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Making the Difference: Exploring Personality Dynamics of Women Nobel Laureates from Asia, Africa and America
Get PDFWomen are known for their sacrifice, fighting spirit, and as creators of humanity! Women Nobel Laureates are vocal about gender discrimination, opportunities, rights, etc. The paper speaks about the negative criticism and ability of women to handle distress, conquer the challenges, and come out as champions. Women Nobel Laureates for Peace from Asia, Africa, and America are considered for this study. Mother Teresa and Malala Yousafzai from Indian subcontinent, where one devoted her life for the betterment of orphan children, poor and needy people, the later declared education for girls as her mission of life. Wangari Mathai from Kenya fought to protect the environment through the Green Belt Movement and Nadine Gordimer from South Africa raised her voice for social justice against racial discrimination. From America, Toni Morrison wrote critically for justice of African Americans, and Jody Williams fought to ban antipersonnel landmines and against exploitation of women workers. This paper analyses traits of dynamism, identify a pattern, and study the correlation among Women Nobel Laureates for Peace based on their personality, struggles, and achievements for a greater cause. Adding a new perspective to the existing knowledge, the paper provides scope for further studies on Women Nobel Laureates
“She Said No”: The Representation of Sexual Violence in the Bollywood Movie Pink
No full textSexual abuse or molestation is a serious concern in Indian society as a substantial number of women experience some form of sexual harassment in their day-to-day life. It refers to an intrusive action inflicted upon the victim without their consent. This includes the use of abusive language, and physical violence like slapping and choking, as well as threats, manipulation, teasing, gas-lighting and other forceful acts. These concerns are often depicted and normalised in popular culture through TV dramas, movies, and web series. This paper analyses the portrayal of such acts of sexual harassment and violence against women in the Bollywood movie Pink, which serves as a realistic representation of such cases in India. All these ideas about sexual and physical abuse have been well represented in Pink. The main characters are women from an urban background, their location influencing their lifestyle as well as their independent and bold decision-making capacity as portrayed in the movie. The concept of the male gaze and objectification of the female body in the movie can be viewed through the lens of British film scholar Laura Mulvey’s seminal essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”. Today’s Media often depicts women as objects of desire and their roles and portrayal are shaped in connection to the male fantasies. Additionally, the theory of the female gaze contradicts the prevailing male-centric perspective by describing females as active subjects rather than passive objects, where the victims gather courage and fight against the molesters and the predominantly patriarchal society as well. These victims gain victory at the movie's end, though they have to undergo many serious setbacks. This movie is a clear portrayal of the actual situation of the real-life victims of sexual abuse who struggle to get justice from the perpetrators
A Utilitarian Study of Binary Oppositions in Charles Dickens’s Hard Times
Get PDFThis article focuses on the binary oppositions Dickens creates in his novel Hard Times to depict the suffering the proletariat goes through due to the harsh working conditions, and low wages policy in the industry-stricken society of the nineteen century England. To this end, the article will analyse the characters in the novel, mostly through Dickens’s description of them, and they will be divided into two groups: those raised through the utilitarian educational system, and those in non-utilitarian environments with more Romanic elements involved. It is argued that despite the teachers’ insistence and persistence in raising a whole generation through strict machine-like educational systems that tended more to neoclassical principles free from any emotions, the system failed, and the group with romantic tendencies emerged as the victors. Besides emerging as victors, the non-utilitarians turn the utilitarians to their sides through the end of the novel becoming a role model for them. It is also argued how Dickens used the created binaries to criticize industrialization, the Laissez-faire policy, and nineteenth-century Liberalism
Revisiting Caliban: A Postcolonial Scrutiny of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest
Get PDFThis paper critically analyses William Shakespeare’s last play The Tempest from the perspective of postcolonial criticism. It reimagines and revisits individual agency and humanity of the character Caliban who is being demonized, dehumanized and enslaved by the colonial intruder, Prospero in his Eurocentric view of the Orient. By interrogating the dominant position of Prospero as a colonizer and the subordinated position of Caliban as a colonized Other, the paper unfolds the nature of the hegemonic discourse i.e. the colonizer’s language by which Caliban constructs his identity and act of resistance by suppressing his former self and his native language. By questioning the traditional Christian humanistic approach to the play as an allegory of creative power that brings reconciliation and forgiveness, postcolonial scholarship views the play as an allegory of European colonization and the imposition of Eurocentric ideology on the non-Europeans. Far from making a mere division between the elevated and noble side of nature and the brutish side of nature, the play is more concerned with colonial power, Eurocentric construction of savagery and colonized Other, and the function of a dominant culture in the representation of everything in term of binary opposition-Western and non-Western world and superior and inferior. The postcolonial critical approaches of Edward Said, Homi K. Bhabha and Frantz Fanon are used in the paper. Finally, the paper using the close textual analysis attempts to draw attention to the dynamics of uneven cultural representations and power relations devised by the dominant Eurocentric discourses in terms of place, race, culture, identity and language. It explores the Eurocentric epistemologies that legitimize the imperial conquest and domination of distant territories and their native peoples and ignore their socio-cultural values from a single perspective by portraying them in a negative and stereotypical way
Walking the Streets: Psychogeography and the Politics of Exclusion in Selected Works of Ruskin Bond
Get PDFPsychogeography involves the study of the interrelationship between the human psyche and the surrounding physical environment. Both as a theory and as a methodological tool, psychogeography can be utilized to understand and analyze how space – especially urban space as the centres of capitalism, consumerism, and authoritative control by capitalist forces – impacts our lives and our attitudes and becomes an integral factor in the formation of our sense of self and identity. Integral to psychogeography is the concept of walking, often referred to as the ‘dérive’, which signifies a sort of aimless drifting through the city streets with the objective of resisting the lure of capitalist consumerism while simultaneously re-centering the gaze to the street level to draw attention to those who populate the fringes and the margins of society and whose lives and stories have mostly slipped through the fissures of history. The article provides psychogeographical analysis of selected works by Ruskin Bond to show how his writings document not only the changing landscape of many of India’s cities and small towns due to the impact of modern capitalist urbanity but also how the development and evolution of the hill stations from the time of the British Raj have, time and again, reconstituted the dynamics of power and position based on notions of race, culture and other socio-political factors. Through Bond’s fictional and non-fictional accounts, it is thus possible to examine the politics of social exclusion and marginalization which characterizes not just urban spaces but human spaces in general, thereby bringing to the foreground issues of identity and belonging which are essentially intertwined with the spaces that surround us and which we inhabit.  
Breaking the Silence of Patriarchal Apathy: The Graphic Reinscription of Women’s Reproductive Health in Lucy Knisley’s Kid Gloves
Get PDFIn the field of women’s reproductive health, the narratives of the ‘Wandering womb’, the non-fulfilment of sexual desires, or failure towards the duty of childbearing as reasons for women’s health issues, both physiological as well as psychological have been rife since ancient times. Even now, after the rejection of many of these theories, making way for new scientific explanations and understandings, there remain many differences in the manner in which health facilities are handed out to women when compared to men. Especially when it comes to reproductive health, depictions in literature, as well as other cultural productions, have often either glossed over these matters or have presented them in an intentionally euphemistic manner, albeit in the guise of decency. The reality of the difficulties of women’s reproductive illnesses (self-perception) complicated both by birth control fertility treatments as well as the pregnancy in itself that often bring several complications in a woman’s body are usually never considered sickness (societal recognition) or disease (recognition by medical practitioners). In using the terms illness, sickness and disease, the paper is carrying forward the accepted critical difference between the three first articulated by A. Twaddle (1964) Through the study of Lucy Knisley’s refreshingly frank graphic memoir Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos, this paper aims to question the process of normalisation that turns many of women’s illnesses suffered during pregnancy or in the process of birth control as ‘side-effects’ and unrecognised, how they become impossible to cure, in the first place. The paper will show how the text not only uncovers the mystification surrounding women’s health in general, revealing the patriarchal attitudes that inform such notions, but does so in a simple manner that is also fun to read- making it a compelling feminist text
Delineation of Diasporic Women in Anita Desai’s Bye Bye Blackbird and Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss
Get PDFLiving in a diaspora and migrating have influenced a lot of contemporary post- colonial philosophy, criticism, and literature. When reading immigration literature, a distinct and oftentimes disheartening picture comes to mind. Immigrants’ lives are ruled by pain, disappointment, and nostalgia. While many others succumb to frustration, agony, despair, and loneliness, a select handful demonstrate their resilience by assimilating into the new environment. Gender roles have proven challenging in regard to western concepts and other civilizations because of differences in cultural and theological backgrounds. The study offers a thematic analysis and comparative study of the female characters in the novels Bye Bye Blackbird and The Inheritance of Loss by Anita Desai and Kiran Desai respectively. It makes a mediocre effort to follow the quest for identification of Desai’s female characters as they break free from the conventional constraints placed on them. There is aloofness, isolation, loneliness, and ennui in the lives of these ladies. The way that women are portrayed in Desai’s work reflects their disinherited lives. Examining the connections and discrepancies between the issues of homelessness and gender discrimination is the primary goal of this paper. The recurring postcolonial backdrop of these works allows us to view themes of oppression, prejudice, nostalgia, and displacement through the prism of multiculturalism and migration
Identity Crisis and Human Predicament in Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy and Chitra Banerjee’s Queen of Dreams
Get PDFSeveral factors contribute significantly to shaping an individual’s identity and distinguishing the cultural ethos of a particular group or community from others. These factors intricately interconnect with the evolution of diverse cultural practices and beliefs within a given community or geographical area. This complex interplay includes elements such as the ecological context of a region, the foundational functioning of economic institutions, the structure of family units, upbringing practices for children, as well as the narratives woven through tales, myths, legends, and historical events. This research paper delves into the exploration of identity crisis and human predicament as depicted in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Queen of Dreams (2004) and Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy (1993). Vikram Seth aims to explore his profound and committed humanistic concerns evident in his novel, A Suitable Boy (1993). Seth’s works delve into the human condition within a chaotic society. He dedicates his art and craft to the study and observation of characters, attitudes, and behaviours of individuals he encounters in contemporary life. Seth’s primary focus revolves around universal human elements like loneliness, alienation, love, passion, marriage, family, music, changing times, corruption, realism, nuclear madness, and disarmament. Seth’s literary world often portrays frustration, destruction, and disappointment. He emphasizes fulfilled love that leads to marriage and family, prioritizing rational love over superficial or romantic notions. Each of his novels concludes with a sense of disappointment and withdrawal from happiness. His vision of love and relationships centres on social stability, security, togetherness, and social order. Seth distinctly favours the institution of marriage and family, forming a thematic cluster that characterizes his works. Divakaruni’s novels stand as a testament to the preservation of her homeland’s cultural heritage. Her literary works vividly depict characters embracing a bicultural identity. Divakaruni skilfully interweaves Indian heritage with the American experience, offering a unique perspective on the South Asian Diaspora. These diasporic cultures arise from the dispersion of diverse communities across the globe, driven by various historical and obligatory factors. Throughout her body of work, Divakaruni delves into the profound identity crisis experienced by women, as they embark on a quest to discover their genuine selves. In her capacity as an immigrant writer, she stands out from her contemporaries, as she skilfully brings together women from diverse backgrounds, communities, ages, and nationalities. These women find a common bond in their shared experiences and relationships while residing in foreign lands
Sant Kabir and Nirgunwad: An Exploration of Theism, Love and Universal Fraternity
Get PDFSant Kabir is basically a saint poet from Varanasi, U.P. India, whose relevance continues influential from his own era till the present century. It is wonderful reading about him that he was an illiterate person, without any kind of formal education, and he becomes one of the axes of education and philosophy for centuries to follow him. His hagiography and writings cast a great influence on the Bhakti movement of Hinduism and his verses contribute up to a great extent to the formation of the scriptures of Sikhism, Guru Granth Sahib, Sadguru Granth Sahib of Saint Garib Das, and Kabir Sagar of Dharamdas. Sant Kabir’s ideas prevail over Hinduism, Sikhism, and Islam, especially in Sufism, and rectification of both Hinduism and Islam through his critical verses in terms of their unethical practices makes him the pathfinder of the truth. Due to his fearless vitriolic comments, he was always subject to threats of religious communities, sometimes even thrown to die. His teaching and preaching continue through Kabirpanth (“Path of Kabir”), an idea which declares him the founder of a new sect of the Kabirpanthees. His birth is supposed to take place in 1398 (Samvat 1455), in Brahmamuharta at Varanasi. Kabir Bijak, Adi Granth (Sikh), and Kabir Granthawali are some famous works of the poet under scholarly discussion. He was one of the disciples of bhakti poet-saint Swami Ramananda of Vaishnavism, a preacher of monist Advaita philosophy teaching that God lives inside all the people and every object. Many points from his biography are debate points notwithstanding people love his great spiritual ideas creating a new way to theism and essential fraternity across world. This research paper explores Sant Kabir’s contribution to theism through his Nirgunawad during 15th century and give an understanding to the message of love and brotherhood imparted time and again through his verses, the very basis of Bhakti Marg
E-Learning in Practice: Navigating Challenges, Leveraging Opportunities, and Enhancing Student Engagement
Get PDFE-learning has transformed the landscape of education, offering flexibility and accessibility to learners worldwide. This article delves into the practical implementation of e-learning, focusing on the challenges faced, opportunities presented, and strategies to enhance student engagement. By examining real-world experiences and insights, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the complexities involved in navigating e-learning challenges, the ways in which institutions can capitalize on the opportunities afforded by digital learning platforms, and the effective methods for fostering student participation and interaction in online environments. Through a critical analysis of current practices and emerging trends, this article aims to shed light on the multifaceted nature of e-learning in practice and offer recommendations for optimizing its effectiveness in enhancing the educational experience for learners of all backgrounds