Vol 9 No 2 - Page 2

Cyber Feminism: Unleashing Women Power through Technology

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J. R. Mohanty1 & Swati Samantaray2

1Professor, School of Computer Applications, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar. ORCID: 0000-0002-8762-3037.Email: jnyana1@gmail.com

2Associate Professor, School of Humanities, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar. ORCID: 0000-0002-4823-9278. Email:  swati.sray@gmail.com

 Volume 9, Number 2, 2017 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.33

Received May 11, 2017; Revised July 07, 2017; Accepted July 07, 2017; Published August 06, 2017.

Abstract

Feminism is an existential struggle to assert one’s individuality—it stands for gender equality, independence and empowerment to women. The concept of feminism examines and analyzes gender identity, by way of targeting women’s autonomous self-identity. If we enter into the world of cyberspace we find technology is opening up the possibility for female emancipation. Over just two decades, the Internet has worked a thorough revolution and is considered to be a great equalizer; yet, access to it is not uniformly shared. This paper explores what Internet along with the cyberspace signifies to women and how they employ the cyberspace for their personal schedule from a socio-anthropological perspective. Cyber feminism is basically involved with countering the recognized and accepted domination of men in the employment and advancement of information and communication technology (ICT) and cyberspace. The image of technology needs to change to incorporate a female view.

Key words: Cyberspace, Cyber feminism, female emancipation, Information and communication Technology.

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Home, Ethnicity and Sexuality in Shyam Selvadurai’s The Hungry Ghosts

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Rajorshi Das

Assistant Professor (ad-hoc), Indraprastha College for Women. Email: dasrajorshi@gmail.com

 Volume 9, Number 2, 2017 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.32

Received May 10, 2017; Revised July 23, 2017; Accepted July 25, 2017; Published August 18, 2017.

Abstract

This paper explores the ways in which Shyam Selvadurai’s The Hungry Ghosts (2013) conforms to the national underpinnings of the Sri Lankan and by extension South Asian diaspora while simultaneously choosing mourning over rage as a way of living together. In his overt reliance on a mythical structure and Buddhist philosophy, the author betrays the entry of the homonational body as an ideal citizen within the complex geopolitical aspirations of South Asia where family and ethnicity are integral to the formation of self. Race and region therefore reign supreme over questions of desire and companionate bonding.

Keywords: Shyam Selvadurai, The Hungry Ghosts, Queer Diaspora, Sinhalese, Tamil, Sexuality, South Asia, Buddhism

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Cognitive Study of Image Schema and Dying-mind in Tagore’s Near-Death Experience (NDE) Poems

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Mohammad Shalauddin1, Mohammed Shamsul Hoque2 & Touhid Bhuiyan3

1Human Resource Development Institute (HRDI), Daffodil International University (DIU),Bangladesh. Email: salauddin@hrdinstitute.org

2Department of English, Daffodil International University (DIU), Bangladesh.

3Department of Software Engineering (SWE), Daffodil International University (DIU), Bangladesh.

 Volume 9, Number 2, 2017 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.31

Received May 31, 2017; Revised July 10, 2017; Accepted July 15, 2017; Published August 18, 2017.

Abstract

This study aims at analyzing image schemas (Johnson, 1987) and stages of grief (Kubler-Ross, 1969) in Tagore’s near-death experience (NDE) poems written in the last ninety days before his death. Selected verses of the period in question are analyzed using benchmarks set by Johnson and Kubler-Ross. Relation between the schemas and some linguistic forms, themes and moods of these poems are also analyzed. Findings include Dying-mind is centered to self and influences the type and frequency of all the schemas within it. Similar mental stages of grief—Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance — are also found in the NDE poems. Though death is depicted by Tagore even to the stature of “Shyam” in his earlier poems, it is presented as “A moving screen of varied fears” in the end, which is supported by the theory of Kubler-Ross.

Keywords: Cognitive Linguistics, Image Schema, Kubler-Ross model, NDE poems, Tagore.

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Decoding the Paradox in Garcia Marquez’s One-Sentence-Long Story, “Great Enchanter”

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Kira Andreeva

Tyumen State University, Volodarskogo Street, 6, Tyumen, Russia, 625003. Email: kiralexx2012@yandex.ru

 Volume 9, Number 2, 2017 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.20

Received May 12, 2017; Revised July 10, 2017; Accepted July 15, 2017; Published August 11, 2017.

Abstract

The present article studies one unique postmodernist experiment of a complete violation of the traditional story construction by the Nobel Prize winner Garcia Marquez. One of his stories: “The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship” is written in the form of one sentence, although, graphically occupying six or seven pages of the text. The genius of the writer let him combine such evident (but actually specially planned) violation of the norm with complete semantic transparency which led to the enthusiastic reception of the story by the press as well as by his readers. The aim of my article is to decode this evident paradox with the help of more traditional and modern cognitive approaches and technologies of text analysis. Thus, we make use of such several well-known and accepted linguistic notions as narrative structure, ekphrasis and others alike with innovations of general cognitive approach. The latter has the power to explain the surprising phenomenon of the readers’ complete embodiment into the picture created by the author (scientifically called “mental ekphrasis”). Different forms of multimodality contribute to the general effect. The whole architecture of the text is supported very elegantly and simply with the help of mainly coordinate conjunctions. The results of our empirical analysis prove our explanation of the evident effect of all these special tools of linguistic text construal expertly chosen by Garcia Marquez.

Keywords: Marquez’s anniversary, one-sentence-long story, norm violation, traditional and cognitive technologies, ekphrasis, notional ekphrasis, narrative structure, multimodality.

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Skeletons in the Closets: Gay Themes in Philippine Fictions in English

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Christopher Yap Wright

National University, Philippines. ORCID: 0000-0002-2230-0798.  Email: christopher.yap.wright@gmail.com

 Volume 9, Number 2, 2017 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.30

Received May 11, 2017; Revised July 2, 2017; Accepted July 10, 2017; Published August 17, 2017

Abstract                                                                            

The study aimed to ascertain the portrayal of gay identity in the selected Philippine Anglophone fictions titled “The Chamber of the Sea,” “The Doll,” and “The Husband” through exploring their literary themes. Most importantly, it sought to determine the texts’ presentations of gay-self through Imaging with Fassinger and McCarn’s Model of Gay Individual Identity Development. Further, the predominant themes of denial of the self, eroticism towards others, and tragedy of discriminations were identified and explored as the study examined the Filipino gay protagonists’ significant experiences. The study revealed that the literary gay-self imaging affirmed the homosexual representations in the Philippine Anglophone fictions. Such representations were both seen in ghostly and implicit manners through the gay male characters namely, Tio Teban from “The Chamber of the Sea,” Elpidio from “The Husband,” and Narciso a.k.a Boy/ Sising from “The Doll.” Also, the central characters’ setbacks and unfinished self-issues—the skeletons in their closets, including their struggles with being different as to their physical, emotional, and sexual interests toward their co-species were shown. Despite the differences of the authors, the Filipino gays through their experiences had common familial and societal struggles to survive. This study has clear implications in the understanding of the Filipino gay literary characters in fictions.

Keywords: Filipino Gays, Queer Literature, Gay-Self Imaging, Gay Themes.

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East-West Dialogue in Sophia Gubaidulina’s Work “Tatar Folklore Inspirations”: on the Problem of Artistic Bilingualism

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Nadezda Velerovna Shirieva1, Elena Aleksandrovna Dyganova2

1,2 Kazan Federal University, 18 Kremlyovskaya street, Kazan 420008, Russia Federation. Corresponding email: taha1978@mail.ru

 Volume 9, Number 2, 2017 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.28

Received May 15, 2017; Revised July 18, 2017; Accepted July 25, 2017; Published August 16, 2017.

Abstract

Sofia Gubaidulina, a living classic of modern music and one of the most popular composers of our time, is in constant search of both new timbres and spiritual truths. Born in Kazan (Russia), at the intersection of Tatar and Russian cultures as well as Islam and Christianity, she was naturally influenced by all of them, which is best reflected in Gubaidulina’s continual interest in the wide range of expression means offered by Oriental music. This phenomenon led to a wide discussion among musicologists on a synthesis of Western and Oriental cultural traditions in Gubaidulina’s music. However, Sofia Gubaidulina’s music based on the pentatonic scale is one of the most poorly studied areas in her artistic legacy. It includes three cycles of pieces “Tatar Folklore Inspirations” for small, alto and bass domra with piano accompaniment analysed in this paper have specific modal and rhythmic features characterising Tatar traditional music. The author’s approach to the problem of correlation of the “own” and the “alien” in the musical text of the triptych as an artistic dialogue between the ethnic and the pan-European is based on the theory of intertextuality, applied to analyse various parameters of intertextual communications in Gubaidulina’s work. This study reveals how the composer identifies herself within different cultures and explains her “play of styles” as a new form of artistic synthesis integrating world art trends with ethnic cultural paradigms.

Keywords: domra, intertextuality, European, pentatonism, polystylistics, synthesis, Tatar music, artistic dialogue, ethnic.

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Nautanki in the time of Independence Struggle: the Tangled History of Sangits and Akharas

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Rittvika Singh

Delhi College of Arts & Commerce, University of Delhi, India. Orcid Id: orcid.org/0000-0002-1725-0634. Email: rittvika.singh@gmail.com

  Volume 9, Number 2, 2017 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.27

Received May 30, 2017; Revised July14, 2017; Accepted July 20, 2017; Published August 16, 2017.

Abstract

Nau?ank? theatre of North India is a popular cultural institution that offers an opportunity to document the history of the un-imagined community. However, the historical accounts of this theatre are either obscure or they present a very limited view of Nautanki. During the decades of India’s struggle for independence, Nau?ank? became a platform for registering protest. While there are well corroborated accounts of the progressive Indian People’s Theatre Association involvement in mobilizing the masses for struggle, there appears a regrettable gap that withholds the process of making informed assumptions while studying Nautanki’s participation. Through the examples drawn from the two different akaharas (schools) of Nau?ank?– Hathras and Kanpur, this paper attempts to highlight the existence of lacunas that mar the historiography of the lesser known, hence exposing the loopholes in the purported idea of writing history from the margins. In the process it also describes the ways in which Nautanki has exhibited the potential of being a vital forum for protest, though its image in the general perception is merely of an obscene medium of entertainment. Apart from discussing the few available records that document Nautanki’s participation, the paper constructs its premise on the interviews and material collected during the field visits in Allahabad and adjoining areas which have supplemented the inferences and observations drawn.

Key words: Nautanki, Alternate Historiography, Popular culture, Independence struggle, Masses.

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“The Widow and the Wife”: Debating the ‘Woman Question’ in Muthumeenakshi (1903)

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Meenu B.

University of Hyderabad. ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9141-3921. E-mail: beingmeenu@gmail.com

  Volume 9, Number 2, 2017 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.26

Received March 1, 2017; Revised June 11, 2017; Accepted July 20, 2017; Published August 11, 2017.

Abstract

In this article, I look at the radical Tamil reformist novel, A. Madhaviah’s Muthumeenakshi published in 1903. This novel which dealt with common reformist issues of the time such as widow-remarriage and female education still struck a more radical note from the other reformist novels of the day in its support of the re-marriage of the widow who was not a virgin. In this paper, my attempt is to situate Muthumeenakshi amongst the other social reformist novels of the day and trace where the novel conformed to and departed from the other reformist novels. Through this, I plan to complicate the commonly held assumptions about social reform by bringing out the contradictions within the reformist project as well as explore the variety of positions within it and trace the aftermath of the reformist debates in India’s later history, especially in the nationalist discourse.

Keywords: Social Reform, Early Indian Novels, Tamil Novel, Woman Question, Widow Re-marriage, Female Education.

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Negotiation of Identity in K R Meera’s Hangwoman

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Hari M G

Assistant Professor, Department of English and Humanities, Amrita University, Coimbatore, India. Orchid: 0000-0003-0508-8112. Email: harimg09@gmail.com

 Volume 9, Number 2, 2017 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.25

Received May 15, 2017; Revised June 28, 2017; Accepted July 02, 2017; Published August 11, 2017.

Abstract

This paper explores the negotiation of identity in K R Meera’s novel Hangwoman, in the light of Michel Foucault’s deliberations on power, subjectivity, and critique. The novel’s layered delineation of the way power shapes subjectivity, and its insightful detailing of the scope for resistance the very process itself entails, echoes the thoughts of Foucault. Meera’s protagonist exudes an exemplary resilience when she confronts multi-faceted subjugation. The resistance that she makes is characterised by a resourcefulness to actively engage in the mechanics of power and to remake her own sense of identity. Thus power, as depicted in the novel, is a force that creates ‘identities’ and at the same time a productive network which gives room for remoulding identities. The paper, also, discusses the protagonist’s gritty resistance to the hyperrality of the postmodern visual media.

Keywords: Hangwoman, K R Meera, Foucault, Subjectivity, Critique, Power

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Indian Snakes and Snaky India: British Orientalist Construction of a Snake-Ridden Landscape during the Nineteenth Century

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Rahul Bhaumik

Department of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. Email: rahul_joy1981@yahoo.com

 Volume 9, Number 2, 2017 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.24

Received May 15, 2017; Revised July 03, 2017; Accepted July 15, 2017; Published August 11, 2017.

Abstract

This article explores British Orientalist construction of ‘snake-infested’ India focusing on the constitution of Orientalist discourse through the real experience of the colonisers gained in course of their extensive engagement with Indian wilderness while they began to subjugate more and more areas of the subcontinent. The main thrust of this article is to prove that, the Orientalist creation of the inferior image of venomous Indian snakes and the land they dwelled, as reflected in a range of nineteenth-century colonial literature, was definitely not a product fashioned through the Western interpretation of classical Indian texts; rather, this Orientalist understanding was inevitably fostered through the visible reality of livelihood in India and influenced by a traditional Christian sense of animosity towards snakes. This article, therefore, is a critique of the argument that scholastic construction of Orientalism derived only from the Western interpretation of scriptural accounts of the East.

Keywords: Indian Snakes, British Orientalism, Wild Orient, William Shakespeare, John Milton, Satan.

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What is Performance Studies?

Richard Schechner Tisch School of the Arts, New York University  Download PDF Version Because performance studies is so broad-ranging and

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