Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature
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Rabindranath Tagore: Critic of the Enlightenment
Get PDFRabindranath Tagore was not only a poet – but what else was he during his life? What is his legacy? He insisted he was not a philosopher or scholar; he was only briefly a political leader. He lectured extensively on the future of his country and the world, and with his work on alternative education and rural reconstruction demonstrated an alternative path for society. It is argued in this essay that Tagore can best be understood as a critic of the European Enlightenment, comparable to Herder. Isaiah Berlin gave a lecture on Tagore during the centenary celebrations, and concluded that Tagore “tried to tell the complex truth without over-simplification, and to that extent was perhaps listened to the less†(Berlin, “Rabindranath Tagore and the Consciousness of Nationalityâ€). With the world on the edge of ecological and social collapse, it is time we listen to him now
How Comics Help to Teach Shakespeare in Schools
Get PDFTo address the literacy crisis that is currently affecting Britain, and to engage students in English studies in Australia, teachers and educators are turning to graphic novels; specifically, graphic novel adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. Whilst there have been critics of this approach, teaching children about Shakespeare and poetry through comics appears to be successful. There have already been multiple examples of the younger generation becoming familiar with Shakespeare through pop culture, and graphic novels have the advantage in that they have been proven to improve literacy rates. It is a belief of prominent Shakespearean scholars that the works of Shakespeare should not be limited to the elite, as his themes, characters and most importantly, language, is universal, and can be interpreted in many different ways
When Abused Women Get Away with Murder: Law, Justice and Truth in three English-language Malaysian Novels by Women
Get PDFAlthough the socially oppressed woman is almost a standard feature in Malaysian English-language fictional narratives, abused-women-turned-murderers are found only in novels by women. Between 1994 and 2000, three women published novels featuring women who kill and confess their crimes but, notably, are not brought to justice. To date, these are the only Malaysian examples of this sub-genre of the crime novel. This paper examines the moral universes depicted in the three novels, and identifies culturally and institutionally determined concepts and perceptions of law, justice and truth that might explain why the women who kill are allowed to go unpunished
