International Journal Online of Humanities (IJOHMN)
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The Cemetery of the Mind in Smell of Camphor, Scent of Jasmine: Memory and Mortality in Farmanara\u27s Postmodern Iran
No full textBahman Farmanara’s Smell of Camphor, Scent of Jasmine (2000) stands as a luminous milestone within the canon of Iranian cinema, offering a profound and intricately layered meditation on mortality, memory, and the fragmentation of selfhood. This essay contends that the film’s narrative architecture, thematic preoccupations, and aesthetic strategies are profoundly inflected by postmodern sensibilities and psychoanalytic currents. Through the deployment of a fractured, non-linear narrative, the deliberate dissolution of the boundaries between reality and fantasy, and a sustained self-reflexive engagement with the act of filmmaking itself, Farmanara fashions a cinematic experience that echoes the disorientation and instability of human consciousness. At the heart of the film lies a poignant exploration of the protagonist’s interior life — his anxieties, his submerged desires, and the inexorable pull of the death drive, as articulated by Sigmund Freud. In probing these psychic terrains, Smell of Camphor, Scent of Jasmine eschews conventional storytelling in favor of a poetics of rupture and loss. Through a close examination of its narrative discontinuities, symbolic textures, and intricate characterizations, this essay seeks to elucidate how Farmanara synthesizes postmodern aesthetics and psychoanalytic insight to forge a haunting meditation on the human condition. The protagonist — himself a filmmaker bereaved and adrift — becomes both subject and meta-commentator, embodying the entanglement of art, memory, and mourning. The film’s recursive time structures, dreamlike visual metaphors, and motifs of absence and decay mirror the postmodern distrust of coherent identity and linearity, while the protagonist’s vacillation between conscious mourning and unconscious compulsion reveals the subterranean workings of the Freudian death drive. In weaving together these threads, Farmanara articulates a vision of existence wherein memory falters, meaning dissolves, and creation itself emerges as an act poised precariously against the void of oblivion
Transformative Learning in Adult Education
No full textThe particular features that adult learners have impart an orientation to the design, implementation and evaluation of the educational process and so adult education theory is supported by the learning theories. The various theories that have been developed have a common denominator which is the opinion that learning is active. According to Rogers (1999) adult training comprises their active participation and the encouraging of their self-determination, which increases their tendency towards adulthood. ackson and Caffarella (1994) in their book "Experiential Learning: A New Approach" referring to the characteristics of effective adult education, emphasize that in order for the trainer to successfully live up to his role, he must make use of a large tank filled with methods and techniques that give him the ability to produce the appropriate learning experiences for the learners and to promote interaction, always combined with the use of appropriate teaching aids and strategies and of the class structure. 
Castaways and Conquerors: Exposing American Imperialism in Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island
No full textAt first glance, Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island seems like a simple adventure story, but a deeper examination reveals how it embodies the ideas prevalent in nineteenth-century America. Focusing on postcolonial and Marxist angles, this article reveals how the castaways’ supposedly perfect society on a deserted isle reproduces processes of colonial expropriation and capitalist appropriation. The absence of Indigenous peoples, the transformation of the island’s landscape, and the collective approach to labor highlight the novel’s engagement with imperial and economic concerns. Additionally, Captain Nemo’s intricate role—opposing colonial rule while also validating and testing the castaways—underscores the narrative’s internal tensions. Ultimately, the essay contends that The Mysterious Island offers a commentary on American identity, emphasizing how it intertwines with expansionist aims and capitalist ideologies, and prompting readers to reconsider what “progress” meant to nineteenth-century audiences
Reflection on the Translation Methods in Traditional English-Chinese Translation Coursebooks for Translation Undergraduates
No full textAccording to relevant documents from the Ministry of Education, current undergraduate translation programs primarily focus on teaching translation methods. Traditionally, translation method systems have relied either primarily on form conversion or meaning conversion. Taking A Course in English-Chinese Translation which primarily references form, and A Course in English-Chinese and Chinese-English Translations which primarily references meaning as examples, this paper elaborates on the shortcomings of these two types of textbooks and ways to overcome them based on fundamental Chinese-English differences, pointing out that translation method systems should be constructed based on Chinese-English differences and primarily reference meaning conversion
Home Language Use in Multilingual Workplace: Exploring Practices, Attitudes, and Relevance in Ngaoundere Public Administration
No full textThis paper is a sociolinguistic study that investigates the use of the mother tongue in Ngaoundere public administration, Adamawa Cameroon, highlighting common practices, the public workers’ attitudes and the relevance of the phenomenon. A sample population of 115 civil servants was surveyed and data were collected using a mixed method approach combining both participant observation and questionnaire. Fishman’s Domain Theory (1972) and Giles’ Accommodation Theory (2007) served as theoretical frameworks for the analysis. The results show that more than the half of civil servants (54.78%) frequently communicate in their mother tongue, especially in Fulfulde, with public users, colleagues or friends to clarify messages or discuss casual topics. The majority of them accommodate their language to the public users’ code choice, when necessary, without resistance. They do not raise an eyebrow when they hear colleagues speaking to each other in their native language (74.78%) or colleagues speaking to public users in their native language (74.78%). Interestingly, a significant proportion of staff (60%) recognise the relevance of mother tongues in administration, highlighting their role in improving service delivery, work cohesion and increasing trust and citizen engagement. The study concludes that the use of the mother tongue in the workplace is a key factor in effective public administration and advocates policies that support multilingualism to improve governance and service delivery in Cameroon’s local administrations in the era of decentralisation
Othering Nature: A Critical Examination of the Representation of Environmental Marginalization in Chigozie Obioma’s The Fishermen
No full textThe term “othering” has long been synonymous with the intricate needlepoint of human-to-human interactions within the literary domain. When literary scholars engage with the concept of “othering”, they often delve into the multifaceted ways in which it is embodied and experienced by individuals; illuminating the profound psychological and social repercussions of alienation. However, scholarly inquiry has traditionally afforded limited attention to the phenomenon of environmental “othering” within a multitude of literary works, particularly within the rich and diverse landscape of African literature. The dynamics of marginalization and the intricate nuances of the human-nature relationship remain underexplored in contemporary African literary discourse. Consequently, this paper endeavours to scrutinize the modalities of nature’s othering as articulated within African narratives, thereby charting a novel trajectory in ecocritical scholarship. The investigation will focus on the acclaimed novel The Fishermen (2015), employing a critical lens to illuminate how the text encapsulates environmental othering through the actions and utterances of its characters. This article will be confined to a thorough critical discourse analysis of Chigozie Obioma’s The Fishermen, elucidating the complexities of nature-othering manifested in the narrative. Moreover, it will deploy a thematic analysis to excavate the recurrent motifs and tropes that permeate the selected novel, thereby revealing the intricate interplay between the human experience and the natural world. Through this exploration, the paper aspires to contribute substantially to the field of ecocritical studies, fostering a richer understanding of the ethical implications of environmental othering in African literature
A Semantic Study of the Ubiquity of Metaphors in Nigerian English
No full textThe study surveys the use of metaphors in Nigerian English. Metaphor reflects our ability to think of one thing in terms of something else. Evidently, more of our everyday language is metaphorical in nature than we are consciously aware of. The researchers use the purposive sampling technique in data collection. Data for this research are drawn from Jowitt (1991) and Igboanusi (2002) where a list of NE usages were provided. The metaphors are then identified and a semantic analysis is conducted. The metaphors were underlined in each of the examples for clarity and easy analysis and the descriptive linguistic theory is used as framework. The study found out that metaphors are problematic in discourse when they are not properly encoded. Metaphor hides as much as it reveals and instead of being a descriptive tool, it creates a host of associations and assumptions
Reframing Play as Pedagogy: A Systematic Literature Review on Gamification Strategies in ESL Grammar Learning
No full textGrammar learning has long been associated with traditional, rule-based instruction that many learners find monotonous and difficult to engage with. In recent years, however, gamification has emerged as an alternative approach that incorporates game elements into learning activities, aiming to increase motivation and improve learning outcomes. Although studies on gamification in language education have grown rapidly, research that specifically examines its application in ESL grammar learning is still limited. To address this gap, this study systematically reviews empirical research on the integration of gamification in grammar learning published between 2015 and 2025. Using PRISMA guidelines and thematic content analysis, 44 Scopus-indexed articles were identified and analyzed to map research trends and summarize key findings. The review found that publications peaked in 2024, with Southeast Asian countries, particularly Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam contributing the most to this topic. The findings highlight three major themes: gamification for grammar proficiency, gamification for motivation and engagement, and the role of instructional design and technology in successful implementation. Several challenges were also identified, including technological limitations, shallow gamification design, and the need for adequate teacher digital literacy. This review is expected to serve as a reference for educators and researchers, offering insights into effective gamification practices and guiding future work in developing innovative, engaging, and evidence-based approaches to ESL grammar instruction
Semantic Analysis of the Tick (V) Symbol in Tanzanian Context
No full textThis study explores the semantic significance of the tick or check mark (V) symbol in Tanzania, where its use extents to education, business, healthcare, and everyday life. Despite its widespread application, there is limited research on its varied interpretations across different contexts in the world and within Tanzania. Historically, the tick symbol has origins in Roman voting practices, where it represented "veritas" (truth), and its meaning has evolved with changes in writing technology. This study employs a qualitative research approach, utilizing semi-structured interviews with educators, healthcare professionals, and civil servants, alongside document analysis, to investigate the symbol’s semantic meanings. Guided by Semiotic Theory, the research aims to clarify how cultural and contextual factors shape the understanding of the tick symbol, in due course seeking to improve communication practices and enhance comprehension of symbolic meanings in Tanzanian society
Micro-Translation Strategies in Death’s Utterances in The Animated Movie Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
No full textThis study analyses the micro-translation strategies applied to the character Death’s utterances in the animated movie Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022). The objectives are to identify the micro-translation strategies used, describe their application, and determine the most dominant strategy employed in the 59 data unit. This study employed qualitative descriptive method and data analysis approach, a total of 59 data units were examined. The analysis revealed 75 occurrences of micro- translation strategies, as several data unit translator employed multiple strategies. From the twelve strategies proposed by Schjoldager (2008), ten were identified. These strategies, ranked by occurrences, are Condensation (28%), Direct Translation (26.7%), Paraphrase (12%), Deletion (10.7%), Permutation (6.7%), Direct Transfer (5.3%), Calque (4%), Explicitation (4%), Adaptation (1.3%), and Addition (1.3%). Theoretically, this research contributes to the field of animated movie translation by offering insight into the strategic choices made when translating character utterances. Empirically, the findings indicate that Condensation is the most dominant strategy, reflecting the translator tendency to simplify or shorten content while preserving meaning in the animated movie Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)