Health Humanities - Page 5

Death in the Line of Duty: Caregivers in the Plague narratives

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247 views

Seema Sinha

Research Scholar, BITS Pilani, Rajasthan

 Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s25n4

Abstract

The dystopian tropes in the plague narratives shift our gaze from the presence of professional ethics to the Gothic horror that unfolds subsequently. Yet whether it is the Great Plague of London in the year 1665, or the Novel Coronavirus in Mumbai in the year 2020, the rampant spread of the contagion and the associated dread bring into focus the selflessness of the caregivers, namely, the medical and the para-medic staff. Comparing the occurrences, one historical, the other still unfolding, this study examines the eery similarities that delineate contagion as metaphor, and the role of doctors in the pandemics. The aim is to find out what happens when the doctors stumble – to succumb to fear, to fall prey to diseases that flesh is subject to, or to violate the oath of Hippocrates. We intend to scrutinize if like soldiers on the battle-front, these frontline warriors also keep their tryst with death in the line of duty, or does History record otherwise. Whether the pestilence be classical or modern, the response of the caregivers is the cornerstone on which any society is grounded. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if courage in the face of disaster is still relevant in this age of anxiety, or does self-preservation win against ethics and morality. A close reading of Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year gives us an insight into the timelessness of such issues, especially in a world that is plagued with maladies of its own making.

 Keywords: Dystopian, tropes, plague narratives, gaze, Gothic, contagion as metaphor

Rendezvous with the Pandemic Survivors: An Analysis of the Spanish Flu in Katherine Anne Porter’s “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” and COVID-19

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299 views

Salini Sethi1, Sonali Das2 and Mousumi Dash3

1Assistant Professor, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (Deemed to be University), Email: salini.spa.1@gmail.com, ORCID: 0000-0002-7318-8070

2PhD Scholar, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (Deemed to be University), Email: sonalidas151994@gmail.com, ORCID: 0000-0002-2005-5792

3Associate Professor, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (Deemed to be University), Email: drmousumidash16@gmail.com, ORCID: 0000-0002-7016-4719

 Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s25n1

Abstract

Laura Spinney, British science journalist and author of Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World observes that, “The Spanish Flu is remembered personally, not collectively. Not as a historical disaster, but as millions of discreet, private tragedies.” The pandemic of 1918 was not memorialized like World War I which supervened at the same time as the Spanish Flu. It was soon relegated in public memory as the world emerged from the throes of the nightmarish war. Almost a century later, the world finds itself in the grip of yet another pandemic, the COVID-19. Similar situations of patients with multiple complex symptoms, heaving hospitals, shortage of doctors and nurses, scenes of patients left unattended, dealing with the guilt of infecting their family and friends and struggling to survive paints an apocalyptic scenario. This paper tries to explore a parallel among the two pandemics as it witnesses the tragic tale of a survivor of the Spanish Influenza in Katherine Anne Porter’s autobiographical short novel “Pale Horse, Pale Rider.” The private tragedies of physical deterioration, psychological delusions and social stigmatization also suffered by the COVID-19 survivors have been documented and blazoned all over news and social media. The design behind broadcasting these factual accounts are recognition of the reality of the virus (suspected and labelled fake on many occasions), awareness of the symptoms and understanding of the disease. These hopeful and optimistic narratives of the COVID survivors are a faint ray of hope in these bleak times.

 Keywords: COVID-19, Katherine Anne Porter, Psychology, Spanish Flu, Survivor

Deconstructing Maternal Semiotic and Paternal Symbolic: A Psycholinguistic Perspective for Social Refinement

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230 views

Dhara Rathod

Department of Business and management, Institute of Advanced Research, Gandhinagar. Email: dhara.rathod87@gmail.com

 Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s24n5

Abstract:

To examine the possibilities of reciprocal relationship of Semiotic and Symbolic in language processing, the present study attempts to analyze the psycholinguistic perspective as an essential tool for social refinement. When the select semiotic used for female which is maternal gets its signification in symbolic which is paternal was found affective. Genially, there should no such ideas as masculine or feminine in semiotic and symbolic. Consciously or unconsciously, female locates her priming words as an auxiliary and thereafter the psycholinguistic perspective for social change demands influence of semiotic and symbolic congruency for women empowerment in the globalized era. To transmit, receive and deform meanings of the words that have been used, misused and abused for females, the present study attempts to analyse select words through psycholinguistic filament of language learning. The finding suggests that this deconstructing psychic and linguistic change demands representation of right semiotic and symbolic interpretation of words at Mirror Stage of language processing.

Keywords: Psycholinguistic, feminism, semiotic, symbolic, maternal, paternal, signification, social refinement.

Problems and Challenges Faced by EFL Students of Saudi Arabia during COVID-19 Pandemic

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639 views

Tawhida Akhter

Assistant Professor, Department of English, College of Sciences and Languages Sajjir, Shaqra University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Email: tawhida@su.edu.sa, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4149-4855

  Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s23n5

Abstract

The teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is very interesting but at the same time is considered difficult particularly for those students who have read most of the subjects of their courses in their mother tongue.  The four skills viz, Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing are necessary for learning a foreign language and an imbalance in any skill can hamper the whole process. All the skills are important but during present pandemic situation listening skill is considered as a problematic skill particularly in a foreign language context where practice opportunities are limited because of the world pandemic COVID-19 that hampered all our teaching and learning process. This study aimed to explore the problems and challenges faced by EFL students because of the limited resources. An online survey method was followed to collect data from a group of Saudi EFL students (n = 100) using the Listening Comprehension Processing Problems Questionnaire. The results indicated that these students experienced moderate to high levels of difficulty in all the skills particularly in ‘Listening’ because of limited resources. The findings are expected to have useful implications for teachers who intend to address these problems of EFL learners. Analysis of the findings revealed that most of the students encountered problems in listening most of the times during online classes sometimes because of physical and sometimes other barriers. Discussion and implications of these findings are presented.

 Keywords:  EFL language learning, listening, speaking, reading, writing, COVID-19, online teaching problems.

Understanding the robustness of incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading: Qualitative insights from biolinguistics

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325 views

D. R. Rahul1 & R. Joseph Ponniah2

1 Research Scholar, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli. ORCID: 0000-0002-4215-1769. Email: rahuldrnitt@gmail.com

2Professor, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli. ORCID: 0000-0002-0618-6788. Email: joseph@nitt.edu

  Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s23n2

Abstract

Studies have shown the potentials of reading on the development of language. Especially, the literature on second language reading is replete with evidence that unearths the incidental acquisition of vocabulary through reading. Free and pleasurable reading, which has a marked effect on the frequency of reading, contributes significantly to the incidental acquisition of vocabulary. However, only a few studies have explored the interconnection among vocabulary acquisition, free and/or pleasure reading, and the reading frequency. To this end, this study manifests the incidental acquisition of vocabulary through reading and foregrounds the importance of free reading, reading pleasure, and reading frequency for vocabulary development. By confirming the strong correlation between reading frequency and the vocabulary test scores of the participants we attest that the reading frequency is significantly associated with free and/or pleasure reading (in our case, liking towards self-selected reading). We also theoretically contextualize and support the argument of incidental vocabulary learning through reading from a biological perspective. Given that the acquisition of any language subskill is enabled by the amalgamation of nature and environment, insights into the biological system of reading implicates a better understanding of the incidental acquisition of vocabulary through reading.

Keywords: vocabulary, reading, incidental learning, pleasure reading, biolinguistics

The Postcolonial Bare Life: Reflections on Agamben and the Coronavirus

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317 views

Vincent Pacheco

University of Macau. ORCID id: 0000-0002-1812-5528. Email: vincent.pacheco@connect.um.edu.mo

   Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s21n4

Abstract

The ongoing pandemic has undeniably propagated an atmosphere of paranoia and discontent in both the West and the East, and it is in this context where Giorgio Agamben wrote a brief but controversial article where he argues that this pandemic enables governments to opportunistically decree a state of exception that will lead to tyranny. Critics have generally responded negatively to Agamben’s views, given that this is not the case in the West. It is becoming apparent, however, that the very thing Agamben feared is happening in post-colonial states. In this paper, I look at how the current pandemic enables a postcolonial state like the Philippines to define (or redefine) the notion of life through authoritarian measures as it claims a strong democratic mandate. My reflections on Agamben takes off from Rodrigo Duterte’s national speeches during the pandemic. I aim to show that his manifestly militarized response is a manifestation of the sovereign exception that politicizes and separates zo? (which is mere biological life) from bios (which is livable life that can participate politically), as Agamben might put it. Finally, I offer reflections on how the postcolonial legacy of the Philippines could potentially complicate how we might think about the notion of bare life—a figure that is neither zo? nor bios.

Keywords: Giorgio Agamben, Rodrigo Duterte, Populism, Coronavirus, Bare Life.

CoVID-19 Pandemic as a Factor Revolutionizing the Industry of Higher Education

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354 views

Yuriy Borysovych Melnyk1, Iryna Sergiivna Pypenko2, Yuri Vsevolodovich Maslov3

1 PhD, Professor, National Academy of the National Guard of Ukraine, Ukraine; y.b.melnyk@gmail.com; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8527-4638

2 PhD, Associate Professor, Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics, Ukraine; iryna.pypenko@hneu.net; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5083-540X

3 PhD, Associate Professor, Belarusian State Economic University, Belarus; maslove@tut.by; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5715-6546

   Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s19n2

 Abstract

Due to the CoVID-19 pandemic, the world has changed dramatically, and it will never be the same. Under the circumstances, a new type of specialist is in demand that possesses competency in information technologies and communication means, as well as in health culture. The problem of corporate health culture is becoming a serious issue in scientific discourse. The present paper deals with the results of the study aimed at the assessment of the higher education systems’ preparedness for an emergency such as the CoVID-19 pandemic that affects the health of the participants in the educational process. The results were obtained through expert evaluations. The paper contains the analysis of the anonymous questionnaire answers obtained from the participants of the International Academic Conference “Psychological and Pedagogical Problems of Modern Specialist Formation” held online in June 2020 (Zoom Video Communications platform). The conference hosted over 200 researchers and practitioners in the field of education, psychology, and medicine representing 78 institutions from 20 countries located on five continents. The conference framework included a roundtable discussion accompanied by a questionnaire related to the organizational problems university education faced during the CoVID-19 pandemic. The analysis of the answers and expert opinions was conducted using the Pearson method ?2, which produced statistically relevant results. The analysis revealed marked differences in the attitudes of faculty (including gender differences) to the pandemic in terms of the organization of teaching at universities, the effect of social distancing measures on health (both physical and mental), and the value systems.

Keywords: University, Education, Culture, Health, CoVID-19

Psychosocial Impacts of War and Trauma in Temsula Ao’s Laburnum for My Head

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304 views

Raam Kumar T.1 & Dr.B.Padmanabhan2

1PhD Research Scholar, Department of English and Foreign Languages, Bharathiar University. Email: raamkumar.efl@buc.edu.in. ORCID: 0000-0003-0694-8671
2Assistant Professor, Department of English and Foreign Languages, Bharathiar University. Email: padmanabhan@buc.edu.in. ORCID: 0000-0001-7395-126X

 Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s9n4

 Abstract

Violence constantly carries trauma and suffering to combatants as well as non- combatants identically. It also brings enmity and negativity to everyone both emotionally and physically. The cause for any conflict does not emerge from single motive but depends on multiple factors like socioeconomic conditions, marginalisation, discrimination, political power and sometimes even environmental elements. In recent times, the conflicts often emerge among various regional groups rather than states. North Eastern part of India is one of the hotspots for such ethnic conflicts and violence. The major motives for bloody conflict between Indian Army and the underground armed rebels are perceived political imbalance and desire for a separate nation. Even the common civilians are forced to join the rebel groups without knowing consequences. Temsula Ao is one of the prominent English writers from Nagaland who through her moving narratives brings out the existent misery of conflict in her native land. The aim of this paper is to study the psychological impact of domestic violence over the combatants as well as non-combatants whose lives are inseparably intertwined with violence and bloodshed. Though violence is considered as typical condition of human nature most of the time it leads to unbearable trauma and misery. This paper also attempts to interpret the representation of women from the marginalised Ao community who finds difficult to preserve the customs and moral values in spite of regional revolt.

Keywords: Psychological imbalance, Domestic violence, Aggression, North East India

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