Australian Literature

Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection: Disclosing Rohner’s Subtheories in Peter Carey’s The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith

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B. Parvathavardhini    
Ph.D. Research Scholar in English, Sri Sarada College for Women (Autonomous), Salem. Tamil Nadu. India.

Rupkatha Journal, Special Issue on Poetics of Self-construal in Postcolonial Literature, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n5.01
[Article History: Received: 14 October 2023. Revised: 24 October 2023. Accepted: 24 October 2023. Published: 25 October 2023]
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Abstract

Acceptance and Rejection are the key concepts that influence an individual’s psychological and emotional well-being. Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory (IPAR Theory) postulated by Ronald P. Rohner and his colleagues offers a framework for understanding the intense influence of interpersonal acceptance and rejection on individuals’ psychological and social outcomes. Understanding the dynamics of Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection is crucial for fostering inclusive and supporting circumstances. This paper does the same by disclosing and contextualizing Rohner’s Subtheories in Peter Philip Carey’s The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith. Through his writings, Carey delves into the complex workings of his character’s psyche, thereby giving scope for the readers to explore the interior lives of his characters – their desires, fears, inner conflicts and motivations. The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith is a picaresque narrative that centres on Tristan, the titular character born with physical deformities. The complexities of his life in a society that is obsessed with physical perfection raise questions about the conventional notions of Acceptance and Rejection. This paper highlights the Acceptance-Rejection phenomena in Tristan’s life and their implications.

Keywords: Peter Carey, Rohner, IPAR Theory, IPAR Subtheories, Acceptance-Rejection.

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Citation: Parvathavardhini, B. 2023. Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection: Disclosing Rohner’s Subtheories in Peter Carey’s The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith. Rupkatha Journal 15:5. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n5.01 

Perpetrator Plays the Victim: The Politics of Representation in the Captivity Narratives of the Whites

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Virender Pal

Assistant Professor, Institute of Integrated &Honors Studies, Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra, Haryana, Email: p2vicky@gmail.com, v_pal@kuk.ac.in, ORCID ID 0000-0003-3569-1289

 Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s5n3 

Abstract

This paper draws upon and brings into focus an interesting part of the colonial corpus- the captivity narratives. The discoverers of the New World who then shortly turned invaders had to face resistance from the Natives as they embarked upon their conquest, usurpation and assumption of Property in the virgin lands of the continent lying unexploited till the White man set foot on it. To rightfully and legally take that did not belong to the White intruders they had to be morally, culturally and even ethically superior. This question of ‘Might is Right’ is resolved easy through legal systems and machinery on one hand and narratives and discourse and institutions on the other. The Captive Narratives were put to work operating to dub and dismiss the Native. The captive narratives though taken together as a body worked as a device to denigrate the Natives and typecast them so that their extermination would be found as relieving rather than horrendous; as a step towards safety rather than a brutal incursion, they also offered rare insights when not written as part of a strategy but as biographical accounts of Whites held captive by the Reds. Especially, accounts that do  not fall neatly onto the timeline set by the White diverge from popular, touted, dominant accounts that underscore barbaric customs of the Reds. These rare narratives by White people brought up by Natives cast a different light on the Red culture and offer substantial clues that the Red way of life was preferable.

Keywords: New World, Red Indians, Natives, Captivity Narratives, Land,  Federal Laws, representations, colonization