Smart Moves Journal IJELLH (International Journal of English language, literature in humanities)
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Gender, Culture and Manifest Oppression: A Study of the Film, Ozhimuri
Get PDFThe dialogue, the film, Ozhimuri initiates, is that of a class, the oppressed. As against the conventional patterns of duals oppressor and oppressed, powerful and powerless, man and woman and traditional and modern, Ozhimuri unravels a kind of unique pattern of human existence where the comparative stance are fluid terrains. It reveals the inherent ideology of oppression as projected through the patriarch Thanu Pilla, and the matriarch Kali Pilla. On a later stage it reveals the oppressed face of the oppressors. The Film, with a shocking cipher to the prejudiced, a divorce petition from a lady past sixty, in view of regaining her property and identity from a man past seventy, opens a new perspective on violence, power and revolt. The present paper aims at deciphering the mysterious and mixed threads, the clues to which are given in the voice and silence of the characters. The objectives include searching: the oppressed in the film, what makes the oppression, the key forms of oppression, the culture and the oppression and /oppressed, how the economic, ownership oriented thoughts added to the dilemma of the oppressed, the role of the institution of marriage to enhance oppression and the possibilities of divorce out of love versus marriage out of hatred. The paper also throws light of the way, how the history of a place and community turns to be the history of the oppressed. By comparing the characters that are oppressed, but holding power, the study throws light on understanding polyphonic nature of the knowledge and beliefs justified, related to existence in general and gender, culture and individual in specific.
 
Reconstructing the Past: A Critical Study of Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending
Get PDFThis paper examines how the protagonist of Julian Barnes’s novel The Sense of an Ending (2011), Tony Webster, reconstructs his past through memory and narrative. Tony, an unreliable narrator in his sixties, attempts to decipher the truth and meaning of his past through his fallible memory and limited and insufficient documents. The central argument of the paper posits that Tony’s narration of his personal history holds a comparable level of authority to that found in any traditional historical narration. Therefore, like a professional historian, his narration of the past employs the narrative strategy of emplotment to make his story coherent and persuasive. As Hayden White argued, a historical narration is parallel to storytelling and a historian employs ‘fictive elements’ to make the historical representation comprehensive and sympathetic to the target readers. The paper also throws light on the fragmented depiction of Tony’s past which is effectively linked to his struggle to fully comprehend and cope with his somewhat traumatic history. By incorporating the theories of Hayden White and Pierre Nora to explore the connections and differences between memory, history, and fiction in the novel. The paper contributes to the critical studies of Barnes’s novel by highlighting the ethical and epistemological implications of Tony’s interest in the past and self-historicization, providing a nuanced perspective on the novel
‘Heroic-Imaginary’ or ‘Survivor-Instinct’: Kire’s Mari a Case to Point
Get PDFThe classical tradition of heroic narratives eulogising ideals of heroism in war evolved with the overwhelming human misery of ‘real wars’. The two extremes portraying idealism of super-human grit and courage versus the existential loss of common suffering, exist in sharp opposition to each other.
Mari, a fictional war narrative by Easterine Kire presents an alternative view that is uniquely distinct from the skewed polarities. The Battle of Kohima described in the novel narrates how a docile young girl grows in courage simply to live. The novel resonates that victory or defeat can never match the importance of survival and transformation
Re-imagining Draupadi: Tracing the Journey from Nationalist Icon to Subaltern Voice in The Palace of Illusions
Get PDFThe research paper aims to explore the evolution of the character of Draupadi in the Indian epic Mahabharata and how she has been portrayed in various adaptations throughout history. From being a simple housewife in the original epic to a nationalist icon during the colonial and post-colonial eras, Draupadi has undergone significant transformations in the way she is depicted. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in subaltern studies, which seek to shed light on the experiences and perspectives of marginalized communities. As a result, Draupadi has been reimagined as a subaltern figure, exploring the complexities of her experiences as a subaltern woman and a victim of political manipulation. This paper focuses on the subaltern portrayal of Draupadi in the novel The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee, where she is depicted as a courageous and bold woman who defies societal expectations and reclaims her agency. The study highlights the significance of revisiting ancient texts and reinterpreting their characters in light of contemporary perspectives. This research paper provides ample evidence of Draupadi\u27s transformation from a nationalist icon to a subaltern subject in the novel The Palace of Illusions
Significance of Listening Skills in Enhancing the Communication Skills
Get PDFGrasping of any kind of information relies on learners’ capability of listening. Listening plays a significant role in regular communication and academic success. Students get succeeded in enhancing the communication skills, if they can understand the listening skills. Though listening is an important skill, it has been ignored in second language acquisition, research, teaching, and assessment. This study focuses at probing the significance of listening skills in enhancing the communication skills. It is possible for the learners to gain good communication skills, if they are strong in listening skills. It is observed that practicing of listening skills like; listening to music, watching English movies, attending English language courses develops the listening skills of the students. This study shows how Computer Assisted Language Learning helps in improving the listening skills of the students. If students acquire the listening skills, they can develop the communication skills
Environmental Fiction and Concept of Nature in From Heaven Lake
Get PDFEnvironmental fiction is one that deals with men’s social conditions, environment and nature. It is a study of relationship between man and nature. Man is always dependent on nature. He cannot live without it. Nature provides the means of livelihood to the human beings. Nature is mighty and powerful to man. Man has always tried to make a victory over nature, but it is very temporary or momentary. Nature always makes a balance, but if there is any kind of nature created by man, there is every time a natural imbalance between man and nature. For removing this imbalance, man always makes a compromise with nature. Nature is cruel and so, it is necessary to compromise with nature. Otherwise, nature will destroy all those things which concern man.  
Sopocles’ Ajax: A Tragedy of Deception
Get PDFGreek tragedy is a tragedy of fate that brings the downfall of the central figure. Greek playwrights were masters of storytelling and tried to bring purgation of human emotions. Man is indeed responsible for his prosperity and downfall, but no one can deny the role of destiny in man’s life. Sophocles was one of the greatest Greek Playwrights who produced considerable tragedies in Greek literature. Sophocles’ plays were performed on the stage during the ancient time. His most horrible tragedy is Oedipus Rex in which Sophocles presents the cruelty of destiny that brings Oedipus’s downfall. Ajax is a tragedy of the central character Ajax who is presented as a noble warrior in the play but his rivalry with Odysseus for the armour of Achilles invites his downfall. In Ajax, Athena, a Greek goddess is presented as a villain in the play. Athena blurs the vision of Ajax and makes him believe that he has killed his rival Odysseus and Greek leaders but later on, he comes to know that he has killed the innocent cattle under the influence of Athena’s false vision. When Ajax comes to know about his sin, he commits suicide at the end of the play. Athena’s deception brings downfall to Ajax
Discerning Myth-Making
Get PDFThe myths of several world cultures display an interestingly common structure. This has inspired several myth critics to discern the coded expression of myths. The changing norms of modern myth-making provide greater liberty to the myth-makers, who are induced to break free from the common interface of parallel structures. Consequently, the evolving scenario of remoulded myths necessitates new parameters of assessment.
 
Indian Dramaturgy and the ‘Sacred-Stage’
Get PDFThe myths of several world cultures display an interestingly common structure. This has inspired several myth critics to discern the coded expression of myths. The changing norms of modern myth-making provide greater liberty to the myth-makers, who are induced to break free from the common interface of parallel structures. Consequently, the evolving scenario of remoulded myths necessitates new parameters of assessment.  
Geo-Cultural Identity and Multiculturalism in Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss
Get PDFHarmonizing the concerns of geo-cultural claims posited against the ‘melting-pot’ ideology of multicultural societies is a challenge for negotiating a cultural identity. Dominant strains of geo-cultural identities often involve problematising structures such as language, ethnic identity, territorial autonomy, environmental concerns and immigrant rights. This paper seeks to explore Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss for representing the polarities through the sketches of diverse cultural entities whom she conjoins in the mesmeric ‘culture-space’ of the novel. The characters, Jemubhai, Sai, Gyan and Biju, traverse the liminal thresholds of cultural identity within and between the geo-cultural and multicultural space