwar theory perpetrates is anotherproblem to added to the

laundry list of difficulties that the tradition has as it looks for current relevance. Not only will a

gender-based critique of thejust war tradition demonstrate gender bias within the just war tradition,

but alsoreveals that just war theory usually fails on its own terms as a result of that gender

bias (Sjoberg, 2006b). This demonstrates equitable war‘s difficulties cannotbe solved by simply

70

adding new rules for new sort of war; broader issuesexist. A feminist critique of equitable war

theory reveals important ways forward, and suggests broader solutions. This paper argues that a

gender-based critiqueand reformulation of just war theory can endorse an agenda for the

reinvention of the tradition in a sharper, more relevant form.

Before procedure to it reformulation, maybe a note on the method by which one draws gender-

based critique is suitable. Feminist researchers study global politics through ‗gendered

lenses‘,where gender as an evaluative andconstitutive variable frame their analysis of world politics

(Peterson and Runyan, 1999).When glancing through gendered lenses, feminists areconcerned with

the influence of gender subordination in global politicsandinterested in paths to redress that

subordination. As Jill Steans notes, ‗feminist critical theorists are attempting to searchout the

simplest way forward that retains both gender asa category of analysis and retain the historical

commitment to the liberatorproject in feminism‘similar addressing broader policy problems across

state and cultural boundaries (Steans, 1998, 29). A feminist critique of the just war tradition,

then, looks for locations of gender subordination within the foundations of just war theory, and then

uses gender as a category of analysis to search for emancipatory alternatives.

Gender-Based Critiques and Reformulations of Just War Theory

Gender lenses looking for subordination in just war theory first find gender-based stereotypes about

actors in war, as mentioned above, the roles of ‗justwarrior‘, and ‗beautiful soul‘ (Elshtain, 1987).

These gendered stereotypesexcludewomenbydefinitionfrom the class of decision-makers and

fighters in war (Moser and Clark, 2001; Sjoberg and Gentry, 2007). This exclusion is bothactual and

epistemological. When women are excluded by definition, so are theperspectives of half of the

population. As Catharine MacKinnon explains, ‗the feminist theory of knowledge is inextricable

from the feminist critique of powerbecause [when women are excluded] the male point of view

forces itself uponthe world as a way of apprehending it‘ (1989, 657). A feminist reformulation of just

war theory, then, would move away from a tradition based on the narrowperceptions of those

recognized as actors, and embrace a more dialogicalapproach to the knowledge of justice.Such an

approach could be modeled after Sandra Harding‘s epistemologicalconcept of ‗strong objectivity‘,

which presents ‗a concept of objectivity, andmethods for maximizing it that enable scientific projects

to escape containmentby values, interests, discursive resources, and ways of organizing

theproduction of knowledge‘, evident knowledge produced solely or largely bydominant groups

(Harding, 1998, 133). To accomplish this, strong objectivityintentionally includes different strategies

for producing knowledge and a broadarray of people‘s understandings. Applied to just war

analysis, strongobjectivity suggests that the standards of justice in war be produced in aninclusive

dialogue across differences in national interests value systems,geographical location, and cultural

tradition.The second major critique that feminists have levied against just war theoryis that it relies

on a gendered understanding of human decision-making (Sjoberg,2006a,b). While just war theory

assumes that states‘ decisions are made entirelyautonomously, feminists note that the assumption of

autonomy is not anaccurate reflection of the empirical realities of international relations (Sylvester,

1990). Feminists recognize that, in social organizations where gender subordination exists, women


71

often have obligations that they did not voluntarily assume (Hirschmann, 1989). Gendered lenses

note that the assumption of states‘complete autonomy in decision-making is not only

unrepresentative of realexperience, but also unrepresentative because of the gender bias in just

war‘sunderstanding of how actors interact in global politics. Feminist scholarsobserve that here is

structural gender bias in the system of autonomy andobligation, demonstrated in ‗the bias of the

very structure of obligation (its beingdefined solely in voluntarism terms, and the fact thatnon-

voluntary obligationisan oxymoron) towards a masculinise perspective, which automatically

excludeswomen from obligation on an epistemological level‘ (Hirschmann, 1989, 1,229).Taking this

into account, feminist observers see people (and states) arerelationally autonomous, interactive, and

interdependent. The realization of relational autonomy has three direct implications for justwar

theory. The first is that states, even when they evaluate just war criteriaseriously, do not always

have complete freedom of choice or actions. Instead, they rely at least in part on the choices and

actions of other states, whether ornot leaders realize this. Second, states in different positions hold

different perspective based both on differential freedom of choice and divergentexperiences. As

such, no state‘s understanding of justice (generally or in aspecific conflict) is universally applicable.

Third, since states have differentdegrees of power and freedom of choice, their meanings of justice

are not onequal footing in current just war debates; instead, the understandings of morepowerful

actors are often more powerful in defining justice.These three implications of human relational

autonomy have led feminists to ‗see responsibility asresponse, an interactive, sometimes

involuntary, assumption of obligation‘ (Sjoberg, 2006a). Given this, a feminist perspective

arguesthat individuals and states can go on believing that they are independent operators, but

discarding this illusion and embracing relational autonomy hasboth theoretical and practical

advantagesbeyondthe improved empiricalaccuracy that it provides. Embracing relational autonomy

allows the preservation of identity independence, while recognizing the circumstantialand

constitutive interdependence of self and other (Sylvester, 2002, 119). Relational autonomy does not

deny actors‘ decision-making ability, it justcomplicates their capacity: ‗decisions can be made within

constraints orwith fellow constrains, but never without constraints‘ (Sjoberg, 2006a). A

feministreinterpretation, then, stresses strategies for making decisions within constraints and with

fellow constrains.Empathy and care serve as foundational concepts to build such strategies.

Empathy, or ‗the willingness to enter into the feeling or spirit of something andappreciate it fully —

to hear others‘ stories and be transformed by ourappreciation of their experiences,‘ provides a tool

for communication andcommunity-building within strong objectivity (Bystudzienski, 1992;

Sylvester, 1994, 96). If actors normally make their own determination of the question ofjustice and

then act accordingly, an empathetic approach suggests that actorsconsider the perspectives of others

in coming to a dialogical understanding ofwhat the just action would be. Through empathetic

cooperation, relationalitycan be transformed from a handicap to a tool for social emancipation. A

third feminist critique of the just war tradition is that its discoursesabstract human suffering by

limiting both accountability for war damages andthe language that we use to describe it (Elshtain,

1987; Peach, 1994). Forexample, the impacts of war, which disproportionately affect women, such

aslong-term damage to health care systems, disease, and economic deprivation, rarely count as

72

violations of civilian immunity (Cuomo, 1996). A feminist ‗ethic of care‘ (Jabri, 1999) is instructive to

the project of humanizing just war theory. An ethic of care considers issue of equity in participation

and empowerment, accommodates subjectivity and value difference, values local knowledge,

andprioritizes the positions of women (Lennie, 1999, 107). As Fiona Robinsonexplains, ‗to care for

others and foster caring relations within and amongfamilies, social groups, and political

communities involves the ability torecognize persons as concrete and unique (rather than idealized,

independentagents) and to learn how to focus attention on others‘ (1999, 47). As such, ‗itmeans that

those who are powerful have a responsibility to approach moralproblems by looking carefully at

where, why, and how the structures of existingsocial and personal relations may have led to

exclusion and marginalization‘ (Robinson, 1999, 47). As applied to just war theory, an ethic of care

changes the question ofcasualties in war from one of abstract calculation to one of

emotionalattachment; from a political question to an interpersonal one. An ethic of carerecognizes

war as an emotional experience, and the victims of war (soldiers andcivilians) as human beings with

dignity. As such, jus ad bellumandjus in bellorules should recognize the wide spectrum of

humanitarian impacts of war andconflict (including but not limited to wartime violence, economic

deprivation, gender subordination, ecological degradation (Tickner, 2001). They shouldalso analyse

the human impacts ‗before‘ and ‗after‘ a war caused by thecontinual state of violence and conflict in

international politics. The way that just war theory asks those broader questions can also be

influenced by feminist emphasis on dialogue.

Why Just War Needs Feminism Now More Than Ever

In a world where there are as many just war theories as there are just wartheorists, yet massively

destructive wars take place, just war theory needs bothfocused moral priorities and some way to

regulate meaning without excludingperspectives. Because excluding perspectives is likely to

increase, rather thandecrease, the number and intensity of international conflicts; just war

cannotregulate meaning either by imposing some actors‘ meanings on others or bygiving way to

absolute relativism. Instead, an approach to meaning that is bothcommunicativeandempathetichas a

number of distinct advantages. First, itdemands that parties in a conflict listen to their opponents‘

and third parties‘understandings of the meaning of justice. Listening can be a first step

toovercoming conflicts. Second, it requires that parties reconsider the claimeduniversalism of their

understandings of global politics. This could inspire lessmyopic understandings of security states,

transgressing realism as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Third, the element of emotional identification

adds animportant additional layer to listening. In empathetic cooperation, actors notonly have to

‗hear‘ other states‘ positions, but are also asked to attempt tounderstand on rational and emotional

levels. Finally, attention to the politicalmargins is important, and long-neglected, in the analysis of

the ethics of war. The 21st century has seen a number of international political conflicts thatare

increasingly violent and increasingly difficult to analyse using traditionaljust war standards. Where

just war theory used to be able to find a state thatmade war, the war on terrorism has made obvious

the relevance of non-stateactors to war-making. Where just war theory used to be able to talk about

non-combatant identification and immunity, guerilla wars, air wars, and warsagainst an


73

unidentified enemy have complicated the discrimination principle. Where just war used to be able

to confine itself to the cultural context of thebelligerents, an increasingly global world sees conflicts

between culturalcontexts. In such an international political atmosphere, political leaders needan

ethical compass to war-making and war-fighting now more than ever.In the face of this increasing

need for a moral compass, political leaders finda just war tradition that struggles with being

outdated, risks susceptibility topolitical manipulation, lacks clarity in conceptual understandings of

justice andwar, and entrenches gender subordination in global politics. Just war needs aunifying

motivating morality that allows for both diversity and decision-making. The feminist reformulated

just war principles contained in this articleprovide the groundwork for such a motivating morality.

Just war needs a wayto adapt to cultural pluralism; feminist empathy constructs a

workabledialogue. Just war needs a way to adapt to the constant challenge oftechnological change;

feminisms centre their moral thinking on the lives ofindividuals and thus provide a framework for

thinking about new technologies. Just war infrastructural attacks and aerial wars. Feminisms‘

focuson political marginality helps just war to see this suffering, and to prioritize it in ethical

evaluation. From the top levels of strategic policy-making to the margins of political life, people

need just war theory now more than ever. Because people need just wartheory, just war theory

needs feminism.

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CHAPTER 17

THE ECOCRITICAL BOND BETWEEN MAN AND NATURE IN

THE NOVEL THE HUNGRY TIDE BY AMITAV GHOSH

Dr. D. MUTHUMARI


C. Kandaswami Naidu College for Women, Cuddalore

Introduction

Amitav Ghosh is famous Indian novelist. He is the author of The Circle of Reason. The Shadow lines, In

an Antique Land, Dancing in Cambodia, the Calcutta Chromosome, The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide, The

Ibis trilogy, consisting of Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke and Flood ofFire. He has also written The Great

Derangement; Climate Change and the Unthinkable and Gun Island. In his novel TheHungry Tide Ghosh

has strongly described the environmental essences by using the myth of the tide country people,

incidents from history and the legend of the Sundarbans. He had also exposed the human

intercommunication along nature by the experience if main characters like Piyali Roy, a cetelogist

who came to the Sundarbans for the research of Gangetic and Irrawaddy dolphins and Kanai Dutt, a

translator came to Lusibari, to collect and translate the journal of his uncle. Through Nirmal‘s diary

Ghosh had described the strong relation between the nature and human world.

The Sundarbans

The Sundarbans islands serves as the trailing threads of India‘s fabric and they are thousand in

number. These islands are the river‘s restitution which spread across the land, creating a terrain

where the land boundaries between land and water are always mutating. Some of the channels of

the river look like mighty waterways, so wide across that one shore is invisible from the other and

each channel possessed of its own strangely evocative name. The tides reach as far as three hundred

kilometers inland and there is no border to divide the fresh water from salt, river from sea. The

currents are so powerful, and they reshape the islands daily because every day thousands of acres of

forest disappear and re-emerge hours later. When the tides create new land, overnight mangroves

begin to gestate and every year thousands of people perish in the dense foliage of these mangrove

forests. These forests are a home to more than 400 tigers, crocodiles and snakes. The Sundarbans or

‗the beautiful forest‘ derived its name from the name of common species of mangrove the

Sundaritree or Heriteria minor. Thus Ghosh caricatures‘ the surroundings of the Sundarbans forests

in the first few pages of the novel The Hungry Tide.

Daniel Hamilton or S‟Daniel

Through Nirmal Ghosh tells the reader how Daniel Hamilton or S‘ Daniel the story of the tide

country. S‘Daniel, the monopolikapitalist,identified the tide country is India‘s doormat, the threshold


75

of a teeming subcontinent because everyone who has ever taken the eastern route into the Gangetic

heartland has had to pass through the tide country – the Khmer, the Javanese, the Portuguese and

the English. He also identified that the tide country was not occupied by the people for a long time.

So, he bought ten thousand acres of the tide country from the British Sarkar and he named the

islands as Lusibari, Shobnomoskar, Rajat Jubilee and so on. In the beginning the people got fear to

live in the islands because there were only forest and no embankments and fields.At high tide most

of the land vanished under water. Everywhere there were predators – tigers, crocodiles, sharks and

crocodiles.

Sir Daniel gave free land to every person willing to come to work in the tide country.

He abolished the caste system. People came pouring in from northern Orissa and from eastern

Bengal. But the tigers, crocodiles, and snakes killed them. So, S‘Daniel started giving rewards to

people who killed a tiger or crocodile. He wanted to build a new society, a new kind of country. He

wanted to build a place where no one would exploit anyone and people would live together

without petty social distinctions. He dreamed of a place where men and women could be farmers in

the morning, poets in the afternoon and carpenters in the evening. To survive against the natural

disastrous and to safeguard their life from the tigers and crocodiles is a great challenge for the tide

country people.

The Condition of Women in the Tide Country

Every day the inhabitants of these islands heard the news of someone being killed by a tiger, a

snake, or a crocodile. The condition of the women in this country is worse because, if they married,

they would be widowed in their twenties or thirties if they were lucky.When the men folk went for

fishing, it is the custom of the women to change their dress.

―They would put away their marital reds and dress in white saris. They would take off their

bangles and wash the vermilion from their heads‖. (HT, 86)

A large proportion of the island‘s women were dressed as widows. They were easily identified

because of their borderless white saris. At the wells and by the ghatsthere often seemed to be no one

who was not a widow. On seeing the miserable condition of the women, Nilima (Kanai‘ aunt and

wife of Nirmal) started the Women‘s Union or the Badabon Trust. Thus Ghosh brings out the

sufferings of the tide country people.

The Morichjhapi or The Pepper-Island

In the year 1978, a great number of people suddenly appeared in Morichjhapi. They are the refugees

from Bangladesh. Within a matter of weeks they had cleared the mangroves, build badhs and put

up huts. Years before these refugees were sent to Dandakaranya, deep in the forests of Madhya

Pradesh.They were surrounded by security forces and forbidden to leave. The local people treated

them as intruders, attacking them with bows, arrows and other weapons. In 1978, some of them

organized themselves and broke out of the camp. They moved eastwards in the hope of settling in

the Sundarbans, Morichjhapi was the place they decided on The refugees have assumed that they

would not face much opposition from the state government.. The authorities had declared that

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Morichjhapi was a protected forest reserve and they had proved unbending in their determination

to evict the settlers. Over a period f about a year there had been a series of confrontations between

the settlers and government forces.

After Nirmal‘s retirement, he began to receive invitations to visit schools on other islands.So, he

decided to go to Kumirmari. He saw Horen, the fisherman and asked him to take to Kumirmari in

Horen‘s boat. Nirmal heard for the first time of the events unfolding at Morichjhapi. He came to

know that the Morichjhapi belonged to the Forest Department and the government would not allow

the squatters to remain in the island, on their way to Lusibari, Horen and Nirmal, the wind startled

up.They found themselves picked up and shaken by huge waves. So, they landed at Mirichjhapi

and took at Kusum‘s house.There they met Kusum and her five year old son, Fokir. Kusum narrated

the story of her past life. She married Rajen.and settled in Calcutta. After the death of Rajen, Kusum

met some of the refugees from Bangladesh, She heard that the refugees were longing to live in the

tide country, like Kusum. In the following Ghosh narrates the condition of the refugees through

Kusum:

―I listened to them talk and hope blossomed in my heart; these were my people, how could I

stand apart. We shared the same tongue, we were joined in our bones; the dreams they had

were no different from my own. They too had hankered for our tide country mud; that they too

had longed to watch the tide rise t full flood.‖ (HT, 175)

At last they came and settled in Morichjhapi with the refugees. Nirmal and Horen stayed at

Kusum‘s house that night. Hearing the sufferings of the refugees Nirmal wanted to do something

for them. He met the leader of the refugee camp, and expressed his wish that he wanted to teach the

children in the refugee camp during the week ends.

Nirmal explained the wishes of the settlers in Morichjhapi. But Nilima warned Nirmal not to go

there because the government would not allow the people to remain in Morichjhapi. Ignoring

Nilima‘s warning, Nirmal went to Morichjhapi. The government wanted to force the rufugees to

return to their settlement camp in central India. They were being put into trucks and buses and

taken away.The Government has taken serious actions andSection 144 was declared in Morichjhapi.

Ghosh skillfully brings us before the sufferings of the refugees in the following lines through

Kusum:

―The worst part was not the hunger or the thirst. It was to sit here helpless, and listen to the

policemen making their announcements, hearing them say that our lives, our existence, was

worth less than dirt of dust. ―This island has to be saved for its trees, it has to be saved for its

animals, it is a part of a reserve forest, it belongs to a project to save tigers, which is paid for by

people all around the world‖. Every day sitting here, with hunger growing at our bellies, we

would listen to these words, over and over again. Who are these people, I wondered, who love

animals so much that they are willing to kill us for them? Do they know what is being done in

their names? Where do they live, these people, do they have children, do they have mothers,

fathers?As I thought of these things it seemed to me that this whole world has become a place of

animals, and our fault, our crime, was that we were just human beings, trying to live as human

beings always have, form the water andthe soil. No human being could think that this is a crime


77

unless they have forgotten that this how humans have always lived – by fishing, by clearing

land and by planning the soil.‖ (HT, 284)

The Effect of the Natural Hazards

On another occasion Nirmal tells to Fokir, how the people in the tide country suffer during storms.

Thus Ghosh caricatures the effect of storm which made a great cause to the tide country people in

the following lines:

―When the storm stuck, the tide country people covered in their roofless huts and watched the

waters, rising, rising, gnawing at the mid and the sand they had laid down to hold the river off.

It was a bhangon, a breaking: the river tore off a four-acre piece of land and carried it away>

In an instant it was gone – its huts, fields, trees were all devoured.‖ (HT. 218 & 219)

He also explains the worst effect of the storm that strikein the year 1737.

―Before the storm had even made landfall the tide country was hit by a huge wave, a wall of

water twelve meters in height. The water rose so high that they killed thousands of animals and

carried them upriver and inland. The corpse of tigers and rhinoceroses were found kilometers

from the river, in rice-fields and in village ponds. There were fields covered withthe feathers of

the dead birds.‖ (HT, 219)

The monstrous wave was travelling through the tide country, racing towards Kolkata; the city

was hit by an earthquake. This was the first known instance of these two catastrophes happening

together. Ghosh brings the effect of the earthquake in the following lines:

―In Kolkata tens of thousands of dwellings fell instantly to the ground – Bridges were blown

away, wharves were carried off by the surging waters, godowns were emptied of their rice, and

even the gunpowder in the armouries was scattered by the wind. On the river were many ships

at anchor, large and small from many nations. The wind picked it threw them up and carried

them over the tops of trees and houses; it threw them down half a kilometer from the river.

People saw huge barges fluttering in the air like paper kites. They say that over twenty

thousand vessles were lost that day, including boats, barges, dinghies and the like.‖ (HT, 220)

At the end of the novel Piya, witnessed the stronger effect of the gale. The objects flying through

the air, grew steadily larger. The noise of the storm deepened and over the rumbling din of the gale:

a noise like that of a cascading waterfall. The river was like pavement, lying at its feet, while its crest

reared high above, dwarfing the tallest trees. Every minute the water level of the river increased.

It looked like a dam which had broken. Everywhere they saw only water. The river is bound to

flood. Even near Garjontola the river spread its veins. The tide it has the power to turned everything

that encircled the mohonas. The rising waters of the mohona would swallow up the jungle as well

as the rivers and their openings. Ghosh says through the novel that it was Mr. Piddington, who

invented the word ―cyclone‖. To live a peaceful life in this type of areas is a real struggle for the tide

country people.

The Sufferings of the Tide Country People

Next Ghosh caricatures sufferings of the tide country people. Many people died of drowning, some

were picked up by crocodiles and sharks. Every day the inhabitants of this island heard the news of

someone being killed by a snake, a tiger, or a crocodile. The humansdrift on their boats or on foot

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through the ―mohana‖ or networkof rivers surrounding the islands, as there are lives are

uncovered.When the channels o the river met, it is often clusters of four, five or even six. During

such confluences, the water stretches to the far edges of the landscape and forest dwindles into

distant rumour of land, echoing the horizon.

Nilima warns Kanai about the tide country tigers.She says that it was J. Fayrer, an English

naturalist coined the phrase ―Royal Bengal Tiger‖. She adds that the tide country tigers are so

different because even the young and healthy animals were known to attack human beings.

A human being is killed by a tiger every other day in the Sundarbans. This is how Ghosh brings the

natural disastrous before our eyes through the novel.

Conclusion

We can‘t separate nature for man and nature from the environment because all the interacting

organisms in an area together with the non-living constituents of the environment form an

ecosystem. The waters of the river and the sea intermingle with each other, creating hundreds of

different ecological riches, creating variations of salinity and turbidity. The micro-organisms were

like balloons. Each balloon was a floating biodome, filled with endemic fauna and flora, as they

made their way through waters. This proliferation of environments was responsible for creating and

sustaining a dazzling variety of aquatic life forms – from gargantuan crocodiles to microscopic fish.

It is this natural environment which surrounds us, cares us and nourishes us every moment.We

should fully enjoy the nature without disturbing its ecological balance. We should care for our

nature, make it peaceful, keep it clean and prevent it from the destruction so that we can enjoy our

nature forever. Nature is a most important precious gift given by God to us.It has some power to

recover the patients from their diseases.It is essential for our healthy life. We should keep it clean

and conserve it for our future generations. According to the eco-critics, the world in which we live is

not made with the language and social elements but they believe that our evolution as society is

largelydependent on the forces of nature.Through this novel Ghosh asserts that there is a strong

ecological bond between the man and the nature.


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CHAPTER 18

CULTURAL INCONGRUITY IN SHAUNA SINGH BALDWIN‟S

ENGLISH LESSONS AND OTHER STORIES

Dr. R. DEEPA


M S M College, Kayamkulam

Diaspora patented from Greek term ‗diaspeiro‘ which means to scatter, has its origin from agriculture

which refers to scattering of seeds. The first reference of diaspora is the migration of Jews from

Palestine after the Babylonian invasion. The term when applied to literature refers to those works

that address the problems of migrated people scattered across the globe. The reasons of migration

can be geographic, economic, political or religious. But most of the migrated populace shares similar

psychological conditions. Diasporic works addresses their concerns, and the struggle to accumulate

in the new region through the process of acculturation and assimilation. Many Indian writers like

Salman Rushdie, AmitavGhosh, Raja Raoetc address the issue of identity of a migrant individual in

their works. Indian women writers have carved a niche for themselves in the genre of diasporic

literature prominent among being Kamala Markandaya, Anita Desai, Chitra Banerjee and so on.

Shauna Singh Baldwin, Canadian- American writer portrays the life of immigrants from a

feminist perspective. Grown -up in India Baldwin portrays the customs and culture of the Sikh

community in Canada and U. S. Her stories deal with the cultural incongruity a migrant faces in a

foreign land and their struggle to uphold the values in spite of the differences. Her collection of

short stories titled English Lessons and Other Stories (1994) portrays the lives of Indian women

from1919 to present and their experience when they migrated from India to Canada and US. The

stories unfold through the perspective of different generations from ten year old girl to an old

woman in a retirement home in America. The stories examine the courage and adaptability required

by a woman to face the trials in a foreign land and the challenges at home and abroad. Women

require more time than men in accommodating to a new environment. The cultural displacement

has a deeper impact in women than in men. LataRengachari writes:

In their aim at self-definition and the expression of their expatriate experiences, women from

1970s onwards chose to use literature. Literature became a means of establishing autonomous

selfhood. Third world women sought to find words and forms to fit their experiences and have

chosen narrative strategies like the auto-biography and the quest novel to do so. They use the

auto-biography to give shape to an identity grounded in these diverse experiences of

expatriation and self-definition. (―Debating‖35-36)

―Rawalpindi 1919‖, the first story in the collection addresses the cultural values one has to

subjugate while moving to a foreign land through the metaphor of a chapatti dough. The dough is a

metaphor of life, family and universal values. The metaphoric meaning becomes clear only when we

80

are familiar with the cultural nuances.The mother in the story is a typical Indian wife who knows

that her son has to assimilate in another country which leads to an acclimatization of two cultures-

east and west. The mother knows that if the family refuses to let him go, he may remain more true

to family value, but she doesn‘t want to defy the decision taken by her husband who wants his son

to be educated in England. She serves food to her husband in the typical manner of an Indian wife

but talks to him in culturally specific ways. She tells her husband that when their son returns he will

come with English tastes and desires which has a hint of threat that the husband has to be prepared.

Migrating to a foreign land will definitely lead to the loss of cultural values and the incongruity that

can happen to the individual is well portrayed through the thoughts and feelings of the mother.

―Devika‖ and ―Montreal 1962‖ are stories that portray typical Indian wives in foreign land who

struggle to adapt with the cultural practices of the foreign land. Antithetical to the wives in India

surrounded by other wives, children, relatives and neighbours they lead a sheltered life.

Throughout the day they spent their time in creating a miniature India for their husbands to come

home. They are completely isolated from the bustling life of the outside world and travel to them is

impossible without a car. They struggle hard to find an identity in the foreign land by retaining their

cultural practices. To an Indian woman, family is an integral part in defining her identity. ―She

wanted her mother, her father, and at least twenty solicitous relatives telling her what to do, how to

do it, how to live, how to be good, how to be loved‖ (Baldwin 162). Devika finds it hard to adjust

with the cultural practices of the foreign land and creates an imaginary character- Asha, her alter-

ego. Her husband encourages her to dress like Asha, the culturally acclimatised Indian lady whom

Devika‘s husband wants her to be.But how far she succeeds in creating the fictional character is not

made clear by the author. The stories also abound in sensual images which becomes a metaphor for

their culturalstrength. In ―Montreal 1962‖ the simple washing of clothes becomes a metaphor of the

culture:

I placed each turban in turn on the bubbly surface and watched them grow dark and heavy,

sinking slowly, softly into the warmth. When they were no more left beside me, I leaned close

and reached in, working each one in a rhythm bone-deep, as my mother and hers must have

done before me, that their men might face the world proud. I drained the tub and new colours

swelled-deep red, dark black mud, rust, orange, soft purple and jade green. (Baldwin6)

Mother –daughter relationship is analysed in the stories ―Simran‖ and ―Toronto 1984‖.

―Simran‖ is told from a double perspective- from the perspective of a mother whose daughter is

studying abroad and from the perspective of the daughter‘s friend who is in love with her. The

daughter‘s viewpoint is not made clear to the readers. We can see the apprehension of a mother

who is ready to do anything to protect the honour of the family. Her culture doesn‘t permit her to

have a broad –minded attitude of approving a marriage with a Muslim in Pakistan.Their culture

doesn‘t permit love marriages ―Love is an American invention. It has nothing to do with Indian

marriages. My mother says it comes after marriage‖ (Baldwin69).She is horrified to see a copy of the

Koran in her daughter‘s baggage. The racist attitude that is prevalent within the community is

brought to light.The hatred towards the race has become part of their culture and is unwilling to let

it go even though things changed a lot.


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When I realised that it was a copy of the Koran that lay cradled in my own daughter‘s baggage,

I was horrified. What had my daughter exposed herself to in America? We are a proud Sikh

family and we have long memories. Our Gurus were tortured to death by Moghul rulers only

three hundred years ago….i don‘t know what is in it-I only know it is the book that gave its

believers permission to kill us. Out loud, I said sternly, ―I do not want this book in my house‖.

(Baldwin40)

―Toronto 1984‖ also unfolds through the double perspective of a mother and her daughter who

is working abroad.The mother is anxious of the unbridled freedom her daughter will get in a

foreign country.She wants to sustain her culture while the daughter though in a foreign country

doesn‘t sacrifice her culture to glorify the culture of another country. She resists paying toast to the

Canadian queen since she knew that it was to oust them from India her grandfather has fought for

which confined him in prison.The cultural anxiety between the generations is discernible in the

stories. The old generation is reluctant to change their beliefs and practices and wants their children

to follow them blindly. The younger generations though they are aware of the changes happening

around them they stick to their culture through which they define their identity.

―Family Ties‖ is the most interesting and haunting tale in the collection which describes the

India-Pakistan partition from perspective of a ten year old child. The reason for the partition of

India and Pakistan is presented in different versions of writing mixing fact and fiction. The facts

behind it are known to everyone born after 1950s. But through the narrative what Shauna Singh

Baldwin brings to the readers is the fact that though a lot of bloodshed and violence occurred

during the event the real sufferers of these events are women. They are the real victims in the end.

The narrative unfolds the life of a Sikh family who migrated to Canada following the partition. They

try to adopt the western style of living, but cannot accept their foreign culture completely.

The final story ―Jassie‖ is told from the perspective of an aged woman in a retirement home in

America. She finds hard to adjust with the culture of the foreign land. She finds a room-mate, Elsie.

They had little in common with them. Both were mothers and had children but motherhood had

different meaning in their cultures. In Sikh culture many of them had two mothers.

The more mothers you had, the more rich and powerful your father must be, for each woman-

wife or concubine-was expected to be housed and clothed and jewelled. And we their children

must be schooled in the best of schools-missionary schools, with uniforms and English lessons.

(Baldwin152)

The custom of maintain the mother‘s maiden name is also described in detail-―Mother‘s Maiden

Name‖ was more difficult, for our custom was to change a woman‘s first name to one of her

husband‘s choosing. But the last name of a Sikh woman remains the same, from birth to death-Kaur,

meaning princess‖ (Baldwin152). But in spite of the traditional and cultural differences Elsie and

Jassie had, it is Jassie the Sikh woman who helps Elsie to come to terms with death. The concept of

death the leveller is brought here. All cultural and racial differences become insignificant and

meaningless when we face death. The questions of race, caste, religion, region et,allare barriers

created by men for their social, political and economic advantages. On a larger scale the notions of

cultural assimilation and acculturation which define the question of identity are purely

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physiological than physical. The displeasure that we show towards a race or religion is nothing but

our intolerance in accepting others rights and perspectives. All the stories in the collection portray

this cultural intolerance.

Culture, a social construct is only a way of behaviour we acquire from birth. These constructs

becomes part of our nature when we grow up. It becomes the criteria for defining and identifying

ourselves. But this acquired behaviour comes into conflict another culture when we migrate to a

foreign land. Shauna Singh Baldwin through her stories showed us the efforts of an ethic minority

to retain and sustain their culture in a multicultural environment. How far we are able to acclimatise

with the foreign culture define the identity.


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CHAPTER 19

A MULTICULTURAL VIEW OF ATTACHMENT THEORY IN

SELECT NOVELS: NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND AND

INVISIBLE MAN

S.H. FATHIMA NASEEM

Guest Lecturer, Department of English

Queen Mary‟s College, Chennai

M. SANGEETHA

Guest Lecturer, Department of English

Queen Mary‟s College, Chennai

Multiculturalism refers to the social, political and cultural coexistence of people despite the

differences among them. The coexistence of cultures is achieved either through assimilation or

integration of different cultures. The concept of multiculturalism lies in the understanding of the

minority culture by the majority. A mutual understanding of various cultures aids in the cultural

enrichment of the society. Multiculturalism is not mere tolerance towards the differences that exist

between the mainstream and minority cultures, but recognizing the uniqueness in different cultures.

Imperialism, war, trade and migration have contributed to the communication of cultures which led

to the formation of a multicultural nation like India. Daryl Chris states that ―multiculturalism is a

term to acknowledge the multiplicity of cultures within one society.‖3. He also says,

…multiculturalism redistributes acknowledgement of ethnicity and origin, but too often

develops into rigid demarcations which erupt into skirmishes and border wars. The province of

art should be in the region of the imagination, a region which is open to all and not a region

zealously guarded by thought police acting as border patrols. (15)

Psychoanalysis or psychotherapy has a universal appeal as all individuals who belong to

different cultural backgrounds are diverse in their behavioural patterns. People are differentiated

and connected based on their ethnographic clans. The difference is not only in the cultures, it exists

in their psyche too. Hence, psychology has an inextricable connection to multiculturalism. In recent

times, psychoanalytic theories have extended to contexts outside of the therapeutic setting, and

psychoanalytic scholars have increasingly attended to issues of race and culture within the

therapeutic setting. Psychoanalytic theory is widely used in clinical and community contexts, with

an emphasis on racial and cultural diversity.

Attachment theory is one of the psychological theories which marked it‘s beginning in the 1970s

by British psychologist John Bowlby whose primary interest lied in the connection between the

child and caretaker. Children or infants feel secure when they are around their primary caregiver

and this is the first stage of behaviour and the second stage is when the child is left in despair

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without the primary caregiver. The child starts throwing uncontrollable tantrums that might be

dangerous for the child. The third and final stage is when the child is not affected by the absence of

the caregiver and the detachment of the caregiver is accepted.

Mary Ainsworth was inclined towards Bowlby's theory of attachment and helped in its

development. She created an artificial laboratory named ―strange situation‖. The study gives an

insight to the process of how children or infants react to strange, bizarre or unusual situations and

separation from parents or primary caregivers. The study provides an understanding of the

processes of infants in response to both stressful and unfamiliar situations as well as separation

from their primary caregivers (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978).

Sensitivity acceptance and availability for all traits of caregivers that lead to a secure attachment

for children. Broadly speaking, securely attached children who have grown into adulthood do

not worry about being abandoned or mistrust others (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978).

Insecure-avoidant attachment independently explode when there caregivers where present but

refused to use their care givers a secure base to return to. They did not seek proximity to their

caregiver and when offered a choice showed no preference between their care giver and

complete stranger...

Insecure- ambivalent responded with either anger or passivity to their caregivers. They were

afraid of both exploration and of strangers…the caregivers of the children had chaotic,

inconsistent and unpredictable behaviour. (Ainsworth et al., 1978)

Bowlby argued that the attachment process continues ―from the cradle to the grave‖ (1988, p.

209). It has been proved by Ainsworth through her strange situation. The same children who were

tested in the strange situation were interviewed in their adulthood and it is observed that secured

children have lead a happy life whilst the children with an unsecured childhood. Hence, the

universality of attachment theory is observed which in turn makes it multicultural as all individuals

irrespective of their cultural background long for a psychological and emotional bond.

Notes from underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky, a Russian novelist is a novella that runs with the

theme of existentialism and his works emphasize on the human psyche. This work is about people

who are against altruism and their self centered nature while helping others. Other important works

of Dostoevsky are Crime and Punishment, The idiot, Demons, The Brothers Karamazov.

The novella begins with the narrator‘s monologue and he‘s simply called as an underground

man. The first section begins with the protagonist hiding underground. He says, ―I am a sick man,

I am a spiteful man, I am an unattractive man and I think there ‗something wrong in my life…..If

I don‘t consult a doctor it is because of my spite.‖ The forty year old underground man who was a

civil servant emphasizes on his spite and reiterates that he is an anti-hero. He is perturbed about his

life as he is left in a limbo whether to live a life of his own or for the sake of others. Despite being a

veteran and a talented, intelligent individual he lived a miserable life. This suggests that not all

successful individuals are happy on the inside.

The underground man also envies men of action who are termed as real normal men. According

to the underground man, the men of action possess shallow perception and less intellectual capacity

when compared to others. He convinces himself that he doesn‘t belong to the ordinary category and


85

feels content about his uniqueness which differentiates him from the men of action. Instead of

worrying about the pain and humiliation, he is ready to accept it with content.

The underground man oscillates between the inferiority and superiority he is made to face in his

life. He terms this as reflective consciousness as he is always conscious about the people around him

and their views on him. Their gestures, laughter and mockery put him down and upset him as well.

The protagonist interrogates himself the ways to attain happiness and freedom. According to him,

true happiness can be attained when one senses liberty. He states that everybody in the society is

confined to certain norms and is unable to live a life of their own. He believes that the only way to

enjoy life is to celebrate the broad spectrum of human possibilities.

The wet snow is used as an important motif in the novel. It describes the dull abd dreary life of

underground men. The coldness makes him recall all incidents that happened fifteen years ago. The

underground man describes his childhood and how he was devoid of friendship. He gives no

reference to his parents; hence, it is palpable that he did not have an attachment figure in his life.

The novel is knit by haphazard incidents that show the underground man‘s confused state of mind.

The underground man is not quick in action; he procrastinates and is very self conscious.

He meets an officer who ignores him at a tavern when he is all set to pick on a fight. He wants to

take revenge on him. He does not plot the plan quickly. He takes two whole years to execute his

vengeance. However, the revengeful action was left unnoticed which left him in insecurity. The

underground man had deep hatred towards one of his school mates Zverkov who falls under the

real men category. Underground man is jealous of his handsomeness and successful life. Zverkov's

life style falls under the usual laws of nature and the underground man is against the general law of

nature. Hence, he keeps a distance from Zverkov. Once, the underground man plans to slap

Zverkov and unusually attends a dinner party organised by his friends in order to slap Zverkov. As

always, he was left alone, but he makes it to the brothel along with the other boys after the party. He

meets Liza the prostitute and falls for her after spending the night. He imagines himself to be a hero

and declares how Liza does not deserve to be a prostitute. She showed him a love letter that she

treasured for years and confesses about how she was forced into sex work by her abandoned

parents.

The underground man had a quarrel with his servant Apollon and Liza arrived that time. He

was infuriated by her arrival and consolation as he did not want Liza to know that he is living in

poverty. He gave his address the last time he met her and was eager to meet Liza at home.

Contrastingly, he did not enjoy her presence at that moment. He rudely, throws money at Liza and

she felt humiliated as she thought that the underground man to be the love of her life. However, for

the underground man it was an act of defence. He believed that true love is an act of dominance and

in his eyes Liza's act made him feel weak and vulnerable.

Liza can be considered to be the attachment figure in the underground man‘s life adulthood as

he has never been emotionally attached to anyone from childhood. Whenever he tried to make

friends he reverts back and quarrels with them instead. The muddled mind of his made him devoid

of the final chance to get a partner to fill the emptiness in his life. Therefore, the underground man

86

can be looked in the light of Mary Ainsworth's fourth category of strange situation which is

Insecurity.

The second novel taken for analysis is Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and it is one of the

significant Afro American novels. Ellison served during the World War II. He befriended to of his

African American contemporaries Langston Hughes and Richard Wright. He drew his name from

his inspirational writer Ralph Waldo Emerson and some of his favourite novels include Shadow and

Act, June Tenth and Three days before shooting.

Invisible Man is a memoir of an unnamed narrator who tries to narrate his story to resonate the

lives of invisible people. The bildungsroman novel begins with the description of the underground

and the life of the protagonist from his childhood. He begins his introduction in a prologue.

The novel carries a first person narration and the narrator's name is anonymous. His anonymity

symbolically proves his quest for his own identity as most Black African slaves are made to

succumb to American rules and become subservient by giving up their own identity. The novel

begins with the narrator in a confused state of mind suffering from identity crisis. He wanted to live

a life with his own identity rather than to conform to the whites unlike his grandfather who

expected him to surrender for survival.

The protagonist keeps trying to find his identity as he is unable to drop the baggage of slavery

that he keeps carrying throughout his life. In the novel, there is a reference to an incident where

Black students were forced into a blindfolded boxing match in order to avail scholarship from a

prestigious college in the country. Another ruthless act was to make the African slaves hunt for fake

gold coins that were thrown on electrified rugs. The Whites seeking pleasure in the humiliation of

the Black slaves was common and the protagonist was also a victim of these sufferings. However, he

attained the scholarship after facing the embarrassment.

One day the protagonist was asked to accompany Mr. Norton outside college and on the way

back to college he suddenly grew sick after seeing the pathetic lives of the Black slaves.

Unfortunately, the protagonist was blamed for the sudden sickness of the Mr. Norton. Mr. Bledsoe,

the President of the University expelled him from the school by accusing him for the sickness of

Mr. Norton. However, Mr. Bledsoe provides him with seven letters of recommendation to enroll in

a different University or move into a new job. He moved hoping to get placed in a different school

and to his surprise he was unable to get admitted in any institution or a work space. Later on, he

discovers that the letter from Mr. Bledsoe was not letters of favour, but they were letters of danger

that denied him the education and career he was yearning for. The letters consisted a note of

warning that the protagonist should not be allowed to work or given education anywhere.

Finally, the invisible man finds a job in a paint shop with a meager salary. His job was ‗to mix

black oil to make it white'. This symbolically conveys how the African slaves are made to change

their true identity. The other black employee looks at the narrator as a threat. Once an accident

occurs in the paint company and the invisible man is terribly injured. When he was rushed to the

hospital, he was denied the necessary treatment for his injury. Instead, the doctors used his body to

test shock treatments. He escaped from the hospital and found refuge at Mary Rambo‘s place who is

a Black woman. While he was under the hospitality of Mary Rambo, she felt that the invisible man


87

would create a revolution in the submissive lives of the African slaves. The protagonist joins a

mysterious organization called Brotherhood run by a White man named Jack. In the organization, a

heated argument arises between the two of them and the protagonist asserts by stating that no

White can undergo or understand the suffering of an African slave whereas Brother Jack strongly

denies the invisible man's statement. The protagonist is prone to continuous victimization and

another White woman named Sybil uses the invisible man and seduces him for her own fantasy and

adventure.

The blindness and the partial blindness of most of the characters in the novel are metaphorically

suggestive of the characters, who are denied their identity and are blindfolded to truth by the

ruthless dominance of the Whites. Apparently, the invisible man moves to the underground to

hibernate and states, ‗When I discover who I am I will be free'. The invisible man carried a suitcase

to the underground which consisted of various things that symbolise slavery. Narrator carries one

of the Sambo doll in his suitcase and it denotes slave doll which is lazy, subservient and happy to

serve his master. Doll denotes narrator himself who is a black slave. He carried the letter in brief

case which is similar to the letters given by Dr. Bledsoe. He set it ablaze and recalled his

grandfather‘s words that asked him to submit him to the Whites and realised the harsh reality of the

African slaves.

On reflecting Bowlby‘s theory to the invisible man, we can conclude that all the characters, Mr.

Bledsoe, Mr. Norton and Brother Jack exploited the invisible man and made him invisible of his true

identity. He could be categorised as insecure or disorganised who as a grown adult seems

contradictory. Bowlby suggested that change is possible during adulthood. In his adulthood, the

invisible man realises the truth behind his grandfather‘s advice, who can be looked as a person with

the characteristics of attachment according to Bowlby. Mary is another character who provides the

necessary warmth and affection to the invisible man. These characters help the invisible man

overcome the humiliation and disappointment to re-emerge as a new human post the hibernation

period.

Thus, the two novels prove how the attachment theory can be related to all people in various

cultural backgrounds and the impact of a rough childhood in their adulthood. All children deserve

a healthy mental state and if it distorts it impacts on their social and personal life. The two

protagonists in The Invisible Man and The note from the Underground from different cultural

backgrounds stand as examples of characters with different behavioural patterns and how the

society has made an impact on their mental state.

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CHAPTER 20

PLURALITY OF INDIAN CULTURE IN KIRAN DESAI‟S

HULLABALOO IN THE GUAVA ORCHARD

T. RAMESHBABU

Ph.D. (Part Time) Research Scholar & Guest Lecturer, Department of English

Bharat RatnaPuratchiThalaivarDr.MGR Government Arts and Science College, Palacode, Dharmapuri

Dr. S. SHAKILA SHERIF

Ph.D (Research Supervisor), Assistant Professor & Head, Department of English

Government Arts and Science College, Pennagaram, Dharmapuri

One of the most tremendously popular women writers in the modern Indian English literature is

Kiran Desai, whose name and fame celebrates beyond the horizons of the world. Kiran Desai's

debut novel, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, made her popular at the age of twenty-seven. She is the

voice of a younger generation of Indian writers who write in English. Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard

reflects the world culture, also represents India as a home of many religions, cultures, community,

language, and castes. Her novel Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard is known for its rich and vivid

language. She has a peculiar intelligent for creating humour of small town Shahkot life without

reproachful it. The novel has been painted beautifully with the different kinds of colours, and her

ironic reflection of the family and responsibility resound broadly. The reflection of the town

Shahkot presents multicultural tradition with modern life style of the people. Civilizations and

culture both refer to the overall way of life of a people, and a civilization is a culture writ large. They

both involve the values, norms, institutions, and modes of thinking to which successive generations

in a given society have attached primary importance.

Kiran Desai is chosen for study because they have commendably and artistically painted on her

literary canvas, India in three different decades, its cultural plurality, ethnicity and behavioral

patterns. Being born in different part of the country, in different religious, linguistic, ethnic, and

social set-up, she could highlight the salient features of this multicultural and multilingual customs

and traditions, both good and bad. She has been vulnerable to the changing social norms of her

country in the postcolonial period and to some extent faithful in representing the various issues of

her age.

While Kiran Desai was doing a course on creative studies that she drafted her first

novelHullabaloo in the Guava Orchard which was published in 1998. Talking about her first writing

experience, Kiran Desai confesses ―Writing for me means humility. It‘s a process that involves fear

and doubt especially if you‘re writing honestly‖ (Biography web). The book very explicitly reveals

her apprehension of Indian culture and subtleties and nuances of the Indian life. ThoughHullabaloo

in the Guava Orchard is her first novel, she came to limelight as a writer in 1977 itself with her article


89

published in the New Yorker and in Mirror Work, a conventional anthology of 50 years of Indian

writing edited by Salman Rushdie. This article earned appreciation from eminent writers like

Salman Rushdie who extolled her creativity to heights. Though she was introduced as the daughter

of Anita Desai, Kiran could establish with her first novel a unique style for herself − a style quite

distinct from that of her mother. In life also, Kiran has chosen her own style. She does not want to

get married and beget children for she claims ―If I had a child, I‘d have to break out of it and be

sweet. But as a writer, I am trying to understand hate and anger‖ (Kumar 73).

Kiran Desai‘sHullabaloo in the Guava Orchard (HGO) has proclaimed herself as a good story

teller. The novel is set in a small town called Shahkot. It narrates the story of Sampath Chawla.

Sampath‘s mother Kulfy is an eccentric woman. In the terrible hot summer season, when everyone

is frantically craving for rain Kulfi gives birth to Sampath, who brings with him the long awaited

rain. This made the people of this village believe that he is a divine boy with unusual talents. As he

grows up, his father is shocked to witness that his life is a continuation of failures − failure at school

and at work. In spite of his idiosyncrasies, the family except the father adores him as he is the only

boy child of their household.

Sampath manages to get a job at the post office, but unable to find satisfaction both from home

and office he dodges to a guava orchard. He spends his time over there by snoozing and musing.

His life on the guava tree replenishes his mind with an extraordinary peace that lends him a distinct

calmness and holiness. Witnessing such a change in Sampath‘s character, he is misconstrued as a

great saint. People begin to visit him in great numbers and he too proves their notion by revealing

the secrets of their life, which come to his knowledge by reading their letters stealthily at the post

office. Once when Sampath settles down on the guava tree, he is joined by a horde of followers,

including his family who try to commercialize his presence atop the tree. Soon a group of monkeys

addicted to alcohol take refuge in the forest which spoils the peace of the place. Chawla, Sampath‘s

father takes measures to send these langor away. In the climax the monkeys are chased out and in

between this, Sampath undergoes metamorphoses and is turned into a guava of unusual size, with

which the monkeys flee from the furore.

Desai‘s first literary workHullabaloo in the Guava Orchard is noted, for its sarcastic portrayal of

the Indian life. It lacks a powerful woman portrayal. Pinky is her contribution who displays some

uniqueness of disposition. She is very bold, though spoilt a bit, she does not submit to male

dominance. She shows the dare to punish men who ill-treat women in a thickly populated bus. ―She

speared a man who was not only taking up too much room in her opinion, but had made the

mistake of winking at her, unaware of whom he was up against‖ (HGO 29). It is an undeniable fact

that one can behold quite ironically in the Indian society that women become the instrument of

maintaining patriarchy. Desai portrays unvaryingly how in the Indian society, it is seen as a

traditional practice that one woman becomes a source of misery to another. Such women ―act as

agents of this society and help in the undoing of another woman‖ (Kundu 174) and as Simone de

Beauvoir describes such women internalize the patriarchal ideology.

Marriage between frogs to invite rain and the undaunted belief in one‘s birth star which she

narrates in her debut novelHullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, proclaim that she too has strong Indian

90

lineage, like her mother. The Indian belief that when a human being meets with an accidental or

unnatural death, the spirit haunts the place of death and terrifies the people as ghost is invariably

narrated by the writer chosen for study.

Food and apparel are some of the factors that proclaim the cultural uniqueness of the

inhabitants of a particular country. India, being a pluralistic country has diverse food habits and

dress codes. This assortment has been reliably recorded in the novel of Desai. Apart from these

merits and distinctness of her culture, these writers do present the social vices of their own country.

She unanimously reprimands the unhealthy dowry system, patriarchy, marginalization of the weak,

the social vices which harm the growth of the country and thus sow the seeds of awareness and

realization in the minds of their readers.

Desai‘s view is also not quite different from that of her contemporary writers. Both the novels of

Desai mark the lack of understanding and harmony within married life. She implicitly points out

marriage as a milestone around a woman‘s neck that throttles her little by little. The married life of

Kulfi and Chawla inHullabaloo in the Guava Orchard reveals this bitter truth. Desai also discloses

invariably that if one agrees that women are marginalized, one has to admit that she is doubly

marginalized if they are born in a poor or low caste family.

Desai also accentuates, why in spite of being troublesome, the Indian women patiently suffer

within the conjugal relationships. She unanimously brings to focus how husbandless women suffer

in the Indian male chauvinistic society. It ruins the happiness of women by depriving them of even

the right to live, considered a burden and social responsibility. It does not stop with the dilapidation

of the wife‘s life, but crushes the offspring‘s life at the bud itself. Fearing this, most Indian women

sacrifice their happiness for the betterment of their children. Thus, the writers show marriage as a

―sacrificial knife‖ which demands complete subjugation, failing which, it can pierce the women into

splinters anytime.

Desai exposes that marriage is not the only factor that is instrumental in bringing disgrace to

women and marginalize them. Men play various roles in women‘s lives, but whatever relation they

have with women, they try to exercise hegemony and drive them to margin by violently occupying

the centre. The repression for a woman starts at home. She is humiliated by the father, brother and

after marriage not only husband but the sons too, aggravate the suffering. The writer provides

sufficient instances to substantiate this truth which is prevalently seen in the Indian society,

irrespective of the locale north or south. She is the most easily vulnerable one on whom number of

atrocities are inflicted.

The writer also tries to trace the origin of female subjugation and bigotry between genders and

find the home being source from where the seeds of partiality take roots. Parents are predominantly

the major factors who sow the seeds of bigotry in their children‘s minds by being bias in bringing up

a male and female child. The children who grow up witnessing this bigotry try to preserve it

through successive generations. The reasons behind the partiality in the brought up of male and

female child are traced to be due to the unhealthy cultural practices like dowry system. Indians,

who prefer a female child in the animals like cow, feel dejected when a woman gives birth to a girl

baby. It is mainly because of the social evil dowry. Parents of the girl have to give huge amount to


91

the boy if she is to be married off respectfully. Apprehension of the enormous expense that awaits

them coerces many parents to heartlessly commit infanticide. It is also considered a disgrace and

curse to beget more daughters, whereas it is a boon to give birth to more sons and considered a

blessing of God. Such attitudes of the Indians are rebuked by the authors.

Though majority of the women submit themselves to this gender bias, there has arisen a new

tendency among women to protest against the age-old practice of marginalization. The writer too,

makes the readers be aware of the need to rise against this gender bias. However, She faithfully

records that it is not an easy endeavour by sketching the trials and tribulations, her rebellious and

ambitious female portraits undergo in her respective novel, but she accentuates that it is the need of

the hour and women should try to get economical independence, individuality and demand for

dignity and equality.

Thus, the present study on the Indian culture, as observed by Kiran Desai, is not a prosaic

academic mission, but a challenging and rewarding critical experience that opened to the pollster,

the uniqueness of Indian culture and its diversity. It would be pertinent to mention that her novel is

not what she has said but rather what she has encountered experienced and the way she presented

her thoughts, feelings and intensely lived experiences which have won laurels for the artists‘

creations. She has proclaimed to the world the greatness of India and claims the admiration and

appreciation of rest of the world.

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CHAPTER 21

SENSE OF ALIENATION IN JHUMPA LAHIRI‟S THE LOWLAND

V. APARNA SRI

Doctoral Research Scholar

K.N Government Arts College for Women (Autonomous), Thanjavur

Dr. S. RAMYA

Research Advisor, Assistant Professor of English

K.N Government Arts College for Women (Autonomous), Thanjavur

Jhumpa Lahiri is a diasporic writer. She is an Indian American. All her works revolve around the

Diasporical experiences like alienation, displacement, rootlessness, identity crisis. According to

N.Jayaraman, people who migrate from one place to another undergo six phases of adaptation.

Initially, they face a culture shock, self-consciousness, self-hatred, assimilation, alienation and

adjustment. Therefore migration and spreading across the world is a natural phenomenon that is

familiar among the kingdom of plants and animals. Rabindranath Tagore in his Tinker mentions

about the greatness of India‘s growth by spreading all over the world.

Tagore says, like a banyan tree who has a strong base can spread its beneficiaries and its

greatness in various soil, similarly, India can spread its glory in various parts of the world. (Tagore, iii)

However, the Diasporas become unhappy leaving their family and home. This is seen as

Derrida‘s mourning. Mourning, the reaction to the loss of a loved person or any abstraction like

country, liberty and so on. (Mishra, 1)

Lahiri, in her novel The Lowland, exposes the alienated self ―who encounters with the alienated

other.‖ (Fredrick, 53) she unveils the alienated minds of her characters in her works. Lahiri has

personified the lowland for the mother earth, where some survive and others strive to adapt in the

new environment. In the lowland, some creatures can survive in the dry season where some wait for

the rain.

Subash and Udayan are brothers. Subash is an introvert whereas Udayan is bold and

outspoken. They live in Tollygunge. Tollyclub is a golf club established in the village, at the time of

British administration. This place is been prohibited for the villagers. The brothers were so curious

to explore the Tolly Club. Lahiri exposes the people's alienation in their motherland. Nevertheless,

the boys with the help of Bismillah visits the club. Bismillah teaches them to play golf. Lahiri

exhibits the alienation in Tollygunge by writing that the management of the club has walled the

gaps to keep intruders away.

The boys recollect Adi Ganga where once British entered into Calcutta in a boat. Later refugees

from Dhaka settled in Adi Ganga. Here, Lahiri puts forth two different types of groups, one is a

conqueror, who conquered the land and made the country's people as an alien and made them feel


93

so inferior. Another group of people who came as refugees from Dhaka, these people are alienated

in their new host country. These people from Dhaka sheltered on the still banks of Adi Ganga, also

they adapted themselves without any basic amenities.

Subash though he is a year older than Udayan, he cannot think for himself. Hence subash feels

timid in front of Udayan. Despite the age difference both the brothers were put in school at the same

age for the sake of convenience. Lahiri exposes the comfort zones of the brothers because later they

find it difficult to lead their life separately. In life science class they learn about Mangrove trees.

These trees separate themselves from their origin and move to a suitable environment. Lahiri not

only depicts the survival of the fittest but also exuberates the people‘s reality.

This mangrove tree proves the separation from the current environment. This separation

indicates the gap between Subash and Udayan. As Udayan decides to become a rebel, Subash

decides to move abroad for pursuing his higher studies. By this decision, Subash frees himself from

self-isolation. In the first few days in America after leaving Tollygunge, he feels, he is far away from

Tollygunge. Each morning is like a dream, unable to accept the present.

Subash feels the emotions of aloofness. He decides to leave Tollygunge, thinking Udayan would

not take this decision; this is in a way a bold step taken by Subash to pacify himself that he is better

than Udayan. However, being isolated in a new place Subash finds it difficult to neglect the past

accept the present. Udayan writes letters to Subash. He comes to know that Udayan is married to

Gauri, a girl of his choice. Subash feels defeated by Udayan again for having married before him.

Subash relationship with Holy is a result of his isolation. Despite knowing that his relationship with

Holy is uncertain, he still finds solace when he is with her.

Lahiri characterizes Gauri as a calm and serene young girl who is also an introvert confined to

her balcony Gauri can read sitting in the balcony despite the noise in the surrounding environment.

Lahiri indicates, Gauri‘s aloofness, it is because of that the noise does not disturb her. She feels the

crowd and noise accompanies her loneliness.

Therefore balcony is a place of freedom for Gauri. She likes the place without walls and ceiling,

without confinement. When asked about marriage, Gauri says, never leave the passion for the sake

of a man. This thought in her mind, makes her take incredible decisions in her life in the future.

Udayan‘s death in Tollygunge creates a new phase in the lives of Gauri and Subash. Udayan was

encountered by the police in a conspiracy case. Subash returns to India to do the funeral ceremony.

He meets Gauri for the first time as Udayan‘s Widow. His parents isolate her in a room. She is five

months pregnant, yet she is not empathized by her in-laws. Lahiri touches upon the status of

women in the Indian society through Gauri, a suppressed widow. Offended by this ill-treatment in

his own house Subash decides to marry her. Gauri agrees to set herself free. She is a woman who

strongly wants to follow her desires. She marries and sets off to Rhode Island. Gauri was freed in an

atmosphere which is not her own. Gauri is very career conscious.She enrolls herself in a college.

When Gauri and Subash goes out, she socializes well with the others. However, she does not like

anyone coming home. They did not celebrate any functions or thanksgiving in their home because

Gauri feels she has nothing in common with them. Gauri delivers a baby girl, Bela. She is the link

between Subash and Gauri. Bela is very close to Subash. Feeling defeated by this, Gauri Bela and

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leaves Bela and Subash as both remind her of Udayan and their unsuccessful life. However, Gauri

succeeds in her career and joins as a professor at California. She carries her guilt for leaving Bela.

Bela isolates herself in her home and her school. Lahiri puts forth the isolation shared by both Bela

and herself in her mother‘s study room, but could not pacify her isolation. Lahiri, through Bela,

exhibits the intensity of isolation as she is abandoned by her mother. Lahiri unveils Gauri‘s

estranged mind when Gauri and Lorna have a physical relationship, it proves the dissatisfaction in

her life.

Bela befriends people wherever she goes but leave that relationship and keeps going and never

see them again. Bela decides her life keeping her past as a guide. Bela becomes pregnant but does

not want the child‘s father. She informs this to Subash and he was shocked. She says that she will

raise the child as a single mother as Subash did. Subash was taken aback. Lahiri stresses upon the

Indian mindset, where family bondings are significant. Lahiri throws the psychological changes in

the person‘s mind with the influence of the surrounding environment of isolation. Bela later accepts

Subash and Elsie. She feels that Gauri has estranged his life as well as her‘s for her career.

Jhumpa Lahiri unleashes the sense of alienation in her characters. Frustrated Gauri, after reaching

Calcutta goes to her balcony which is a symbol of her freedom, where she is removed from all

clutches of the world. Bela, on the other hand, is quite happy that she had a chance to overpour her

pent up feelings on her mother, who estranged her life as well as Subash. Lahiri‘s significance for

Lowland, Balcony implies people's attachment to their home and their mother country. With her

lucid writing, Lahiri always creates an impact in the minds of her readers. Thus sense of alienation

though a common phenomena among the Diaspora, its impact is heavy and assimilation becomes a

tedious process.


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CHAPTER 22

THE CEASELESS SUFFERINGS FACED BY WOMEN

IN SIVAGAMI‟S “THE TAMING OF THE WOMEN”

K. GAYATHRI


Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women, Chennai

Dalit Literature has recorded a great impact in Indian Literature. It portrays the lives of the dalit

people literally in search of their own identity and their own destiny. Dalit people undergo the

entrenched discrimination of the caste system in India. They are segregated within the community

and treated harshly as untouchables. This inhuman aspect prevails in all the dalit literature texts

and the writers have voiced out their pain and anguish requesting for their peoplewith equality and

freedom. This Literature is mainly dominated by the protest against the caste based hierarchy in

contemporary India and also brings out the stark reality of the dalits in the society and as well as in

politics.

This literature emerged during the 1960s first in Marathi later in Hindi, Kannada, Telugu,

Bangla and Tamil languages. The subjugation of discrimination by the upper caste people are

human made which makes them feel as expatriates in their own motherland. Seven important dalit

woman writers portray the struggles as a woman from the margins of society through fiction and

nonfiction. They are ShatabaiKamble, Bama Faustina Susairaj, Urmila Pawar, P.Sivagami,

GogushyamalaVijilaChirappad and BabytaiKamble. Among them Sivagami is the first Tamil dalit

writer, her first novel PazhaiyanaKazhidalumwas a literary and commercial success. The novel created

a stir by taking on patriarchy in the dalit movement. Later it was translated in English by the author

as ―The Grip of the Change‖.Sivagami has written four novels, numerous short stories and poems.

She is the founder –editor of the literary magazine PudiyaKodangi. Sivagami was a Secretary

ranked bureaucrat in Tamilnadu till 2008, when she quit the administrative service, joined the

Bahujan Samaj Party and contested the Lok Sabha poll from Kanyakumari, in December 2009. She

founded her own political party, SamugaSamathuvaPadai (Forum for Social Equality).

Sivagami‘s novel ―The Taming of Women‖ revolves around hardworking Anandhayi, married

to a womaniser, Periyannan. She has six children namely Mani, Kala, Dhanam, Balan, Arul and

Anbu. Periyannan sleeps with many woman and when once Anandhayi trapped the woman she

was crashed to the ground by her husband. The harsh push wounded her stomach and delivered a

baby girl. Periyannan was not having any concern towards his wife and the new born baby.

Anandhayi was cornered and was looked as only a woman to bore children, nothing more than that.

The Tyrant Periyannan was only eager to look at newborn baby‘s horoscope. He always tries to

bring the entire woman under his control through sex and power. Muthakka is a maid, helps

Anandhayi in her household chores. Womaniser Periyannan doesn‘t allow Muthakka to leave ,flirts

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with her and gives sexual tortures. When his wife Anandhayi calls him, he immediately moves to

the fields. Periyannan‘s suspicious nature reveals out when he finds Anandhayi pities a deaf

vagabond. He abuses her with vulgar words and beats hers endlessly. As a woman she is restricted

to show sympathy on others and also to make decisions on her own. Her husband represents the

patriarchal society and condemns woman for her mistakes. To make matters worse Periyannan was

staying with his new concubine Lakshmi in a rented room. Lakshmi was injured by Periyannan for

not cooperating for his sexual pleasures. Whenever she tries to escape from him, she is captured and

brought to home every time with severe hitting and beatings. Anandhayi sees Lakshmi as her

competitor and giver her tortures. Lakshmi also has a misunderstanding with Periyannan‘s

daughter Dhanam, when she falls in love with the preacher‘s son Daniel. Dhanam accuses her with

words that affect her psychologically, leads to commit suicide. The novel ends with the tragic death

of Lakshmi. Her frustration and depression stimulates her to commit suicide. After this death also

Periyannan did not change, he kept on accusing Anandhayi as a bad luck for him. Periyannan did

not leave his daughters in accusing, he hits Kala with a broomstick for riding a bicycle with her

friend and letting her to wander freely, and also never spared his mother Velliayamma and

Anandhayi. After getting a big building contract Periyannan throws a bundle of currency at

Vellaiyamma‘s feet and insulted his own mother by shouting at her if she ever had seen this much

money in her lifetime. She longed for immediate death and take her life, but her husband‘s memory

haunted her most of the time. Kala was accused by her father Periyanan for her dislike for marriage

proposal as the groom was of her father‘s choice.

The village knows that Periyannan and the village supervisor Kangani are at war. Veni, the

supervisor‘s sister in law suffer because of her tragic flashback. When Veni was a school girl she was

fair, plump and had a long hair. She was raped by her teacher Rangasami then by her PT master.

After this horrible incident, she dropped her school. She was also harassed by her nephew

Manickam.She could not imagine what was happening to her:

―Did he not know whom he was touching? I am his aunt, for God‘s sake!

Of course he knew it was me... I cannot even speak about this to anyone, less they spit on my

face. As it is my name is in the mud. People will think I am teaming up with Akka to complain

about the first wife‘s son. I still cannot believe where he chose to touch. (148)‖

Vadakathiyaal works in Anandhayi‘s home and in the garden. Vadakathiyaal suffers physical

tortures from her husband, son and brother in law. Anandhayi was shocked to hear from her the

pains that she has within her family. Vadakathiyaal shows her loose teeth which were kicked by her

son and the scar by throwing a heavy lock on her face. She also expressed her grief on how she was

being whipped by her brother in law:

―He says a younger brother‘s wife is as good as one‘s wife and an elder brother‘s wife is half

one‘s wife‖. (105)

She was completely depressed after that and could not open up her problems as the society

blames only the women and spare the men. And this is the reason why many women do not come

out with their problems and it is buried as untold stories within themselves. Sivagami has two

exemptions in this novel one is Poongavanan who rejects Duraisami; the father of her child , when


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he offers to marry her and the other is Neelaveni, the village beauty who had a bad reputation for

no fault on her and resigns to live out her life as a spinster in isolation. . Family women are facing

spontaneous hindrances and disturbances from the men in the society. Dalit Women are always

exploited by the patriarchal society. We need a transformation in the society to fulfil the dreams of

women and in particular the Dalit Women. For this to happen, the women should be empowered,

have to endure pain and struggle to obtain freedom and equality, but to achieve that woman have to

believe in equality, practice equality among themselves and then fight for equality. Women need to

gain their self audacity and self distinctiveness to voice out against the patriarchal society. Woman

has to be treated as God, not as a slave. So she should be respected in the society.

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CHAPTER 23

LITERATURE OF THE MARGINALISED

J. DIVYA

Assistant Professor

Bharatiya Samskriti Vidyapith, Bengaluru, Karnataka

Introduction

Marginalization of women is an ancient one. Women have been regarded as inferior to men since

time immemorial. Many male writers are of the assumption that women are mentally and

physically weaker than men and hence they should be ruled or dominated by men. Women‘s place

in patriarchal setup is of the secondary one. Women are treated as subaltern to men. Women were

confined to the domestic sphere and forced to adhere to duties as docile mothers, wives and sisters.

Women had to face double oppression in the name of caste, race, gender etc.

Marginalised Sectors

In our patriarchal setup women have always been undervalued. Their roles are fixed to the

domestic sphere and their greatness lies in their sufferings and therefore happiness of others is

always prioritized to their own. If only she sacrifices her happiness she is seen as virtuous women.

In Arundathi Roy‘s novel The God of Small Things women have no freedom of their own and

discriminated on the basis of gender and even further we also see women characters being

marginalised in the hands of patriarchy. The novel depicts that the fight against gender oppression

leads to resistance against caste, class oppression. Such rebellious attitudes are vividly expressed

through the marital and inter-gender relations of mammachi, BabyKochamma, Ammu and Rahel.

Ammu is a middle class educated divorcee with two children, she is not welcome to her father‘s

house when she returns she is marginalized by her own brother Chacko. She is also confined by the

family rules and inheritance laws typical to the community of Syrian Christians. Ammu is seen

attracted towards Velutha, an untouchable and hence goes against the ―love laws‖ which her

community follows. Her transgression of the caste, class and religious boundaries mounts a revolt

that marginalized her as a woman. Ammu is treated as an outcaste by her own family. But Ammu is

a bold woman, she does not fall to the pressures of the family and the society.On the contrary

Chacko, Ammu‘s brother is seen exploiting the poor women labourers in his factory, both

financially and sexually but is not punished.

Mammachi too exhibits some kind of resistance against patriarchal domination and

marginalization. She is also physically and mentally abused by her husband. She is a passive victim.

WhenMammachi‘s music teacher informs her husband that she was exceptionally talented and

potential, her music classes were stopped. This shows how women are marginalized if they are seen


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potential enough. Thus the novel depicts women as subalterns, some of whom try to confront the

existing social inequalities in order to bring about a change.

In Mahashweta Devi‘s Dopdi, Devi situates her story against the Naxalite movement of West

Bengal. The tribal uprising against wealthy landlords brought upon the fury of the government

which led to operation Bakuli that sought to kill the so-called tribal rebels.

Draupadi is a story about DopdiMehjen, a woman who belongs to the Santhal tribe. She is seen

murdering wealthy landlords and usurp their wells, which is the primary source of water for the

village. Dopdi is held captured by officer who instructs other army officers to rape her to extract

information.In Draupadi, Devi presents a strong woman who despite being marginalized and

exploited, transgresses conventional sexual and societal standards. Dopdi subverts the physicality

of her body from powerlessness to powerful resistance. Her refusal to be clothed goes against the

male power. This has become an authoritative voice of the post-colonial period since the publication

of her essay.

Gayathrispivakexplores the issue of ‗Third world‘ women in her essay Can the Subaltern speak?

Subalterns are defined as those who did not comprise the colonial elite- such as the lesser rural

peasants and upper-middle-class peasants. In the context of colonial production, the subaltern has

no history and cannot speak, the subaltern as female is even more deeply in shadow. This point

raises the questions like; can oppressed women‘s voices ever be recovered?

Ace to Spivak, subaltern women are subjected to oppression more than subaltern men. They do

not have proper representation and therefore are not able to voice their opinions. Spivak gives

example of these silenced subaltern women by looking at the documentation of Sati or widow

sacrifice during colonial rule in India. Finally, she suggests, it is better to acknowledge that the

subaltern as female exists as the un-representable in discourse, who is shadowed to the margins.

When it comes to Mahesh Dattani‘sSeven Steps Around the Fire, we can see here in the play the

third gender being marginalised. The play deals with the pathetic plight of the hijras, their ways of

life, their sense of individual identity in a cruel atmosphere where a minister had the young hijra

burned to death.

The concept of marginality can be interpreted and used from two points of view- in the sense of

‗not integrated into‘ and excluded from; the former applies to a dualist view of society and refer to

the people who are moving from one sector to the other and not yet fully incorporated into the latter

like the homosexuals.

Talking in an interview SudhaMenonDattani says; ―being gay or lesbian is not right or wrong, it

is the reality and we have to learn to accept alternate relationships and live with them‖. But people

in our society will never accept the reality that the ‗other‘ gender is also one among us and only try

to marginalise them.

As we can refer the term ―Subaltern‖ to the marginalised group this ―Subaltern‖ in Seven Steps

Around the Fire is forced to maintain silence against oppression and injustice. In the traditional

society of India, the identity of gay, lesbian, hijras and homosexual has not yet been organised.

Dattani‘s play Seven Steps Around the Fire represents the voice of eunuch community who are not

even allowed to show their faces in public. The play deals with the violence inflicted on the hijras,

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who are unseen and unheard in the society.In the play we can see in a rare moment that to in Uma‘s

presence we see Anarkali comes out of her marginalised self and speaks in front of Muniswamy. But

later she is confronted by the ‗given‘ behavioural code and immediately puts her mask that we are

accustomed to.

Conclusion

To conclude, with in pre civilised society there was no system of ownership which prevailed. To

meet the economic needs they wanted labour. This problem was solved by copulation between men

and women. Thus marriage between men and women was institutionalised. Owner in this

institution was always a male patriarch. In such a scenario women were only treated as

commodities. And hence had been marginalised from the beginning.Writers from these work have

brought out the issues related to marginalisation being faced by women and transgender, but even

in present scenario the situation still remains the same in several part of the country. When we see

transgender emerging in public space, we combat the advancing uncomforting situations. Do we

repel due to their physical attributes or due to the mystery behind them? Again the notion of values

come in, that they are to be devalued in the notion we grew up with, as if ‗given‘ by the society. But

there are exemptions too.Stories of the past can teach the next generation about humanity and

empower them against one-sided prejudice, stigmatisation or misconceptions from groups with a

hidden agenda. Humanity and mutual understanding is what is needed for the equal footing to be

established and for the smooth functioning of the society. And that can be established only through

breaking fixed notion about any human being. Social acceptance which is lacking in contemporary

Indian society is needed.


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CHAPTER 24

THE EMOTIONAL CATACLYSM IN MAHESH DATTANI‟S TARA

C. SARANYA

Guest Lecturer

Arignar Anna Government Arts College for Women, Walajapet

Mahesh Dattani is one of the most famous modern Indian English dramatists. Dattani is a Bangalore

based dramatist and director. The themes of his plays have attracted the attention of a great number

of readers and audience in theaters. He always complicated dynamics of the modern urban family.

His plays mostly deal with various issues like homo sexuality, gender discrimination, communalism

and child sexual abuse. He is one of the playwrights, who challenged the construction of India and

Indian as they have been presented in the modern English theatre.

Tara is the most touching drama and it is revolves around the theme of favouring the boy and

depriving the girl with exceptional originality of conception. The playwright presents arguments

against the parent‘s preference for the male child at the cost of the girl child. This play Tara signifies

the discrimination against the girl child in society.

The play begins with the life of Tara through flashbacks by Chandan, a twin brother of Tara. He

was a playwright, he recounts her past life and unlike the stereotyping of other men, who feels

sympathetic towards her sister and undergoes a sense of guilt as he tries to pen down the life of his

sister. He realizes the suffering that Tara had to undergo because of him and seeks her forgiveness

as at this point of time too, Chandan is writing her story which making his tragedy.

The twin children, Tara and Chandan are joined at the hip and have to be separated surgically.

They born with three legs one of the child will have to give one leg, although Tara has chance of

survival with both legs. She is made to pay the price of being a girl from the first day of her entry

into the world and ruled by men. Being a girl, Tara denied a healthy and fulfilling life against the

better judgments of everybody as their mindsets are plagued by the parochial logic of patriarchy

that male child will better their lives. Her mother Bharathi understands a girl child must have to

face owing to her physical deformity. She knows that the leg logically belongs to the girl child, but

they decided the male child have both the legs after she starts a life of struggle for Tara ultimately

leading to her death.

In Indian society, identity of women as her relationship with men, Bharathi represents the gold

generation of Indian women, who used to stay at home managing the house and caring children.

Her old values make her to take decision in favour of Chandan, but this operation proves to be a

curse for both Tara and Chandan. Tara loses her leg, and Chandan unable to walk because his body

rejects the leg donated to him. He emotionally feels, he is responsible for Tara‘s crippled. Bharathi

develops a guilt complex, which is reflected in her compensatory behavior with Tara. Dattani

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showed concern for Tara‘s career and future. She tells to Chandan what she expects women to do

these days:

Bharathi: It‘s time Tara decided what she wants to be. Women have to do that as well

these days. She must have a career.

Chandan: she can do whatever she wants. Grandfather‘s trust will leave us both money,

isn‘t it?

Bharathi: Yes. But she must have something to do! She can‘t be- aimless all her life.

(Tara 348)

Tara represents new generation for that, she is a responsive girl and she wants love, care, and

respect in her parents. She is hurt her father when she thinks him to be an insensitive and partial

person, he always caring her brother Chandan only. She reacts to her father‘s order when he

instructs Chandan and Tara not to visit their mother alone. Tara feels sad when she is told about

Patel‘s instruction and says that she will go to her mother even if she has to disobey her father‘s

order. She is now ready to pay everybody in the same way and she says that people should not

respect her otherwise they did not expect respect from her. She is bitterer from her reply to Chandan

when he says that she should not be selfish.

Tara knows how to care for the emotions of people who care for her. She cannot join college due

to her surgery and she tries to convince her brother not to waste his year for her. She is pained to see

Chandan suffering for her when she feels herself responsible for the suffering of the whole family.

Tara is a new woman ready to assert her identity. She does not think she is lower to Chandan and

she is not accepting the variation of treating male child and female child.

Patel has all the qualities of a traditional Indian male, who is a believer of old values and he has

a fixed opinion regarding women‘s position, whereas Chandan has an opposite to his father. He

knows Tara‘s talent and does not hesitate to tell his father to accept it. He asked his father to take

Tara to his office, but his father is not accepting this. He think that women working in the kitchen,

carrying children and seeking happiness of their families. He belongs to old generation but

Chandan is opposite to him and he is a new generation person. He reacts to his father‘s charge that

Bharathi has asked him to do this:

Patel (to Bharathi): how dare you do this to him?

Chandan: Wait a minute, daddy, she never asked me to do any-

Patel: can‘t you even look after the children?

Chandan: Look daddy, it‘s-

Patel: What did you do the whole jay, huh? Watch video?

Bharathi: I can‘t think of things for them to do all the time!

Patel: But you can think of turning him into a sisy-

teaching him to knit!

Chandan: Daddy, that‘s unfair. (Tara 351)

Dattani‘s Tara reflects that how the values of younger generation have change towards women

through the character of Chandan. He has shown how the new generations of male character believe

in equality. Chandan does not ready to go anywhere without Tara and he is ready to lose one year if


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Tara cannot join college due to surgery, but Patel has planned something do for him. He has talked

to his brother about Chandan‘s futhur studies in a country so that he does not want to allow

Chandan to remain under the influence of his mother and sister. But Chandan is so much attached

to Tara that he refuses because he does not go anywhere (college or office) without Tara:

Chandan: I don‘t want to go to college! (Fighting his tears.)

Not without Tara! If she is going in for surgery,

I‘ll miss a year too!

Patel: You will not. I won‘t allow it.

Chandan: I will not go to college without Tara! (Tara 351)

The central character of the play, Tara is the voice of every woman who questions her marginalized

treatment at each step and wants to emerge as an independent female. The traditional roles being

imposed her. Tara reflects on how women were kept away from decision making, how they were

denied their basic rights and how they had to suffer indiscrimination against men in the educated

society. It is an attempt to expose the modern educated urban family‘s adherence to the

conventional attitude of favouring anything that masculine.

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CHAPTER 25

LITERATURE OF THE MARGINALIZED IN LOUIS NOWRA‟

THE GOLDEN AGE

D. MAHALAKSHMI


R.V. Government Arts College, Chengalpattu

Literature has many genres and each genre has its own types. When we study different literature of

different countries, we come across various issues such as gender, caste, racism, class, aborigine,

alienation, suppression etc.The literature usually deals with these issues which can be seen in the

books of writers who came after colonization. The colonization had a greater effect on the colonized

countries and their people. They lost their tradition, culture, language, and life style. Most of the

country had oral tradition which were never known to the society.

The word margin itself indicates the meaning – a group of community which has been

marginalized or isolated from the mainstream society. For ages these community or group of people

have been alienated. One such group is the natives of Australia who lived in bush for ages and had

developed their own dialect. They had various traditional culture and myth. Corroboree is the most

celebrated performance of Australia. They also had Dreamtime which connected them to their

ancestors.

There are many writers who wrote on the suppression of these aborigines. Through their work

they exposed the life, their oral tradition, their agony and pain after colonization. These works gave

the writers a new place in society because they tried to bring out the oral tradition of ages. It also

became a voice to claim the rights in the society.

Louis Nowra in his play The Golden Age talks about the impact of the colonization and war on

the colonized country and how the lost convicts in the Tasmanian island developed their own

dialect. They were the last group of their kind. In the play these groups live in the bush of

Tasmanian island and they are founded by the two youth Francis an Engineer and peter a Geologist,

son of William Archer a doctor.

When Francis saw them, he was surprised to see them. They had their own language and their

own way of living in the bush. They saw a dead body of a man with coin his mouth, which indicates

that the play has taken place during the gold rush. The group was led by the elderly women called

Ayre. The colonisers spread various diseases among the colonized because of which the population

of these natives were lessen.

When Ayre and others were brought to Hobert by Fancis and peter, they faced various changes

happening in their life. It was Francis and William who were happy in their arrival and welcomed

them very happily.


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WILLIAM: Ayre is a woman I admire more each day. It would have taken a lot of courage to

come back the world she had only heard about, a world of racks, whips, prison, hatred. She knows

they have no future in the wilderness. Inside her head she has kept everything she deems

important. Dreams, memories snatches of songs, Bible stories….. it‘s had to be passed on by word to

mouth.

FRANCIS: What‘s going to happen to them?

WILLIAM: We decided not to let the public know until we know a little more about them.(37)

The authority like George the Federal Minister of Health, Dr. Simon, the psychiatrist saw the

group as alienated. They treated them very badly and were never bothered about their feelings.

When George visits William‘s house to see these groups, he finds Stef behaving in an unusual

way, Stef pounces on George‘s leg and sinks his teeth in. George shouts in pain and tells William to

send Stef to asylum.

WILLIAM: Stef! Stef! Let go!

GEORGE: Does he always do that?

WILLIAM: He likes to pretend he is our corgi.

GEORGE: Asylum patients make me feel the same way, they seem unfathomable. In Germany

Stef would have been put to death long a time ago. (40-41)

William gets angry and scolds him saying that they didn‘t came back to civilization to be put

into an asylum. Like George even Elizabeth William‘s wife gets fed up of the aborigines and feels

that they are the poor contaminated people. Her hatred towards these aborigines was because

William used to spend most of his time with them and teaching them the language.

William tells everyone that these people are the last members of a group during the gold rush.

This group moved into the South west looking for gold most of them were ex-convicts, and escaped

convicts. Ayre teaches her daughter Betsheb her dialects. Betsheb is the last to pass on their

language after her mother.

Ayre is always seen talking to the birds, sky and the spirits. All her memories have been hidden

in her mind which she wants to pass on to Betsheb and keep her dialect, tradition, culture and

generation alive.

Angel is sent to hospital as she was suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, Mac was her

brother, the authority thought he might also have some impact of it. So, he was also sent along with

his sister. After Angel‘s death Mac kills himself as he was never able to have a child because his

genitals were malformed.Dr.Simon forces Mac to take photograph and which makes Mac feel

embarrassing about his deformed so, he kills himself.

When Ayre and others are put in Asylum, Ayre recollects her days in the bush. After her death

Stef and Betsheb are left alone in the asylum. Since Stef used to play in the wet grass every day, one

fine day he also dies and Dr.Simon blames Betsheb for Stef‘s death.Betsheb cries aloud and tells

William that Stef is my last relative, the last of my family. Iam cast adrift. He was the last male

member of the family.

Dr.Somon: Let him go Betsheb. Come on let him go. Little bitch. Like a bloody animal, he is

dead. If you hadn‘t let him lie on the wet grass he wouldn‘t be. (61)

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The aborigines came to Hobart to live a civilized life but the society and the authority didn‘t

consider them even a human being and believed them to be a contaminated and impure group.

Being an aborigine women Ayre, Angel and Betsheb have to fight for their survival in an alienated

city which was totally different from their bush life.

It was Betsheb who was harassed in the asylum and at the end of the play, we find her loosing

herself completely. She loved Francis and thought that he would help her but even he failed and

could not help Betsheb from going to asylum. Like Francis William also fails in his attempt to save

the lives of the aborigine group. When he listens to Ayre recorded voice:

Ayre: ‗We came past river, past tides of kelp and mud, moss and into the seas of green

and came to here. There! The time of our ancestors. A dreamtime in the green stomach of

heaven. All around the spirits of the fertile valley. Home. It is not home. Then Something

happened: there were hair lips, soft brains and children in pain. A darkness of sterile

girls and boys. The circle is burst. Broken. Hear, us William. Keep us in that box. We are

talking to you. To you! The circle is broken. I‘ll never morae listen to the night-birds.

Never more dance with the night spirits, the good and the bad‘.(65-66)

William blames himself for the destruction of the whole family and kills himself by slitting his

throat.

Thus, the play brings out the brutal and inhuman attitude of the authority and people Hobart. Their

negative attitude towards these aborigines are brought out and how brutally they send the group to

asylum where they die one by one. The group is marginalised by them though Ayre and Bedsheb

tries to fight to survive in the society where the people are uncivilized in their mind and behaviour.

Finally, Betsheb moves back to the bush with Francis, who decides to live with her in the wilds of

Tasmanian island.


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CHAPTER 26

SHADEISM IN THE NOVEL GOD HELP THE CHILD BY

TONI MORRISON

U. PUSHPALATHA


AMET University, Kanathur, Chennai

Introduction

Toni Morrison is a well-renowned African American author.She received the highest award of

literature Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize for her novels.She is the first African American novelist

who received this honor.She is also widely considered one of the ―grande dames‖ among American

novelists.She reached the highest position in literature because she has created novels and

characters are real.Her novels are discussing men's and women's relationships, gender bias, skin

color discrimination, and sexual abuse. The author has written novels based on her own experience

and her own people‘s experience. During her college days, Toni Morrison read many novels of Jane

Austen. Jane Austen‘s novels are portraying family surroundings like mother and daughter

relationship. This is deeply rooted in Toni Morrison‘s mind and it reflected in her novels with the

impact and touch of her own social background.Her novel ―Beloved‖ published in 1988 make her

well-known and also receives the American Book Award. This novel is considered her masterpiece.

The story is about a child and parent‘s relationship.The social set up its rules and values shape their

lives ―God help the child‘ is her eleventh novel.The original title of the novel is ―The Wrath of

Children‖, this is the title Toni Morrison liked to give.The New York Publisher titled as ―Sweetness‖

but later it changed into ―God help the child‖. The third title is decided at last for this novel.

Shadeism

Shadeism is also known as colorism.Colorism means discriminating their own race in the names of

dark-skinned and light-skinned.These dark-skinned people are subcategorized and others are

looking down upon them.This shadeism is not new to our globe.It has already existed in all over

culture in some other names.In Indian, they had shadeism in the name of caste discrimination.After

Europeans colonization, they have brought the notion that lighter skin is better.Japan men and

women are conscious of their color and so they are using rice powder to glow their skin.In

American, slavery has brought in the names of race and racism. They felt that whites are superior

whereas blacks are inferior.Colonialism imposed that blacks are to work for whites.The blacks are

meant for slavery. They were ill-treated in the hands of white bosses and they were hardly got food

for their living.Color discrimination exploited people on the whole but women were suffered a lot

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in the hands of white.They were sexually abused by their so-called masters.Double oppression had

taken place.Already women are subjugated and down-looked by their own race men.Additionally,

the masters also suppressing them because of dark-skin.In the ―God Help The Child‖, Toni

Morrison depicted the relationship between the mother and the daughter.Skin color separates

husband and wife.This skin color hard relationship between mother and daughter.Skin color gives

pain and wound in the child‘s heart.The little bud‘s psychology has shattered.This little girl turned

to a successful woman in the future but her longing for a mother‘s love and affection remains the

same.Even though she has grown up, her past experiences made her psychologically sick.This skin

color affected the entire family, yet the loss is only for the women – mother and daughter.

Patriarchal Society

After the child was born with dark skin, her father left the house. He did not like to be the father of a

dark-skinned girl. He forgoes his responsibilities and left the family, wife and newborn child. This is

the consequence of a patriarchal society. Toni Morrison stated in this novel about the patriarchal

attitude that, ―Her color is a cross she will always carry‖. Her father just ignores his responsibilities

and left the child. He has just left and given the responsibilities to the women alone. The man is not

concerning about his wife too, because it is a patriarchal society. They take any decision as they

wish and as they want to do. Without men‘s support in a family and separation make the young

mother became an anxious mother. This mother‘s inner anguish of living alone makes her mentally

sick and the reason for her today‘s situation is her newborn dark skin babe. She is not showing love

and affection to the child instead of the only harshness. Her mother said that ―We had three good

years together but when she was born he blamed me and treated Lula Ann like she was a stranger –

more than that, an enemy‖. This separation of her husband and the reason behind that make her

behave rudely to this cute little child. Her harshness and cruelty could not imagine. This little child

never called her mother as ‗mama‘ or ‗mother‘ but she called her mother as ‗Sweetness‘. Where

there is no sweetness between those two. Her mother never and ever shows her love and affection to

this dark skin child. She should not show any non-verbal signs also. Her mother ordered and

trained her, how to be lived in this society. She brought up the child to face and survive in this

society because she strongly believed that this society is very different and difficult for a dark skin

girl. So, as a mother, she trained her to live in this colored society. This little girl named Lula Ann

Bridewell, but she herself changed her name into ‗Bride‘. She became a successful businesswoman.

She started a new cosmetic shop which she gave name as ―You, Girl‖. Toni Morrison beautifully

designed here. This girl is dark but opened and run the cosmetic shop and also named ‗You, Girl‘.

Although she became a business woman, her longingness is there in her heart.Once, she burst

out her inner pang by saying that, ―She used to pray Sweetness would slap‖ at least by slapping her,

her mother would touch on her face. This pathetic condition is created because of man and the

importance given to social values. Her longingness for mother‘s love and affection became illusion

for her.Toni Morrison‘s usage of words are penetrated to the hearts of the readers. She was in the

position of the little girl and wrote lines like this, ―What you do to children matters.And they might

never forget‖. Children never forget what had happened to them during their childhood days.


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Childhood trauma makes her sick in later years.All these unwanted, disliked happenings happened

because of unnecessary thinking of society.Toni Morrison again stressed about the ignorance of

people upon skin she said that ―It‘s important to know that nothing is more important than our

children.And if our children don‘t think they are important to us, if they don‘t think they are

important to themselves, if they don‘t think they are important to the world, it‘s because we have

not told them.We have not told them that they are our immortality.‖The author tries to insist the

importance of child, childhood, motherhood and father through this novel.All this wonderful

happiness has gone because of unnecessary social thinking and values.At the end of the story, Bride

is pregnant and she liked to bring her child in a very good manner and not like her mother.Her

personal experience refined her thoughts about society and she understood the importance of

childhood and the role of motherhood.The author said that ―You are about to find out what it takes,

how the world is, how it works and how it changes when you are a parent.Good luck and God help

the child‖.

Conclusion In India, Asia, and Africa the cream business is popularly growing well business. The color

conscience is deeply rooted in the minds of people since the world began its journey. Even today

also, people are thinking that white skin people are good, rich, and trustworthy whereas black skin

people are poor, bad, criminals.White skin is respected more than the black. This color disparity is

sowed in the psychology of human beings. This false conception must eradicate in the minds of

people. Even after the post-colonial era, third world countries are likely to follow or to imitate

whites rather than follow originality.

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CHAPTER 27

POPULARFICTIONS - RECEPTION AND CRITICISM

VELSELVI MATHAN

Free Lance Scholar

[email protected]

‗Reading maketha full man‘ are the golden words of Elizabethan pragmatist, Francis Bacon.Reading

is anendeavour to attain enlightenment.Today,reading has become a style statement than an

endeavour.Reading classics demands focuswhich is lacking in readers today due to various

diversions.Therefore readers prefereasier, popular and trendy best sellers. Popular Literature has

many genres ranging from dramas, novels, poetry, prose to one page stories, haikus and memes.

Popular fictions have mass appeal to readers. The book stores like Crossword, Starmark, Odyssey or

Landmark welcome the people with the display of best sellers in the front boasting about the

millions of copies sold. Most of them are popular fictions people read and discuss.

Critics and popular audience are always poles apart.Critics frown on popular fictions. Damien

Walter wrote in his article in The Guardian,‖ Literary fiction is an artificial luxury brand, but it does

not sell, you are far more likely to find John Grisham and Dan Brown novels in the houses of

politicians and lawyers and hedge fund managers than the work of Lydia Davis (American writer

known for Flash fiction) and William Gaddis (Post-modern American novelist).‖

Stephen King is the master of horror fiction. Recenthorrorfilm, ‘IT‘ is an adaptation of Stephen

King‗s fiction of the same name. ‗The Eyes of Dragon‘and ‗The Dark Tower series‘ are regarded as

his masterpieces.From horror to fantasy to feel good stories, Stephen King has just nailed them.But

the legendary American Literary critic and the author of, ‘The Westerncanon‘, Harold Bloom says,

‖Stephen King is beneath the notice of any serious reader who has experienced Proust, Joyce, Henry

James, Faulkner and all other masters of the novel―. Douglas E.Cowansays,‖Stephen King is a

master of almost all genres except literary‖.

John Grisham writes legal thrillers, a type of fiction that has virtually become a genre of its own

in recent years.Many of his novels have been made successful Hollywood films.Some critics have

faulted Grisham for shallow character development and implausible plots. Grisham himself has said

he writes ‗to grab readers, this is not serious literature ‗. ‗A Time to Kill‘ is considered to be his

masterpiece.

Danielle Steel is the fourth best-selling fiction writer of all time with800 million copies sold. She

has written over 146 novels and she is a living author who has published her novel till 2019.

Danielle Steel has even been included in the Guinness Book of World Records for having at least one

of her books on the New York Times Best-sellers List for 387 consecutive weeks.Danielle Steel is the

very embodiment of success in publishing.


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However literary critics have considered Danielle Steel is not a real writer, she writes pulp

fiction for mass consumption.Her novels are criticised for being formulaic and consistently the same

plot with same characters.

The reach of Harry potter series is unfathomable. When J.K.Rowling‘s, ―Harry Potter And The

Sorcerer‘s Stone‖, was released, a critic in ―The Guardian‖ declared, the writer has ‗a pedestrian un-

grammatical prose-style which has left me with a head ache and a sense of wasted opportunity‘. But

the Harry Potter series has become the darling of the mass readers and the successful Hollywood

film franchise.WhenThe National Book Foundation‘s annual award for ‗distinguished‘ was given to

Stephen King, Harold Bloom comments,‖By awarding it to King, they recognise nothing but

commercial value of his books, which sell in millions, but do little more for humanity than keep the

publishing world afloat. If this is going to be the criterion in the future, then perhaps next year,the

committee should give its award for distinguished contribution to Danielle Steel and surely the

Nobel Prize for Literature should go to J.K.Rowling.‖

Dan Brown‘s ‗The DaVinci Code‘ is not only a best seller, but it also became a cultural

juggernaut. The story is extremely controversial. It challenges the Vatican and the story of Jesus

Christ. The Vatican called for the boycott of the novel. The BBC wrote, ‗the novel was the literary

equivalent of painting by numbers by an artist who cannot even stay within the lines‘. The

Guardian harshly dismissed the novel as ‗450 pages of irritatingly gripping tosh‘. Salman Rushdie

said that, it was a novel so bad that it gives bad novels a bad name.

Gillian Flynn‘s ―Gone Girl‖ is a best seller novel and a hit Hollywood film about a husband who

is dealing with the wife‘s disappearance while all the fingers pointing at him.In Book Forum, Mary

Gaitskillsaid, ―I found it as irritating as imagined‖. ‗The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo‘ by Stieg Larson

sky rocketed to the best sellers list. But critic, Susan Cohen said, ―this is one of the worst books I

have ever read. The New York Times dismissed Stephenie Meyer‘s ‗Twilight‘ an amateurish

writing. But Twilight series is a massive hit among the readers and later on became the blockbuster

films.

Sidney Sheldon and Jeffrey Archer are the master story tellers of Popular fiction.Almost all their

novels are best sellers.Sidney Sheldon is known for his revenge thrillers.Henrietta Clancy of ,‘The

Guardian‘ believes ‗reading Sidney Sheldon ‗s novels are absolutely perfect and glamorous,

buttrashy, leave your brain at door ‗. Jeffrey Archer with his knowledge of political, economic and

judicial systems of America and England, spins his stories around them.UK media, Independent

called Jeffrey Archer, ―a lord of nation‘s bad taste and his terrible novels earn millions of dollars, but

upset civilised values‖.

‗The Hunger Games‘ is a dystopian novel written by Suzanne Collins. ‗The Hunger Game‗

trilogy is about the hunger and fall for power. This series became a super hit game and a successful

film. A critic in ‗The Guardian‘, wrote,‖I found it predictable, dull, unoriginal and riddled with

errors, I cannot think of a single reason to recommend it,the plot is weak and monotonous,follows a

girl growing up in dystopian society that pits children against each other for entertainment.‖

Recent years have witnessed the proliferation of popular fiction both in titles and sales.

Forinstance, everymonth, Mills & Boon publishes 120 new titles with manuscripts from 200 authors

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living in the UK.Every five seconds,there is a Mills&Boon book sold within the UK.Readers seem

never get tired of the love story between an aristocratic or a rich business tycoon hero and his

secretary or a damsel in distress.Nora Roberts is an American novelist of more than 225 books to her

credit.Nora Roberts rewrote the rules of romantic fiction set by the Mills&Boon.Her characters are

more of Americans‘ attitude than British,her heroines are ‗femme fatale ‗style women,

therefore,Nora Roberts ‗s novels became the best sellers.But critics never bothered to review her

books or credit her readers,towhich,Nora Roberts responded,‖why would you apologise for what

you read for pleasure?Every book read for pleasure should be celebrated and novels that celebrate

love,commitment,relationships,making relationships work, why isn‘t that something to be

respected?‖.

Indian writing in English has undergone major changes in popularfiction. Popular fictions are in

bloom in the recent years,thanks to the likes of Chetan Bhagat and Amish Tripathi.Chetan Bhagat

has written eight novels and all are best sellers in India.Most of his novels are made into popular

Hindi movies.His style is very simple and the language used is ‗Hinglish ‗ to be precise.He is tagged

as Rakhi Sawant of Indian literature in Twitter.Sunil Pandey in his article in India today, calls

Chetan Bhagat,an uncrowned king of BubblegumLiterature.The avid readers of genuine literature

call popular literature as bubble gum literature ,the one that is read and forgotten just like bubble

gum where you chew and then spit.Amish Tripathi is the author of 17 books including ―The

Immortals of Meluha‖. His Shiva trilogy is the fastest selling book series in India.But critics say,‘his

language is not refined ‗.

Harold Bloom says,‖Reading well is one of the greatest pleasures that solitude can afford

you‖.When a literary author criticises a mass market success,the popular assumption is, it is a case

of high-brow writer looking down on less substantial genre work.Despite the flaws,Popular fiction

is semi-addictive and easy to breeze through.It is like a top brand of junk food,not good for health

but taste is good.Is Popular fiction necessary?! The answer is yes to some extent.All the readers are

not scholars to understand classics. Common readers certainly cannot understandJames Joyce or

Faulkner in a single reading.Popular fiction provides an opening for people to start the exercise of

reading.When the readers enjoy the exercise,they should climb the ladder to reach the classics with

the consistent appetite for good reading .To sum up,the words of wisdom from the

essay,‖OfStudies‖,by Francis Bacon,―some books are to be tasted;others to be swallowed and some

few to be chewed and digested ―.


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CHAPTER 28

THE UNHEALABLE WOUND: THE REPRESENTATION OF

WAR IN SRI LANKAN DIASPORA

S. SUTHARSAN

Instructor, Department of English Language Teaching

University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka

The very concept of the term ‗diaspora‘ has been undergoing a momentous change since the 20th

century due to the proliferation of diasporas throughout the world. Extending its borders from the

origin of Jewish exodus, diasporic literature has started to accommodate the diverse trajectories of

movement and migration emerged as a result of post-colonial social and political conflicts. When

being analyzed under this context by critics, Sri Lankan diasporic writings rooted on the civil war

and ethnic conflict happened in Sri Lanka, are considered as substantial counterpoints to

contemporary Sri Lankan social and political ideologies. At the same time, the writers are often

criticized for being ignorant of the veracities of their homeland. Taking these points into

consideration this particular study concerns two recent novels of contemporary Sri Lankan

diasporic writers: NayomiMunaweera and Minoli Salgado.

Minoli Salgado (2007) in her introductory chapter of Writing Sri Lanka: Literature, Resistance and

the Politics of Placestates:

―Sri Lankan literature in English… occupies an uncertain territory, which, in recent years, has

itself been marked by the competing ethnic nationalisms of civil war and of contestatory

constructions of home and belonging.‖(09)

Set against the backdrop of a multi-layered world of a Sri Lankan coastal community, where too

many terrible events happened due to ethnic riot and civil war, resulting in unimaginable, and

often-unspeakable violence, loss and displacement, Munaweera‘sIsland of a Thousand Mirrors (2012)

(ITM), and Salgado‘s A Little Dust on the Eyes (2014) (ADE) deal with the post-war trauma effects on

diasporas as well as on those in their homeland. Moreover, the novels provide a comparative view

of the diaspora‘s relation to the war, as Munaweera is resident in North America, and Salgado in the

United Kingdom and speak of the universal human condition.

Munaweera attempts to portray the traumatic effects of war experienced by the victims through

Yasodhara, a Sinhala girl who migrates to the United States of America, and Saraswathi, a Tamil girl

who resides in Sri Lanka where as Salgado brings out the same through Savi, a

Sri Lankan diasporicwho migrates to England, and Renu, who lives in Sri Lanka. Both the

novels deal with the connection and contrasts between the characters and their personal and

collective memories in the homeland and the host land. These memories are used as a porthole to

showcase the vivid realities of utter chaos and calamities caused by war.

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―Arteries, streams, and then rivers of Tamils flow out of the city. Behind them they leave:

looted, soot-blackened houses, the unburied or un-burnt bodies of loved ones, ancestral wealth,

lost children, Belonging and Nationalism.‖ (NayomiMunaweera 89)

Both the novels consist of characters traumatized to varying degrees, including those who are

unable to come to terms with it, as the trauma of the past returns to haunt their present.Dreams

function as manifestations of suffering deep down in the subconscious mind of the trauma

survivors. In Island of a Thousand Mirrors, Sinhala soldiers molest Saraswathi, a seventeen-year-old

child, who bore the dream of becoming a teacher. After the attack, she experiences astrange feeling

of alienation and a recurrent reverberation of that incident in her dreams.

―I no longer smell like myself. This body is no longer mine.I am only a limp, bleeding, broken

toy… I will not sleep because then the soldiers return.As soon as my eyes close they climb all

over me their smell drops over my head pushes its way into my nostrils, deep into the caverns

of my skull until I am full of it, fighting, kicking and scratching…‖(NayomiMunaweera 148)

A similar state of mind also afflicts Yasodhara (ITM), when she has recurrent nightmares of a

young girl with ‗sunset colored bruises on her clavicles, and grenades tucked like extra breasts

under her own‘ (122) Years later her sister Lanka, who dies in the explosion, turns out to be

murdered by the same young girl who is actually a suicide bomber and murderer.

‗Disappeared‘ becomes the narrative metaphor for the haunting presence of the violent past in

post-conflict Sri Lanka.Renu (ADE) laments about always getting ‗a story without a body‘ while the

authorities have ‗bodies with no stories‘. Secretly volunteering herself in a rehabilitation camp, after

her own education got disrupted due to war, Renu starts to record the stories of people whose

family members were abducted during the ‗Reign of Terror‘. Through those stories she attempts to

give voice to those who remain as silent witnesses to the traumatic events.

Salgado defines post-war trauma as intergenerational, getting transmitted from one generation

to the other, which is supported through her characters; a young man named Bradley Sirisena

(ADE) who has lost the ability to use his arms and has withdrawn into himself afterwitnessing the

abduction of his father by a paramilitary group, and the cold case of Savi‘s father; a blank sheet that

one-day she might write upon.As a result of undergoing such terrific experiences trauma victims

often lost their believes in the future, as there is an alteration to one‘s belief system after such an

incident, in it that one loses ‗trust, hope, loss of previously sustaining beliefs and loss of belief in the

future‘. (Kluft, Bloom and Kinzie, 2000, p.04)

War turns the life of the victims topsy-turvy where each individual tend to respond to the

banging of the constant suffering, which continues even after the war ends, in diverse ways.

YasodharaandSavi (ADE) migrate to an alienated land, though not whole-heartedly, in order to

survive, avoiding the resurfacing of tragic memories. This act of migration becomes a mode of

escapism from the carnages of war. Following the death of her sister Lanca in a bomb blast on Galle

road, Yasodhara withdrew from her past life and its memories. She never wanted to recall or to tell

to anyone what happened to Lanca to the extent that she hide it from her own daughter.

―These days, I do not even speak of that place to myself. There is nothread of a life I want to

follow there .The ocean does not call to me. I no longer long for those myriad shades of

green.‖(NayomiMunaweera 215)

Renuon the other hand resists connecting her personal loss to that of the people who lost their


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dear ones in the war. This strategy of avoidance or a willed amnesia of Yasodhara and Renu reflects

that enforced silence can be a human predicament generated by war. By avoiding stimuli directly

related to the traumatic event trauma victims hope to keep pain of mind and suffering at bay.‖

(Kluft et al. 04)But this vehement omission of truth later takes a form of social evilness resulting in a

loss of voice of justice. A literary exploration of this can allow us to realize in a country that

experienced a state of exception for decades, silence and impunity go hand in hand.

Saraswathiand Renuact as foil characters to Yasodhara and Savirespectively. They decide to stay

in the island no matter how worse the situation goes. Living in the active war zone of Sri Lanka they

tried their level best to cope up with the struggles but ironically their dreams get shattered into

pieces when they get themselves pulled into the very heart of the conflict they have tried so hard to

avoid. Resorting to terrorism as a response to trauma is quite common in a war-torn country.

―A desire for revenge and vengeance is a common response to redress or remediate a wrong of

injustice inflicted on another…‖(Borum, 2004, 25)

Munaweera gives an account of tragedy endured by a young Tamil man as a child which later

turns him as a revolutionist and the Leader of Liberation Tigers for Tamil Ealam (LTTE).

―He's perhapstoo young to remember these days of lootings when houses were surrounded

andset aflame with children crying inside them …Most specifically he remembersan old woman

beset by Sinhala youths who beat her with sticks and then laughingas if at a fair or some other

amusement .Set her alight so that she squawks andscreams, her sari flapping like the wings of a

great flaming bird.‖(NayomiMunaweera 30)

Bradley Sirisena, years after his father‘s abduction, decides to take revenge on the perpetrators.

Torn apart by the tragedies of war, Saraswathi‘s life also undergoes an inevitable and drastic shift as

joins the LTTE cause as a means of survival.This generative violence instigated by war mark the

presence of the corporeal void of the disappeared in a pretty accurate manner.

When talking about the Sri Lankan riots and civil war one can not avoid talking about suicidal

bombers who brought out huge devastations at the cost of their own lives. Munaweera sheds light

to the harsh past of those suicidal bombers in her novel through Saraswathi. She had no other choice

but to sacrifice herself believing that would gain a honour for herself and her family rather than

being a rape victim,pregnant and never to return to a normal life or to return to her family. These

personal agonies become a microcosmic representation of the common fate of the Northern and

Eastern individuals torn by battle, both in personal and social aspects.

Migration resulted from war causes a profound psychological ailment in refugees cum migrants.

Neither being able to continue their life in a land where there is not much hope of good fortune nor

being able to let go of their childhood memories in the island their life in the host land more like

refugees becomes a complete labyrinth of emotions. They find it very difficult to resettle themselves

either in a foreign land or in their own land as the harrowing incidents of the past remain branded

in their memory.

―Hundreds of men stalked the streets headed arrow straight to the Tamil residences of Tamil

families. They dragged out fathers and mothers, girls and grandmothers, rippedclothing,

shattered bone and cut through flesh.‖(NayomiMunaweera 81)

Life after war is even more challenging for those who decide to stay in their ‗home‘ as reflected

through Savi and Renu, who struggle to come to terms with their radical transformation of ‗home‘,

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be it England or Sri Lanka‘s South. There is nothing else they can do to change anything but to

remain as numb witnesses, bearing the suffocating silence over the incalculable murders and

disappearances. Sheer lack of official recognition and the government support for those who suffer

from loss and trauma make their pain more magnified when years passes and creates a moral

vacuum in which private vengeance has free play.

At this juncture comes the diasporas‘ responsibility towards their homeland and bringing to

limelight the agonies of their kith and kin. Living far away for a long time, the diasporics grapple

with their own authority and find their position liberating and constraining simulatenously. Their

right to reconnect with their past through literature often remains a debatable topic.

―I‘m Sri Lankan, and I‘m writing about the war, but I live in America. Can I even tell this story?

Am I qualified?‖(NayomiMunaweera)

This doubt of belongingness in the mind of diasporic writers gets revealed through their

characters. Savi, as a diasporic student doing her PhD research on ‗Sinhala Nationalism‘ firmly

believes that one has to be away from one‘s own country to gain multidimensional perspectives

when relating to its stories. She says, ‗you cannot write about this place without leaving‘ (Minoli

Salgado173) though she admits that ‗it‘s impossible for me to say, living so far away‘ (Minoli

Salgado 136). This diffidence is characteristic of the way that diasporics find their position quite

ambivalent. Though Renu clings to the notion that, ‗You cannot write about this place without being

here‘ (Minoli Salgado 172), Munaweera and Salgado tries to negate this stance, more of an

accusation, held by many of the Sri Lankans regarding diasporas‘ vision of war by presenting the

violence not only through the Tamil but also through the voice of Sinhalese narrators.

After a struggle nearly three decades long and one of the bloodiest wars in history, many of the

Sri Lankan diaporic writers are drawn to hidden, lost, and suppressed histories. Caruth in one of

her seminal works, Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative and History (1996),argues,

―…It is always the story of a wound that cries out, that addresses us in the attempt to tell us of a

reality or truth that is not otherwise available. This truth in its delayed appearance and its

belated address, can not be linked only to what is known, but also to what remains unknown in

our very actions and our language…‖(4)

Both the writers grew up seeing the war at its closest, and at distance and make literature out of the

fire o near extinction. Their characters mirrored the wounded corners of the minds of hundreds and

hundreds of diasporas and of those in their homeland. No one expected that the war would finally

come to an end and it did. But the irony is only the war has ended. The deep-rooted chronic wounds

rotten over the years are still there waiting to he healed. Survival happens differently for the victims

of war. One cannot always linger on the past, keep on mourning for what happened. There is

always a life after every tragedy but the only thing is how one perceives it and without any doubt

these two authors have done it on a most hopeful note. Savi‘s continuous battle of being in a third

realm comes to an end when she dies in tsunami. Yasodhara decides to share only the positive side

of her country with her daughter leaving behind the tremendous grief and horror. So unless and

until one finds a remedy, the country along with him/her will remain riven with cracks forever.


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CHAPTER 29

INDIAN DIASPORIC LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

Dr. RAVINDRA KUMAR SINGH

Head, Department of English, K. K. P. G College, Etawah

Introduction

Diaspora Theory with its different highlights has affected the writing of each language of the world.

This writing is broadly known as Expatriate or Diasporic Literature. It is legitimate to look at

highlights and parts of such writing in which Indian Writing in English contributed significantly as

well as got universal acknowledgment and appreciation in the previous not many years.

Diasporic Literature – Meaning and Features

Diasporic Literature is a huge idea and an umbrella term that remembers for it every one of those

artistic works composed by the creators outside their native nation, yet these works are related with

native culture and foundation. In this wide setting, each one of those writers can be viewed as

diasporic writers, who compose outside their nation however stayed identified with their country

through their works. Diasporic literature has its underlying foundations in the feeling of misfortune

and distance, which rose because of relocation and exile.

By and large, Diaspora literature manages distance, removal, existential rootlessness,

wistfulness, mission of personality. It likewise addresses issues identified with amalgamation or

deterioration of cultures. It mirrors the settler experience that leaves the outsider settlement. Uma

Parameter has characterized it as pursues;

--------first is one of wistfulness for the country abandoned blended with dread in a peculiar land. The

second is a stage where one is occupied with acclimating to the new condition that there is minimal

innovative yield. The third stage is simply the forming of diaspora presence by including themselves

agricultural issues. The fourth is the point at which they have 'showed up' 42 and start taking an interest

in the bigger universe of governmental issues and national issues. (Parmesan, 165)

Role of Memory in Diasporic Writing

Memories consistently stay a significant factor in ostracize composing. The recollections evoked are

of by past occasions, spot and individuals as they were the point at which the essayist experienced

them, as they are presently, now of time they may hugely modified. Additionally, these

recollections are currently hued by creative mind and wistfulness. In the anecdotal universe of these

writers, various universes are haggling one another, genuine world and the fanciful. The isolating

lines are slender and black out; the two universes consolidation and circuit so they are not

effectively perceptible, as the points of view continue moving.

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These universes are a mix of memory and desire - memory of a past time and maybe, the desire

to get back the equivalent. Regularly, there is a desire to come all the way back which stays

frequenting nearness and anguish of individual misfortune on account of most ostracizes. Be that as

it may, not every one of the writers resemble Hari Kunzru as India is essentially a nation where his

family members live and where he once in a while wants an occasion or to go to family weddings.

Agha Shahid Ali, who showed Creative Writing at the University of Massachusetts, contended that

he didn't imagine that the movement had done a lot to change his contemplations and character.

Tension for having a place is likewise not all that obvious in progress of Shashi Tharoor, who has

lived away from India all his grown-up life and involved a significant situation in the United

Nations and now works as Indian MP. His idea of home is without a doubt India despite the fact

that he has driven a meandering life, the uncertain suspension between various universes, and the

anguish of evacuated isn't the situation with him. Be that as it may, at present his work like The

Great Indian Novel proves that the umbilical string has not yet been cut off. Another present-day

essayist Vikram Seth has made waves with his first novel A Suitable Boy. Through this novel, as the

greater part of the exile writers, he is glancing back at a land deserted, a home that is on the edge of

evaporating into the darker openings of the memory.

Collective Memory

In the investigation of Diaspora literature 'Relocation' or 'Disengagement' is significant thought that

is utilized not exclusively to express the physical development of a person from one spot to the next

yet it likewise shows how with the development of an individual the total of an entire country, to

which the individual had a place, conveyed with them. Separation prompts culturally diverse

experiences that have constantly influenced the lives of outsiders and there is always the probability

of dismissal, perplexity and pressure when individuals from various cultures blend.

This association depicts the outsiders trapped in trip between limits, an amazingly convoluted

snare of recollections, relationship and images. The transients in the remote culture lie in delicate

bond memory of the homeland. The movement has its nauseate for one thing when one doesn't

have a home (where there is a feeling of having a place) he needs to live in the memories, an

aggregate memory speaking to an emblematic connection among over a wide span of time.

Main Contributors of Indian Diasporic Literature in English

It is fascinating to take note of that the historical backdrop of Indian diasporic composing is as old

as the Diaspora itself. The main Indian writing in English is ascribed to Dean Mohamed, who was

conceived in Patna, India. His book The Travels of Dean Manometer was distributed in 1794. It

originates before by around forty years the primary English content composed by an Indian living

in India. KylasChunderDutt's 'Fanciful History' A Journal of Forty-Eight hour of the year 1945

distributed in 1835. The primary Indian English novel, Bankimchandra Chatterjee's Radioman‘s

Wife, was to be distributed a lot later in 1864.

It demonstrates that the commitment of the Indian Diaspora to Indian English composing isn't

new. It is likewise intriguing to take note of that, the relatives of the Indian obligated workers in the


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purported 'girmit states' have for the most part supported writing in English. Writers like See

Prasad Naipaul and later Shiva Naipaul, V. S. Naipaul, Cyril Dabydeen, David Dabydeen, Sam

Selvon, M.G. Vassanji, Subramanian, K.S. Maniam, Shani Muthoo and Marina Budos are significant

donors in this field. V. S. Naipaul's characters like Mohan Biswas from A House for Mr. Biswas or

Ganesh Ramsumair from the Mystic Masseur, are occasions of people who are ages from their

unique country, India, however their legacy gives them an acknowledgment of their past. They

become instances of the untouchable, the unhoused, for the world to see. Naipaul's characters are

not administered by real dislodging yet by an acquired memory of separation. For them, their native

land India is anything but a topographical space yet a production of the creative mind. Their pickle

can be clarified in Rushdie's words as he comments; "- - the past is a nation, from which we have all

emigrated, that its misfortune is a piece of our regular mankind.‖

Diasporic Communities-Circumstances and Reasons for their Formation

While Jews were supposedly compelled to migrate or were exposed to a 'push', current sociologists

consider either 'draw' or 'drive' variables or both to be answerable for the production of diasporic

circumstances, in other words, circumstames under which individuals move themselves. These

'pull' factors are commonly financial in nature that is possibilities of better paid employments or

progressively rewarding organizations, and so on., draw individuals to move themselves. Be that as

it may, Indian Dias~odc Writing gatherings of individuals and lumps of networks likewise move

starting with one national area then onto the next due to better living conditions including better

socio-social life or increasingly tolerant political frameworks. Canada, for example, has been viewed

as one such goal for individuals from outside. The 'push' factors incorporate unfavorable financial

conditions, that is, absence of fitting openings for work or nonappearance of great conditions for

doing business exercises. 'Push' factors additionally included antagonistic or temperamental socio-

political conditions when all is said in done or for explicit gatherings of individuals or individuals

from specific networks that may likewise mean infringement of their human rights or even dangers

to their people and property.

Gatherings of people in noteworthy numbers from African and Asian nations administered by

tyrants and military juntas have moved or have been compelled to move to either Europe or North

America for such reasons. Reference to the Jewish people group's dispersal likewise shows the

artifact of the marvel of Diaspora, that is, individuals voyaging ceaselessly from home and settling

among individuals with generally extraordinary social profiles. In our own parts, the presence of

the antiquated Silk Route is one such proof. Truth be told, Buddhism headed out from India to the

Far East and South East Asia on account of diasporic circumstances However, the greatest diasporic

circumstance in present day times-maybe of all occasions as additionally the most disgraceful

circumstance was made when extremely enormous areas of populace from various pieces of Africa

were expelled coercively to build up the Americas for their European pilgrim aces.

Writer‟s Diasporic Condition and Diasporic Sensibility

In the present artistic field, it is acknowledged by all that diasporic or exile writers are those writers

who have liked to settle in nations other than home nation, recognizing them from "Desi" or

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"established" partners. It ought to be noticed that while early ostracize composing were commonly

those of a vacationer on a brief period away from home. A significant number of the present days

exile have decided to settle abroad. Nonetheless, the present days composing by ostracize writers,

the setting and motivation is constantly gotten from the country. It is concurred that the ostracize

writer resembles an explorer beginning from a fixed point and moving along to any place life takes

the person in question.

The purpose for the adventure is the craving to investigate, to desert natural spaces and move

out into obscure locales, to contact the unbounded blue skies. The craftsman or a writer is much the

same as an explorer, a voyager, who out of the fights with himself, out of their own discontents,

proceeds onward restlessly, looking for new experience, finding new mainland‘s, new universes,

discover answers for issues experienced on course, frequently lamenting world abandoned,

deploring on the banks of Rivers of Babylon, or by the Thames or by the Ganges, dealing with the

evolving conditions. As Salman Rushdie keeps up, "The migrant, the man without boondocks, is an

original figure of our age." It isn't that ostracize composing is the twentieth century pattern. As

there have consistently been transients or exiles in the writer network.

T. S. Eliot moved eastbound, over the Atlantic; W. H. Auden moved west the other way. Sylvia

Path, Ezra Pound, Seamus Heaney, every one of them moves themselves even before the term like

'diasporic reasonableness' had come into normal use in the scholarly field. It is frequently asserted

that ostracize writer all the more regularly stays in what might be known as a condition of

enlivened suspension, on edge about his new environment, uncertain of his affiliations and his

underlying foundations. In the ostracize condition, there is lost topographical markers, de-

territorialization that appears to be unalterable. With this 'de-territorialisation,' there seems an

adjustment in singular sensibilities. Here, we can likewise compare this condition, with that of

Trishanku, a popular story from Baal-Kaand of the 'Ramayana'. According to the story, Trishanku is

balanced between three universes, ocean earth sky, the sky, the earth and the black market, hanging

in the middle of these three universes, in the remote structure that is implemented on him, he turns

into the ace of another world, not one he wanted for, however one that is shaped for him.

Trishanku‟ is also the title of a collection of poems by the Indian-born expatriate writer Uma

Parameswaran, who is now settled in Canada. This symbol of „Trishanku‟ appropriately describes the

predicament of expatriate writers. Similarly, a suggestive metaphor by FerozJussawalla, equally describes

the condition of an expatriate as he says; “We are like chiffon saris – a sort of cross-breed attempt to

adjust to pressures of a new world while actually being from an older one.

The ostracize writer consistently handles various trendy expressions like Diaspora, movement,

nationality ethnicity, insignificance, hybridist William Saffron applies the terms 'Diaspora' to …

exile minority networks which have scattered from a unique focus to at least two fringe or remote

districts, to individuals who hold their fantasies about their country and feel distanced in the new

land. As the exile writer encounters social, geological and passionate relocation, there develops a

diasporic reasonableness that mirrors the plural character of the writer. Their composing is

portrayed by a pluralistic vision. There is a consistent moving between two universes, traveling to

and fro between two regions. The writer barely any occasions pictures their nation of origin as a


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position of savagery, neediness, defilement and now and again it is romanticized. We additionally

observe that in the skimming scene, forceful powers pushing the person in question from all sides

aching to hold tight to old convention, customs and ways yet trapped on the planet he at last calls

his own particular manner not be the one he wanted for, nor the one he abandoned, yet an unsure

land which he should blend now. This pendulum development is found in most ostracize

composing with the writer got between the past and the present.

Indian Diasporic Writing

As expressed above, a large portion of the individuals who went out to frame the main Diaspora

were individuals from the winking class or the cultivating network. The vast majority of them were

ignorant. In this manner every one of the Legends, fantasies and society accounts they conveyed

with them to their new grounds were essential oral in nature. Also, it is to this collection that they

included when they made tunes and sonnets, stories and stories, productions and plays while

mirroring their new socio-social I reality and offering to each other. Some-not many however could

peruse and compose and these went about as communicators between the individuals from the

network and their families back home.

In the letters they composed without anyone else or their associates' sake where 'portrayed' the

subtleties of their new I lives-the living and working conditions, the climate and climatic conditions,

I the verdure and the fauna, the nourishment and the beverage, the dress and the dress I code, the

law and administration, the hosts and threatening vibe, the other 'others' 1 and the solidarity and a

heap different things. And keeping in mind that portraying all these, the 'writer' dealt with the

feelings of the one for whose benefit he was imparting. May be the individual didn't need him to

caution his kin I back home by coming clean about the working and administration conditions

India and Indian Diaspora

India and Indian Diaspora linkages the Perceptions which were nearly brutal and unfavorable. May

be, he would not additionally like to discuss extraordinary climatic conditions that just added to

their hopelessness. May be they would not like to say anything regarding the separation and

shameful acts distributed to them by their bosses and the general public on the loose. So he asked

his 'amanuensis' to make essential modifications. Once more, might be he needed the 'writer' to

adorn a portion of the depiction, especially those including his presentation, and so forth. Along

these lines, the correspondences sent home were basically 'f acts'- with something included here and

something subtracted there. Yet, at that point this is correctly what writing is about realities with a

couple plusses and minuses to a great extent. In this manner, correspondence sent to their families

by the diasporic people laid the seeds of writing. So also, in the melodies and lyrics they 'made and

sang, the accounts they described of their different encounters, they overstated or underplayed

'actualities'. This was writing in its early structure. These were the beginnings of Indian diasporic

compositions in its outset. This was so in East Africa, this was so in Mauritius, this was so Fiji, this

was so in Trinidad, Guyana and Jamaica and this was so in Malaysia and Sri Lanka. The exact

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conditions and conditions could differ, the semantic and social articulations could fluctuate yet the

way where Indian diasporic works from different areas came to be was pretty much the equivalent.

Afterward, when resulting gatherings of Indian workers landed on these or different areas,

especially those with proficient abilities, they based on this convention. Since they were proficient

and huge numbers of them exceptionally instructed, they composed as opposed to describing orally.

They created as well as distributed. While some did it alongside the quest for their callings, other

made this-composing their calling. In course of time, genuinely stable collection of such

compositions started to cries cross the worldwide abstract stage from different areas and a portion

of these writers started to be seen, perused, assessed and granted. Before long, some of them became

househo1.d names: Salman Rushdie, V.S. Naipaul, Robinson Mystery, M.G. Vassanji, Bharati

Mukherji, FaidaKarodia, Anita Desai, K.S. Mania and Jhumpa Lahiri to name a few. Indian

diasporic works in Canada started much similarly as they started somewhere else. To comprehend

its cause and advancement, in this manner, we should initially get some thought regarding the

Indian worker network in Canada-when and how could it start, who were its establishing

individuals, with what expectations and dreams did they land there and how evolved to what they

are today.

Indian Migrants

The Indian migrants started to land on the Pacific bank of Canada towards the start of the twentieth

century when Canada required huge scale human contributions for their climber industry, railroad

activities and wilderness clearing tasks as a piece of their extension toward the west. Having refused

through different laws-the Chinese foreigners who were chipping away at these undertakings prior,

the Canadian organizations supported Indian particularly solid, husky Sikhs from Punjab-to move

and work in parts of British Columbia. Detecting this as a monetary chance, Indian foreigners began

landing, from 1905 onwards, in clusters of all shapes and sizes - heading out first from Punjab to

Calcutta via train, at that point from Calcutta to Hong Kong by little ships lastly from Hong Kong to

Vancouver by CPR ships. The vast majority of them discovered work in observed factories, street

building, woodcutting and land clearing. By 2006, their number had expanded to more than 2000. It

is now that they started to pull in the consideration of the Local Canadians in a similar way in which

the Chinese outsiders had started to stand out before. The Indian outsiders were currently seen to be

removing occupations from the Canadians and they were seen to be 'dirtying' Indian! Diasporic

writing their way of life and society with their 'squalid' propensities and practices. Therefore the

feeling of distance that any gathering of individuals feel on moving ceaselessly from home became

complex more as a result of harsher climatic conditions and antagonistic conduct of the

neighborhood individuals. They were captivated by the this since they viewed themselves as to

'faithful regal subjects' and expected to be dealt with well in every British region.

Their feeling of interest went 1 to threatening vibe when the Canadian government, under strain

from the Canadian individuals, made laws and guidelines that disheartened Indians from relocating

to Canada for business. For example, a state of individual ownership of 200 dollars was forced on

each showing up traveler and, all the more significantly, the traveler needed to attempt a 'persistent


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section' from the port of embarkation to the port of definite goal with no break in transit. This was

for all intents and purposes unimaginable since there were no immediate boats employing among

India and Canada. At the point when the Komagata Maru occurrence occurred in May 1914, when a

ship with that name, persisting 300 travelers satisfying all conditions including I that of 'persistent

entry' was not permitted to dock and the travelers were not permitted to land they were not

permitted even nourishment and water-in spite of the way that there were ladies and kids on board-

the devotion of the Indian workers 'sneaked away with the sneaking away of the I deliver from

Canadian waters'. The foreigners understood that their abuse would end just if India were free.

Thus, they started to help the National Freedom Struggle through the Guard Movement that was at

that point dynamic over the outskirt in the United States of America.

Diasporic Sensibility or Diaspora Consciousness

Another nearly crisp way to deal with 'Diaspora' puts more weight on unfurling the assorted variety

of experience, a perspective and feeling of personality. Diaspora cognizance or reasonableness is a

specific sort of mindfulness said to be produced among present-day transnational networks. Its

peculiarity is portrayed as 11 being set apart by encounters of double or dumbfounding nature.

Clifford synopses diasporic reasonableness or Diaspora cognizance in the accompanying way;

Diaspora awareness is established both contrarily and decidedly. It is comprised contrarily by

encounters of separation and prohibition It can be said that diasporic awareness 'makes the best of

terrible circumstance'. The experience of misfortune, insignificance, and outcast (differentially

watched by class) are regularly strengthened by systematic abuse and blocked advancement. This

part of enduring exists together with the abilities of endure. Quality in versatile qualification, discrepant

cosmopolitanism and difficult dreams of recharging. Diaspora cognizance lives misfortune and

expectation as a characterizing pressure.

Diaspora cognizance and reasonableness is additionally identified with estimations of religion,

social examples, nourishment propensities and language. It very well may be called as 'character

markers' or 'social signifiers' who are based on encounters and the perspective of the Diaspora in an

outsider land. Early hypotheses of relocation were generally associated with constrained movement;

ostracize encounters of separation and exilic presences. In these hypotheses issues of digestion and

cultural assimilation figure altogether and strains of transients are characterized in a lot of double

terms, for example, area/disengagement, established/steered, home/freshly discovered land, and

Diaspora/habitation. These hypotheses focused on the feeling of estrangement and fantasies of

return and reclamation. The move from relocation concentrates to Diaspora speculations denotes a

significant nodal minute in our comprehension of the multifaceted settlement. Stuart Hall keeps up

that Diaspora characters are those which are ceaselessly delivering and replicating themselves over

again through change. Homi Bhabha's hypothesis of social perceives every social relationship as

conflicted, rebellious, transgressive and half and half.

Different Aspects of Diasporic Literature

The terms 'exile ‗and ‗Diaspora‘ are broadly utilized in nowadays. The words like 'worker', 'banish',

and outcasts‘ are additionally utilized in the association of diasporic speculations. These words

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uncover various highlights and parts of 'Diaspora'. The utilization of these words gives a few

recommendations of belief systems, inclinations, causes and commitments that may have

administered the demonstration of relocation. While 'foreigner' characterizes an area, physical

development, and forward-looking methodology, 'banish' shows a necessary and implemented

confinement and sentimentality for the past. The word 'oust' reminds different implications that

spread an assortment of associations with the motherland distance, constrained outcast, purposeful

outcast, political outcast, etc. In past the word, 'diaspora' alludes just to the dispersal of Jews very

nearly 4000 years back.

In the present age, the idea of 'Diaspora' becomes muddled having various ramifications. While

the customary meanings of the term in the scriptural Roman-Jewish convention worried upon the

states of the birthplace of the relocation, the ongoing utilization underscores the consequence of the

movement the nearness of diasporic networks. The term 'Diaspora' and 'exile' have today gotten

commonly synonymous but then the two words have various roots: ostracize starting in Latin and

Diaspora in Greek. Exile alludes to one who is away from a local land. In a negative sense, it

likewise implies banish. The previous forms of ostracize, for example, outcast, exile, and outsider

are today included under the umbrella term Diaspora. Exile is not quite the same as different

examples of relocation as in its part however scattered to numerous areas of the world, yet keeps up

their peculiarity and an enthusiasm for their country. William Saffron in "Diaspora in Modern

Societies: Myths of Homelands and Return" discusses the way that the word Diaspora is utilized as

a figurative assignment for a few classifications of individuals – 14 ostracizes, expellees, political

evacuees, outsider occupants, workers and ethnic and racial minorities.

Objectives

1. To appreciate and to investigate the idea of Diaspora and furthermore the terms frequently

utilized with it, for example, oust, cultural assimilation, absorption multiculturalism, and so

forth.

2. To make brief review of Indian Diasporic Literature in English alongside the writers of Bengali

beginning who structure another developing sub-bunch inside Indian diasporic writing in

English.

Conclusion

Diasporic experience is essentially about 'home' and 'world' where home represents the way of life

of one's cause and world alludes to the way of life of selection. Now and again the idea of home is

likened with that of the country one is naturally introduced to and world as the countries one moves

into or banishes one into. As a result of this feeling of 'oust', an elective term utilized for diasporic

experience is 'vagrancy', a term that was advanced by Said yet that is likewise a most loved of a

writer like V.S.Naipaul. Homi Bhabha would clarify this involvement with terms of what he calls

'gathering'- "social occasion of outcasts and émigrés and displaced people, assembling on the edge

of Indian Diasporic Writing 'outside' societies, gathering at wildernesses; assembling in the ghettoes

or bistros of downtown areas" as would he put it. Rushdie, then again, would transform home into


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'nonexistent countries' and compare them to broken mirrors a few bits of which are lost hopelessly.

In any case, the image that develops out of the messed up reflect that is to state, the diasporic

experience-might be not quite the same as the one reflected by a mirror that is entire yet it is no less

huge. It contains pictures of the giver culture as well as of the host society also. M.G. Vassanji would

locate a parallel for the diasporic involvement with a jigsaw astounds a portion of whose pieces are

again lost like the bits of Rushdie's mirror. For Vassanji, the innovativeness of a diasporic writer lies

in providing those missing pieces with the assistance of his creative mind and the resultant history

would be what he calls 'envisioned history'. Abdul a Mohammed portrays settler's experience I to be

that of an 'outskirt scholarly'- either 'secular' or 'synergetic'- the primary alludes to an encounter

wherein an outsider can't alter both to 'home' and 'world' at the same time while synergetic alludes

to an encounter wherein an ostracize can connect with both cultures the contributor and the

beneficiary at the same time.

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CHAPTER 30

EMERGENCE OF THE NEW WOMAN IN THE MODERN ERA

Dr. P.G. SHRIDEVI

Assistant Professor, Department of Studies in English

Karnatak University, Dharawad

A number of Indian women novelists made their debut after the 1980s producing novels which

revealed the true state of Indian society and its treatment of women.Antonia Navarro-Tejero opines

that these writers were born after Indian independence and their work is marked by an authentic

presentation of contemporary India. They generally write about the urban middle class, the stratum

of society they know best.1 The image of women in fiction has undergone a change during the last

four decades. Women are no longer characterized and defined simply as victims. Women writers

have moved away from traditional depiction of enduring, self-sacrificing, self-evasive women

towards conflicting female characters searching for identity. Anuradha Marwah Roy and Sudha

Murthy are two of many such novelists, whose novels have been selected for the present study.

The Higher Education of GeetikaMehendiratta by Anuradha Marwah Roy, published in 1993 is

about Geetika- a bright girl in a small town called Desertvadi in Rajasthan, who grows up nurturing

her parents‘ dream of her being an IAS officer.Her parents are academicians and are highly

idealistic. She acquires her M.A. degree in English literature with the highest marks in the whole of

Rajasthan. She falls in love with Ratish and gets influenced against taking Civil Service exams

indicating their non-suitability to women, who also have their family to be looked after. She begins

working as a lecturer at Lajpat Rai College and meets a group of women which is of a committed

and highly qualified academicians there.

She finds Ratish‘s parents disapproving of her due to the difference in status. She however

tolerates her insult by Ratish‘s parents. When even her parents are not spared of humiliation by

Ratish‘s mother, and when she receives a severe blow to her self-respect even by Ratish she takes

the step of breaking from him. She does not hesitate to continue her pregnancy and takes a bold step

of becoming an unwed mother and leading her life as a single parent and bringing up her son

Vasant by the sheer dint of confidence due to education and with it, her ability of writing stories.

In contrast to earlier novels, female characters from the 1980s onwards assert themselves and

defy marriage and dependence on men. In this novel, apart from Geetika there are other women too

who are independent and have their own identity. They are Ranjana Malhotra and Nandini Jain

Iyer. Ranjana faces the challenges of life alone after her divorce and brings up her two children on

her own. She makes her son a doctor and her daughter a fashion designer. Raju ki ma, her maid

says,―She is a man in the way she works, she does everything right from buying the vegetables to

paying the electricity bill‖.2


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Nandini comes out of her first marriage ‗bruised and broken‘ by her saddist husband.She had

her children to bring up and she takes up lectureship as her profession. Her second marriage, which

was arranged by her mother, also breaks up because of the husband, a businessman who thought of

her just as a ‗good drawing room decoration.‘3 She is considerably contented with her third husband

Raghu, a journalist who lives separately. ―We lead very separate lives but it works. He even

maintains a separate flat‖.4

There are other three prominent women in her department Arundhati Sen, Yvonne D‘Souza and

Sona Kapoor who are spinsters and independent.

Geetika asserts her own identity and paddles her own canoe. She does not want to be defined or

made by others and wants to remain as she is. She refuses to get defined by the sari and jewelry

offered to her by Ratish‘s mother and sister respectively. Whenever Raju ki ma said, ―A woman is

known by her men….. I (Geetika) would point out to her that Ranjanadi was well-known in her own

right and probably it was the son who got his identity from her.‖5

The character of Geetika is considered believable and recognizable by critics. Carol Andrade

feels that the novel depicts ―…the new Indian woman coming to terms with herself in an Indian

society from which she can expect no quarter and to which she will grant none.‖6

The transformation from an unsophisticated girl to a mature independent woman is traced in

the novel. But Geetika does manage to get highly educated though perhaps only in the truer sense

of the phrase. Towards the end she develops considerable fortitude to face the challenges she

would confront in life and debunks the idea that liberty of living one‘s life as one likes, belongs only

to men.

Writers likeAnita Desai made pleas for a better way of life for women by presenting the image

of a suffering woman, her sulking frustration and the storm within, in a male dominated society.

But these times demand a self-assertive and demanding voice of women.

Many Indian women novelists have attempted to establish an identity for women, which is not

brought in by a patriarchal society.

Sudha Murthy‘s central characters are middle-class women. In Gently Falls the Bakula(2008) it is

Shrimati, and House of Cards (2013), it is Mrudula who suffer the major parts of their lives though

they are all highly educated and are in a position to stand on their feet. But later in life they struggle

for their dignity and self-respect and succeed in it at the end.

Gently Falls the Bakuladepicts how woman‘s aspirations and aims are sidelined by her family

commitments and responsibilities. The novel revolves round Shrimati, who is a very intelligent girl.

With her highly focused mind and clarity of thought she opts for the Arts stream so as to continue

her studies in the field of History, which is her favorite subject.

Later she falls in love with Shrikant- her classmate, competitor and neighbor. In spite of the

rivalry between both the families, Shrimati and Shrikant get married. Her proficiency in History and

her ambition to pursue Ph.D. in the subject goes down the drain when Shrikant takes up a job in

Bombay and then is sent to America on a project. She is crushed under the obligations of her family-

She is first forced to work in order to repay the loan supposedly taken by her mother-in-law

Gangakka for Shrikant‘s education. Then unwilling to part with Shrikant, out of love, she

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accompanies him to America. She stands by him in all his endeavors and becomes the woman

behind his success forgetting all about her own ambitions. On the other hand, she is never shown

any affection by her in-laws and never considered to belong to the family even after several years of

marriage. ―She (Gangakka) was envious of Shrimati. All these days, Shrikant was solely her

property. She could not bear the fact that now he also belonged to Shrimati. Gangakka‘s happiness

was inversely proportional to Shrimati‘s‖.7 Though she is considered childless she does not reveal

that the real reason behind it was Shrikant‘s unwillingness to extend the family before completely

settling down. In his over-ambition he even completely neglects her. ―This Shrikant Deshpande was

only interested in name, fame, position and status. In building up his business, he had forgotten his

dear wife‖8. In just ten years of joining the company he had become the director from mere a trainee

software engineer. Shrimati realizes after quite a few years that she had become nothing more than

a secretary to him, looking after his appointments, guests, etc. and being devoid of all the love and

affection from her husband. She is extremely bewildered and disappointed when she realizes that

her sincerity and sacrifice had not even been noticed by Shrikant. She realizes how different her life

was from Bhamati‘s, whose story she had recited to Shrikant. Though Bhamati had sacrificed her

entire life in service of her husband, she is later acknowledged by her husband. It is ironic that

though Shrimati is similar to Bhamati in her service and sacrifice, Shrikant fails to notice it. He says

―….in today‘s society it is very difficult to find women like Bhamati‖9. Shrimati realizes that if she

continued to live this way, ―She wouldn‘t have any identity of her own. Her life would be that of a

planet which shines with reflected light, rather than that of a star which radiates its own light‖10.

She finally takes a firm step as ―She now felt that her greatest shortcoming was that she was not

ambitious. Had she been so, perhaps today she would have become a leading historian of the

country…‖11.Discontentment leads her to defiance and restlessness. Her anxiety, discomfort,

loneliness and isolation embolden her to give voice to her unhappiness over her troubled

relationship. The novel ends with Shrimati leaving Shrikant behind and going to America to pursue

her Ph.D. degree and to fulfill her dream.

In the House of Cards, the main character Mrudula is a much loved, free and happy young girl.

Sanjay, a doctor who is a scrupulous and virtuous person marries her. She works as a teacher in a

school. The first few years of their lives are spent with happiness and contentment which are

accentuated with the birth of a son to them.

But the vicious circle of corruption at Sanjay‘s workplace brings havoc to Mrudula‘s life. The

repeated blows of corruption on Sanjay, ironically turns him to a corrupt doctor, much against

Mrudula‘s resistance. Gradually he becomes a completely money-minded and unscrupulous

person, and goes on getting emotionally detached from Mrudula. This terribly disturbs Mrudula.

When her son, following his father, starts disrespecting and neglecting Mrudula, she is totally heart-

broken. She silently suffers pains wrought upon her by her most loved ones. When it is impossible

for her to put up with things, she thinks determining, ―I have to live life on my terms if I want to be

happy. And that‘s not possible with Sanjay around. He ridicules and dominates me and it affects my

confidence terribly. I can‘t take it anymore.‖12 Towards the end of the novel she decides upon

returning to her loved home town and her peaceful life. One can easily notice the determination in


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her voice, in her final words to her husband- ―I‘ve spent twenty-five of my most important years

with you and yet I never felt I belonged to you or your family. I‘m still an outsider….My duty

towards both of you is over. I‘ve fulfilled all my duties as a wife, mother and daughter-in-law. Now,

I want to live for myself. I have my job, my school and my village. You don‘t have to worry about

me any longer….‖13 The last scene of the novel shows Mrudula swinging on the same swing on

which she used to spend hours together during her youthful days. She returns to her serene and

contented life forgetting all her worries.

Through such characters, recent writers depict both the diversity of women and the diversity within

each woman, rather than limiting the lives of women to one ideal. All these novels show how the

middle-class women pine and perish and then come back to life with renewed energy and

determination. They attach great amount of importance to their dignity, self-respect and freedom.

These novels expose the domestic relationship in the Indian set up of the middle class society.These

two novelists have remained very truthful and realistic in presenting the women and the challenges

they face in their personal, professional and social lives. The novels show how women always gain

self-esteem in facing the adversities of their lives, assert their individuality and aspire for self-

reliance through education. They are completely capable of being independent and leading lives on

their own. Initially when their free spirits are curbed, all they can do is to suffer, compromise and

endure. But the moment they realise their strength, courage and the importance of freedom, dignity,

the women protagonists fight back, cross the patriarchal threshold and blossom into new women in

the real sense.Women seem to have understood that they need not pine all their lives, bearing the

atrocities meted out to them by men. They can break free from the imposed bond of marriage when

life becomes miserable by their near and dear ones. Education plays an important role in supporting

these women.

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CHAPTER 31

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS IN ANITA DESAI‟S

FASTING, FEASTING

B. MERCY GNANABAI


Idhaya College of Arts and Science for Women, Puducherry

Indian writing in English refers to the body of work by writers in India who write in the English

language and whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous languages of India.

Ram Mohan Roy is a pioneer of Indian writing in English.There are many notable writers in Indian

fiction such as Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, Salman Rushdie, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, Ravinder

Singh, Arundhati Roy, Chetan Bhagat, Preeti Shenoy, Raja Rao, Kishwar Desai, Khushwant

Singh,Vikram Seth, Kamala Markandaya,AmitavGhosh,AravindAdiga, Shashi Deshpande and

Nayantara Sahgal. These are the prominent Indian writers in fiction. The common themes of Indian

Fiction are alienation, sufferings, male chauvinism, kleptomania, gang rape, culture, identity,

superstitious beliefs, gender equality, religious, marital rape, poverty, Violence, democracy,

sexuality,and crime.

The American Anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher, Edward T. Hall (1959), whose

influential book, The Silent Language, first used the term ―Intercultural Communication‖ and he

generally acknowledged beingthe founder of the field.Intercultural Communication is a discipline

that studies communication across different cultures and social groups, how culture affects

communication. Intercultural communication is the verbal and nonverbal interaction between

people from different cultural backgrounds. It plays a role in social sciences such as anthropology,

cultural studies, linguistics, psychology and communication studies. Therefore, Intercultural

communication is the communication between two cultures. It is, in a way, the interaction with

speakers of other languages on equal terms and respecting their identities.Both Identity and culture

arealso studied within the discipline of communication to analyze how globalization influences

ways of thinking, beliefs, values, and identity, within and between cultural environments. It is also

an ability to understand and value cultural differences. There are many novels for Intercultural

Communication in Indian Literature such as Brick Lane by Monica Ali, Inheritance of Loss by Kiran

Desai, The Romantics by Pankaj Mishra, Mistress by Anita Nair, Jasmine by Bharati Mukerjee and

Baumgartner‟s Bombay by Anita Desai.

Fasting, Feasting is a famous novel by Anita Desai. This novel was shortlisted for the Booker

Prize in 1999 and it published in 1999. She received a Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978 for her novel

Fire on the Mountain (1977), from the Sahitya Akademi, India‘s national academy of letters. Anita

Desai is born in Mussoorie. Her original name is Anita Majumdar. She is an Indian novelist. She has


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been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times. She won the British Guardian Prize for The Village

by the Sea (1982). In 2014, she received a Padma Bhushan award.

Anita Desai‘s other important works are The Zigzag Way, Journey to Ithaca, In Custody, Clear Light

of Day, Games at Twilight, The Peacock Garden, Bye-bye Blackbird, Voices in the City, Cat on a Houseboat,

Where shall we go this Summer? Baumgartner‟s Bombay and Diamond Dust and other stories. Her novels

themes based on loneliness, Betrayal, migration, persecution, detachment, suppression, and

rootlessness. Alienation is a result of loss of identity. Another theme of Anita Desai is feminine

psyche, which constitutes a major part of Anita Desai's fictional material.

Fasting,Feasting is a novel deals with Indian and western cultures. This novel contains twenty-

seven chapters. In this novel, Arun is one of the vital characters and he is a brother of Uma. Uma

loves him and she taught cultures of India but Arun goes to America for studying, he cannot able to

bear the culture of America. Therefore, he tries to escape but his trying ends in vain. Then, the

situation changed him to accept and respect their culture and to communicate in their own

language.

―Offers such witty writing and such a clear and evocative structure that you

Take its suffering characters to heart…What transforms this world is the fact

That it is embedded in a beautiful literary universe‖. – BostonGlobe

The story depicts the struggles of Arun and his older sister Uma as the siblings attempt to strike

a balance between their parents‘ expectations and their own.Arun studies in Massachusetts while

Uma livesin a small provincial city with their parents, to whom she refers collectively as ―Mama

Papa‖. This novel has two parts. The first part takes place in India. It tells the story of Uma, the

eldest daughter of an educated Indian family. Her father is a lawyer. Uma‗s appearance is ugly by

her sister Aruna is pretty who had a beautiful marriage. Uma‘s celebrated brother, Arun who went

to America for his studies. Meanwhile, Uma stays at home to serve their parents. She embarrassed

by one failed attempt after another to marry her off. Uma is every chance to find some freedom and

her possessive parents thwart space. Even Uma is not smart, she has a kind heart and strong

willpower, and she grows immensely in spirit throughout the life-changing events in her life, So

that by the end of the novel she finds a place for herself in Indian society where she can show her

individuality.

The second part of the novel focuses on Arun. Arun is a younger brother of Uma. He is

studying college in Massachusetts. During the summer, when school is out, he stays with a local

family, the Patton‘s. This part deals with the decline of the family structure of America, Patton

family of America and the American obsession with materialism. It explores Arun‘s own difficult

quest to find the independence and freedom from familial obligation in America. Arun childhood

was one of the oppression. His father oppressed him. When he went to America, he remembers his

ways and how he spends the time with his friends and relatives. Arun changes in his behaviour and

way of communicating. At the American University, he finds himself isolated in every way from his

culture and even others from India. His isolation is more or less his own choice but he wants space

and freedom.

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Arun‘s character based upon Intercultural Communication.Arun is the quiet, introverted baby

brother of Uma, and the youngest child of Mama and Papa. From Arun‘s birth, Mama and Papa

proudly invest all of their hopes and dreams into Arun, smothering him with attention and forcing

him to study until he has no energy left. To the disappointment of his parents, who value meat-

eating and physical strength in males as signs of wealth and progress, Arun is a vegetarian who

shows no athletic prowess. Prodded along by his father, Arun lethargically flies off to the University

in Massachusetts. At college in America, Arun tries to free himself of his family and any other

associations that threaten to entangle him. Arun fears being drawn into the judgment and

expectations of others, and seeks personal freedom by withdrawing from social interactions and

both Indian and American society.

Arun manages every situation, food, culture, language, customs, communication, behavior and

life styles of America. He is seeing large malls, clubs and ways of dressing and communicating

shocked him. Later, his mind changed into western aspects. Love and Passion are differently from

Indian society, to expresses those emotions by the parents itself different. When he was studying in

America, he met Patton‘s family, who lived there. They are very different from their parents. Mrs.

Patton compels him to have a companion of her daughter, Melanie. Melanie calls him for

swimming, he does not like swimming he hesitate to come. He cannot see the nakedness of both

mother and daughter; he just packs his things to India. However, he cannot reach the entry of

Patton‘s home. That family stops him. No way to escape by Arun, he just has a practice of all the

things and stayed there itself.

Thus, I conclude my paper at First, Arun cannot bear the culture and language of America but later,

he was changed totally by accepting those cultures and way of speaking. He itself initiates to follow

those cultures and ready to respect those cultural aspects. Now, Arun is not a brother of Uma, he

became a fashionable person. At initial stage, Arun shows his own identity, he involved in spiritual

activities and more religious too. Later, his own identity changes and he became an excellent citizen

of America.


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CHAPTER 32

CHILDRREN‟S LITERATURE-VIOLENCE IN COMICS

B.S. REKHA

Assistant Professor, RNS First Grade College, Bangalore

Introduction

Children‘s literature is commonly outlined as material written or created for the knowledge or

diversion of kids. Children's books have a vital role within the lives of our young, however

additionally encourage acquirement in language learners. The stories themselves are to market

vocabulary and language skills, diversion, learning experiences, material, social skills and any

variety of skills within the early reader.The shift to a contemporary genre of children's literature

occurred within the middle nineteenth century, didacticism of a previous age began to form means

for a lot of tongue-in-cheek, child-oriented books a lot of attuned to the child's imagination. John

Newberg [9th July 1713 – twenty second Dec 1767] known as ―The father of children's literature‖

was associate degree English publisher of books World Health Organization initial created

children's literature a property and profitable a part of the literary market.

Characteristics of Children's Literature

• Repetition-Children‘s literature are full of repeated events, days, numbers, words which help in

the children learn

• Didacticism-Children's literature is written to teach children and not just entertain them..

• Illustration- Illustrations help in catching the attention of children and stimulate their

imagination

• Optimism- The optimistic perspective is a big part in children‘s literature.

• Fantastic- The fantasies in children‘s literature emphasises and stimulates the imagination in

children.

• Innocence- The major characteristic of children's literature is exploration of innocence.

• Action- Children‘s literature are full of action. Children are much more able to relate to action

and basic emotions.

Children's literature originally were passed down orally from generation to generation. Irish

folk tales can be traced back as early as 400 BCE, while the earliest written folk tales are arguably the

Panchatantra, fromIndia, which were written around 200 A.D. Children's literature provides

opportunities, appreciation about their own cultural heritage as well as those of others, develops

emotional intelligence and creativity and nurtures growth and development of children. Literature

is a communication of thoughts, ideas and feelings through the written word. It is a transaction of a

very personal message between one individual the writer and the reader. The pictures convey the

meaning which help children understand even if they can't or are learning to read.Reading picture

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books is a multi- sensory experience, the world helps increase vocabulary, with true repetition of

language it allows the child to participate which embeds new words into their minds.

Literature teaches us how to live. It makes the reader visit places, experience events, meet

people, listen to them, feel their joys and sufferings. It takes years to acquire so much wisdom that a

single look of literary merit instils in a reader. Literature mirrors the society and its mannerisms.

Purpose of Studying Literature

Studying literature requires more than reading literature. When children study literature

theyinterpret their own life and emotions and find ways to relate to the story. Its main purpose is to

enlighten, to protest against something, to challenge, to educate, inform, comfort, confront,express

and even to heal in some cultures. It allows children to develop new ideas and ethical standpoints

and can help them to describe society. Studying or knowing about literature can be enriching, eye-

opening experience.

Four types of literature

Poetry

Fiction

Non-fiction

Drama

We are living in a golden age of young-adult literature when books ostensibly written for teens

are equally adored by adult readers.

Methodology

In this study, documentary screening method was used as one of the data collection techniques. In

this method, books were reviewed and an assessment was made by examining the products of

children's literature through sample texts. Documentary screening is defined as data collection by

examining existing records and documents. This technique is called as "documentary observation"

by Duverger (1973), "document method" by Rummel (1968), and many others. Best (1959, p.118)

describes this technique as a data source, systematic review of existing records or documents.

Findings

There has been a steady increase in the number of people who research academically on children in

our country. This is a clear indicator for increasing value given to the child and his education. The

works that colouring the world of a child's imagination, enriching their imagination, but also

helping them use the language understandable and effectively, and guiding the child towards the

right morals are examined within the scope of children's literature products. These works should be

prepared keeping in mind that children have a different perspective in looking at the world as

compared to adults and only then they can be used as effective tools in children‘s education.

They must be able to introduce the life of humans to children with a realistic standpoint. They

should prepare the child to life, respond to questions that child cannot find the answer in life, and


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should help to complete missing information. In this process of information, transmissions should

be submitted within the development of the events.

Writing for children primarily requires 'consciousness of children'. According to writing for the

child means to know that consciousness does not belong only to adults; understanding,

comprehension and explanation are not monopolized by adults. Child is a conscious being;

perceives, understands and evaluates. So it is essential to work according to this knowledge and

focus should be on developing this consciousness.

Not only family and the local environment guiding but children‘s literature products also play

an active role in preparing the children for the future. Children's literature products cater not only

to the needs of an individual but also prepare the individual to have national, ethical, social and

universal values.

A basic question arises as to what defines children‘s literature:

• Literature written that is made for children?

• Literature that talks about children?

• Literature whose readers are only children?

In order to answer these questions open for discussion for many years, first we must enlist the

things we know. The first of these is the presence of the line that can count as publications for

children and those books written for children. Since children's and adults perspectives on life,

issues, and philosophies of life are separated from each other the content, language and expression

needs to be different for children's literature. Even though some products in children's literature are

read with pleasure by adults and children, those books not written for children are referred as

children's literature products. Robinson Crusoe written by Daniel Defoe for adults (1709) and Mark

Twain's Tom Sawyer (1876) are good examples of products of children's literacy. These books were

not originally written for children but now are excellent examples of books for children.

Children's literature that is intended for the children to have fun while getting educated, is a

literature composed in a period of 300 years. This occurrence continues by developing rapidly in

terms of the written tradition, literary value, aesthetics and form in recent years. In children's

literature products ethic values such as judgments, didactic, informative, instructive, and

counselling outweigh more. With emotional and mental development of child, he feels closer to

others and understands them better. With socializing, children improve better and begin to seek

further enjoyment and pleasures. Considering the foundations of language development laid and

strengthened in young ages,children‘s literature go a long way insupporting child‘s language

development, expanding the vocabulary and contributingto aesthetic pleasure and thought system.

Children's literature in the West are mainly through literary products such as lullabies and fairy

tales. This shows that, children's literature is an appliance which is transferring the value judgments

of a society, traditions and customs from one generation to the other. In or country these come from

the stories told by grandparents and parents and are transferred from one generation to the next.

The fairy tales which are supposed to be for very small children are very graphic in their

portrayal of violence. In most stories there are either animals which are cunning and wicked or step-

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mothers who are cruel to their daughters-sons. These portrayals does help in making the children

understand the abstract concept of good and bad. The stories of ―Red Riding Hood‖ depicting the

fox as wicked or Hansel and Gretel where the witch is depicted as wicked or the famous step-

mother and step-daughters in the Cinderella story are perfect examples of depiction of wicked

people who inflict violence on the main protagonist.

The stories usually depict heroes or heroines who lost their mothers to death, being forced to

continue to live with their step-mothers. These heroes are always good-natured, friendly, innocent

and helpless whereas, the step-mothers/fathers are always evil, cruel, and jealous. They are also

sometimes witches and either punishing or plotting to kill the main protagonists. Nowadays, there

is an increase in second marriages because of death or divorce. The children are already prejudiced

against their step parents after reading such stories while growing up. This stops them to approach

their step parents with an open mind.The next type of children‘s literature are the comics which

children start to ready very early in their age. The olden comics from ―Indrajal comics ―which had

characters like Mandrake the Magician, Phantom, Bahadur all had their own way of depicting

violence to showcase their heroes. The new age ―Marvel Comics‖ are even more graphic in their

depiction of violence. They even use latest gadgets to propagate violence which are very attractive

to children.

Result and Suggestions

Children's literature domain should be determined by the children's perspective and not adults‘

perspective. Offering better quality books must be one of the foremost tasks of adults. The

collaboration of author, artist, educator, psychologist and designer should be such that they should

ensure that children see the facts and keep adjusting the dosage during the creation of themes in

children's literature.Writers and animators working in this field, should work in such way so as to

make the children accept their own truths through the texts and not strangulate children‘s

independent thinking and preventing them to express their thoughts. The books which the children

read have a profound influence on their growth and development. They also frame their morality

and personality.When children see hero and heroines using violence as a tool to achieve their goals,

they have emotional breakdown and the wrong moral concepts creep into them. Therefore,

children's literature should not be written in a way which cause damage to child's feeling and

thoughts. It should aim to bring up a balanced, healthy individuals who are conscious of their

responsibilities. The habit of reading and love for books help children to adapt to their communities

more respectfully and gain a respectful position in the society.


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CHAPTER 33

AN INTRODUCTION BY KAMALA DAS THROUGH MY LENSES:

A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON

AN INDIVIDUAL

PRIYA DARSHINI

Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of English

VISTAS, Pallavaram, Chennai

Dr. V. JAISRE

Associate Professor and Research Supervisor, Department of English

VISTAS, Pallavaram, Chennai

Introduction

Influence of Gender on an Individual in an Introduction by Kamala Das

When a child is born the very question that comes to our thought is whether the infant is a boy or a

girl? Since the time immemorial, a girl has been glorified with the aid of thinking about her to be an

embodiment of sacrifice, submissiveness, chastity, humanity, silent suffering, loyalty, and

knowledge however in the current era, many educated Indian ladies have determinedly opted

writing as their profession. With the emergence of present-day Indian female writers, developments

of Indian writing in English have modified considerably. In the past, lady representation in the

works of literature was once almost negligible. Male domination was once additionally positive in

the subject of literature in the latest past. But education, dedication and the progressive issues

adopted via the modern-day Indian girl writers have helped them to establish themselves in the

discipline of literature in spite of initial problems confronted by them. Themes of the works of

current Indian female writers are targeted on woman characters and their issues. This revolutionary

theme has left a deep effect on the minds of the readers.

A few influential women writers are Shobha De, Manju Kapur, Bharathi Mukherjee, and

Kamala Das. Their sole aim is to weed out gender discrimination and they want to bring about a

change in the attitude of the people in the society by desiring that man should cease to consider

woman as a product. Feminist Literature brings to light the basic difference between a boy and a girl

or a man and a woman in the changed context of contemporary life. Therefore, in the works of

literature of woman writers, the focus of attention is on identity crisis.

Indian Women Writers have depicted woman characters with their modern perspectives. In

their novels, a woman is not a mere goddess. There is a transformation as far as the depiction of

female characters in their novels is concerned.

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Fighting against the Influence of Gender on a Person‟s Language

An Introduction is one of the most well-known works written by Kamala Das. Her frank tone, the

quest for identity, self-assertion, and revelation makes it a masterpiece and pave way for other

subjugated class of women who also want their identities to be established.

She announces that though she doesn‘t comprehend anything about politics, she can take the

names of the politicians like the title of days, months, weeks. It shows how influential and effective

those human beings would have been on the subjugated type of women.

Then she bestows the fundamental records about herself that she is Indian and brown in colour.

She emphasizes the language and tells us about the heartfelt connection with the language two she

has by stating, ―I speak three languages, write in two, dream in one‖ and the language in which she

engraves feels like her own.

She states that she is being judged for the language in which she writes i.e., English and is being

criticized by way of her relatives, friends, all people for English is now not her mother tongue and

she finds upset due to the fact there is now not a single person who will stand through her side to

support and encourage her. Even though English is now not Das's mother tongue, she inscribes in it

because it has grown to be her personality and for that, she wrestles with anybody to assert herself.

She pronounces the medium to carry her feelings, emotions, and ideas in writing and the languages

in which she writes. According to her, the comfort level she has with the languages ought to be

given significance instead of perfection.

According to Das her English language is 'half English', 'half Indian' but it is as true, real, and

genuine like we human beings are. She compares her language with the cawing of cows, roaring of

lions. Likewise, she expresses it in her voice that offers her freedom to communicate herself and the

language feels like her own, its‘ faults, errors, mistakes, flaws, drawbacks, shortcomings, its‘

uncommonness, peculiarity, and its' strength, advantages, supremacy, strong points as well. So

finally she asks the ‗critics‘ i.e., ‗friends‘, ‗visiting cousins‘, everyone to leave her alone.

“The language I speak

Becomes mine, its distortions, its queerness

All mine, mine alone.” [Harris, ―Kamala Das: The Old Playhouse and Other Poems‖, 2011, p.p 26]

Fighting against the Influence of Gender on a Person‟s Identity

Kamala Das introduces a new section in the poem where she is in despair. She expresses her grief

and tells her readers about her unhappy marriage. She had been told that she was old enough to get

married because of her physical appearance and compelled for an early loveless marriage when she

was only sixteen. During this period if the Indian women didn‘t get married at a tender age they

might be looked at as abnormal, defective, faulty, imperfect, bad and having negative qualities.

When she required love she was once forced into the bedroom. Though she wasn't beaten by

her husband she was once in endless pain. She felt as if her physique had been overwhelmed or

damaged absolutely.

―… he drew a youth of sixteen into the

The bedroom and closed the door. He did not beat me


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But my sad woman-body felt so beaten.” [Harris, ―Kamala Das: The Old Playhouse and Other

Poems‖, 2011, p.p 26]

She says that it is the fault of her ‗body‘ that resulted in affliction because she is female

biologically and that is why she wants to get rid of this female appearance. She wears trousers from

her brother and lops off her hair. She breaks all the traditional conventions of the patriarchal society.

She doesn't want to be submissive, weak, meek, slavish, spiritless, and cringing anymore, hence she

rebels against the existing social norms which don't allow her to dream.

―I wore a shirt and my

Brother‟s trousers, cut my hair short and ignored

My womanliness.” [Harris, ―Kamala Das: The Old Playhouse and Other Poems‖, 2011, p.p27 ]

Here we can see how gender is trying to control, influence and have an effect on a person‘s

thoughts and identity.

Journey from Subjugation to Self-Assertion

This is so contrary, the people who she was once criticized in the beginning, she is now attempting

to look like them physically. We can see how mentally disturbed she would have been. Hence

determined to fight in opposition to and ruin all the conventions of the patriarchal society to create

her presence and existence in the world.

In the following section, she tells the readers about a man who she once loved. The man is no

longer given any identity or any attention due to the fact he is unimportant as he stands for the guys

who deal with ladies as objects. He tries to make her experience inferior by means of making her

submissive. The poets ask the 'man' who is he? He replies that he is 'I'. 'I' right here stands for

authority to make others do what they want to fulfil their desire. She says that a man of this nature

moves out of the house to 'drink' at the age of 'twelve', doesn't come home and halts at 'hotel of

ordinary towns' she says that the vision between 'man' and 'I' is no longer clear. She calls herself

with each the names 'saint' and 'sinner'. She says that she is not trapped anymore and free to do

something she likes. She too considers herself as 'I'. She doesn't simply talk about unfaithfulness or

infidelity alternatively searches for love.

The poem's tone is regular but striking, bold and confessional. She generalizes each other girl

who is forcing an unhappy marriage on her and is in pursuit of a variety of love that offers security,

protection, care, and love. She rebels in opposition to the patriarchal society which keeps her

interior the four walls and curtails her freedom. She suggests how desperate and reluctant she is to

come out and let her speak in the language she likes.

Kamala Das: Fighting for all the Subjugated Class of Women against Gender Inequality

Kamala Das is a well known Indian woman writer who has created a revolution in Indian writing in

English by her candid and confessional writing. She is known for her boldness and striking

originality.

All the women characters of Kamala Das are seen as women making a laboured and strenuous

effort against all problems. The strength of feminism is apparent in her works. This is seen in the

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struggle of female characters, their insecurity, and vulnerability, search and pursuit of identity,

freedom and liberating attitude, the women psyche and their biological world. In one of her works,

An Introduction she talks about male dominance and patriarchal pressure and control that are

subjected to oppression.

Conclusion

An Introduction [Harris, ―Kamala Das: The Old Playhouse and Other Poems‖, 2011, p.p 26-27]is not

only an outspoken, frank, bold, and direct piece of self-assertion for self-identity but also about her

love for the language in which she thinks, speaks and writes.She has been depicted as passing

through a tremendous change i.e. from the state of bondage to freedom, from indecision to self-

assertion and from weakness to strength from darkness to light.


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CHAPTER 34

THE POST CULTURAL COGNITION AND FRAGILE CIVILIZATION

IN

DENIS JOHNSON‟S FISKADORO

R. PRIYANGA GANDHI

Research Scholar, Department of English, School of Social Sciences and Languages, VIT, Vellore

Dr. J. ANIL PREMRAJ

Assistant Professor Senior, Department of English, School of Social Sciences and Languages, VIT, Vellore

P. GOPIKRISHNA

Research Scholar, Department of English, School of Social Sciences and Languages, VIT, Vellore

Introduction

This paper demonstrates the post cultural cognition and fragility of civilization reflected in the

novel Fiskadoro from the civilized background, social subjects, and reasons why the civilization by

destroyed, respectively. The novel follows a group of survivors living in the aftermath of nuclear

war. It is mostly like experimental science fiction with a number of different cultural and literary

influences. The post cultural elements deal with the effects and impacts of nuclear war and the

cognition about the fragile civilization. It resembles an anthropologist‘s report on a primitive

society. From the ashes of war, people want to create their new lives and find the way from their

complex connections with both history and the present. Johnson depicts the dominant theme that

civilization is fragile. Among the ruins, America‘s mainland as considered as a place destroyed by

nuclear war. Fiskadoro uses an apocalyptic background to recreate the new humanity from the old

traits. The bonds of Twicetown from the mainland United States by quickly frayed when a nuclear

incident separated a Florida Island. The insistent grip of myths is an additional subject, both from

old people and marsh people‘s stories and customs. The people of Twicetown are technically

quarantined, somewhat the rest of America abandoned by the nuclear accident. However, the

possible way of life is entirely a matter of their responsibility to continue by self-reliance. The people

from the small island were severely constrained their own opportunities. Johnson associates with a

strict gender division of labor society which largely reverted to pre-industrial, social and economic

patterns. The flashback scenes are more interesting then the present-day scenes in the story by

lacking in terms of general consensus among literary critics and readers. In particular, the new post-

apocalypse America as a melting pot of cultures by the back story of Mr. Cheung and his

grandmother frame. Americans of various ethnic backgrounds try to form the American dream as

envisioned the new nation in the Florida Keys to their forefathers.

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The Nuclear Fear and Death Dust

The novel shows the cultural cognition of the nuclear fear and death dust caused by nuclear war.

The cultural cognition meant that the knowledge about culture and how its values shape public risk

perceptions and related policy beliefs. Cultural cognition refers to the inclination of individuals to

be conventional beliefs about uncertain matters of truth to ideals that define their cultural identities.

In the beginning of the twentieth century, many felt that the humanity to profusion not only of

material goods but of brotherhood and wisdom by science. And just as human life begins with a

union of man and woman, so to move matter toward rebirth, the adepts aimed to bring about a

marriage of ―male‖ and ―female‖ chemical substances. At the time of war, there was solid

information about actual nuclear warfare. Most people filled it in with the myths that had come into

being long before the first bomb burst. Usually, a fraction of the public paid scant attention to world

news, but a poll reported that 98 percent of all Americans had heard about atomic bombs. During

the first few years, people did not fear anything specific or immediate. Since the public realization,

that at some point in the foreseeable future, no city on earth would be safe by struck many people

right from the first news. This is a new experience to the people to hear about many dangerous hints

about bomb blasting in the war. The atomic fear still remained in their minds. In the end, civil

defense agencies spread images of nuclear disaster more efficiently than even the atomic scientists

had done. The demands of survival in our evolutionary past have given power to memories of

terrifying events. ―My name Fiskadoro,‖ the boy said, ―from over the Army?‖ (Johnson, 2003)

Fiskadoro, a teenage boy, is a central figure in the novel. His story based on many stories about the

hopelessness of life that focus on a coming of age into a whole new way of life.

Social and individual regeneration is a major theme in this novel. Physiological embedding is

strong and immediate for the emotion of fear, much more so than for other emotions such as shame,

lust, or even happiness. ―I am a cultural entity. To be a cultural entity is not unique. What is unique

about me is that I know about it‖ (Johnson, 2003). Mayor style had been out of keeping with

contemporary passions and beliefs. The one other emotion that has such a strong effect is disgust.

Like fear, disgust is a bodily state that in, a few seconds, can imprint the brain for a lifetime. Around

the world, people were coming to realize that civil defense could never guarantee their safety any

more than international controls could, or spy hunts, or soldiers with antiaircraft cannon. But such

insecurity was intolerable.―The White Dot rushed in utter silence up against his sight and exploded

with unbelievable brilliance, the All White, the Ever White, the Ultimate White of the Nucleus, the

Atomic Bomb‖ (Johnson, 2003). A solution had to be founded. Many ideas that became central to the

debate over nuclear weapons in later decades got a trial run during the 1930s. For example, the

―deterrent‖: a nation should develop bomber fleets and poison gas so that its enemies would fear to

start a war. Science-fiction stories from the 1920s onward applied the same idea to atomic bombs. As

a result of the war, the unimaginable loss held at that time. The effects and impacts of the war are

mainly influenced by this novel.


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Fragile Civilization

Fragile civilization is a leading theme in this novel. The weakness of present society is mainly

distressing because of future threats, which will stress our civilization very harshly. So they need

much knowledge and also unity to get safely through the difficulties of the future. Civilization has

become more and more complex, and it has become increasingly fragile to disasters. At the time of

war, people face lots of problems in personal, social, political, and also economically they are down.

―As the black man helped him across the sandy parkinglot, Cheung thought, I'm from the other age-

a formerlife-that's why I remember the Atomic Bomb…He hadread about the condition called

epilepsy and was afraid itcame from radiation‖(Johnson, 2003). The other major character Cheung

describes his former life. It is a memory belonging to a ghost. The electricity should fail for a very

long period whenever the power cuts or transportation failures due to the effects of war. It is very

clear that without electricity, the complex society would stop to function. The country is dependent

on the high efficiency of modern agriculture because the population of the world is now so large.

People are also very dependent on the stability of the economic system for their survival.Economic

collapse is another threat that will have to face in the future. The complex construction of human

civilization is far too precious to be risked by a nuclear war. Every individual from various

backgrounds affected personally and economically by the effects and impacts of war. By working

together, we must now ensure that it is handed on the whole to the future generation. The aftermath

of the nuclear war, civilization has been built up using a worldwide replacement of ideas and

inventions. It is constructing by the success of many antique cultures. It is essential in need for

sharing scientific and technological knowledge. From the part of nature, the power of science is

derived by an enormous concentration of attention and resources. Here science is considered as a

cooperative not competitive. It should be a memorial put together by many thousands of hands,

each totaling a stone to the cairn. This is true not only of scientific knowledge but also of every

aspect of our culture, history, art, and writing, as well as the skills that construct day by day

substance ahead which our lives depend. For this cause, civilization is very supportive of the

development of culture. The cultural inheritance is not only immensely valuable but also so that no

individual understands all of it. It is not impossible to neither construct the new culture by a single

hand nor, do the vast majority of people work together to attain the goal.

Conclusion

Fiskadoro is a prominently original haunting cautionary story with seeking meaning and aesthetic

beauty in a blasted world from the threat of nuclear disaster. Two themes that are mostly

interrelated by the novel, one represents civilization, and another one represents nuclear war. As a

result, the first part is defeated by the latter one, and the civilization of the country has been

destroyed. The aftermath of the war, people from various backgrounds, is trying hard to rebuild

their dead society from the wastes of war, but they are stuck in the past.Johnson portrays the

optimistic vision of a possible future from the major characters of the novel. Up to here, the story is

based on historical fact, but the rest becomes increasingly like a dream. The people from the world

of destruction keep their eyes open to witness the upcoming of a new civilization.

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CHAPTER 35

ESSENCE OF EXISTENTIALISM

Dr. BISMA KHURSHEED

Lecturer, Adesh University, Bathinda, Punjab

Existentialism is a philosophical and a literary movement which emphasizes an individual‘s

existence, freedom and choice. It started in the mid nineteenth century and reached its zenith in the

mid twentieth century. The basis of existentialism is that despite existing in an irrational universe,

humans have an ability of defining their own implication in life and also to decide reasonably and

rationally and in order to deal with this nothingness and to derive significance and purpose in life,

one has to embrace existence.

According to Existentialism, we are free beings and therefore we must take complete

responsibility for our own selves. This responsibility does at times lead to a profound dread or

anguish called angst but its main emphasis is on freedom, action and decision in order to rise above

the absurd condition of humanity. This absurdity of life is characterised by suffering an inevitable

death. Existentialism is a reaction against various traditional philosophical schools of thought like:

positivism, empiricism, rationalism etc. whose endeavour is to discover a definite order and a

universal meaning in the structure of the world and in various metaphysical principles.

In the contemporary philosophical and literary scenario, Existentialism is generally applied to a

school of 19th and 20th century philosophers, who despite profound doctrinal differences believed

that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject-not merely the thinking subject, but the

feeling, acting and emotions of living human individuals. This emphasis was retained by the

subsequent existential philosophers in varying degrees on constituents and how one achieves a

satisfied living, what inner and exterior reasons are involved and what problems must be

conquered, which includes the probable results of the existence. (Cooper 1999: 8)

According to Existentialism, meaninglessness leads and breeds human life, which is considered

quite bleak. Existence of man which is finite and temporal is dealt with by major existential writers.

Man has to remain busy in a heroic struggle for existence so as to make his existence meaningful

and in this journey of life man faces unexpected situations, dismay, anguish, ennui, hostility,

irresolution, anxiety and free will. The awareness of his life being nothing, his platform in life seems

to crumble. He desperately wants to die in this state of despair but cannot. At the same time, he

finds it impossible to shut his eyes to the yawning abyss before him. He finds it impossible to either

stay or go back.

Margeret Drabble Points Out

In Existentialism, each person is what he/she chooses to be or become and cannot escape

responsibility for character or deeds by claiming that they are the pre-determined consequence of


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factors beyond one‘s power to control or resist, nor can we justify what we do in terms of extermanor

‗objective standards‘ imposed upon us from without. (2000:342).

―Existence precedes essence,‖ is the actual suggestion of existentialism which means the actual

life of the individual (existence) precedes the predetermined definition of what it is to be human

(essence). Hence through their own consciousness, humans determine a meaning to their life and

create their own values. Rena Descartes‘ famous maxim, ―I think therefore I am‖ to a great extent

sums up the philosophical basis of existentialism. Existential philosophy to a large extent is a loose

conglomeration of aesthetics, perspectives and approaches used while dealing with the absurd

world and its inherent difficulties. In its essence, it deals with finding and creating sense for oneself.

This viewpoint emphasizes on the limitless capacity for the intellectual and ethical individuals to

perform a change in the world. Hence for a true existentialist, positive change is imperative or else

his existence is a complete void or a vacuum.

Regardless of his autonomy of preference, Existentialism presents the indefinable nature of an

individual who is still a bunch of ambiguities. Existentialism signifies that in a meaningless

indifferent realm of life, man is alone but he has the liberty to choose his actions and hence is

accountable for his own destiny. Life is not governed by human nature as man‘s actions determine

his nature. Hence a common feature of human nature cannot define man. After his ―thrust towards

existence‖, man becomes what he conceives and wills of himself. In simply means that it is not

enough only to ―be‖ but one should strive to be ―something‖ in order to make life purposeful.

Hence the philosophy of existentialism is an optimistic means to approach reality.

Existentialism is a term used both for philosophical concepts and literary works. Existentialism

is primarily a set of ideas about human existence, yet its exact implication depends on the particular

writer, because various writers refused any attempt to restrict their thoughts into a pre-defined

category thereby objecting to the concept of being called ‗existentialists‘.

The major Existential writers include:

Soren Kierkegaard

Franz Kaffka

Paul Sartre

Friedrich Nietzsche

Martin Hiedegger

Eugene Ionesco

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Albert Camus

Charles Bukowski

Samuel Beckett

Henry David Thoreau

Simone de Beauvoir

Paul Tillich

Maurice MerleauPonty

Karl Jaspers

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Martin Buber

Miguel de Unamuno

Gabriel Marcel etc.

From the writings of important existential philosophers and writers, one can deduce following

features of existential writing:

1. Existence precedes Essence (Sartre)

It signifies that when Man is born, he has no meaning, purpose, definition, goals etc. Hence Man

exists first and then defines himself. Existentialists out rightly deny the priority of essence over

existence. Essence is a universal possibility which having an inherent nature, is common to all

individuals (e.g. humanity etc). Essence is conceivable by intellect or reason. On the other hand,

existence relates to the actual being of the individual or a particular human being, its particular

actuality belonging to a specific place and time. Existence can only be grasped by one‘s own

immediate experience.

2. Freedom

Existentialism believes that Man is entirely free and hence should take personal responsibility

for oneself. It emphasizes freedom, action and decision as fundamental and strongly suggests that in

order to rise above the suffering one has to exercise personal freedom and choice.

Existentialists are individualists that advocate utmost liberty and a sense of being responsible for

the individual in spiritual social, cultural, political and ethical matters. It is actually a revolt against

authority. This spirit of revolt is manifested in Kierkegaard‘s revolt against the religious

authoritarianism and the Church which tends to destroy the inner spiritual development of the

individual. The spirit of revolt against authority was also evident in the modern existentialists like

Sartre, Marcel, Heidegger who underwent terrible suffering during and after the European wars

brought about by the totalitarian government and autocratic leaders.

3. The Ubermensch (Nietschze)

Ubermensch (Overman, the Ideal human being) is a joyous free spirit, a creator of values and

the one who gives preference to earth by wholeheartedly embracing it, rather than pining for the

ultimate heaven. This signifies Nietzsche‘s philosophy of overcoming obstacles, traditional values,

herd mentality and finally one‘s own self to achieve something greater.

4. Responsiblity

When Man becomes aware that he is a self determined, conscious individual having the utmost

freedom to choose what he wants, he also gets aware of the fact that he is primarily responsible for

what he has chosen to be. Hence Man realizes that he is ultimately responsible for what he does and

what he achieves in life.

The concept of responsibility proves that:

One always has a choice

Man is not a victim of any conditions be it physiological, psychological, economic or social.

Therefore, one is responsible to develop one‘s own unique indivisuality.


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5. Death

In Existentialism, death is not a biological or physical event but the awareness of the fact that

one is going to encounter death. According to existentialism, death is an important source of

absurdity in life and also the final context of all human actions.

6. Facticity

Facticity is both a condition of freedom and a limitation. One‘s facticity comprises of facts which

one has no chance to choose (e.g. birthplace etc.) and is hence a limitation. But ones‘ principles are

most likely dependent on it. Facticity is quite strongly associated to the notion of liberty.

For instance, there are two men, one having no memory of his past while the other who vividly

remembers his past. Both of them are criminals yet the first one is able to lead a normal life while

the other is entrapped in his past thereby blaming his past for everything bad he does. Even though

his past has nothing to do with his wrongdoing.

Sartre very well defines it in Being and Nothingness as ―in-itself‖- a mode of not being. It is what

it is not and is not what it is (Sartre 1992: 112). In relation to the temporal dimension of past, it can

be more easily understood: ‗One‘s past constitutes oneself.‘

7. Authenticity and in Authenticity

Authenticity liberates individuals from the shackles of socio-historical limitations and helps in

establishing oneself as a limitless potential, who is free to be whatever one wants and not be

constrained by the external values, ideologies and exigencies. So by being an authentic being, we are

free to overcome bad situations and circumstances. It involves the idea that Man is the creator of

one‘s Self. An authentic act is the one which is in accordance with his freedom.

On the other hand, inauthenticity implies denying living according to one‘s freedom. For

instance, while convincing oneself that some form of determinism is true or trying to pretend

thatchoices are random and without meaning or acting as ‗one should‘ which is simply mimicry,

these are all different means of inauthenticity.

8. Angst

Angst, usually referred to as anguish, fear or apprehension, is a very common term in

existentialism. Angst is a German word from which the anxiety is derived. Man becomes anxious or

encounters angst on realizing and recognising the fact that He alone is responsible for his actions.

Because of this he feels a dual feeling of exhilaration and dread at the same time.

9. Despair

This is related to collapse of one‘s individuality. It denotes loss of hope in view/reaction to a

breakdown of one‘s self or identity. Kierkegaard says, ―When I despair, I see myself to despair of

everything; but when I do this, I am not able to come back myself. In this moment of decision it is

that the individual needs divine assistance...‖ (1954:60).

10. Reason

Emphasizing liberty, decision and action as fundamentals, existentialists resist themselves to

positivism and rationalism.In epistemology Existentialists are usually anti-objectivists, anti-

intellectuals and anti-rationalists. After Kierkegaard, all existentialists decried intellect and reason

that ignore and miss the totality or whole wealth of inner individual experience by just picking the

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abstract aspects of things. They out rightly oppose the notion that human beings are primarily

rational and instead look at where people find meaning. They assert that people‘s decisions are not

based rationally but on the meaning to them. Hence the common theme of existential thought is

rejection of reason as a source of meaning and also there is spotlight on feelings of dismay and

anxiety that is felt in the face of our consciousness of death and our own fundamental liberty. For

Kierkegaard, strong rationality was a mechanism which is used by humans to counter existential

anxiety or their fear of being in the world: ―If I can believe that I am rational and everyone else is

rational then I have nothing to fear and no reason to feel anxious about being free.‖ However, he

advocated that reason is insufficient when it comes to existential problems but rationality can be

used as a means to interact with the objective world e.g. Natural sciences. ―Human reason has

boundaries.‖ (Kierkegaard Vol. 5:5).

11. Absurdity/ Encounter with Nothingness

The term Absurd means ‗out of harmony‘, meaninglessness. Its dictionary meaning: ―out of

harmony with reasons or propriety, incongruous, unreasonable, illogical‖. (Buber 1957: 102). In

simple terms it means ridiculous. It is a basic human instinct to find order and meaning in the

environment around him. But when Man comes into contact with the world, he encounters a state of

absurdity because he gets frustrated by the refusal of the world around him to be

meaningful/orderly.

This word is used in two ways: in the first instance it is a kind of separation or gap between the

world and a man. Second sense of nothingness is that of futility. In this sense, awareness of

nothingness leads man from an inauthentic to authentic existence, who seeks to fill the inner void by

his thoughts and actions. On finding that nothingness resides within him, man is greatly anguished

and hence is free to undertake whatever he chooses.

This notion signifies that there is no implication to be found in life outside what connotation we

offer it. This meaninglessness encompasses ―unfairness‖ and amorality of the world. The

fundamental problem of all literature has been this disproportionality of things. Man‘s dilemma

which is very strongly found in existential writings is his confrontation of intention and reality.

Sartre uses Absurd to characterise the fears of non-being and the apparent futility of life.He says

that universe is neither ethical nor immoral; neither fine nor worse and hence meaningless. And

man‘s life is as mysterious as the functioning of the universe.

12. Alienation

It is a feeling that man is a stranger both in this world and to himself. Many facets of life can be

alienating and this alienation is the primary source of absurdity.

13. Individual and Society

In existentialism, liberty and the voice of individualism is important in society. An individual

has to uphold his relationships with the active society as he/she is not just a lonely person in the

infinite wasteland. In Sartre‘s opinion, an individual not only represents his own self but also all the

other persons who build a society, hence an individual is a representation and indication of society.

―And when we say that man is responsible for himself, we don‘t mean that he is responsible only

for his own personality; but that he is responsible for all men.‖ (Sartre 1948: 29)


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Although there are many existential thinkers but according to Datta, ―If we confine our

attention to these five namely: Marcel, Jaspers, Sartre, Heidegger and Kierkegaard, we find that they

do not form a well-knit school nor do they hold any well defined set of doctrines.‖(1961:508) Infact

they all garnered curiosity in the meaning and problems of existence, particularly man‘s own inner

existence thereby opposing abstract philosophising and system building.

The connotation of man‘s ‗existence‘ is the main concern of existentialism. The individual man, his

extraordinary nature is the centre of this philosophy. A person‘s nature keeps dwindling between

earth and the heaven as is stated in Shakespeare‘s Hamlet, ―What a strange piece of work is man!‖

At once so grand and so vulnerable; an amalgamation of both dishonourable and dignified

impulses. The quintessence of his existence is a mystery, a burden laden with anxiety, fear,

desolation, tension and dread woven into a fine fabric. Hamlet‘s burden of ―to be or not to be‖ is the

burden of every Man (Shakespeare: 97). ―What a strange creature man is!‖

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CHAPTER 36

ASSIMILATING THE PLURALITY OF CULTURE IN THE

POSTCOLONIAL CONTEXT OF BEN OKRI‟S SONGS OF

ENCHANTMENT

V. AJITHA

Ph.D. Research Scholar, Reg. No. 18121284012005

St. Xavier‟s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai

Dr. LIZIE WILLIAMS

Assistant Professor & Head, Department of English St. Xavier‟s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai

Postcolonial theories popularized during the late 19th and the early 20th century after the emergence

of the great literary critics of Postcolonialism: Michael Foucault, Edward Said, Homi Bhabha and

Gayathri Spivak. Postcolonialism as the term refers to does not only mention the period after

colonialism. It also refers to the transformations and variations that happened in the culture, social

background, history, architecture, economic development and the way of life. Every colonized land

suffered from a mass of transformation till the infinitesimal changes in the lifestyle. In history, the

most affected colonized land could be seen as Asia, Africa, Australia and Canada. Among these

colonized nations, Africa and in particular Nigeria had undergone a massive modification which

make the people to survive in the land with their unique identity.

The most distinct changes that could be witnessed in the colonized land after the intrusion by

the colonizers are the changes in language, culture and territory. The real identity got slowly

departed and people unknowingly felt too comfortable with the culture seconded by the colonizers.

They were more at ease with the institutions, the articulations and the governing force while at the

same time felt hard at their burden upon them. They gradually unremembered their culture,

history, tradition and the ancestral practices. When Edward Said‘s argument focuses on the West as

a superior force trying to subvert the East comprehending as an inferior one, Homi Bhabha further

develops Said‘s analysis as Culture being in a state of motion. According to him, Culture is always

in a constant state of change. As Homi Bhabha explains in The Location of Culture as:

The theoretical recognition of the split – space of enunciation may open the way to

conceptualizing an International culture, based not on the exoticism of multiculturalism or the

diversity of cultures, but on the inscription and articulation of culture‘s hybridity. It is the

inbetween space that carries the burden of the meaning of culture, and by exploring the Third

Space, we may elude the politics of plurality and emerge as the others of ourselves (LC)

Therefore to Bhabha, the binary characters that define colonizers from the colonized, centre

differing from origin, civilized differing from savage and enlightened community varied from the


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ignorant are purely a fantasy. He explains that in order to wipe away the differences of superiority

and inferiority there must be an intermediate space, a third space which stresses on the plurality of

cultures. So, this space is where the colonizers and the colonized both meet and have a discourse

negotiating and throwing away their past differences.

Majority of the Nigerian authors struggle for insisting their culture and tradition argue about

their losses and sufferings under the heavy hands of the colonizers. Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka,

Femi Osofisan, Buchi Emecheta and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie confront the oppositional force

demanding them a solution for the past age of torments, Ben Okri the eminent Nigerian novelist

and a Booker Prize winner contributes his thought process on Homi Bhabha‘s interstitial space. He

describes how culture transforms the natives living within it and how the inhabitants surviving

within this society exist within the domain of plurality. His notion of writing to literature is claiming

his identity as a Nigerian and thereby explaining how his people have adapted a diverse culture. He

further reflects on life as a prism which demands a total liberality from the imperialistic control.

Ben Okri became so famous because of his „abiku‟ trilogy and this paper discusses the second

fiction of the trilogy Songs of Enchantment. The distinguished aspects of plurality in the postcolonial

Nigeria are clearly seen in this novel. The protagonist Azaro, a spirit child lives in an unnamed

ghetto where the people of the entire locality lives within the clutches of the politics and the poor

economic situation. Of all the people suffering badly, Okri shows some characters like the Old man,

Madame Koto and the parties of the Rich and the Poor who treat the ghetto dwellers in a more

submissive manner. Some people trying to achieve a better social class abides their ways whereas

some characters like Azaro, Azaro‘s dad and mom, Ade and the photographer try to turn the

people‘s attention towards their ancient means advising them of their ancestral spirits.

According to the critics Ben Okri makes his fiction unique by means of ‗magical realism‘. But he

rejects this criticism. According to him he declines the European way of calling it as a technique

instead he forecasts it as the traditional practice of communicating with the sprits as their identity

which will be no more a fantasy for the Nigerians. More of being a fantasy fiction, he tries to

implement the inhabitants‘ way of living a ‗double life‘ making the next generation disregard and

disown their identity. Ben Okri does not want this to happen. So through his works, he tries to

restore the lost identity and makes the future generation to remember their ancestral stories and life.

Ben Okri says, ―Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart bigger‖ (SOE 46) He

believes on the fact that stories surface entirely from within and without. Stories develop any artist

either be it a novelist, painter or critic everyone is developed from stories. His trilogy also comprises

numerous stories which all end up teaching the moral values for the young ones in Nigeria.

As the fiction, begins Azaro was described by Okri as, ―The spirit – child is an unwilling

adventurer into chaos and sunlight, into the dreams of the living and the dead‖. (SOE4) He was not

ready to come into this world when the king of the spirit land gave him a chance. But looking at the

mother‘s cry and the father‘s struggle to grow him he came to this world. But at the moment he

entered the land he was continuously being tortured by his companions of the spirit land. As Azaro

being the narrator of the fiction describes, ―In short my spirit-companions played havoc with my

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education. They made me seem strange to the other children, and so I didn‘t have many friends‖.

(SOE5)

So, as a spirit-child Azaro suffers the torments of his companions and as a willing creature plans

to remain in this world to observe things in the society. While Azaro was doubling his identity from

being a sprirt-child living in the human society, his father was trying to give the beggars a better

education free of corruption and bribery. He calls the beggars for a party in his first book The

Famished Road and promises them he would make their future a prosperous one. They believed his

promises but since his father had become sick, he could not be able to endorse their hope. When he

returns back to those beggars, they refuse his apologies and leave him abandoned.

Ben Okri all through his trilogies gives importance to things that are related to mark his theme

strongly. His motif of bringing the images of forest, road and river are insistently portrayed just to

make the readers comprehend that they are the chief identities of Nigeria. He also puts a point that

the spirits still exist in the forest. In his Famished Road, he begins by saying that, ―In the beginning

there was a river. The river became a road and the road branched out to the whole world. And

because the road was once a river it was always hungry.‖ (TFR3) Similarly in Songs of Enchantment

he centers the importance of spirits existing in the forest as:

… when I looked up I saw that there were gigantic spirits everywhere. Their thoughts pervaded

the forest like scented woodsmoke. I knew instantly that they belonged to the slow migration of

the great spirits of Africa. Where were they going? I had no idea. Their dreams were

impenetrable, locked and coded in gnomic riddles. In the time we had been running

civilizations had risen, had fallen, had disappeared. Transformations are faster at night. In the

same time great leaders had been assassinated. I heard their astonished cries (SOE26).

In the same way in Infinite Riches, Okri exclaims about how the spirits get furious when the

government cuts the forests for civilization. Thus Ben Okri narrates a series of events that would

insist on the other world trying to have a discourse with the humans when science and technology

disregard their presence.

Meanwhile Ben Okri also talks about the exploitation of politics in their everyday life. He

describes how politics is intertwined in their mean habitual activities and it worked for the worse in

their existence. When Azaro‘s dad goes behind the beggars cursing his mum for not reminding

about him the plans made for the beggars, Azaro‘s mum goes and joins with Madame Koto, the

representative of the ghetto dwellers to the superiors. When he was searching her unknown about

her unity with Koto, he understands how Azaro‘s mother suffers badly in the mist of political thugs.

Even the place where she used to sell her things was replaced as she had not supported the parties.

Thus political influence had a major role in the midst of the poor people of Nigeria.

Madame Koto‘s portrayal of character depicts an unclear notification such that she helps the

poor women of the community but on the other hand enlarges her bar and makes it as the centre for

political discussions. As Azaro comments on her development as, ―The bar had undergone another

of its fabulous mutations … Everyday was a celebration in her bar – a celebration of power, an

affirmation of her legend.‖ (SOC36) When Azaro was keenly waiting out of the bar for her mum, he

could hear, ―Women sang quivering about political songs that spoke of the new era of money and


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power.‖ (SOE 38) Whenever Azaro and his family get vexed, the only thing that encourages him is

the stories that his mom and dad tells him. This could be witnessed as the personal influence from

Ben Okri himself. He dedicates all his fiction to his mother Grace Okri and believes strongly on the

power of stories. Among the entire ghetto dwellers Azaro‘s family alone truss in the emergence of

the ancestral spirits reigning between them. They also eagerly wait for a sign or a message from the

forest. While Azaro was a willing child, loves to live in the human world, as a factor of juxtaposition

Ade is his companion who hates to live in this world and does all sorts of things to get away from it.

He literally hates being in this world which is filled with immorality and penalizing issues.

As the world gets transformed the anger of the spirit is clearly explained in the book II of the

fiction. As Azaro being the narrator says:

While all this was happening the trees were being felled every day in the forest. We heard the

stumps screaming in the evenings. The words went round that the spirits of the forest had

turned vengeful … The forest became dangerous. It became another country, a place of spectral

heavings, sighs, susurrant arguments as of a council of spirit elders, a place with fleeting

visions of silver elephants and white antelopes, a place where elusive lions coughed – a bazaar

of the dead (SOE68).

Ben Okri never deviates from his narration though many sub events were taking place.

Whenever he gets an occasion, he stands by his notion of stressing the value of the identity and

cultural significance. He says creation by the colonizers were for men and even after their presence

those creations were helpful to some extent but as like the colonizers, their culture gradually began

to dominate the people and the natives started to be a slave for the ways that they had taught us.

Through Azaro‘s mum Okri explains, ―Corruption came upon the people and grew fat. Diseases

dwelled in them and Misery had many children amongst them. The world turned upside down.

Creation became confusion.‖ (SOE 75)

Being a wanderer, Azaro has the capability of going into the dreams of any human being.

Through this power he overviews the dreams of the Blind Old man and Madame Koto. He found

that their dreams were thirsting for a nation that completely surrenders itself in the hands of the

political thugs and the colonizers who stands invisible but makes the people as puppets. Azaro says:

―I was knocked about iin the old man‘s dream of a dying country that had not yet been born, a

nation born and dying from a lack of vision, too much greed and corruption, not enough love, too

many divisions.‖ (SOE91)

According to Azaro‘s dad the political parties were stuffing too much of greed and corruption

in the minds of the Natives which thereby corrupts the entire society. As the plot converses much

about their aims, the preparations were made for the forthcoming elections. People became so busy

about it. At this juncture Madame Koto‘s car driver slays Ade, Azaro‘s companion and the fiction

comes to an end where Ade‘s dad, the carpenter tries to kill Madame Koto but was brutally

slaughtered by the Political thugs.

Before his death Ade‘s last words forecasts the longings of Ben Okri. He says, ―My destiny was

not to be an assassin, but a catalyst. The tears of a child dying of hunger in a remote part of the

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country can start a civil war. I am the tears of a child. I am the country crying for what is going

to happen in the future.‖ (SOE196)

The elections were not also a great success. Both the parties argued and slashed with one

another. As the fiction drives too its end, Ben Okri says, ―Innocence fled from our community, and

to smile was no longer an expression of joy, but of some hidden triumph over others.‖ (SOE208)

After Ade dad‘s death the world did not even care to bury him and the dead corpse lied there in

front of Madame Koto‘s bar. Azaro‘s dad became blind. Ade‘s spirit recommended Azaro to bury

his father‘s dead corpse. So finally Azaro‘s dad burins the corpse but the consequences of burying it

it is further discussed in the third part of his trilogy. All through his trilogies, Okri demands a

continuation in a clarified way.

Thus, on forecasting the lives of Azaro‘s family, Ade‘s family, the blind Old man, Madame Koto

and the political thugs of the Rich and the Poor, Ben Okri says, ―A good man first has to be blind

before he can see.‖ (SOE242) He asks the Natives to see things spiritually at not physically. It is quite

difficult to survive in a multi-cultural milieu but just surviving is not living. Living is the act of

absorbing our true culture, relishing it and resisting it whenever it demands. Thus Ben Okri‘s fiction

Songs of Enchantment explains the characters‘ existence in a society of plurality and their resistance

thereby paving a way for defending the true culture, history and way of life for the future

generation.


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CHAPTER 37

THE EXILIC MEDITATIONS: FATWA IN SALMAN RUSHDIE‟S

TWO YEARS EIGHT MONTHS AND TWENTY-EIGHT NIGHTS

MURALIDHARAN ANJALI

Guest Faculty, KVVS College of Science and Technology, Adoor, Pathanamthitta

Exile is a universal phenomenon. The writers who are exiled are often cut off from their roots and

want to create something new by subverting the present day concepts and escape into the world of

imagination. They find themselves on a wobbly bridge between the two shores, where the new

unknown territory has to be appropriated and familiarized while the old known territory becomes

the realm of the imaginary. Many writers consider exile akin to remain alive. The writers lose their

original home when they are exiled to foreign lands. Roberto Bolano in his article ―Literature and

Exile‖ writes:

Literature and exile, I think, are two sides of the same coin, our fate placed in the hands of

chance. I don‘t have to leave my house to see the world, says the Tao Te Ching, yet even when

one doesn‘t leave one‘s house, exile and banishment make their presence felt from the start.

Kafka‘s oeuvre, the most illuminating and terrible of the twentieth century, proves this

exhaustively. Of course, a refrain is heard throughout Europe and it‘s the refrain of the suffering

of exiles, a music composed of complaints and lamentations and a baffling nostalgia. Books are

the only homeland of the true writer, books that may sit on shelves or in the memory.

This concept of being lost is constantly worked into the imagination and myth of the displaced

individual.

Salman Rushdie is often regarded as the ‗magician of exile‘. The theme of roots, route and

rootlessness has become an explicit and intricate part of Rushdie‘s plot. His novels delineate the

psychological crisis resulting from the forfeiture of identity and roots. In the process of searching the

homeland, Rushdie as well as his characters lost their roots, routes and identity. The fatwa imposed

on Rushdie led to his exile in 1989. This sense of exile is a kind of travel as a solution to escape into

the world of fantasy. He wishes to re-establish a new world, which is against the notion of unreason.

Exile, which is problematic and complicated, in a way helped Rushdie to create more new works,

which kept his name in the recognizable position. Even though there is a problem of permanent

cutting of the roots, through his absence a ‗presence‘ is created. His novels too have characters

suffering from exile.

The core issue of the exiled is concerned with the question of ‗Identity.‘ As an immigrant moves

from place to place, region-to-region, his identity becomes hybrid and fluid because of these

geographical movements. The migrants may live in new places but that is only as imaginary

homeland-- they never feel comfort in their newly occupied home/country. They live, as Bhabha in

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The Location of Culture states, ―in between two geographical cultural locations, which is often

perilous and marginalizing,‖ and these ―in between places provide the terrain of elaborating

strategies of selfhood singular or communal–that initiates new signs of identity‖ (17).

Rushdie in this context of migration brings the theory of ‗fantasy.‘ According to him, all

migrants like him are fantasist. For him fantasy is not only a part of reality but it helps him to rise

above reality and it pronounces a seeming freedom of creativeness as the distinguishing feature of

art. It not only hassles the fictive elements in the plot but also is, revelatory of the mind behind the

work. Imaginary nation states are fabricated on existing ones. Imaginary and real countries, both

have to deal with the question of history, and to some extent, they thrive in fluctuating it.

Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty Eight Nights is often described as the modern Arabian Nights.

The novel brings forth several issues related to the modern world and community. This mock

historical work describes a time when magic and reality co-exist and the tale contains legends,

myths and partial records stitched together in Rushdie‘s recreation of A Thousand and One

Nights. The novel Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, can be regarded as Rushdie‘s

attempt to get back to his familiar territory. He has used the past to illuminate the ideas of

alienation, exile and suffering.

In the novel, the characters since the beginning tend to migrate from one place to another. The

Fairy Princess Dunia migrates from the jinn world Peristan to the Earthly human world. One day

she appears soon after the beginning of Ibn Rushdie‘s exile and later she slips through the slit in the

world and returns to Peristan. Like Azaro of Ben Okri‘s The Famished Road (1991) and Songs of

Enchantment (1993), Dunia too has an access to two worlds. This kind of a shift mainly happens due

to exile. As she is destined to travel, she is able to visualize the world from a different perspective.

The protagonist Geronimo Manezes leaves Mumbai and migrates to the New York City. The

other dark jinns namely Zabardast, Zumurrud, Ra‘im Blood-Drinker and Shining Ruby, have

migrated to the human world from Fairyland to create havoc. Towards the end of the novel, the

jinnia queen leaves her children and sacrifices herself for the goodness of the world. Thus, the novel

presents numerous characters who hover around in different worlds searching for a place where

they could fit in.

The philosopher in this novel Ibn Rushd has all the shades of the writer Salman Rushdie

himself. Even the name of the character is evocative. His book The Incoherence of the Incoherence was

set on fire and he was sent to live in exile. This draws a close reference to Salman Rushdie. It is

apparent from the outset that Rushdie identifies with Ibn Rushd not only because he is his

namesake, but also because they commonly share the ideas that had led their books to be burned.

Salman Rushdie was a man who faced the consequences of his actions like the philosopher

Averroes. When Ibn Rushd challenged Ghazali, his reward was disgrace and exile. As a matter of

fact, Ghazali may be considered who has a close semblance to the supreme leader Ayatollah

Ruhollah Khomeini, who made death threats against Rushdie including fatwa calling for his

assassination. This has guided to Salman Rushdie‘s humiliation and exile. This leads to the

existential crisis in the writer. The writers who became the pawns of exile tried to establish the fact


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that he/she ‗exists.‘ They always try to assert their identity and magnify their reputation as a writer.

Rushdie in his celebrated text Imaginary Homelands (1991) states:

Exile is a dream of a glorious return. Exile is a vision of revolution: Elba, not St Helena. It is an

endless paradox: looking forward by always looking back. The exile is a ball hurled high into

the air.

There are clear implications on the references to terrorism and freedom of expression. The

impact of Rushdie affair continues to endure. After the demise of Khomeini, the Iranian government

openly committed itself in 1998 not to carry out the death sentence against Rushdie. Rushdie

subsequently emerged from his enforced exile and he continued to write. In the same manner, the

philosopher was exiled but after the victory of the Caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub in the battle of Alarcos

he bought the ascendency of the ‗fanatical Berbers‘ to an end and summoned Ibn Rushdie back to

the court.

In Ibn Rushd‘s exile, he rather unwillingly takes a young Jewish girl as a concubine, who

unbeknownst to him is the jinni Dunia. She bore his children; there were a large number of off

springs, a group of earlobeless people whom she calls the Duniyazat, asserting her authorship of a

lineage. The usual name for this authorship is ‗paternity‘, and its importance is ignored since the

time of Ibn Rushdie and Dunia deeply offended to this idea and said ―that because we are not

married our children cannot bear their father‘s name‖ ( TETN 11). Even the protagonist Mr.

Geronimo Manezes could not get his father‘s surname, and he received his mother‘s instead. He

wished he could have the roots spread under every inch of his lost soil. Hence, the characters lack

the real root of their ancestors and consequently they receive the surnames of their mothers.

The strongest male figure Mr. Geronimo, after the death of his wife Ella Elfenbein, becomes

lonely in an unfamiliar city. He is a physically and emotionally vibrant character, likable for his

strength and humility and his homesickness for the city of his childhood, Bombay. He is an alien of

the uneasy feet, doubly uprooted and a detached personality, separated both from the earth itself

and the Indian birthplace that he loved. ―Mr. Geronimo understood that his feet had developed a

significant new problem. He walked out onto the mud and his boots neither squelched nor wedged.

He took two or three bewildered steps across the blackness and looked back and saw that he had

left no footprints.‖ ―It‘s a miracle‖, (TETN 49). Lady Philosopher said. ―Look, Oldcastle, a real

miracle. Mr. Geronimo has taken leave of solid ground and moved upwards into, let us say, more

speculative territory‖ (TETN 49).

The exiled characters in Rushdie‘s work is not a singular person, rather he or she has to

constantly to move on, who is persistently looking forward while also necessarily looking back. This

two faced-ness, that is the hope that faces forwards and the memory that faces back is what

characterizes the exiles. It is what gives them their particular position and particular power. When

Mr. Geronimo, the male protagonist arrived in Peristan, he felt sickened for his home and was lost

in both space and time. He wishes to return to the earthly world of his past routine but to stand with

the Fairy Queen and to win the battle against the dark forces drives him backward. There is a

feeling of contingency to the story. Mr. Geronimo visits Fairyland, but his thoughts turns to the

earthly world where he dreamt about his lost wife, his lost self and his lost trade. ―Home too was

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now estranged, and needed to be fixed‖ (TETN 196). The Fairyland of curved palaces defended by

sheets of lightning, this fable of lovesick jinn, dying kings and magic boxes unspooling their stories

in the tricky hands of spies, this was not for him. He was a denizen of the lower world and was in a

situation of homesickness.

Almost all the characters in the novel feel physical and mental alienation. One is dependent on

the other like a parasite. Every character moves on with a universal motif in their mind, either to

bring forth peace or destroy the world.

Maybe there were identifiable persons, destabilizing persons, who were somehow responsible

for the destabilized world. Maybe these were persons carrying within themselves some sort of

genetic mutation that gave them the power to induce paranormal happenings, persons who

posed a threat to the rest of the human race. It was interesting that the so-called storm baby had

been wrapped in the Indian flag. (TETN 85)

The agony of separation becomes another major concern in the novel. Separations of all sorts

were reported in those incomprehensible days. ―The fabric of human life was beginning to unravel‖

(TETN 161). The separation of human beings from the earth was bad enough. ―In the world of

literature there was a noticeable separation of writers from their subjects‖ (TETN 161). The

separation plague spread rapidly across the world. Eventually not only Geronimo, the other

characters like Sister C. C. Allbee, Lady Philosopher and Oliver Oldcastle got detached from the

ground and started floating mysteriously like the human balloons. They were a foot or so off the

ground, without any hope of redress. The Storm Baby, swaddled up in the Indian flag has been

detached from its mother and is discovered in the cabin of Mayor Rosa Fast.

Mr. Geronimo is suffering from the adversity of levitation. History had slipped away from him.

He confronted himself of the survival techniques that would give him a livable life, not a

conventional or easy existence, but one that should be workable.

He turned on the television. The magic baby was on the news. He noticed that the magic baby

and he both had the same ears. And both of them now lived in the universe of magic, having

become detached from the old, familiar, grounded continuum. He took comfort from the magic

baby. (TETN 103)

The characters in the novel thus face existential crisis and they try to assert their identity in the

world.

Rushdie collides memory and dreams through one of his characters Jimmy Kapoor. He is a

graphic novelist confronted by his own fictional creation Natraj Hero. ―Jimmy Kapoor was the first

to discover the wormhole‖ (TETN 68). One day in the night, he wakes up with a start of terror

where he encountered a multi-limbed individual in his bedroom. When he told about this to his

mother, she told him the ―unusual thing is never the true thing‖ (TETN 68) and not to be mad about

chasing the dreams. This echoes the beginning of Kafka‘s novel Metamorphosis (1915). Consequently,

he began to doubt his own memory. His cousin Normal suggests him to ―Stop dreaming. Wake up

to reality. That is Normal practice‖ (TETN 70).


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Rushdie continues to write

When Alice fell down the rabbit hole, it was an accident, but when she stepped through the

looking glass, it was of her own free will, and a braver deed by far. So it was with Jimmy K. He

had no control over the wormhole‘s first appearance, or the entry into his bedroom of the giant

Ifrit, the dark jinn, disguised as Natraj Hero. But on this second night, he made a choice. Men

like Jimmy were needed in the war that followed. (TETN 71)

Hence this time he came across a beautiful young woman from the fairy land, the jinnia herself.

Geronimo comes into the control of a magic storytelling box that serves as a mirror or an echo

for the book‘s structure. As each layer fell away a new voice told a new tale, none of the tales ended

because the box inexorably found a innovative story inside each unfinished one, until it seemed that

digression was the accurate and true principle of the universe, that the only real subject was the way

the subject kept varying. The swing from one story to the next is lightning-fast only intermittently

signaled by something as formal as a chapter transformation or italics. The narrative is a speeding

cacophony, each person's life story, heartbreak, or moment in time skillfully rendered then

abandoned in a long fleet-footed riff.

In the novel, the identity of half jinn and half human is put into question. The descendents of

Aasmaan Peri posses a special kind of jinn power and their identity is being altered as the

strangenessness began. Rushdie incorporates humour through the story of the jinn who is very

much enthusiastic about sex; like humans who are passionate with extremism. His use of satire

usually takes the form of a tongue-in-cheek pervasive humour. His humour is subtle, astute and

takes the reader by surprise. Rushdie presented his readers with a postmodern text. The narrator is

opening up a cacophony of characters and numerous contexts. Rushdie is echoed or mirrored as

Scheherazade, replacing Aladdin, Ali Baba and Sinbad for the postmodern characters like Mr.

Geronimo the gardener, Jimmy Kapoor the stressed comic book artist, as well as Dunia the Princess

of Lightning.

Through utilizing the legendary fairy tales as the backbone to his tale, and interweaving it with

portrayal of city skyscrapers and X-Men posters on bedroom walls, Rushdie fabricates a vicious

kind of symbolism that reminds a reader of the international and domestic crises being faced in the

21st century: migration, religious extremism, totalitarianism, and racism. Depictions of Fairyland

and the jinn merge with references to pop culture, creating a seamless harmony between the

readers‘s factual and the writer‘s fantastical thoughts. The combination creates pockets of

unapologetic humour, which wonderfully colours the novel and relieves it from being

overwhelmingly brooding aspects.

Rushdie in the role of a storyteller forges the fantasy images of the past into masks of the

realistic images of the present, enabling the performer to visualize the present within a context the

past. Flowing through this powerful emotional grid is an array of ideas that have an impression of

antiquity and ancestral sanction. These antique fantasy images and descriptions are the culture‘s

heritage and the storyteller‘s reward: they contain the emotional record of the culture, its most

intensely felt yearnings and fears, and they therefore have the ability to extract strong emotional

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responses from members of audiences. Lucy Scholesin the article titled ―Two Years Eight Months and

Twenty-Eight Nights”: A Futuristic Tale‖ writes:

Somewhere between history, mythology and fairytale, the overarching impression here is of

magical realism in overdrive. Everything is larger-than-life, bigger, brighter and bolder.

Reading Rushdie is to realise why the term ‗verbal pyrotechnics‘ was invented; his prose

practically explodes on the page. There‘s no denying his linguistic virtuosity and brilliance as a

writer. Rushdie has wonderfully engraved the grey hue of exile in the narrative though in a

novel and varied context.

Though the meaning, interpretation and the aesthetics of Exile have undergone changes through the

course of time, the theme still remains as a relevant one. Exilic experience often provides the

potential to the victims to fight against all kinds of injustices. Exile is not alienation alone but is

attempt of a being to fight, exist and remain alive. Thus Rushdie has successfully embedded the

theme of exile in his novel Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights (2015).


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CHAPTER 38

PSYCHOANALYTIC EXPLICATION OF SELECT POEMS OF

SYLVIA PLATH AND KAMALA DAS

A. PARTHIPAN


VHNSN College (Autonomous), Virudhunagar

R. DIVYA


SBK College, Arupukkottai

Literature and psychology are increasingly interconnected with each other; the former depicts

human mind whereas the latter studies it. A literary work derives concepts from psychology for

successfully portraying characters, expressing their moods, and the motives behind their actions.

The psychology-based study of literature aims more at studying the influence of social conditions

on emotions, thoughts and behaviors of the characters in literature.

The relationship between literature and psychology came to be established with Sigmund

Freud‘s discoveries in the field of psychoanalysis. In his work, ―Creative Writers and Day-

Dreaming,‖ Freud developed a powerful model for the literary process. According to that model

writers are excited by wishes, which are unconsciously enriched beginning from their childhood

and are shaped in a literary form that can convince the audience. With his psychoanalytic literary

criticism, Freud opened the way which was followed by other theorists who choose to employ

various approaches to literary works.

There is a close relation between poetry and psychology since they have their origin in

emotions. Poetry is a verbal composition designed to convey experiences, ideas, or emotions in a

vivid and imaginative way. It usually evokes in the reader an intense emotion. Psychology on the

other hand involves the study of mind, behavior, thought etc. It is the study of human behavior

with the object of understanding why living beings behave as they do. According to psychologists,

psychology had its origin on the assumption of the existence of psyche patterns. The patterns

include conscious contents- thoughts, memories, etc which came from life experience. The poet

depicts all these emotions in the form of art.

This present study explores psychoanalytical reading of Sylvia Plath and Kamala Das‘s select

poems and also traces the convergences and divergences in the treatment of their theme. Sylvia

Plath (1932-1963), an American short story writer, poet, and novelist. She loves and marries Ted

Hughes, a fellow poet in 1965 and had two kids Frieda and Nicholas. She commits suicide following

an indescribable dejection caused by conjugal partition. Pangs of separation and wish for love have

induced her to write hones poetry. She has a genuine love for Ted Hughes and kills herself for his

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desertion. She craves for resurrection to slaughter all men in the world for their infidelity in love.

Her life was brief in conventional terms, but her life of thirty-one years was rich in experiences. She

jotted down her feelings of despair, disillusionment, and emotional imbalance due to problematic

relationships with male authority figures. Her poetic works namely The Colossous and Other Poems

(1960), Ariel (1965), Crossing the Water (1971), Winter Trees (1971), The Collected Poems (1981). Plath‘s

confrontations with the search for the identity of the self through her confessional voice can be seen

in her poetry. Schizophrenia, father-fixation, husband‘s affairs with other women and her suicidal

obsession, all are poured into her works. She has been acclaimed as an unbalanced artist who could

use and sacrifice everything, including her own life, to serve her art. The insecurity, frustration and

emptiness disoriented her and she was left with no other choice but the obsession of entering the

dark domain of death by suicide.

In the sphere of Indian poetry, Kamala Das blazed a new trail as she created the ambience for

revelatory confessional poetry too. There is a certain awareness, retrospection, a looking inward,

delving deep into the recesses of her soul. Her poems are about desire, love, and emotional

involvement. Her first poetic collection has created a minor storm when it was released, but later

won her instant recognition with her uninhibited treatment of sex. Pain, anguish and despair are

woven into the fabric of her poetry. Her poetic collections include Summer in Calcutta (1965), The

Descendants (1967), The Old Playhouse and Other Poems (1973), and Only the Soul Knows How to Sing

(1996). With Pritish Nandy, she published Tonight This Savage Rite: The Love Poetry of Kamala Das and

Pritish Nandy (1979), Collected Poems (1984) and her autobiography My Story (1976). She has

published novels and short stories in Malayalam, under the pen name Madhavikutty. Her Alphabet

of Lust (1977) is a novel in English. A Doll for the Child Prostitute (1977), and Padmavathi the Harlot and

Other Stories (1992), are two collections of short stories.

Convergence and Divergence of their Poetical Theme

Sylvia Plath and Kamala Das were raised in totally different cultural milieus, yet both suffer more or

less the same pressures. Being bold, they protested and expressed their frustrations, rancor and

loneliness through the medium of poetry. Their Journeys were the same though with different

endings. What is common between them is their resistance to tradition and patriarchal society.

Sylvia Plath was born in Boston in 1932 and Kamala Das in 1934 in Punnayurkulam in South

Malabar. Both have written confessional poetry replete with autobiographical details. Sylvia Plath

and Kamala Das adopted the confessional style in an attempt to liberate literature from male

dominated conventions.

When we look at how fathers are treated by these poets, we find some similarity .Plath lost her

father at young age and longing for his love and Kamala Das father married her off to a much older

man. Hence they are held as responsible for their sufferings. In her poem ‗Daddy‘ Plath spares

neither her father nor her husband:

If I‘ve killed one man, I‘ve killed two

The vampire who said he was you

And drank my blood for a year,

Seven years, if you want to know,

Daddy, you can lie back now. (Plath, The Collected Poems 224)


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Kamala Das suffers with color complex and she resents her father for her being dark skinned.

And right from her childhood, she felt neglected and had to obey every command of her

authoritative father, beginning with an early marriage at the age of sixteen to a cousin who was

―thin, walking with a stoop and had a bad teeth‖ (Das, My Story 15). In her poem ‗Next To Indira

Gandhi‟ Kamala Das talks about her father in the following ways:

Father, I ask you now without fear

Did you want me

Did you ever want a daughter

Did I disappoint you much

With my skin as dark as yours ( Das, Only Soul Knows How to Sing 118)

Women folks expect true love from their loved ones. When they find the love of their love ones

is only corporeal and fake, they turn brutal and commit suicide or choose to kill their husbands at

least in their next birth. Plath has much love upon her husband. She could not tolerate his parting.

She expressed her wish to death in the following manner:

Dying is an art

Is an art, like everything else.

I do it exceptionally well.

I do it so it feels like hell.

I do it so it feels real.

I guess you could say I‘ve a call. (Plath, Daddy 245)

Like Plath, Kamala Das too expect much love and affection from her husband when she finds

his turning back and his homo liaison with his friend she gets much disappointment, she wants to

meet death. In her poem ‗The Suicide‘ she reveals her wish for death as if through that she could get

solace or piece of mind

O sea, I am fed up

I want to be simple

I want to be loved

And

If love is not to be had

I want to be dead. (Das, The Old Playhouse and other Poems 35)

The poems of these two poets portray death as dreadful, but their general approach towards it

is a positive one. For them, death not only destroys all forms of the false self but also becomes the

means of self-generation and rebirth into a new existence. Kamala Das spent her later lonely life in

devotion towards Lord Krishna. But in the case of Sylvia Plath the constant restlessness and several

hurts that haunted her world, led her to commit suicide, but the forces of spirituality pulled Kamala

Das to live her some extent. Despite of all these similarities, what is noteworthy is their

transgression; they transcend social, cultural and sexual disparity. As a part of American society,

Plath‘s sense of exploration and adventure is much more than Kamala Das‘s. Kamala Das‘s is only

through her extramarital affairs; whereas, Sylvia Plath talks of lesbianism as an alternative. Their

poems again and again reveal the tremendous violent struggle to gain control of their own psyches.

Both used their writing as a substitute to get gratified. Each of their poems portrays in different but

parallel settings, a momentary ordering of the symbols of life and death.

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CHAPTER 39

CHILDREN‟S LITERATURE – VIOLENCE IN COMICS

“COMIC RESTRAIN”

V.C. ARJUN

Assistant Professor

Acharya Patashala College of Commerce, Bangalore

Introduction

Children‘s are always attracted to cartoons and comics, invariably of the differences. Not only

children but we adults are also attracted to it. The question that draws our attention in these stories

are not just the plot but the adventure and bravery each character portrays. Even though, we as

adults still like to read and watch comic books and films and further-more own certain objects of

our favourite comic character.

The speciality of this literature is that it includes various genre and adds a quality of magic and

mystery. This literature mainly aims to help children in their development, to make them

understand of the Right and the wrong in their behaviour. Initially the literature was to help

children learn the language vocabulary, but now it has turned out to be a bit complex. It showcases

the child to be the hero.

The point is that violence is often not to blame for violent behaviour in children. Rather, the

inclusion of violence in literature can create positive influences in children‘s lives. Children are often

naturally drawn to stories with violence in them like we are. Many can relate to violent situations

portrayed in children‘s stories, and when used effectively, these situations can be used to teach

children how to avoid violent resolutions in their own lives.

Additionally, many children already experience violence in their own lives, or will in the future,

and having literature that reflects this violence and show them how to successfully cope in violent

scenarios can be invaluable. When violence is a reality in life for children it is important that they

have literary examples involving similar scenarios so they can learn to rebel the acts of violence they

witness and how to resolve the issue.

Portrayal in Film-Texts

The best text that we remember when we think of children‘s literature is Harry Potter. J.K Rowling

has bought out her initial piece to be a magnificent hit. The first book The Sorcerer‟s Stone was one of

the best-selling children‘s novel. The Harry Potter series is, of course, about an orphan who happens

to be a wizard. It is about mythical creatures, and magical castles, and found family. It is also a story

absolutely filled with images of death. The seven-part series is bookended by loss, beginning with

the murder of Harry‘s parents by the evil Lord Voldemort when the boy is a year old, and

culminating in Harry‘s own death at age 17. He grows up in an abusive household with his aunt,

uncle, and cousin, The Hero is initially showed as a victim of domestic violence where he is not

allowed to enjoy the basic rights that other kids have, but starting when he‘s 11, Harry spends most

of the year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a place where violence abounds,


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ranging from spells gone awry to wizard duels to all-out war. When he gets an invite to join the

Hogwarts School of magic, his uncle and aunt try to take him as far away as possible. But destiny

finds its way. The first lesson that children get to learn here is that if they stay honest and loyal they

would get to the place where they want too. Coming to the later stages we see that there are lot of

mysteries and monsters involved in the school where Harry potter bravely fights them with his two

best friends and wins. The hero or the protagonist here is showing the qualities of how he has to

undergo lot of hardship to achieve success. The other part, is the usage of magic where the story

differentiates between good magic and dark magic. At the end of every book the dark power is

always defeated, but the villain always survives until the final book the Deathly Hallows. The death

and cruelty in the book showcases the necessary sacrifices and the fight that each one faces in real

life, though it is being shown as a fantasy. The book also gives examples of how a student should

learn lessons promptly, so that they can fight the evil in the society. We see that the character Harry

Potter lives inside for many of us, though an entertainment factor, it also gives out how adults us

politics for their favour like the character professor Snape, who represents the dark power inside the

good, just to achieve his superiority.

Harry Potter is a modern version of fiction, to go a bit prior we find Rudyard Kipling‘s The Jungle

book. Mowgli the man cub, Hero of the film, an adventurous wild boy who is raised by the wolves

shows the quality of humanity. This book has many interpretation but taking violence as the main

picture we see Shere khan the tiger who is greedy and monstrous who wants to eat Mowgli even

though he is just a small boy. We see Mowgli‘s connection with the animals and all the teachings are

from the animals, where they hunt and feed. These points may be a bit cruel for the young minds

and a kid roaming in the jungle may seem to be a lot more out of order to the society. But as a fiction

it gives a good touch of humanity that to respect all life forms. It also gives a lesson on how friends

stick together. But it has gone to a questionable extent that his actions sometime prove to be rude

because there are certain rules in the world that everyone has to abide to but Mowgli just goes on to

do everything that he thinks off. But to analyse the story of The Jungle Book in reality, we can

compare the characteristics of the animals to our own self. The Monkey King in the first place wants

to live a human life and stop monkeying around, this can be referred to as the superior power that

man has by the usage of fire power. This the monkey‘s think as a tool to rule the jungleand an

escape to civilisation. One more character is Bagheera, a loyal friend trusted mentor, who guides

Mogli from the very beginning of his birth, he puts his life in danger to save Mogli, this can be a

serious representation of our friends who are always there for our support. This teaches the children

to trust others and build a Rapport with other peer group. Coming to the pack of wolfs who adopt

Mogli as their family gives the idea to children that family always has their back and will always be

there to support him, no matter the cost.

On the whole The Jungle Book brings out human behaviours to each other, and also builds the

child‘s behaviour and attitude towards the society and other social institutions.

The third piece is The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.Tolkien. This is entirely different compared to the

books discussed earlier. This piece brings a far worse situation like war and horror, though it uses

some amount of fantasy and magic; it still instils a great amount of fear. Here the writer brings in all

kinds of villainous or negative elements such as betrayal, ignorance, identity crisis etc. but not to say

that the writer loves violence, or likes to write about death, but historically it was necessary to show

how Kings politicised their actions. In this book we see how the Dwarfs are abandoned and how the

elves fight against the dwarf until they realise their true enemy the dark king being the Orc

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(A fictional monster). We can see that the dark forces are always ten steps ahead of the good ones

but the good always finds its way at the end. Here the two young Hobbits the heroes of the book

with a magical ring that makes them invisible are put to a test(A test of greed) and how they

overcome it and finally destroy the ring. But we should not be judgemental to see the good and the

bad as it is only based on the situation of how a person reacts. This story can be difficult to analyse

as most parts have total violence to be involved in children‘s fiction. But taking into consideration of

the brave acts that each character performs makes a big mark on the children. The elves have always

stayed in the better position of the society while the Dwarfs struggled the wrath of the Orc‘s.

Though they unite to fight for the greater good the human greed always pave way for a much more

egoistic behaviour. We all forget our place as humans when we have power of our own that we

showcase until a hard hit is placed. Likewise this teaches children to think wisely and act wisely, as

violence is not always the key. As Gandalf the wizard tries very hard to unite the force against the

darker power, this character is our everyday teacher where we learn lessons by experience. A child

looks at the surrounding and learns many things as we say the more good children see and hear, the

more they follow it. But the violence imbibed here cannot be put aside, it gives the idea that each

child has to fight his way to the society helping others and building a fortress of good society.

We can also take example of comic hero‘s like The Superman who comes from an alien planet

and saves our world from many threats. But in saving us Superman involves himself in violence

giving a bloody fight. As we teach our children that no man has the right to kill, Superman simply

gets away with the prize. Another Hero Batman (also called the incorruptible by the antagonist

joker) ,who is involved to fight Crime in the dark of Gotham city tries to overcome his grief by

becoming a hero, the best part is that he is incorruptible i.e. he doesn‘t kill anybody but simply

threats the wrongdoers and puts them in jail. It is one of the reasons that he is less controversial but

still manages to bring in a lot of guns and bombs. Likewise we have the Flash a speedster, Ironman,

Spiderman, Black Panther, Hulk etc.

Another book that uses less violence is Gullivers Travels where the protagonist is washed away

in the ocean and finds himself misplaced in a place called Lilliput, where they treat him like a giant

and later befriend him, this is a story that asks the children to respect any creature big and small or

even alien. Though a fairy tale its impact on the children is very great, the idea of adventure and the

survival of a person independently is showcased in the story. The more one learns to live

independently the more he becomes successful. Children always like to showcase their individual

talent and film text like these help them to see and interpret these qualities. Another non- violent

film text is The BFG (Big Fat Giant) which is a friendly story, where we have always seen giants to be

dangerous and harmful for humans. But to change these ideas this piece of story brings out a belief

that good exists everywhere, the giant here is a dream maker and we all know how important a

child‘s dream is. But many books entitle some amount of violence like Alice in wonderland, Charlie

and the chocolate factory, 101 Dalmatians etc.

Conclusion

Violence will always be a part of literature whatever may be the writing, because you cannot

portray good without showing evil, like wise you cannot win without knowing what you would

lose. It is an important part, even though an unpleasant aspect of the world that has endured for

centuries. Therefore, it is as relevant to focus on children‘s literature and their portrayal, since

children should be aware of the realities of the world, both good and bad. When used in an effective


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and careful manner, violence can serve important purposes in literature. If the children know or are

educated to see the types of violence around them that is enough for them to stand and face them.

All the film-texts are taken in three different setups the first one which goes under magic and

mystery, and the second the goes on to show the jungle and wilderness, and the third to portray war

and horror. All three have violence involved in them but it is up to us to decide, in what level we see

those harmful events. It is our responsibility to teach our children to respect and learn from the

mistakes that they read and see. Finally the world without violence can never exist but we can help

our children to stay put and face these challenges in their lives.

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CHAPTER 40

RACIAL VIOLENCE IN RURAL WOMEN

Dr. T.S. BALA GOMALA

(Post Doctoral Fellow), PDFWM-UGC-New Delhi, Centre for Lifelong Learning

The Gandhigram Rural Institute (Deemed to be University), Gandhigram

Dr. S. BALUCHAMY

Professor & Head, Centre for Lifelong Learning

The Gandhigram Rural Institute (Deemed to be University), Gandhigram

Introduction

India is home to more than 80 million Dalit women a calculation based on the statistics of the

national census 2001.A three-year study of 500 Dalit women‘s experiences of violence across four

Indian states shows that the majority of Dalit women report having faced one or more incidents of

verbal abuse (62.4%), physical assault (54.8%), sexual harassment and assault (46.8%), domestic

violence (43.0%) and rape (23.2%).Verbal abuse included regular derogatory use of caste names and

caste epithets possibly amounting to ‗hate speech‘, as well as sexually explicit insults, gendered

epithets and threats women do not report violence and the study shows that only 1% of the cases

that are actually filed end in convictions. In the 2009 of the on violence against women an

overwhelming number of accounts of Dalit women in India being raped and beaten by higher castes

in the course of their daily lives, such as while working in the field, going to the market or doing

domestic work.Sometimes disputes over land and resources can be a cause of violence, but just as

often they are violated simply because they are Dalit women.

Dalit women face specific problems, which are uncommon to other caste women. Though, in

sender disparity they confront with the problems which common for all women they are often

alienated even from their fellow. The identity of caste secludes them from other women. The

following discussion narrates the discrimination experienced uniquely by Dalits women in

differents aspects of life.The lower caste or Untouchables are supposed to serve the higher castes

and remain royal to them as per their place in the social hierarchy the scheduled castes are subjected

to cumulative domination. Shudras the old untouchables are officially called scheduled caste. They

were at the bottom of Hindu India‘s caste hierarchy. They were equally at bottom of economic

hierarchy having no land of their won and relegate to menial, dirty and ill paid Job. They were kept

away from all places where the high castes and higher up moved. In a society where mobility was

not easy, the place of these poor, illiterate and powerless people was fixedDalit women face specific

problems, which are uncommon to other caste women. Though, in sender disparity they confront

with the problems which common for all women they are often alienated even from their fellow.

The identity of caste secludes them from other women.

Dalits have faced a unique discrimination in our society that is fundamentally different from the

problems of minority groups in general. The parties of Untouchability is highly prevailed in rural

society which is not just social discrimination. They are not allowed to sit along with them there in

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the canteens of work place by occupying own caste people. They cannot use upper cast water taps.

In schools the Dalit children are not treated as the children of the other castes. They live in colonies

of their own and testimony of scavengers in Tamil Nadu. Caste still has limited social

advancement, job and marriage choices. Since the higher caste wealthy people construct their own

temples occupy the place of ropes, admit their own children at larger extend and construct houses in

the heart of the village in well planned manner. The structural properties of caste, namely

endogamy, cast occupations and hierarchy have a direct bearing on social stratification. The

cultural aspects, on the other hand, are value-based. It is in these two aspects, namely, cultural and

structural, that the caste system is analyzed in our country.

Gender Equality in the Rural Sector

The mostlyrural households that are headed by men.Then also suffer more from poverty than those

of the society.The social and cultural barriers, a lack of kindergartens, as well as the burden of

unpaid housework, prevent women from developing their skills and from generating an income.

Despite the gender inequalities, policies to strategies at the agricultural, regional and also village

level lack the necessary approaches to tackle these problem. To promote gender equality and

women‘s economic empowerment go hand in hand. Both are important in ensuring that women

enjoy their human rights and can contribute to inclusive and sustainable development.Protecting

rural women from unacceptable forms of work, enhancing social protection, ensuring their voices

are heard closing the representation gap are the elements needed for transformative action for the

rural society.

Women Rural Areas in Generally to Face Worse Living Condition

Human rights are the birthrights of every human being they form an integral part of the socio-

cultural fabric of humanity all over the world. However, the violation of the human rights can be

abstract norms and values to protectin constitutions provisional and international convention.The

rights of women and their indigenous peoples to interlink and inter-related. Indigenous women are

an integral part of people to collective identity, dignity, culture in ways of life. Thus, the violation of

the rights of indigenous people‘s also directly affected indigenous women and their rights as

women also affects them in different ways as indigenous peoples.

They are socially and economically weaker of the poverty and live in subsistenceto economy

and general backwardness. To mostly suffer from the women the nutritional deficiency diseases like

endemic goiter, anemia. Other manifestations were pot belied school children, small body sizes, and

underweight adolescents to short life spans. Another set of nutritional problems develop from

unsanitary food supplies and water contamination, low calories of food intake, which have affect on

the health status of women. Low awareness among the rural women in personal hygiene, poor

sanitation, and nutritional deficiency to poor mother and child health services, absence of health

education, lack of national preventive programme and lack of available health services the poor

health of the women. It is due to low income and other socio- economic factors. Due to lack of

education system or lack of quality education of therural women remain in a cycle of illiteracy. They

are economically dis-empowered by not having land tenure of their role and contributions of the

natural resources.

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Women‟s Disadvantaged Position

Gender inequalities in employment exist and persist because of a range of interlinked social,

economic, political factors. However, there is a specific cause that outweighs all others. The invisible

but powerful role of social institutions dis-empower one sex above and other include traditions,

customs, social norms that govern the intricate workings of rural societies, and which act as a

constraint on women‘s activities and restrict their ability to compete on an even footing with men.

We‘re not saying that urban-based women and that the context of rural communities places an

added strain on equal opportunities. The financial crisis arrived at a time when many people in

developing countries were already facing hardship because of the food and fuel crises. It is hard to

quantify the impact of the current crisis in terms of gender equality. For example, it is plausible to

anticipate that most countries in women will be expected to assume the primary responsibility for

acting as safety nets of last resort and for ensuring that their families will survive. At the same time,

rural women‘s unpaid work burdens are likely to further intensify, especially in low-income

households and especially when State-run facilities are as a part of austerity measures. Also, it is

possible that rural women, more than rural men, will be increasingly offered precarious

employment with poor prospects and that their children‘s health.

Limited Access to Training Advice and Services

The fact that a majority of the population surveyed are involved in farming, the study shows that

there is limited access to agriculture and only one in ten had heard of the existing extension services.

To knowledge of such services, there 40 per centindifference between women‘s and men‘s

awareness about rights and only produced agricultural products of own consumption.Coordination

and gender mainstreaming of national and regional strategies of sex-disaggregated statistics

andensuring out-reach to women as beneficiaries of the services and programmes to ensuresupport

gender advisors and gender-responsive budgeting at the municipal level. Among the promising

practices identified are programmes that support women who are small-scale farmers to access

markets, as well as initiatives to form local self-help groups of women and men that cooperate with

municipalities to identify and address peopleand their needs.

Rural women by still to find it more to get access to education and vocational (secondary)

education and Girls are expected to assist with family routines such as fetching and carrying fuel

and water. According to the UNESCO 2016 Global Education Monitoring records some 63% of

women have not attained even minimal literacy skills. They live in rural areas in sub-Saharan

Africa, the Arab States ,South and West Asia. Education provides key to lifting women and girls out

of poverty and enabling them to achieve their true potential. Recognition must be infrastructure

changes such as the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation. The necessity for time spent by

girls and women collecting water in rural localities and combat diseases resulting from unsafe

sanitation for women in rural areas comprise the majority of people living conditionand experience

multidimensional inequalities. In gender equality and women‘s empowermentexacerbated

development limitations.Therefore, sustainable development initiatives must reinforce the

consideration that rural women and girls are at a higher risk of being left behind. Sustainable

Development Goals to approach would promote the inclusion of women and girls as leaders and

how resources they are implement to clear implications for women‘s empowerment and the

achievement of gender equality. Gender budgeting can be to achieve better choices on where and to


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whom receive direct funding. Extension of access to facilities such as education, water , sanitation,

maternal and other health care; technologies to enable women and girls to contribute more fully to

the development of local economies.The involvement of women and girls in rural development

demands a change in attitudes towards women and girls across all levels. For women and girls to be

agents of their input must be considered as equal and valuable contributors and not merely be

‗beneficiaries‘. Rural women and girls can increase community capacity at the grassroots by leading

community-based sustainable development actions that contribute to the achievement of the

Sustainable Development.

Empowering the Women

Women and girls and will work against efforts to work towards the 2030 targets. Without the

support of NGOs and civil society in rural women and girls will not be able to access essential

services that empower them, including legal representation, education, healthcare. If women and

girls are to be empowering the effective implementation of sustainable development principles and

NGOs and othersectors to must be included in the process also. Through civil society organisations

and NGOs, women and girls will be listened to as equal partners and not merely co-opted into the

rural women.

The Dalit identity as landless labour, service caste, engaged in traditional occupation,

dependency syndrome, affected their social participation, economic development and social

equality. Though Dalit organization are emerging to support their aspiration for empowerment the

socio, economic, political domination of upper caste Gounders stall the process of empowerment.

The study concludes that dalit empowerment is possible only when there is social structural

transformation in which the Dalit imbibe social equality, experience, dignified social status,

economic independence, ownership of property and regular flow up income through their

livelihood securities, higher education, occupational mobility, political participation together with

change in mindset on the part of caste Hindus towards, dalit empowerment promotional role GOs,

NGOs, CBOs, and other developmental agencies and institution would only lead to effective

empowerment of dalits. Above all human rights education, organization of Dalits, awareness

creation among non-Dalits to treat them as equal and the same should be reflected in social action

among all members of the society and thereby we collectively create and promote a society of

knowledge, information, enlightenment and civil society in which social equality in its letter and

spirit prevails to promote social integration and communal harmony.

Conclusion

Implementationspolicies to take a life-course approach to education and employment for rural

women and girls, recognizing and understanding that access to learning is a human right at all ages

and that women and girls living in rural areas have different needs at different times in their work

with local partners to improve facilities to afford women and girls living in rural areas education

that is accessible, of the highest standards and includes sanitation facilities and safe environments.

Providing the policies which involve rural women in the management and provision of accessible

and water, sanitation resources.Policies to provide quality, affordable, universally accessible health

care and education, including sexual and reproductive health and rights.Policies and which lead to

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the elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination, ensuring that the implementation of all

requirements of Policies and which reduce the unpaid work burden by providing improved access

to infrastructure facilities including time and technologies.Policies and provide rural women and

girls with financial, employment, and land security, as well as securing a place in decision-making

forums, encouraging more female leadership in pertaining food and agriculture through mentoring

opportunities and training. Policies and to ensure access to affordable, appropriate technologies and

vocational training for its usage.Improve and prioritize appropriately disaggregated and

internationally comparable data collection, encompassing process outcome indicators. The practical

grassroots activities with the women and girls of rural communities and International members

underpin and contribute to this statement. The vision of international is that ‗women and girls will

achieve and their individual and collective potential for further progress can be made to achieving

the women.


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CHAPTER 41

DOCUMENTATION OF AFRICAN CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN

THE NOVELS OF CHINUA ACHEBE

S. MOHAMMAD SHAFIULLAH

Assistant Professor in English

PVKN Government College (Autonomous), Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh

Introduction

The contemporary African novel plays a crucial role in the propagation of African culture.

The reworking of forms of indigenous folk traditions is a deliberate and necessary attempt at

indigenizing the novel, which is an imported genre. The African novelist graft traditional elements

from their cultural backgrounds into their novels so as to give them a local flavour and propagate

legions of African cultural artifacts. This is desirable, since it imbues their works with a certain

identity code, cultural significance and pedagogical impetus.

Barber corroborated this claim: ―the origin and precursor of modern literature and a source – a

rich heritage or fund of themes, motifs, images and techniques upon which the modern author

can draw‖(6).

To him, the distinctive mark of written African literature in European languages is to give the

condition of oral expression by limiting within the boundaries established by western literary

conventions. African novelists more often than not, drawn heavily from the oral traditions of their

societies. In the works of leading contemporary African novelist, such as Achebe, there is ample

evidence of borrowing from the literary traditions of the individual communities. In doing so,

certain traditional forms of expression are reconstructed as an effective weapon for cultural

pedagogy.

Albert Chinua Lumogu Achebe received his B.A Degree from London University in 1953. Early

in his life, he had decided to become a writer and that was the reason that he shifted from the study

of Medicine to Literature and History. He had started writing with short stories and Novels. The

theme of these novels was based on Nigerian Culture. His three novels ‗Things Fall Apart‘, ‗No

Longer at Ease‘, and ‗Arrow of God‘, were published in 1958, 1960 and 1964. His other three novels

are ‗A Man of the People‘, ‗Chike and the River‘, ‗Anthills of Savanna‘. He is regarded as the

inventor of the African Literature and documents it as a chronicler.

Chinua Achebe‘s novels are greatly influenced by the indigenous literary traditions of the Igbo

people and makes use of oral traditions of Africa. In the novels of Achebe shows a complete society

worth living, in spite of the weakness within it which makes it vulnerable. The novels of Achebe

have covered the themes of friendship, bravery, success through struggle, failure through self –

defeat. He sees himself as a teacher with messages of importance to convey especially to his African

audience, so that they can begin to take interest in themselves and their past. Achebe‘s novels deals

with the history of Igbo land.

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The novels achieve epic effect, if read as the novelist‘s impression of life from the time of

European conquest to the contemporary period. For example, the novel Things Fall Apart is a long

narrative, recounting many episodes; it is an amalgamation of myth, history and fiction. The reader

is introduced to a mythic narrative voice – telling him the legend of the founding of the town and

the tribe with its rituals and customs concerned. The present is strongly tied to the past through

heroes like Okonkwo, who is already a legend in his lifetime. It chronicles history and culture of

Umuofia, its customs and beliefs. In this novel, Achebe focuses on Nigeria‘s early experience with

colonialism, from first contact with the British to widespread British administration. In depicting the

Ibo society, Achebe avoids the temptation to present the past as idealized and the present as ugly

and satisfactory.

In ‗Arrow of God,‘ he records the circumstances when the European influence was beginning to

have an impact on life of Eastern Nigeria, when missionaries and colonists were just arriving in the

Igbo world. In this novel, the reader comes across many elements of the indigenous literary

traditions. In ‗Arrow of God,‘ Achebe borrows heavily from the indigenous folktales. Achebe‘s novels

make use of folklore to make their arguments forcefully and effectively illustrate moral values. It

brings home the fact that a man should never provoke his fate. He should know where to draw a

line in his pursuit of power. In his next novel, No Longer at Ease, he chronicles bribery, corruption

and hypocrisy. In the novel ‗A Man of the People, he portrays a society that is corrupt and confused in

its social and economic values. The novel is a vivid political satire on the disillusionment of young

Africans towards the values of traditional Nigerian society.

In Anthills of the Savannah, he denounces scathing indictment of military dictatorship, seizing

power through violent coup. He denounces regimented policies pursued by the ruling class with

their intrigues and maneuvering of power politics. This is the way he can be called as the chronicler

of Africa, for he has portrayed Nigerian life and history which can be generalized to the entire

African continent.

Conclusion

Chinua Achebe is one of the greatest novelists of the modern age. He is considered not only to be

the inventor or African Literature, but also the one who makes use of folk tales and religious tenets

conveyed through prayers, speeches and songs etc. His language is a major component of his artistic

strategy which not only enriches the English language but also gives the readers the true picture of

the whole culture in view. Thus the novelist uses history to fictionalize the African reality. It is

interesting to note that, he follows in his novels the events in Africa in a chronological manner. His

novels are an exploration of the complex social, cultural and political history of Africa. And in the

process, Achebe is able to unravel the various layers of African society and its history in its fictional

and non-fictional writings. Achebe gives us authentic portrayals of Igbo life and social behaviour in

his novels. The diversity of his works reminds us that, Africa as a whole is a land of contrasts. We

can observe how Achebe successfully amalgamates in his fiction European and Igbo cultural

influences. It is moreover, his sensitive use of language as much as his historical perspective and

memorable characterization, that marks Chinua Achebe, the most prominent Igbo writer today and

one of the leading novelists in Africa as a whole and a chronicler of Africa.


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He creatively gives account of the changing times in Nigeria from the end of the 19th century to the

1980‘s. The detailed yet focussed, the factual yet critical and the rooted yet general are the hallmarks

of Achebe‘s fictional output. In presenting the entire history of the nation of nearly one hundred

years, Achebe is doing what the chroniclers would have happen to do. The ways in which Achebe

transforms language to achieve his particular ends distinguishes his writing from the writing of

other English language novelists. To convey the flavour of traditional Nigeria, Achebe translates Ibo

proverbs into English and weaves them into his stories and thus he becomes the chronicler of Ibo

culture and traditions associated with Nigeria.

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CHAPTER 42

LITERATURE: A CHISELING TOOL FOR PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS

Dr. B. RATHIKA


MEPCO Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi

Introduction

Language is a centripetal force for humans. It serves as an identity for aneffective communicator.

Though social media have engrossed much of youths‘ space and time, still there are many speakers

and creative writers who enthral the attention of postmodern youths. This research is undertaken

with the motive of fine tuning the language proficiency of English language learners. Even though

many of the professional students hail from various states of our nation, reading Indian English

writers is habitual for a few. This article aims to hone their language proficiency. Engineering

students do not have any stumbling block during communication especially meritorious students

who have completed their schooling in Matriculation, CBSE, ICSE, State Board and International

syllabus. This paper aims to suggest how literature can be used as a tool for proficient speakers.

Even grammar components can also be taught using the writings of creative writers such as Chetan

Bhagat, Ravinder Singh, Durjoy Datta and Sudeep Nagarkar. These writers carve a niche in the

minds of youths. They are marginalised by academicians but youths have passion to read these

writers. For their works do not demand much time. So an effort is taken to suggest how these

writers bring in changes amidst youths to improve their speaking skill.

Thrust Areas in Grammar

Students never consider grammar as their cup of tea. Teaching them grammar at any time becomes

a grave yard session. So in order to kindle their interest Shenoy‘s novel A Hundred Little Flames is

quoted as an example to prove that speaking skill can be enhanced by reading it. The language of

Shenoy is highly influential and has loads of vocabulary. However the impact may not so huge but

will create seismic ripples in the language usage ofstudents. The following exercises in grammar can

be focussed by them:

i) Glossary

ii) Direct and indirect speech and

iii) Tenses

Speaking and Writing – Main Forte

Fluency of professional students is quite good. Their language alone has to be moulded. Students

―….. must discover the rules that generate an infinite set, with only a finite sample. They evidently

possess additional language-learning abilities that enable them to organize their language without


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explicit guidance‖. Young adult learners are in the tertiary level now-a-days in parsing a language.

They need guidance to be assertive in utterances. Reading is pre-requisite to acquire speaking and

writing skills. The suggestion to read an excerpt from Shenoy‘s novel will kindle the curiosity of the

readers.

Research Questions

1. Is literature influential to fine tune the speaking skill?

2. Does reading and speaking complement each other?

3. Can grammar components be dealt with bestsellers assupplementary for their reading?

Discussion

Professional students do not get any chance to read creative writings like students from arts and

science background. Unless they are guided to read they do not have any intention and more over

they do not find time. In certain cases out of interest some students read creative writings. Their

syllabus is full of grammar components in their initial semester. And in due course they completely

learn technical English and its nuances to appear confidently during campus interviews. Through

the works of best sellers they are made to speak and write sentences without diverting from

grammatical rules. ―…proficiency in English is available only to writers of the intellectual, affluent,

educated classes…‖

―Women were the chief upholders of a rich oral tradition of story-telling, through myths,

legends, songs and fables‖.

Shenoy‘s works prove the aforesaid statements. The theme she employs in her novels and the

language she employs serve as a launching pad for the professional students to refine their

language usage. Among the forty chapters in the novel A Hundred Little Flames the first ten

chapters are analysed.

Glossary

The glossaries that are employed by the author is quite rare.

―…Ayan took a sip of horrendous office tea..‖ (P. 3)

The noun ‗horrible‘ is used an adjective in the above context, which means unpleasant.

The novelist has also used collective noun, ―Dhiraj bought a crate of beer cans‖ (P.7).Instead of

using drunkard the usage ―binge drinking‖ is used by the novelist to mention excess drinking. The

simple sentence ―Myriad crickets chirped‖ (P.16) proves the poetic style of the writer. To emphasise

intense anger the phrase ―brunt of anger‖ (P.18) is utilised. Words have power to take us to the

incident described by the writer and make us visualise the scene portrayed by the writer. When the

protagonist of the novel Ayan does not feel well, he tries to pretend as if he feels comfortable. The

phrase ―squeezed enthusiasm‖ (P.64) picturises the moment which enforced Ayan to reflect so. The

glossary may not be very new to some. But when students come across these glossaries often the

glossaries remain active in their memory. Besides they can frame sentences on their own using such

terms which are rarely used by non-native speakers. Practising this way will surely elevate the

speaking skill of students with assertive note.

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Direct Speech to Indirect Speech

It is commonly observed that at times even good speakers of English find it difficult in transforming

sentences from direct to indirect speech. Voracious readers and as well listeners alone are capable of

reporting an incident in correct speech. Novels are usually narrated by a protagonist from her

perspective. Apart from narration most of the dialogues are in direct speech. This will make the

readers be specific in identifying the difference between the direct and indirect speeches.

―His mother told him that his father‘s sister and her husband were planning to visit them in

Bahrain…‖ (P.10)

Occasionally students prone to use ‗that‘ next to told. But reading stories like this will create

them awareness that it is not grammatically correct. Vast reading surely will imbibe the right usage

default in their memory. This will avoid slips in their speaking.

―So how is your job going? All well?‖ asked his father. (P.11)

The distinction between the statement and question in the transformation of speech is known by

the students when they read with reference to the context. This avoids the tedious teaching of

grammar for hours together which ultimately never ensures good results. However reading novels

like this will improve their command in the language.

Tenses

Tenses are vital to make the listener understand wel,l to which time we mean – present, past or

future. Students are always insisted to follow one tense in writing and speaking. Lack of practice

amidst beginners let them use different tenses in a paragraph. Avid readers overcome this hurdle

easily. Though they do not know the rules of grammar automatically they pick up correct tenses. In

the novel when there is a live conversation present tense is used. In case some incident is recalled or

reported to someone then past tense is used.

―Toward the first goal of a grammar formalism as a descriptive tool, linguistic felicity and

expressiveness are most important. Toward the second goal of universal linguistic delimitation,

linguistic felicity and lack of expressiveness are of foremost importance. Finally, toward the

final goal of computer interpretable linguistic characterization, all three criteria are

vital.‖(Stuart,3)

Reading is a spade work for learning skill. It helps one improve all parts of the English language

– vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and writing. Reading skill complements speaking and writing

skills.

Limitations

A detailed study could have been tried by issuing questionnaires to the beneficiaries. Hands on

experiences or trials in the aforementioned tasks might have been tested to prove the ideas to be

valid. Other grammar components such as Simple, compound and complex sentences, idiomatic

expressions and Voices are marginalised in the investigation. Elaborate study could have been

undertaken covering various components of grammar with supportive exercises as a solid evidence

for the ideas shared initially.


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Conclusion

Literature may not allure young professionals. Instead of enforcing them, make them clear that, it is

high time they need to sharpen their language usage, to place themselves qualified for their better

future. Teaching grammar through literature too demands much preparatory work from teacher‘s

side too. Teachers are taken as models and samples in the field of exploration and research. Students

may have initial inhibitions and struggle but they can be guided by the teachers who are beacon

lights for them ever. It is undoubtedly true that reading widens the arena of a speaker. The reader

accumulates glossaries and keeps them active always. Lack of reading never takes a speaker

forward in his communication. Reading infuses confidence. The speaker can be assertive in his

communication. It is a mammoth task to suggest the professional students to read bestsellers. It is

not practically possible for the students to read bestsellers. In addition to that they are preoccupied

with multifarious tasks. Even then it is the duty of all the teachers to take horses to pond whether

the horses drink or not never matters. Setting an engine on track is the primary duty of all teachers.

And it is the responsibility of the engine to move forward amidst various setbacks and pressure.

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CHAPTER 43

THE USE OF VIDEO IN ENGLISH AS

SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS: A REVIEW

D. REGINA



Dr. V. ANITHA DEVI



Introduction

The technology has its widespread benefits in our day to day life. So the use of technology has

become necessary even in classrooms. The learning and teaching of language has the same position,

shifting from traditional to multimedia classrooms is more challenging for teachers and researchers.

They are trying their best to apply multimedia in the classrooms for the benefit of the learners. The

movement of applying multimedia in the classroom is either positive or negative but the most

technology based society has to accept the challenge. Researchers from various backgrounds of the

economy are trying to bring the concept of multimedia in their research writings. Multimedia has

been in use since the 1960s. But in recent times the drop in costs of multimedia materials has made

the possibility of using them in classrooms. Many researches have been conducted in the area of

video materials in language teaching and learning. The purpose of this paper is to review the

benefits of using videos in English as second language classrooms are discussed based on the

research papers.

Definition of Multimedia

The term multimedia constitutes of two words ―multi‖ and ―medium‖. Multi refers to many or at

least two, where Medium refers to the storage, transmission, communication, representation,

presentation, and input interaction. It also refers to the basic level of media like tests, graphics,

images, audio, animation, and video. The basic information of the word ‗multimedia‘ verifies that

multimedia is an interaction of many types of media. The Columbia Encyclopaediahas defined

multimedia as ―in personal computing, software and applications that combines text, high quality

sound, two and three dimensional graphics, animation, images, and full motion video.‖ (Lagasse,

2000)

According, Vaughan ―multimedia is any combination of text, sound, animation and video

delivered by computer or other electronic or digitally manipulated means. It is a woven


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combination of digitally manipulated text, photographs, graphic art, sound, animation, and video

elements.‖ (Vaughan, 2008)

Video

Video is defined as the display of recorded images and sounds on a screen. Video is a powerful

multimedia application that incorporates personal elements that lack in other media materials

(Philips, 1997). Generally, video is categorized into two types (i) Analog Video and (ii) Digital

Video.

Previous Studies on the Benefits of using Video in English as a Second Language Classroom

The video can be selected according to the lesson plans and age of the students. The content of the

video can be selected from various sources like YouTube, British council and English centered

websites. DVD s can also be used according to the availability of computer or projection. The

remarkable use of the Internet, including websites and applications increased positive note on using

the internet. Thus, the internet has influenced education in teaching and learning in the classroom.

(Rice et al. 2011)

Then, Wu et al (2002) examined the effective use of video in education. Additionally, the

research viewed various approaches and mechanisms to stream videos and other applications. It

also researched the influence of using video and other media among teachers and learners.

Following Wu et al, Shermaan (2003) argues about the benefit of using authentic video material

in language classrooms. The researcher uses practical activity based on videos to bring real

language and culture. People from all over the world share a lot of videos based on documentaries,

education, interviews, and creative materials. Such video from the life experience of people easily

connect the learners to learn the language. Thus,YouTube videos of various cultures and languages

make students learn them easily. Access to video outside the classroom develops students learning

skills.

According to the discussions in the articles

Videos teach in an effective way

Video motivates the students to use authentic materials

It teaches various language and cultures

Conclusion

This paper has reviewed some articles, projects, and studies on the use of video in ESL classrooms.

This research is about the benefits of using video in the language clad learners to explore. The

findings of the present study provide benefits of using a video that may influence the educational

authorities to use Multimedia materials and devices in schools and colleges. This also makes the

teachers and learners to involve in more video based activities in ESL classrooms.

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CHAPTER 44

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS‟ PRONUNCIATION SKILLS

IN THE SCHOOLS OF CHENNAI AND THE REMEDIAL MEASURES

B. MARIA ARUL ANTONY BOBBY


S.D.N.B. Vaishnav College for Women (Autonomous), Chromepet, Chennai

Dr. K. KANTHIMATHI

Research Supervisor & Assistant Professor, Department of English

S.D.N.B. Vaishnav College for Women (Autonomous), Chromepet, Chennai

Introduction

Englishlanguage is strengthenedday by day by its wide vocabulary and updated grammar. English

has greatly influenced almost all the languages of the world. It has acquired a dominant status as a

world language by its international use. It is an official language in 67 countries and is being

renovated over a period of 1400 years. Today English is known and spoken by at least 750 million

people, among which half of those speak it as their mother tongue.It is the only chosen foreign

language to communicate between the countries and continents. ―One argument here is that English

is now a Lingua Franca and is more likely to be used as the means of communication between two

non-native speakers than between a non-native speaker and native speaker‖(Tennant 2007,

2).English language stepped into India because of British colonization. It has an authoritative status

on all the Indian languages. It is not only a linking language among the states of multi-lingual India,

but also plays a predominant status in the field of education all over India. Though Indian English

has a strong flavour of internationally accepted standard varieties like British English and American

English in its morphology, syntax and semantics, it is highly diversified in pronunciation.

The Place of Pronunciation in Second Language Acquisition

Pronunciation learning or practicing inside the languageclasses is still uncertain because, it―may or

may not form part of regular classroom activities or student self-study‖ (MacDonald2002,

3).Learners find difficulty in mastering the orthography of English language. Spelling errors are

most common among the students of all languages who study English as the second language or

foreign language. But nobody can deny that pronunciation plays a predominant role in second

language acquisition.

According to Joan Morley, ―intelligible pronunciation is an essential component of

communicative competence‖ (Morley 1991, 513). To learn the pronunciation of a foreign language,

one should understand the relationship between the spelling and pronunciation of the language.

Usually, a letter in the alphabetic writing system should represent a spoken sound in the language.


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The set of symbols used in the writing system of orthography are called as graphemes. In a

language like English, spelling and sound are not proportionate to each other. This is referred as the

unphonetic character of English orthography.

Our language intelligibility is easily judged by its pronunciation. The most important part of

learning a second language rests on pronunciation (Pennington, 1996). But the teaching of

pronunciation is downplayed when compared to grammar and vocabulary. As Yates explains,

―learners with good pronunciation in English are more likely to be understood even if they make

errors in other areas, whereas learners whose pronunciation is difficult to understand will not be

understood, even if their grammar is perfect‖ (Yates 2002,1).

writing skill plays a crucial role in the school curriculum, neglectof the other three skills

(reading, speaking and listening) is apparent in the classroom teaching mode. Most of the school

teachers concern only about the grammar and vocabulary which take the priority in the syllabus

and consequently in the question papers of the Higher education. Burns also strongly accepts ―clear

pronunciation is essential in spoken communication. Even where learners produce minor

inaccuracies in vocabulary and grammar, they are more likely to communicate effectively when

they have good pronunciation and intonation‖ (Burns 2003, 5).

Data Collection

A statistical survey was conducted in five different boards of schools of education in Northern

Chennai (a Government school, a Government- aided, a Matric, an Anglo-Indian and a CBSE

School) to test their pronunciation skills.

Permission was got with prior appointments from the above - mentioned schools, seeking

permission to spend one hour with 20 students (randomly selected) from the age group of 13 –

15 years.

20 students were randomly selected from eighth and ninth standards. 10 Boys and 10 girls were

selected if it is a co-education school.

A few minutes were spent with the students to make them feel at ease as the researcher was

stranger to them. The purpose of the research was explained to them.

10 words were chosen from our day to day usage for recording. The recording was carried out

in a calm environment. They were asked to say their names and the names of the schools before

pronouncing those words. The students were asked to pronounce those words one by one with

a pause between the words. They were not allowed to discuss among them or refer the

dictionary before the recordings.

Error Analysis on Students‟ Pronunciation

English language has its unique phonemic system of vowels and consonants. It does not have

equivalent surface markers in the source language (i.e. Tamil). So, the students always find difficulty in

pronouncing the English words. The following words were simple words, chosen from their IX std

English text book, which they come across often in their day to day usage.

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The ten words which were given to the students for pronouncing were;

1. Question

2. Food

3. Woman

4. Education

5. Tour

6. Composition

7. Environment

8. Colour

9. Infinite

10. origin

The phonemic transcription of the British Received Pronunciation of those words were given

below to check their correct pronunciation. The phonemic transcription of these words are given

from Oxford Advanced Learner‘s Dictionary of Current English (Revised and updated) by

A.S. Hornby.

Words Phonemic Transcription (BRP) Question / k̍westʃən/ Food /fuːd/ Woman / w̍ʊmən/ Education / e̩dʒu k̍eɪʃn/ Tour / tʊə / Composition / k̩ɒmpə z̍ɪʃn/ Environment /ɪn v̍aɪrənmənt/ Colour / k̍ʌlə/ Infinite /ɪnfɪnɪt/ origin / ɒ̍rɪʤɪn / Error Analysis was done on each word taking the students as a whole as the errors were most

common in most of the students. Error Analysis is restricted only with segmental patterns (vowel

errors and consonant errors). The error on stress was not taken into account. The words ‗question‘

and ‗infinite‘ were found difficult to pronounce by most of the students. No student gave the correct

pronunciation for ‗question‘.

Question

The phonemic transcription of the students‘ pronunciation of ‗question‘ is / k̍əʊsʃən/ and / k̍əʊstɪn/. The /w/ sound is missed by all the students in / k̍westʃən/. Usually most of the words which ends in ‗tion‘ or ‗sion‘ have the sound /ʃən/.So instead of /tʃ/, they used /ʃ/. All the students place the accent on the first syllable. No student had given correct pronunciation.

Food

The phonemic transcription of the students‘ pronunciation of ‗food‘ is /fud/. Instead of the long vowel /u:/, they used the short vowel /u/.

Woman

The phonemic transcription of the students‘ pronunciation of ‗woman‘ is / w̍ɪmən/. The plural of

woman, women is pronounced as / w̍ɪmɪn/. So instead of the sound /wʊ/, they used /wɪ/.


185

Education

All the students pronounced correctly the word ‗education‘, as /edʒu k̍eɪʃn/ though they placed the

accent on the second syllable instead of third. Some students give equal importance to all the

syllables.

Tour

The phonemic transcription of the students‘ pronunciation of ‗tour‘ is /tʊ:r/. Instead of the

diphthong /ʊə/, they used the long vowel /ʊ:/. The /r/ sound is pronounced by most of the

students, though it is silent.

Composition

All the students pronounced correctly the word ‗composition‘ as /kɒmpəzɪʃn/. But they give equal

importance to all the syllables instead of the third one.

Environment

The phonemic transcription of the students‘ pronunciation of the word ‗environment‘ is

/en v̍ɪrɔːnment/. All the vowels in this word were mispronounced by the students. The accent is

placed on all the syllables.

Colour

The phonemic transcription of the students‘ pronunciation of the word ‗colour‘ is / k̍ʌlər/. The /r/

sound is pronounced by most of the students.

Infinite

The phonemic transcription of the students‘ pronunciation of the word ‗infinite‘ is / ɪ̍nfɪnaɪt/ or

/ ɪ̍nfɪnɪt/ Instead of the schwa vowel / ə/, they used the diphthong /aɪ/ or /ɪ/.

Origin

The phonemic transcription of the students‘ pronunciation of the word ‗origin‘ is /ɑ rːɪdʒɪn/. Instead

of the rounded vowel /ɒ/, they used the unrounded vowel /ɑː/.

Learning the Phonemic script – A remedy to improve pronunciation skills

Speech sounds play the role of spine in the body of pronunciation irrespective of languages.

The speech sounds are also called as phonemes. In every language the humans speak, there is a

definite set of individual minimal phonological units called as phonemes

To learn the pronunciation of the second language successfully, one should learn first how

words are segmented into individual sounds. This can be done easily in the first language but not

very confident on the second.

The term ‗phonemic awareness‘ suggests a student‘s recognition of phonemes, relating its

symbol and the sound, and detailing, which letter of the word denotes that sound. For example,

W - [ d̍ʌbəlju ]ː

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The one letter ‗w‘ is made up of 7 distinct units of sound. This awareness brings a consciousness

about the pronunciation to handle it intelligibly. Because of the unphonetic character of English

orthography, it is appreciable to learn the phonemes along with the letters of the alphabet.

Gilakjani says some reasons for mispronunciation and its consequences on the speaker.

• Using wrong sounds in words or wrong prosodic features in sentences may lead

tomisunderstanding as it is very difficult to work out what the speaker is saying.

• Even though it is clear what the speaker is saying, his/her pronunciation makes listeners

feelunpleasant as speaker‘s accent is distracting or too heavy. It can undermine

speaker‘sconfidence as well as it can make the listener think that the speaker lacks proper

knowledge ofEnglish language (2012, 3).

Learning English pronunciation is closely related to the learning of the speech sounds of English

language. Basic knowledge about the speech sounds is necessary to learn the correct pronunciation.

Good pronunciation not only boost up the level of confidence among the learners, but also give

them their identity and pride among the English- speaking group, as Porter and Darvin say, ―... a

person‘s pronunciation is one expression of that person‘s self-image‖ (quoted in Dalton and

Seidlhofer 1994, 7).

In the school curriculum, fluency is considered primary and the accuracy, secondary. For a

sound proficiency in English, both fluency and accuracy should be given equal importance.

Insufficient accuracy would prevail and continue in foreign language learning during the listening

and speaking process. Learning phonemic transcription mainly increases learners‘ phonemic

awareness and the accuracy of their speech, but it can also be used to teach suprasegmental features

such as linking sounds and weak and strong forms of words (Lintunen 2004, 36).

Speech sounds are represented as visual symbols in phonemic transcription using the

International Phonetic Alphabet. The function of the phonemic transcription is accurate and

authentic. It has one-to-one correspondence between the symbols and the sounds which

orthography could not. Phonemic transcription comes under broad transcription which is

preferably suggested for students. Students would find difficultyto customize with phonetic

transcription (which is also called as narrow transcription), as it goes into the details of allophonic

variations. Phonetic transcription, would be more useful and necessary for the linguists and

researchers than the students. When transcription is used in school textbooks and dictionaries,

phonemic transcription is often used due to its simplicity, and in order to reach a somewhat

canonical pronunciation and transcription for the words (Ibid,30).

Conclusion

Perception and interpretation of a spoken language successfully depends on learner‘s listening

skills.Phonological awareness with phonemic transcription would definitely enhance the learners

‘writing and reading skills. So, the fruitful enhancement of all the four skills such as listening,

speaking reading and writing depends on the learner‘s phonological competence. The inaccuracy in

one of the skills might have a negative impact on other skills too.For language where there is a

detectable gap between the standard orthography and pronunciation, phonemic transcription is the

pre-eminent way of mastering it.So,learning the phonemic script is avalue added factor in

pronunciation.


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CHAPTER 45

SECOND LANGUAGE AS A CHALLENGE TO

SOUTH RURAL STUDENTS: A SURVEY STUDY

N. ARUNA DEVI


Arumugam Pillai Seethai Ammal College, Thiruppathur

Learning literature and language or through one another is important for any learning. Here, this

paper clarifies and examines the regional challenges and toughs of students of south district. The

government asks the maximum good result to all government and government aided schools, due

to the hard work of both sides they reach mostly the aimed result. But when these student step into

the higher studies it is stunning moment of their life, realising communicating in English and

understanding is the first wanted skill from the professional candidate. So this is an attempt to

study the problems of government school students in English Language Learning. As an eyewitness

of many dropped out engineering students, the present condition of South district students‘ survival

is a challenge in the competitive scenario.

Origin of the research problem is ELT. This study enhances the Educational, Ideological Social,

and Cultural progression. Objectives of this analysis could be helpful to the students in south

district in channelizing their education to the betterment of life. Best chances are mostly grabbed by

the Matriculation and central government students. That has to be changed. Government has been

spending huge amount for a better education of the nation, still it has been a dilemma for the rural

students that they cannot overcome the reluctance and fear of communicating in English, though

they have skills in other arenas.

Research has been done among the south students and the reason of their problems and the sickle

which stops the growth or sprouting are detailed in the table given below.

Reason Boys % Girls%

Parents are illiterate 2 4

Appearance 3 4

Peer pressure 15 14

Hatred of teachers 5 3

Bad experiences 10 20

Lack of reading 35 25

Ill-trained /Lack of teachers 10 15

Discomfort 20 15

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Here eight valid reasons are taken from them for analysis. Students couldn‘t answer for the

column (recommended teaching methodologies). From the interview one thing is crystal clear that

somewhere in their budding stage they had poor opinion of either the language or their knowledge.

Research says it is slightly tough to improve their language learning in the higher studies whereas

the result is given more importance. Solution is simple neither they themselves help in primary nor

the teachers in their higher education. Effort should be put at right stage by the right person. There

are no excuses to the grown up in the technological world, as education world is a chanceful and

sharing one. This research paper is the very first step of an analysis; it will be extended to the

parents and society to the betterment of government school children and compounds with the

government finally.


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CHAPTER 46

THE USE OF POLITICAL RHETORIC IN THE SPEECHES OF

SASHI THAROOR AND ARUNDHATI ROY

S. REVATHY


VELS University, Chennai

Dr. T. SENTHAMARAI


VELS University, Chennai

Introduction

The present study aims to concentrate on the language of political rhetoric applying the notion of

politics in its language devices. From this perspective, the study deals with areas like corpus

linguistics, language and politics. As a result, this given area links the ideology of rhetorical device

with the select political speeches.

Corpus linguistics

Corpus linguistics is the study of language and a collection of texts which is usually stored in an

electronic database. The collection of corpus linguistic data can be either written text or transcription

of recorded speech. This corpus linguistics study can be applied to analyze the language and its

meaning. Though it is not a separate area of linguistics, it is applicable in almost all the areas of

language studies. This study helps to find out the most frequent words and phrases in a text,

transcript or in a speech. Through corpus linguistics, it is easy to understand phonology, tone and

contextual aspects. In this paper, corpus linguistic study is applied to find out semantics use and its

meaning making among the society. It focuses to discover the inducement of the speech.

Language and Politics

Communication is the term of conveying meanings from one person to another through signs,

symbols, and semiotic elements. Speech is the best way of communication to a group of people. It

includes encoding and decoding. A powerful speech articulates a powerful message to the audience.

A public speech requires a great understanding of language and politics in order to convey socio-

political issues and to inform jurisdictional changes. Aristotle wrote ―…that man is more of a

political animal than bees or any other gregarious animals is evident nature as we often say, makes

nothing in vain and man is the only animal whom she was endowed with the gift of speech

(Politics,1,2)‖. The Greek masters like Cicero, Julius Caesar, Marcus Antonius, Pericles, and many

were the notable orators of public forum. The great leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru, Nelson

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Mandela, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, and John.F.Kennedy were notable for their

speeches.

Expressions such as ‗address‘, ‗declare‘, ‗orate‘, ‗discourse‘, ‗discuss‘, and ‗interact‘ conveys

similar semantics but it differs in meaning according to speaker and the context. Chiton and

Schaffner (1997) view that the fundamental relationship between language and politics, ―It is surely

the case that politics cannot be conducted without language, and it‘s probably the case that the use

of language in the constitution of social groups leads to what we call politics in a broad sense (206)‖.

From Aristotle to modern orators, essentially concentrate on people to live rightful life. In this

perspective, the two Indian political and social activist Dr. Sashi Tharoor and Arundhati Roy‘s

speeches can be disserted to analyze the language expression, political manipulation and

connotations.

Political Manipulation

Political communication has its power to transform a language to manipulation of meaning.

Generally, political communication often conveys political business mostly. This is much relatable

with Chilton‘s (2008:226) definition, i.e. ―the use of language to do the business of politics and

includes persuasive rhetoric, the use of implied meanings, the use of euphemisms, the exclusion of

references to undesirable reality, the use of language to arouse political emotions and the like‖.

Orwell (1969) also has stated about manipulative feature of political discourse that, ―political speech

and writing are largely the defense of indefensible‖. This political manipulation proves that

politicians intentionally avoid straightforward expression. Language manipulation concentrates on

the socio political issues as power, domination, and violence. This results in a change, revolution, or

violence in society. When the speaker‘s ideas are conveyed with twisted meaning and words, they

can mislead the audience. This is one of the pitfalls in all the political speeches where words go

wrong. So, speakers‘ language must be simple to convey. Political Manipulation happens when the

speaker decided to maneuver the ideas of his/her own politics to the audience through language.

Aim

To analyze the political speeches of Sashi Tharoor and Arundhati Roy through Corpus study to find

out the political language and its meaning.

Methods and Materials

Using speech corpus study.

Applying qualitative analysis to observe semantic types in political conversation.

This given methodology is being done with the following recorded speech with the transcripts

from Indian context. An Indian political activist DR. Sashi Tharoor and social activist Arundhati

Roy‘s speeches are taken to examine associative meaning and corpus study in speech. Tharoor‘s

speech on Reparation at oxford union in 2015 and speech on Well educated mind Vs Well formed mind at

TED Talks in 2013. Roy‘s The Seditionist speech at a seminar in 2010 and speech on The limits to free

speech in India in an interview with Manav Bhushan in 2012.


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Sample Outline

The following review focuses on the speeches given by Indian novelists Sashi Tharoor and

Arundhati Roy. Every speech contains its own unique and different semantic aspects. Similarly it

differs according to the speaker‘s expression, though the notion is same. The Indian novelists and

speakers Sashi Tharoor and Arundhati Roy have been involved themselves to defend social injustice

and protest against socio-political issues through their speeches.

Sashi Tharoor‟s Speech

Tharoor demanded reparation payments from the UK government to India for their 200 years of

colonial rule in oxford union in 2015. This speech proved Tharoor‘s responsibility as a politician

when he had successfully represented the actual Indian mind. His argument was against the British

colonialism which led the Indian economy to ground and he has proved it with statistical evidence

from the history and literature. Then Tharoor started defending that Britain‘s rise was lifted by

India‘s de-industrialization. In fact Britain‘s industrial revolution was actually premised upon the

de-industrialization of India. After that Tharoor explains de-industrialization of India with apt

examples. He explained about the sufferings of handloom weavers in British India. While he was

giving examples on India‘s past condition, he included a ruler of colonialism who was Winston

Churchill. When there was a famine in Bengal, Churchill only bothered about the survival of

Gandhi. This speech was delivered with complete resentment. Tharoor even quoted the lines of

Horace Walpole, ―London the sinkhole of Indian wealth‖ to mean the corruption made by British

colonials. He deliberately informs the challenging reparations done by countries over the other.

Tharoor‘s voluntariness towards world history and making the history again with his speeches are

flawless and no speaker will find fault in his proofs. This oxford union speech was a complete

bundle of demanding reparations on behalf of Indians.

In 2013 Tharoor delivered a speech at ted talks regarding education in India and explains Indian

history in contrast with British India. He begins with demography of India and the most important

four Es in education that is, expansion, equity, excellence, and employability. He also produces the

excellent literary statistics rate of India before British and after British. While concluding the speech

he has poured a ray of hope towards the world with ample amount of literacy rate and with

enormous innovations report. Eventually he challenged the world by waving ―we are coming‖.

Arundhati Roy‟s Speech

Arundhati Roy delivered a speech on Kashmir at a seminar, titled Azadi- ―The Only Way

(freedom)‖ in 2010, at Delhi. Along with Roy, many other popular figures were filed against charge

of sedition for promoting hate between classes. When a journalist asked Roy to answer about Azadi

moment she said that Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. This comment went viral

and raised questions against Roy. She made that comment deliberately when the Indian government

has accepted; in the UN that Kashmir is not an integral part of India. Roy‘s seditionist speech marks

her open statement of classes that minorities remain same under the upper caste Hindu. The

problem of minority and majority division in modern India is still having endless war. Again in

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2007, Roy said that India needs freedom from Kashmir just as much as Kashmir needs freedom from

India. Roy started pointing out the ambience of Kashmiris was going intolerable as there were much

communal violence occurred. As a social activist she said that Hindus are allowed to treat the

minority badly and the government is using the people. These controversial ideas made this speech

sedition and Roy to have been filled against charges of sedition.

Roy had an interaction with Manav Bhushan regarding ―The limits to free speech in India‖. This

interview has widely discussed about fascism, violence, free speech, power control, and

privatization. When the Host asked the opinion of Roy about making violence for justice, she

cleverly differentiated ―violence‖ as an expression and as a word. She stood for Chhattisgarh issue,

when the native people were refused to come out of their jungle. She ignored the idea of calling the

people who are in the jungle are terrorists and Maoists. As a social activist she stated, India is the

nation only for communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, and rapists but not

for poor human beings.

Analysis

In Thaoor‘s speech, he referred the British colonialism in India. The following passage will produce

the words from the text and its conceptual meaning.

―Dehumanization‖ - the process of depriving a group of positive human qualities.

―De-industrialization‖ – low industrial activity in an economy.

―Reparation‖ – compensation for slavery.

―Depredation‖ – act of plundering.

Imposed tariff – elevated tax.

Induced famine – intentional food scarcity.

―The weavers in India became beggars‖ – foreign exports and imports made Indian weavers

poor.

―India is Britain's biggest cash cow‖ – British‘s‘ large investments in India.

―India had been governed for the benefit of Britain‖ – for Britain‘s progress India had been

used.

Tharoor has explained his forward thoughts in his speech as it has associative meaning. The

word ―Dehumanization‖ reflects the massacre histories of Jews and Jallian Wala Bhag pogroms.

Also he points out the sufferings of Bengal famine which led million deaths. ―De-industrialization‖

refers to the loss of industries in India and simultaneously Industrial Revolution in Britain.

Purposefully, the industries and the techniques of Indians were devastated. The word ―Reparation‖

means for the repayment of lost lives, and also to make bench mark in world history. This attempt

of asking reparation will make the audience to act against UK. Asking reparation before a country

has made his speech promising. He proved before the audience that he is a responsible person. ―The

weavers in India became beggars‖, a quote deliberately stated to influence the Indian citizens. The

way he says ―beggars‖ makes the audience to realize the worst condition. This talks about the

weaver‘s fine handlooms as well the horrible tortures they faced. ―India is Britain's biggest cash

cow‖ is a line, with a sarcastic tone. It focuses the wealth taken from India to Britain. This even

recalls the Kohinoor diamond from India to England. Also the word ―cow‖, refers the Hinduism in

India. It is evident that the colonizers used us. ―India had been governed for the benefit of Britain‖,


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this line probably used to manipulate the audience. From this point, Britain is the major reason for

India‘s poor progress. All his thoughts were poured with manipulative language.

In Arundhati Roy‘s speech, she mentioned the socio-political issues in India. The following

passage will produce the words from the text and its conceptual meaning.

―Operation green hunt‖ – an expression against Naxalites.

―Populism‖ – a term for political movement.

―Privatization‖ – the transfer of public sector business to private ownership.

―Fascism‖ – a political system for superior leader.

―Moral corrosion‖ – spoiling social moralities.

―Make your alliances‖ – to not to depend on government.

―Justice is the keystone to integrity‖ – fair play leads to morality.

―A call for justice‖ – to stand for equity.

―The state using people‖ – government is utilizing people.

Roy has explained her thoughts with exclusive terminologies to make sure of India‘s condition.

The word ―Operation green hunt‖ sounds terrific to the ears. It also appears to plunder something

from its root. Her semantic arrangement of the word ―Moral corrosion‖ stands to define the quality

of society. She deliberately accused the formation of society with that word. She used the term

―populism‖ and ―privatization‖ to blame the country for its marketing strategy on middle class

people with private commodities. The word ―Fascism‖ is referred to quote the lives in India that the

majority Hindus are harming the minorities like Dalits, Muslims and Adivasis. It shows the superior

support of the majorities in this society. She quoted, ―Make your alliances‖ to sense the reality of

government to the receivers. It shows the sarcastic tone of Roy because sometimes the tone can

make the speech provocative.. To make sure of the state‘s rule, speaker says ―The state using

people‖. This comment is made to accuse the governance and also to the ignorant citizens. Her final

optimistic note was ―Justice is the keystone to integrity‖ which has manipulated the audience also

she gained followers. As a speaker, she intentionally began the speech by accusing the nation but

ended with a positive tone that ―A call for justice‖. These jargon language and the tone in her speech

is politically manipulative.

Conclusion

The paper has made an attempt to show the socio-political issues and semantic aspects in political

rhetoric speeches. Through language, all the information is carried to the receiver but it needs

politics to make the receiver manipulated by the information. Every political speech contains

manipulative power which has its own loss and gain. The speeches of Sashi Tharoor and Arundhati

Roy have unique semantics and connotation. The responsibility of the speaker lies not only in the

meaning but also the impact it creates in the audience mind. Both Sashi Tharoor and Arundhati Roy

used politically manipulated language to:

Trigger emotions.

Influence violence or non-violence.

Create revolution.

Call for action and

Turn on social unrest.

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CHAPTER 47

THE POLITICS OF LANGUAGE IN SOCIOLINGUISTIC

TRANSLATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO

K.A. GUNASEKARAN‟S THE SCAR

S. ADLINE JEREENA MARY

Assistant Professor of English Literature

Hindustan College of Arts & Science, Chennai

Literature has always been a forum for voicing out ones opinion. It has proved to be a boon for the

oppressed people most of the time. While the west oppresses people based on their colour and

economical status, the east, especially in India, people face suppression due to the caste system. This

caste system has been present since time immemorial. In India, dalits are subjugated by upper caste

people. The early traces of this caste system can be found in Rig- Veda that deals with the origin of

mankind. There are other ancient texts that indicate the caste system. Even in 21st century most of

the dalits are constantly being cornered and enjoy fewest advantages.

Dalit literature which is currently an emerging trend in Indian literature, instigated to put an

end to the eternal silence of dalits on their sufferings. The dalit literary works are generally written

in their mother tongue and then gets translated into other regional languages or English. Dalit

literature portrays assertion of human rights, self-pride, revolt against social injustice, chronicles of

personal and collective suffering, hopes and aspirations for a new society devoid of discrimination.

While the scholars and researchers focus on the concept dealt in the dalit text, they, at times, fail to

notice the role of translator. The translator who is more like a second author tries to imbibe emotion

into the text rather than rendering word- for- word translation. So, the role of the translator is a

predominant one. Every human can be identified with one particular society which determines the

psychological, emotional behavior of that person. This study is called Sociolinguistics.

Sociolinguistics studies the relation between language and society and offers a complete

analysis of the character, language spoken by the character, the scenario in which the character lives

and also about the people whom the character connects himself or herself with. Examining dalit

literature based on these aspects provide an in depth analysis of the culture of these downtrodden

people who are crushed from all the directions. The language used, the life style followed, the food

eaten, the fellowship extended by these people is completely different than that of people who claim

them self to be the part of the upper caste.

In such a scenario, the sociolinguistic background of the translator also plays a major role

because a person‘s thoughts and stereotypes are generally influenced by the society from which the

person comes from. So, a sociolinguistic analyzation of the translated text becomes mandatory. The

text selected for analysis, Vadu, written by K.A. Gunasekaran, is an autobiographical novel that


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traces the life of a dalit youth and also stands as a testimony for poverty and untouchability, twin

forces, that affect most dalits. The writer‘s narrative is also a powerful affirmation about his

determination to win. This text was translated by the translator V.Kadambari. In the translated text

of Vadu, The Scar, the translator has conveyed the message written in Tamil in English. Despite this

process, there are some issues oriented with the translation. Though it can be ignored stating to be

the normal linguistic difficulty faced in translation, an analysis based on the sociolinguistic

background of the translator can also be done. Moreover, the language of the dalits establishes its

own dialect that is different from the commonly used language. The dalits‘ language represents

their way of living. In such a case, untranslatability becomes a common issue because the language

of dalits is strongly braided with their life as any other language.

This novel is not an exception. Like any other dalit literary work, this novel also deals with the

suffering of a person conveyed in his own language, in his own dialect.

The translation also tries to bring out the same essence as much as possible disregarding certain

exceptions. These exceptions occur due to various reasons.

Initiating the sociolinguistical analysis from the page one of the text, there is a description about

the temple located in Elayankudi. While describing the temple the author actually writes,

Mdh rptd; Nfhapy; thry; Kd;dhb ehY mbf;Ff; nfhiwahk> [k;Kd;D rk;kzk; Nghl;L mk;kzkhf; fd;dq;fNuUd;D xf;fe;jpUf;fpw mk;kzthad; rhkpag; gy jilt njhl;Lg; ghj;Jl;Lg; NghapUf;Nfd.; (23>24)

And the translator states,

‗But I have often touched the four feet figure of

Ammanavayan sitting cross legged in front of

this temple‘ (1).

There arises humpty number of questions in a reader‘s mind why there is a difference between

the original text and translated text when there is no issue with the translation. A reader, who does

not have any idea about the culture of Tamil, would be neglected of the minute detail which the

author has tried to record replicating his culture and life. While the translation does not serve as a

hindrance, the only answer that crosses the mind of the reader is the sociolinguistic influence of the

translator. The translator might have thought describing the statue literally would be unethical,

which again questions the notion of determining what is ethical and what is unethical.

In another case, while the author discusses about the general superstition prevailing among

people who attend the temple festival. Once the fest gets over, the priest would throw the bananas

towards the general public. The people believed that the person who gets banana would be

considered as blessed. The author clearly states that this was a belief whereas in translation this

section becomes a statement which is actually quite different.

gok; fpilf;fwtq;fSf;Fr; rhkp mUs; fpilf;Fk;;;;;@ Gs;sapy;yhjtq;fSf;Fg; Gs;stuk; fpilf;Fq;fwJ rdq;fNshl IjPfk; (26)

Whereas in English,

‗If it was a childless person who got the fruit, he would be

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blessed with a child‘ (2)

Following the occurrences in the festival (the term ‗Festival‘ itself has the cultural loss from the

term ~jpUtpoh|, the narrator narrates about the visit of the nayandi drummers who knew the

narrator‘s mother. While having a quick visit with the narrator‘s family, the drummers would leave

their music instruments like tharai, thapattai and kottumelam somewhere. When questioned about

the whereabouts of the instrument they would tell that they have sent it back to home. In this

scenario, the narrator‘s mother explains to the narrator why they do not bring the instruments. The

statement made by the mother witness minute change between the texts.

In the ST, the statement is

~mTq;fs;shk giwa T+l;Lf;fhuq;fd;D kj;jTq;fSf;Fj; njhpqQ;rh Nftyk;. mjdhyjhd; ek;g T+l;Lf;F ,g;gb te;J ghj;Jl;Lg; glf;Fd;D Nghaplwhq;f| (27)

But in the TT, the statement goes like this,

‗They do not want anyone to know that they belong to the

Parayar clan. So they come to see us without the

instruments and go away immediately‘. (3)

The change is subtle but the emotion it conveys has a vast difference. In the ST, the writer

ensures that the reader understands the plight of a dalit being ignored by others even in the same

community or one feels ashamed to be identified as dalit by using the term, Nftyk; . But in English,

it is written to be something secretive which they just do not want others to know. The emotion

where the dalit is not even ready to accept himself misses out in the translation.

In an another incident, wherein Gunasekaran details on being treated really friendly by Jalal in

whose shop he works as a labourer during holidays, Gunasekaran mentions about being fed by the

food brought from Jalal‘s house. In this section, efficient amount of emotion misses out and also

certain minute details are scraped out. . The original version goes like

mtUf;F ehd; ey;y rpNdfpjdh ,Ue;jjhy vd;ida mtU filapy Ntiyf;Fr; Nrj;Jf;fpl;lhU. njdKk; kj;jpahdk; ,];khapy; T+l;Ly Nrhwhf;fpf; fwpahdk; ntr;Rf; Nfhg;igapy %bf; nfhLj;jDg;Gthq;f. ehq;f nuz;LNgUk; kzf;fkzf;fr; rhg;GLNthk;.(40)

On the other hand, the translated version states,

Since I was a good friend of his, he employed me in his

shop. Every afternoon we would eat tasty food that came

from his house. (15)

If an analysis is done checking on what is missing over here, the meaning it conveys is subtly

different. In SL, the author clearly brings out the act of sharing food as a symbol of extreme

harmony and love. This is established in the way he has put forth whereas in English (i.e.) in the TL

the emotion and its symbolism slightly lag behind.

In certain places the language has been refined, while the ST says it in one notion, the TT

proposes it in another. The comparisons are provided below.


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which is written as,

rpd;dj;jk;gp mk;gyf;fhuUfUk;Gj; Njhl;lj;Jy nuz;L NgU fUk;g ntl;bj; jpd;Dl;lhD fd;D nrhy;yp mtDf ifiaf

fl;b mk;kzkhf;fpj; njUtopahr; rhiyapy ,Uf;fpw mtU filf;F ,Oj;Jl;Lg; Nghdhq;f (43)

Two fellows who had stolen sugarcane from Chinnathambi

Ambalakarar‘s fields were caught and were marched on the streets

with their hands tied and with not a stitch on them. (18)

Another comparison is as follows,

nqhg;GwhNd thj;jpahh; NgU ,g;gTk; vdf;Fj; njhpahJ. jg;G nrQ;r gaYfSf;Fj; jd;Ndhl KOf;ifr; rl;il Nghl;l

ifahy ‗nqhg;GwhNd‘d;D xU Fj;J tpLthU. Mjdhy

gaYf mtUf;F tr;r NgUjhd; nqhg;GwhNd thj;jpahh;. (43)

In TL,

A teacher whose name I do not remember had the habit of folding

his full sleeve before he gave a knock on the head of the boy who

had committed a wrong. The knock was accompanied by a swear

word; and the boys started referring to him by that swear word. (18).

In the second example given above, the swear word is eliminated. Swearing is bad but based on

the perspective of a dalit and his language; swear word is like salt mixed with water. It‘s

inseparable. It also indicates their culture and their society. The translator should have been

transliterated the swear word and given it as a swear word used in the glossary.

While discussing about pongal festival, the narrator describes about the dalitsmaking Palmyra

boxes. In the SL, the narrator clearly mentions that the people weremaking boxes for their masters in

exchange of some food but in English it is stated asthey were making it for their parents and

relatives. Moreover, the narrator also mentionsin SL that while thinking about being exploited in

this manner it hurts him much but inTL it has been made that the narrator has just understood it.

The lines are provided below.

‗vq;f ma;ah T+l;Lf;Fg; nghl;b nkhilANwd;. vq;f

rpd;da;ah T+l;Lf;Fg; gha; nkhilANwd;‘d;D

nrhy;ypf;fpLthq;f. nghq;fy; md;idf;F xU khrkh nkhlQ;R

tr;rpUf;f gha;, nrhs;F;, nfhl;lhd;,; Xiyg; nghl;bfs mTq;f mTq;f ma;ah T+;Lfs;y nfhz;LNgha;f; FLj;Jl;LmTf

FLf;Fw gzk;;;;;, GJ Ntl;b, Nriy, Jz;L, ,JfNshl

nghq;fr;NrhWk; thq;fpf;fpl;L tUthq;f. (53) Nky; rhjpf;fuhq;fNshl xU tpjkhdnrhwz;LKiwjhd; mJd;D ,g;g nedf;Fk; NghJ kdrpy ijf;FJ (54)

In English,

All these people would say that they were making boxes for their

parent‘s house or mats for their relatives‘ houses ... When I think

of this now, I understand it to be a kind of exploitation by the

upper caste people. (28)

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The narrator, in the next few pages, discusses about his experience of being a

messenger to pass on the death news of an upper caste person to his or her relatives. This

section witnesses deletion of minute details which describes the plight of the dalits who

are sent as messengers. The detailing about the discrimination has been very smoothly

translated as if it was not an issue.

Here is the comparison.

gUj;jpf; fhl;Lyg; gpQ;Rfis vLj;Jj; jpd;dh ,dpg;gh

,Uf;Fk;. nts;shpf;fh, fj;jphpg;gpQ;R, Eq;F, gdk;gok; ,Jfs vLj;Jj; jpd;Df;fpl;Nl grpawpahk ele;J NghapUf;Nfhk;.xU CUf;Fs;s EioAwJf;F Kd;dhy me;j CU eha;fSf;Fg; gjpy; nrhy;yZk;. mg;Gwk; me;j CU Mk;gs nghk;gsq;f Nff;Fw Nfs;tpfSf;Fg; gjpy; nrhy;yZk;. mg;Gwk; jhd; Nfjk; nrhy;y Ntz;baTq;fSf;Fr; Nrjp nrhy;yKbAk;. vq;f ghl;ld; G+l;ld; fhyq;fs;y ,d;Dk; vd;dd;d ghLfisg; gl;bUg;ghq;fd;D nedr;R Nkr;rhjpf;fhuq;f Nrl;ilfs ehq;f fij fijahg; Ngrpf;fpl;Nl NghNthk;. xU ehs;y ey;y gzk; NrUNkd;D Nfjk; nrhy;yg; NghNdhk;.

Mdh mJTk; xU tifahd rhjp xLf;FKiwjhd; vd;fpwj ehq;f mg;g nedf;fy.; (56)

The translated version is

We would pick up tender Palmyra fruits, cucumbers, brinjals, palm

fruits, etc., as we walked from place to place. Then only would we

proceed to those houses where we had to deliver the news. (29)

On the way we would talk about the problems that our

grandfathers and great-grandfathers had to face because of their

caste. There was a time when we carried such news as it fetched

good money for us.(30)

The evidences that have been provided are mere amount in comparison with other examples

from the text. It appears that the translator has omitted, changed, refined and smoothened the

language based on personal necessity.

The Scar as the title translation of the text itself has lost its essence from the SL,Vadu. A scar can

indicate a mild mark on the layer of skin or even in heart wherein the pain is not felt but vadu goes

much deeper. It indicates a wound that is deep and hurts with constant pain. One cannot blame the

translator cause every one posses a unique way of perceiving an occurrence. Moreover, the

translator does not have the first hand experience. It is just her understanding of the text and the

things which she might have heard or experienced. Yet she has given her best. Based on the

analysis, we could consider that only the person who got burnt would know the depth of the pain.

Only when the SLT and TLT are compared minutely all these defects layer up.

But in general case, the translated text brings out the plight of a dalit very effectively. It just does

not show a hopeless society where the dalits suffer but also the other side of the coin where

developments and upliftment programmes for the underprivileged are spread out extensively

offering hope to million lives.


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CHAPTER 48

TRASLATION ISSUES IN THE TRANSLATION OF PREMCHAND‟S

GODAN FROM HINDI TO ENGLISH BY DR.MOHD MAZHAR

L. MELITHA


Bharathiar University, Coimbatore

Prof. Dr. RUBY EBENEZAR

Dr. Ambedkar Government Arts and Science College, Chennai

Introduction

Each language is unique. Each language has its own culture, style, and the way of functioning

idioms, expressions and grammar. The formation of sentences and the usage of words in the

sentences, differ from one language to other language. Especially, there is a lot of difference between

English and Indian languages. The place of object, adjective and verb in the sentences are in

different styles in these languages. Due to these reasons, the translators face some issues, when the

translation takes place from English to Indian languages and vice versa. In this paper, the researcher

has taken the translation of Premchand‘s masterpiece ‗GODAN‘ to analyse the problems faced by

the translator Dr.Mohd Mazhar. The translator has dedicated this translation to Premchand, the

king of Hindi novel on is 125th Birth Anniversary.

„Upanyas Samarat‟ Premchand

Munshi Premchand, whose original name was Dhanpat Rai Shrivastav was born on 31st July 1880 to

Munshi AjayablalShrivastav and Anandhi. He is one of the most celebrated Indian writers. He gave

a new dimension to the ‗Modern Hindi – Urdu‘ literature.In his early life Premchand faced immense

poverty. This impacted in all his writings.Premchand has contributed to the Indian literature, a

dozen of Novels, around 1300 short stories, several essays and the translations of number of foreign

literary works into Hindi. Hence he is known as ‗UPANYAS SAMRAT‘ – Emperor among novelists

and the King of novels. He is really a beloved writer of Hindi speaking people and hence called by

them as ‗KALAM KA SIPAHEE‘ and ‗KALAM KA JADOOGAR‘ Premchand‘s writings remarkably

featured and highlighted the ‗Realism‘ (Yatharthavadh). His purpose of writing was making

awareness of national and social issues among the Indian people.

Godan – A Masterpiece of Premchand

Godan is the last master piece of Premchand. The Nagpur Times correctly said, ―No Indian should

miss this novel, which Premchand wrote with tears.‖Godan means the ‗Gift of a Cow‘.

Premchandhas depicted the picture of the Indian peasants‘ world in his ‗Godan‘ as the form of

poverty stricken people, wrinkled face, crumbled cheeks, empty bellies, naked children, broken

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houses, extinguished hearths and their exploitation by ‗Zamindars‘, the land lords. In ‗Godan‘, the

hero, Hori a poor peasant desperately longs for a cow. He gets a cow but pays with his life for it, till

his death. ‗Godan‘ was made as a Hindi film in 1963 with the artists Rajkumar, Mehmood and

Shashikala. It has taken as TV serial with 26 episodes, produced by Doordarshan of India.

Translation of Godan

Godan has been translated by some writers who were delighted to place this novel in the hands of

non Hindi speakers to know the portrait of Indian farmers in Premchand‘s writings. First translation

of Godan into English is ‗Godan‘, which was translated by Jai Ratan and P. Lal in the year 1957.Later

it was translated by Gordon C. Roadarmel in the year 1968 as ‗The Gift of a Cow‘. Recently ‗Godan‘

was translated by Dr.Mohd Mazhar in the year 2015. He dedicated this book to Munshi Premchand

on his 125th Birth Anniversary.

Dr.Mohd Mazhar‟s „Godan‟

Dr.Mohd Mazhar has translated Premchand‘s ‗Godan‘ in 2015 in order to make the students and

non Hindi speaking people to find the novel more interesting and useful. He has taken the effort of

translating the usage of Idioms, Sayings and Proverbs into English to present the true spirit of the

original novel written by Premchand. Dr.Mohd hadattempted to find the solution for

sometranslation issues while finding the equivalents for the words like wrinkled face, crumpled

cheeks etc.,

Aim of this Paper

Here the researcher has viewed and taken the first 3 chapters of Godan. This paper analyses the

usage of a peasants‘ dialects, which belong to Awadh. The characters of this novel speak

Hindustani, the dialect of (Hindi & Urdu) Indian peasants who live in Uttar Pradesh. Premchand

has described the graphic picture of Indian peasants through the appropriate words, idioms,

phrases and expressions. Every translator should follow certain principles to translate the text,

because the translation should reflect accurately the meaning of the original text.

The French Humanist Etienne Dolet has published a short outline of translation principles in

1540, entitled ‗La maniere de bien traduire d‘ unelangueenaultre‘ (how to translate well from one

language into another) and established the following five principles for the translators:

(1) The translator must fully understand the sense and meaning of the original author, although he

is at liberty to clarify obscurities.

(2) The translator should have a perfect knowledge of both SL and TL.

(3) The translator should avoid word- for- word rendering.

(4) The translator should use forms of speech in common use.

(5) The translator should choose and order words appropriately to produce the correct tone.

The translation piece of ‗Godan‘ clearly shows that the translator Dr.Mohd Mazhar has

approached the above mentioned principles in his text. This paper is an attempt in finding the

translation issues faced by the translator Dr.Mohd Mazhar. The researcher has tried to present the


201

equivalents used by the translator for the following translation issues in the first 3 chapters of

Godan:

1. Structure of the language

2. Cultural problem

3. Gender problem

4. Translation of Idioms and expressions

5. Problems in Humour

6. Untranslatability

Structure of the Language

All languages have different structural rules that make the communication meaningful. The five

main components of language are Phonemes, Morphemes, Lexemes, Syntax and Context. These

components are constructing the meaningful sentences. The place of components like Nouns,

Adjectives, and Verbs Adverbs are different in English and other languages. The variations of the

structure of language in the selected sentences by the translator in Godan are as follows:

S.L – Hori Ram ne apnisthriDhaniya se kaha-‗Gobar ko ukhgodnebhejdhena‘. (pg.no.13)

T.L – Hori Ram said to wife Dhaniya – ‗send Gobar to scrape sugarcane‘.

S.L - Bhola ne rukhayee se jawabdhiya. (pg.no.16)

T.L – Bhola answered dried.

In the above sentences the place of the verbs ‗kaha‘‗bhejdhena‘ and ‗jawabdhiya‘ are at the end

of the sentences as per the structure of the language Hindi.

But in translation the place of the verbs ‗said‘, ‗send‘ and ‗answered‘ are at the beginning and at

the end of the sentences.

Cultural Problem

Edward Sapir says, ‗Language is a guide to social reality‘.

JuriLotman describes the language as the heart within the body of culture.

Every language is influenced and impacted by the culture and the culture is reflected on every

language and society. So the translators must be familiar of the culture of S.L and T.L equally. These

impacts in the following sentences are viewed as follows:

S.L – Dhaniyaupalethaapkaraayee thee. (pg.no.13)

T.L – Dhaniya had just finished making dung cakes. (pg.no.9)

Here the dung cakes are made by hand from cows‘ and buffalos‘ dung by Indian women and

they are traditionally used as the fuel in India for cooking. So the usage of the word ‗upale‘ is

common in India. But the usage of the word ‗dung cakes‘ and its usage as fuel is unfamiliar in

foreign countries. Hence the translator has used the word ‗dung cake‘ from the traditional and

culture of India.

Gender Problem

The Grammatical rules for Gender in nouns and pronouns are different in English and other

languages. There are three main and common Gender issues in translation.

202

(1) Grammatical Gender

(2) Semantic Gender

(3) Social Gender

Grammar rules in Gender traditionally used by native speakers in colloquial Hindi are different

from English. In Hindi, the usage of Noun, Pronouns and the modification of other words happens

in the sentences, only by knowing the gender of the words.

S.L – Bhola ne ardhrakant se kaha, ‗thumhare bail bhookonnamarenge?‘ (pg.no 19)

T.L – Bhola said with choked throat, ‗Your oxen will not starve?‘(pg.no.14)

S.L – Thumharidhashadhekh- ‗dhekhkartho main aurbheesookhijaathihoon.‘(pg.no. 14)

T.L – Seeing your condition, I become weaker and weaker. (pg.no.10)

In the above conversation, the word ‗your‘ is used for ‗thumhare‘ and ‗thumhari‘. In the word

‗thumhare bail‘, bail is the masculine and plural word so ‗thumhare is used. In the word

‗thumharidhasha‘, dhasha is the feminine word and singular, so ‗thumhari‘ is used. Since there are

no gender rules for each word in English, the common word ‗your‘ is used in those places.

Idioms and Expressions

Idioms are expressions which help us to describe the situations in a different and more creative way.

They give us cultural and historical information and broaden the people‘s understanding of a

language. Its figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. The usage of idioms is

different in languages; because the expressions of idioms are fully depend upon the culture and the

dialect of the people. So the translation of Idioms and expressions is the difficult task for the

translators. Let‘s see the idioms used by Premchand and its translation by Dr,Mohd Mazhar.

S.L – ‗Sab kutchjaankarbheegadhabanarahoon!‘ (pg.no.23)

T.L – I don‘t think they would like me to be any better than a moron. (pg.no.20)

Here, the literal meaning of ‗Gadhabanarahoon‘ is to become a donkey. But the figurative

meaning is ‗to become a stupid‘. So the translator has used the word ‗to be a moron‘.

S.L – Rai sahabkemaathe par bal pad gaye. (pg.no.24)

T.L – The Rai Sahib‘s forehead furrowed with rages‘. (pg.no.21)

Here, the literal meaning of ‗maathe par bal pad gaye‘ is ‗a hit on the fore head‘ and the

figurative meaning is ‗to feel sadness‘. So the translator has used the equivalent as ‗forehead

furrowed with rage‘

Problems in Humour

Our cultural make up defines the sense of Humour. The way of understanding the words makes us

to enjoy and laugh. Translating humour is the hardest thing for the translators. Because the funny

conversation to the people in one culture may not be funny in other languages and it may hurt

others.Here, Hori says to his wife on seeing the dresses given by his wife Dhaniya.

S.L – Hori ne kaha, ‗kya sasural jaana hai jo paanchon posak layee hai? Sasural mein bhee tho

koyee jawan – salhaj naheen baitee hain, jise jaakar dhikaun‘. (pg.no.14)


203

T.L – Hori said, ‗Am I going to the house of my in laws, so you have brought all the five

garments? Whom shall I show my clothes when there is not a single sister in law there? (pg.no.10)

The men from India, to make fun of their wives they used to compare their sisters in law with

them. This is not common in other languages and cultures. It may be considered as an offense in

other culture .Sometimes these issues may cause translation errors. Here the translator has given the

word by word translation and it‘s not sure that how far the people from other culture understand

this humour.

Untranslatability

Untranslatability is the property of text or speech for which no equivalent can be found when

translated into another language. Brian James Baer posits, ‗when translators talk about

untranslatable, they often reinforce the notion that each language has its own ‗genius‘ an ‗essence‘

that naturally sets it apart from all other languages and reflects something of the ‗soul‘ of its culture

or people.

The linguist, Catford distinguishes two types of untranslatability, Linguistics and Cultural

untranslatability. In Linguistics untranslatability, untranslatability occurs when there is no lexical or

syntactical substitute in the T.L. In Cultural untranslatability, untranslatability occurs due to the

absence in the T.L culture of the relevant situation of the S.L. In these sentences Dr.Mohd Mazhar

has used the same Premchand‘s terms which are traditionally used by the Indian Peasants.

S.L – Meri Lathi de deaurapnakamdhek. (pg.no.13)

T.L – Give me my Lathi and do your work. (pg.no.9)

S.L – Kutch naheenthochaar- paanch seer dhoodhhoga. (pg,no.15)

T.L – No will give at least four or five seer. (pg.no.11)

S.L – Hori ne Lota bharpaanichadathehuyekaha. (pg.no.27)

T.L – Hori drank a Lota full of water. (pg.no.24)

In these sentences, the words ‗Lathi, Seer, and Lota‘ are used as the same terms in translated

text.

‗Lathi‘ is a heavy stick bound with iron used by village men and police in India.

‗Seer‘ is a unit of dry volume in India which is equal to one litre.

‗Lota‘ is a globular water container, usually of brass used in India.

In order to sustain the beauty of these sentences and untranslatability of these words Dr.Mohd

Mazhar used those words exactly from Premchand‘s writings.

Conclusion

J.C. Catford‘s short study in 1965 suggests, ‗In translation, there is substitution of TL meanings for

SL meanings: not transference of TL meanings into the SL. In transference there is an implantation

of SL meanings into the TL text. These two processes must be clearly differentiated in any theory of

translation.‘ Hence, the translator cannot be the author of the SL text, but as the author of the TL text

has a clear moral responsibility to the TL readers. The researcher concludes this paper by declaring

that the translator Dr.Mohd Mazharhas handled the translation issues brilliantly and creatively and

placed the text into the hands of students and non – Hindi speakers.

204

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Chapter 48

Godan – Munshi Premchand

Godan – Translated book by Dr.Mohd Mazhar, 2015

Websource

Keywords

SL – Source Language

TL – Target Language

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