Journal of Teaching and Research in English Literature

Recurrent Death Motif and the Female Context in Select Short Stories of Tagore

Irona Bhaduri — 2023-07-01

Tagore household in the wake of the Bengal Renaissance had emerged to be one of the centres of women’s emancipation. However, Tagore not only created emancipated women characters like Kalyani of “Aparichita” (The Woman Unknown) or Mrinal of “Streer Patra” (A Wife’s Letter) but also depicted the stark reality of the marginalised women of those times. The act that would probably qualify as ‘abuse’ in today’s times, was rampant. Aspects of mental and physical torture are actually still prevalent. Therefore, it becomes all the more relevant to understand the plots of select short stories of Tagore which reveal women in extreme situations in the household. They were sort of pushed towards the ultimate step of death. Death in these circumstances can also be looked at as a symbol of liberation and freedom from the shackles of turmoiled domesticity and life. In this light, the paper will discuss the short stories, “Haimanti”, “Jibito o Mrito” (Living and the Dead), “Dena Paona” (Debits and Credits) and “Shashti” (Punishment).

Meena Kandasamy’s The Gypsy Goddess: A Pedagogy of Teaching Dalit Resistance in English Classrooms

Hanumant Ajinath Lokhande — 2023-07-01

The research paper focuses on Meena Kandasamy's novel, The Gypsy Goddess (2014), the first English-language novel by a Dalit writer. It explores how the novel addresses Dalit persecution, utilizing Dalit pain, anger, and revolt to restore Dalit dignity, subjectivity, and resistance, thereby providing a unique critique of the Indian English novel. The paper discusses how the novel fulfilling the basic requirements of fiction designed to raise Dalit consciousness is pedagogical. The unity and collectivism of the downtrodden community, the prominent role of the women in inciting and supporting the strike and struggle, and the final scene of Dalit public anger would all mark this novel as a traditional example of the literature of pain and protest. The paper examines how the novel, meeting the fundamental requisites of fiction aimed at heightening Dalit consciousness, holds pedagogical value. The unity and collectivism within the marginalized community, the significant role played by women in instigating and sustaining the strike and struggle, and the concluding scene depicting Dalit public outrage collectively characterize this novel as a paradigmatic example of literature depicting pain and protest.

Examining Caste and Dilemma in Perumal Murugan’s Pyre

Parminder Kaur — 2023-07-01

This paper attempts to analyse the depiction of a caste-based prejudiced society as well as the dilemma of the leading protagonists in the novel Pyre, written by Perumal Murugan, an Indian contemporary author who writes in Tamil. In Pyre, he weaves the themes of caste and dilemma explicitly. Kumaresan and Saroja, the protagonists of the story encounter the hostile attitude of the villagers, because of the unidentified caste of Saroja. Marayi, Kumaresan’s mother too has no sympathy for Saroja. The family is excommunicated and is ordered to remain secluded from the rest of the village. This brings a catastrophic end for Saroja. The dilemma of Saroja is also evident from the onset, she is doubtful whether to stay with Kumaresan in the village or go back to her family in Tholur. This paper also discusses the weak protagonists who face the injustice and inhumane attitude of the villagers with no objection.

Generations of Despair: Theocracy, Masculinity and Patriarchy as Reflected in Kirwant

Vinayaki Yadav — 2023-07-01

Patriarchy, when held as one of the highest forms of virtues or universalised truth of society subjugates women, children, and particularly men. ‘Kirwant’ compels an observation of quintessential Indian men, their children, and women within one such system. Originally published in Marathi, it voices exploitation of the kirwants, brahmin-subcaste. Their suffering remains a cyclical phenomenon under a theocratic structure. The burden of legacy in the masculine-patriarchal framework remains as much of an issue as the broadly elaborated caste context. This probe into the masculine values of Kirwant’s theocratic society is undertaken through the text’s close analysis. The textual data signifies the imposition of patriarchal norms as the cause of despair for many generations. Additionally, it seeks to explain how the lead male characters were at stake in the hands of patriarchy regardless of being male themselves. The paper explores Indian society’s socio-cultural aspects of the lives of kirwants as reflected in Gajvee’s drama.

Seamus Heaney’s Poetics of Verbalization

Bikram Keshari Rout — 2023-07-01

Heaney scholars like Robert Buttel, M.R. Molino, Neil Corcoran, Steven Ratiner, and Terry Eagleton have tried to demystify Heaney’s “poetics” from different perspectives. In the process, some schismatical/truncated analyses of this Nobel laureate’s poetics, in terms of his art/craft/technique of poeticization, have been effected. Yet scholars like Michael Molino, Steven Ratiner, and Michael Cavanagh have effected some sort of holistic and intensive appreciation of Seamus Heaney’s Poetics. However, till today, no serious effort has been made to critique Seamus Heaney’s art of poetic articulation in the light of the ars poetica ascribed to Ernest Francisco Fenollosa and Nikolay Gumilyov. The principal aim of this demystificatory paper is to put Heaney’s poetics of articulation under the Fenollosa-Gumilyov bi-focal critical lens. The subsidiary aim of this investigative analysis is to deconstruct Heaney’s preference for pure verbal phrases in terms of the aforementioned Fenollosa-Gumilyovian technique of poetic verbalization. The Paper by Bikram Keshari Rout and Jayprakash Paramaguru entitled “Seamus Heaney’s Poetics of Verbalization” attempts to put Heaney’s poetics of articulation under the Fenollosa- Gumilyov bi-focal critical lens. The subsidiary aim of this investigative analysis is to deconstruct Heaney’s preference for pure verbal phrases in terms of the aforementioned Fenollosa-Gumilyovian technique of poetic verbalization.

Editorial

Shaila Mahan — 2023-07-01