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Distressed Adolescent in Subima Misra’s Select Stories: An Anthropological Study of Indian Childhood
Get PDFCritically speaking, Indian societies tend to ignore unusual behavior or psychosexual crisis in a child or teenager. This paper attempts to tap some of those uncomfortable nerves of Indian childhood and debate some of their challenges through the lens of Indian family structure. Contextualizing some of the crucial stories of Subimal Misra, a prominent and powerful voice of Modern Bangla literature, this paper, again, sympathetically but scientifically negotiates different relations of Indian household and their effect on the psychosexual growth of a child or teenager. It attempts to ask, though not limited to, these following sets of questions: How does the presence of a mother and her behavior affect the child? What are the psychological dilemmas that push a teenager to unidentified rage and revengeful attitude? How does society influence the formulation of a veneer into a teenager? It is curious to note that the stories under consideration here, like Will You Preserve Your Chastity, Aparna (1987), or Here’s How We Wring a Quarter of Lime (1989), are ‘about’ children but not ‘for’ children. With the help of an anthropological point of view, this paper problematizes family relations, imposition of social choices, and their gaps
The Rippling of Dalit Consciousness in Contemporary Odiā Poetry
Get PDFDalit literature has been influential in the rising awareness for protest or creating literature of social consciousness. The broad domain of Dalit writings includes the depravation and trauma of certain category of people for some socio-cultural, traditional biases. Maybe one of the tenets of it could be the so-called social stratification or formation of social class. Thus, like writings in many languages in India, in Odia, lots of writing account for the evidences and experiences associated with Dalit consciousness. It also envisages feminine perspectives giving the account of the autobiographies and plights and traumatic evidences of Dalit authors underlining the issues of caste, class, and gender in the backdrop of social exclusion. Dalit Literature in Odia has a rich history that can be traced back to the fifteenth century. In Odia literary creations such as Bouddhagāna, and Dohā, Charyāgeetikā, the anecdotes of social discrimination and casteism are noticed. There is potentiality in contemporary Odia poetry in reflecting on various themes of Dalit consciousness. As it is evident, it starts with saint poet Bhimbhoi who is said to be the first Dalit poet of Odishā in the mid-19th century. Along with glorification of humanitarian attributes, he has outlined the plights of the depraved community. The motifs of Ekalavya, Sanatan, Kalia, Ghinua, Jara Shabara; musical instruments such as baja; the untouchables; Sriya Chandaluni in Laxmi Purana; fingertip print are common in reflecting Dalit issues variously. In this context, this paper focuses on the critical dimensions of Dalit poetry in Odia by including some of the well-known authors such as Gopinath Bag, P.K. Mishra, Nilamani Parida, Ashutosh Parida, Jayadrath Suna, Basudev Sunani, Pitambar Tarai, Akhil Nayak, and Hrushikesh Mallik. Such poets have applied the skills varieties of versification to focus comprehensively on the sensitivity of the traumatic issues of oppression; racial discrimination; socio-cultural taboos; loss of indigenous culture; evil effects of urbanization and politics; existential crisis; victimization of the poor and innocents; loss of ecological harmony; nostalgia and effects of displacement
Siddhartha's Quest for Ultimate Truth: A Philosophical Analysis with Brahma Sutra Insights
Get PDFThe present study is an inquiry into the philosophical and spiritual implications of Brahman that are inextricably linked to the thematic concerns illustrated in Hesse’s novella Siddhartha. As Siddhartha embarks on his journey toward enlightenment, he undergoes a profound transformation in his perception of the world. He comes to the realization that the world is interconnected, unified, and subject to cyclical patterns. This newfound awareness becomes pivotal in Siddhartha’s quest for the ultimate truth, finally culminating in his identification with the supreme consciousness. In light of this, the paper aims to present an argument highlighting how Siddhartha's experiences and motivations are influenced by the philosophical concept of Brahman, as elucidated in the Brahma Sutra
Narrating Tales of Displacement: Fragmented Memory and Partition Stories
Get PDFFor the children of families that have experienced partition, relating to roots and a place of belonging is never without complications. They tend to relocate themselves multiple times in physical places as well as mental spaces. Unfortunately, the final settling never takes place for them, neither in the new place, where the family relocates to, nor in the mind that is a storehouse of experiences of migration. They remain ‘in-between’ and continue negotiating between the past and the present through fragmented as well as tormented memories. This paper attempts to study the complexity of belongingness for those who have lived the experiences of the Partition and how this complexity continues across generations. This will be done through a methodology of writing personal narrative and reviewing testimonies of those who experienced the Partition, along with the members of their families. The primary sources for this paper are personal testimonies of the family members, community magazine Pothohar, the short story ‘Bhenji Parmeshri’ based on the oral tales narrated by the researcher’s grandmother, films Sardar Mohammad (2017) and Eh Janam Tumahare Lekhe (2015) and a testimony of Mohinder Kaur in the newspaper. The paper will evaluate the experience of those who suffered owing to Partition by connecting the contact points, like experience of migration, displacement of families, killing of daughters by their fathers etc. as depicted in the texts and testimonies taken for the study. Personally, the researcher’s grandfather, Harbans Singh lived for 102 years witnessing and participating in events around the Freedom Movement, the Partition of India, the 1971 war with Pakistan, the Emergency, the 1984 anti-Sikh massacres, and finally the recent pandemic (COVI-19). At all major incidences he suffered personal losses. While throughout his life, he kept narrating his experiences of the Partition and the eventual victims’ migration to India, but towards the end of his life, he refused to talk about it anymore. He became very selective in his choice of subject for a conversation. Nevertheless, his village and place of birth, never skipped him. Even in his dementia, any reference to his birthplace would attract his attention. The paper is an attempt to study how physical places become permanent fixatures and sites of memory that surface at a slightest trigger. These incidences are the deepest traumatic sites that never recover
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth in Adaptation: A Cultural Materialist Reading of Bollywood Movie Maqbool
Get PDFThe present research article focuses on Bollywood movie Maqbool (2004), the Hindi language movie adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous play Macbeth (1606). Shakespeare’s plays have become available in the cinematic adaptations in many different languages across the globe. All these adaptations focus on different aspects of the original texts, and come up with some entirely new movies which at times have the Shakespearean elements in them. The plots, settings and the timelines are of course different, but they make Shakespeare’s dramas available to a wider audience across different cultures. Maqbool is such a movie adaptation in Hindi, directed by Indian film-director, Vishal Bhardwaj. The movie relates to the incidents and events from Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, though it has entirely new flavours of its own as a typical Bollywood movie. Like Shakespeare’s plays, these movies also have something to offer to the critics. A close analysis of such adaptations, in relation to the original textual creations, can bring forth many new critical perspectives. This article aims at analysing the movie, Maqbool from the perspective of cultural materialism where it tries to bring out that how the movie interrelates with the contemporary social and political situations of the time which it depicts. There are certain hidden structures in the movie which remain unearthed when watched without critical eyes. The paper attempts a cultural materialist reading of Maqbool to bring out such hidden aspects of the movie
Class Struggle: Money, Power, Oppression, and Resistance
Get PDFThe paper contributes to the lifelong dialogs about the capital-labor conflict between the upper-class (bourgeoisie) and the working-class (proletariat). It unpacks the ideological underpinnings driving the insatiable quest of the capitalist class for profit, power, interminable exploitation of the working class across ages. The paper underscores the knack of the upper-classes to exert limitless authority over the working classes given their control of the means of production in ways that include dictating the working conditions, wages, hours of work, and engaging the apparatuses of the state – laws, judiciary, police, and army – as detailed by Althusser, to enforce their compliance with capitalist ideals (80). It ascribes the continued failure of the working-class to successfully resist and overthrow the brutal capitalist machinery to encumbering False Consciousness; described as a mental trap that propels the class to accept and naively participate in their own economic oppression. The predilection of the members towards individualized forms of resistance as against forming formidable alliances across interest groups to pursue collective action is equally found culpable. Alongside forming alliances, the author suggests outright rejection of bourgeois ideologies which permeate the major spheres of the society and their replacement with the workers’ own ideological alternatives as imperative. Consistent with Marx’s submission, workers’ ownership of the means of production to produce their own necessities rather than continually selling their labor for a living wage is considered expedient in their struggle to disable the capitalist machinery system (571). This is coupled with textual analysis of media and popular culture, for example, newspapers, television, advertising, games, and films, by the audience; mostly comprising the working class, to unearth and disavow the entrenched capitalist ethos. The paper examines two films that exemplify how the capitalist class systematically exploits their subjects with feeble resistance
The Question of Identity: An Analysis of Meena Kandasamy’s The Gypsy Goddess, and Urmila Pawar’s Motherwit
Get PDFThe present article explores the complex trap of identity as depicted in Meena Kandasamy’s The Gypsy Goddess and Urmila Pawar’s Motherwit. It aims to elucidate the multifaceted dimensions of identity, specifically focusing on social, cultural, and gender aspects within the confines of marginalised communities in postcolonial India. The Gypsy Goddess, Kandasamy’s poignant narrative, is centred around the 1968 Kilvenmani massacre of landless Dalit laborers, while Motherwit, Pawar’s candid autobiographical account, examines the trials and tribulations of Dalit women’s lives in Maharashtra. By juxtaposing these two works, the article seeks to investigate the interplay between collective historical narratives and individual lived experiences, and their implications on the formation of identity. The article explicates how Kandasamy’s novel employs a kaleidoscope of narrative techniques to articulate the voice of the oppressed, while Pawar’s work explores the intersectionality of caste and gender through her personal journey. This paper employs various theoretical frameworks, such as postcolonial theory, feminist theory, and subaltern studies, to unravel the nuances of the characters’ identity crises and quests for self-actualization amidst sociopolitical upheaval. Moreover, the article scrutinizes the role of memory and storytelling as pivotal components in the construction and preservation of identity. The juxtaposition of Kandasamy’s historical fiction with Pawar’s autobiographical narrative enables the reader to discern the ways in which individual and collective identities are continuously shaped and reshaped through the prism of historical events and personal experiences. The article aims at illuminating the intricate pathways through which identity is negotiated within marginalized communities, and asserts the significance of literature as a potent tool in amplifying marginalized voices and fostering a more inclusive understanding of human identity
Picturization of Women: With Reference to the Select Poems of Jayanta Mahapatra
Get PDFThe present research aims to explore the representation and portrayal of women in the selected poems of Jayanta Mahapatra, one of India’s most profound and prolific contemporary English poets. His compelling depictions of women often encompass and transcend the boundaries of traditional Indian cultural norms and societal structures, thus requiring a detailed, nuanced investigation. His poems deal with the alienation of women from themselves and from the society. The atrocities that are exerted on women is explicitly exposed by the poet. They were not only termed as weaker sex by the patriarchal society but also made them as such. The poet stands by the deprived section of the society and acts as a voice of them, as the silent screaming is not heard by the world. His works serve as a bridge between the world of man and the world of woman. The pivotal focus of this study is an examination of Mahapatra’s depiction of women, ranging from symbolizing pure innocence and tradition to epitomizing complex modern experiences and gendered identity. The research critically investigates how the poet’s use of imagery, metaphors, and symbolic language paints a vivid picture of women across his poems, thereby adding another dimension to the thematic concerns of his poetic oeuvre. Moreover, the paper scrutinizes the elements of socio-cultural context, gender constructs, and feminist perspectives within Mahapatra's poetic descriptions. Through this examination, it seeks to analyze the intertwining of the personal, social, and cultural experiences of women in the poet's picturization. The study further delves into Mahapatra's poetry’s use of nature and its metaphorical connections to femininity, while considering Indian societal realities and dynamics. Mahapatra’s depiction of women in his poetry transcends from being merely characters to profound representations of societal paradigms and discourses, reflecting the inherent challenges and conflicts that women face in a patriarchal society
Rethinking Sexuality: A Reading of Ismat Chughtai’s “Lihaaf”
Get PDFThis research paper seeks to reinterpret sexuality keeping in mind its fictional depiction in Ismat Chughtai’s phenomenal story “Lihaaf.” An attempt will be made to challenge “heterosexual normativity” ὰ la Monique Wittig and Judith Butler to eventually clear space for alternate sexual modes of life namely homosexual and lesbian. Chughtai’s courage to deal with taboo subjects such as homosexuality and lesbianism at one level offended the conservative society, and at another voiced the actual prevalence of sexual practices that are still denounced and undermined. Several other issues about Butler’s and Wittig’s theorization will be examined through rigorous textual analysis of this story which is narrated from the perspective of a teenage girl who can be considered a symbol of the homophobic social and cultural milieu. The story brings to light the subject of female sexuality and the presence of repressed sexual desires of females in a heteronormative marriage which paves the way to homosexuality and breaks the patriarchal barriers of a claustrophobic society. Through the characters of Nawab Saheb and Begum Jaan, Chughtai foregrounds “the distinction between the “naturally given, normative ‘self’ of heterosexuality and the rejected ‘other’ of homosexuality” as well as dismantles the conventional notion of marriage
Demystifying Race and Class as Special Needs in Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child
Get PDFThe present research article examines the experiences of characters in God Help the Child (2015) within the framework of issues that require mainstreaming such as racism, ethnicity and class and how they amount to special needs. This special need gets its place in literature because the subject matter and themes of literature often derive their appeal from the twist that results when literary representations undermine, contradict, equal, or surpass the real, or at least our sense of it, the reason why mimesis is often achieved in literature through a figurative portrayal of reality. Literary tropes in other words, help to amplify literary themes within the framework of assumptions that appeal to our definition of reality. Thus, the concept of special needs like any other figurative connotations, serves to expatiate and interrogate issues of racial and class portrayal in the text. Elaborating the concept and idea of special needs/disability to include identity formation rather than the physical or mental characteristics, establishes a case for the “othering” of minority identities who suffer discrimination on the basis of their identities be it racial or class difference