Languages And Comparative Literature - Mphil Thesis

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Browsing Languages And Comparative Literature - Mphil Thesis by Subject "Amitav Ghosh"

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    Critiquing anthropocentrism in amitav ghosh's the hungry tide and j.m. coetzee's disgrace
    (Central University of Punjab, 2013) Sheenam; Singh, Amandeep
    Rapid degradation of environment is an important concern facing all disciplines of knowledge and man centeredness known as anthropocentrism is believed to be one of the major causes behind this. In literary sphere, approach of ecocriticism focuses on environmental issues and dominance of man over non-human living and non-living objects. Both the novels selected for this study, disclose the effects of degradation of environment due to man's anthropocentric approach. Amitav Ghosh in his novel The Hungry Tide deals with the themes of wildlife conservation and preservation of natural flora and fauna taking into consideration the lives of human beings. Focusing on ecologically fragile Sunderbans area, Ghosh raises questions about conflict between humans and animals and shows how anthropocentric model of development results in disappearance of tigers and other natural inhabitants of this region. Likewise, J.M.Coetzee in his novel Disgrace deals with the suffering of animals. Focusing on Post-Apartheid Africa, Coetzee presents the perspective of blacks who had to suffer like animals during colonialism. In this conflict, animals become the first casualty and reclamation of land and other natural resources becomes an important step towards fighting back. Both these writers tries to decentre human beings, they are of the view that non-human other should acquire equal rights and protection as human beings themselves possess. Lucy in Disgrace is the voice of Coetzee as she is concerned towards the well being of the animals. Piyali Roy in The Hungry Tide is also concerned about the animals but she views nature from the perspective of First world nations.
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    Ecocentric vision in the works of J.M. Coetzee and AND Amitav Ghosh: A comparative study of life and times of MICHAEL K AND THE GLASS PALACE
    (Central University of Punjab, 2014) Singh, Jagmeet; Kaur, Zameerpal
    Environmental destruction has been a burning issue from the last few decades. The ego-centric attitude and rational thinking of man has led to the imbalance of the entire environment and its surroundings. The novels selected for this study, highlight the environmental concerns and expose human actions, technological advancement and industrial development responsible for the degradation of environment. Besides environmental degradation being a major issue of the The Glass Palace, the novel also deals with themes such as war, migration, exile, history, and colonial exploitation. Focusing on British invasion in Burma, Ghosh raises the question about nature's exploitation by the colonisers and local people in the form of teak and rubber trade and depicts the conflict between humans and the environment. He also portrays animal exploitation and killing of birds by humans for their personal needs. Likewise, Coetzee in his novel Life and Times of Michael K deals with the impact of war on human life, suffering of animals, loss of basic rights of humans and animals, oppression and degradation of environment. Ghosh primarily focuses on the exploitation of natural resources in Burma for trade, whereas, Coetzee describes the environmental destruction, loss of animal rights, and man's relation with nature during the civil war in South Africa. Both these writers try to delineate the oppression of man by man, environment by man, and reject the cruelty of man over animals for their greed. They are conscious for the non-human "other" and speak for their equal rights and protection as human beings themselves possess.
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    Revisiting history and the question of idenity: a comparative study of the shadow lines and tamas
    (Central University of Punjab, 2013) Kaur, Pardeep; Sen, Rajinder Kumar
    Identity is the central issue in contemporary literary discourses. The reason behind such centrality lies in the identity crisis faced by individuals or groups due to political and historical movements. In the postmodern world, history is regarded as a process wherein the writing of history has become more central than the history itself. Literature is one of the tools through which history of a particular time gets representation and such representation of an era gives voice to the common people who are ignored in the metanarrative of national history. The aim of present research, a comparative study of Amitav Ghosh's The Shadow Lines and Bhisham Sahni's Tamas is to understand the nature of history and identity. Amitav Ghosh, the postmodernist Indian English writer has huge body of work to his credit; varying in travel essays, novels and historical non-fiction. The present novel deals with the issues of fragmented identities and histories based upon fragmented memories. Bhisham Sahni, a progressive Hindi writer and humanist gives realistic representation to the mid twentieth century India in his novel highlighting constructed divisions among different sections of the society and partition of the country as a consequence. The idea of 'voice to the voiceless' is materialised through relocating the subalterns in history. The comparative analysis has been carried out with an objective to trace the similar impact of dominant discourses upon human subjects. In both the novels, the passive subaltern is suffering and is ignored in official history. It is not about what is in history rather it is about what is missing in history