Languages And Comparative Literature - Mphil Thesis

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://kr.cup.edu.in/handle/32116/123

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Autobiography as a social critique: a study of madhopuri's changiya rukh and valmiki's joothan
(Central University of Punjab, 2017) Kaur, Kamaljeet; Singh, Amandeep
Autobiographies shed light on the whole social milieu of a particular time and space through the life story of an individual. In the Dalit literature, autobiographical writing occupies important place. By foregrounding the problems of the current social structure of India, these autobiographies present important social critique of the prevalent problems. Balbir Madhopuri's autobiography Changiya Rukh and Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan reflect the internal agony and pain of Dalits. This research work is an attempt to analyze these two autobiographies as a form of social critique. Balbir Madhopuri's Changiya Rukh represents the painful history of Dalit fraternity. It outlines the difficulties, sufferings and harsh realities of Dalit life. Along with the real picture of casteism, it also highlights the physical torture, mental anguish, religious and educational exploitation of Dalits. The writer points out the dual nature of society in the context of caste based discrimination. Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan is not only one man's biography, but it is also a tale of whole Valmiki fraternity. Joothan unveils our cruel social system that exploits Dalit people. The word 'Joothan' itself reflects the poverty, pain and disrespect towards the Dalit fraternity and represents the gravity of the socio-economic and cultural rift between the different castes in Indian society. Through these autobiographies, Omprakash Valmiki and Balbir Madhopuri try to bring forward the difficulties faced by an individual in a layered/divided society. Both autobiographies are centered on the struggle against exploitation on the basis of casteism and point out the need for improvement and upliftment in Dalit people's life. This study highlights the need for greater efforts on the part of individual and the society to remove these obstacles in the path of progress
The binding vine and the bluest eye: A comparative study from a feminist perspective
(Central University of Punjab, 2015) Pahuja, Poonam; Kaur, Zameerpal
Feminism in various forms and places has grappled with the question of gender, that is, of the power relationships among men and women. It is defined as cultural, economic and political movements that are focused towards establishing legal protection and complete equality for the women. It focuses on the gender politics, power relations and sexuality and gives voice to the problems of women. There are various authors all over the world who portray the sufferings of women in their creative works. The foremost objective of this research is to analyze the societal norms of gender, race, class, sexuality, and other social inequalities within the reference of the writings of Shashi Deshpande's The Binding Vine and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Deshpande (Indian novelist) and Morrison (Afro-American novelist) are two significant women novelists who have made a bold attempt in raising voice against the frustrations and disappointments of women in the patriarchal world. Both Shashi Deshpande and Toni Morrison portray the concealed world of women in their fictional narratives. They depict that women either in India or in America or in any other part of the world, or belonging to any strata of the society suffer the same plight due to the patriarchal setup. A thematic approach from feminist perspective has been adopted for this study.
Comparative study of Shiv Kumar's birha tu sultan and Jaishankar Prasad's kamayani the perspectives of the theory of alamkara
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Kaur, Rajandeep; Kaur, Zameerpal
Unlike western critical theories, Indian Poetics focus more upon aesthetic aspects rather than didactic approach to literature. Among the most discussed critical theories of Indian Poetics Alamkara has a unique and extraordinary place . The word Alamkara consists of two words 'alam' and 'kar' which means the elements that add grace or aesthetic sense to the poetry. A number of scholars contribute in the development of this theory. Bhamha (6 th century A.D.) is considered as father of Alamkara theory, who explained Alamkaras in detail in his treatise Kavyalamkara. Alamkaras are not only used in modern literature, but their presence can be seen in Vedas , and Yaska's Nirukat and Mimansa . The focus of present study is to do the comparative analysis of Punjabi and Hindi poetry with reference to Shiv Kumar's Birha Tu Sultan and Jaishankar Prasad's Kamayani in context with the theory of Alamkara to extract different types of Alamkaras used in them. Alamkaras have been used very abundantly in the poetry of both Shiv and Prasad. It is the use of Alamkara which gives a literary touch to their poetry and makes it interesting for readers. They have mastery over the use of Alamkara . The writings of Shiv and Prasad mainly focus on the theme of love and separation, pain and agony of lovers, description of nature, beauty and sufferings of female, theme of lust, theology, patriotism etc. They use historical and mythological events in their writings.
Construction and Treatment of Social Taboos in Contemporary Indian Cinema with Special Focus on Sexual Taboos
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Sumeet; Saini, Alpana
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.
Critiquing family as an institution in difficult daughters and unaccustomed earth
(Central University of Punjab, 2012) Basanl, Tania; Singh, Rajendra Kumar
Manju Kapur and Jhumpa Lahiri, both contemporary writers, hailing from middle class strata of society take women from the middle class as their subjects who have nothing dramatic or larger than life scenario about their lives but are domestic women leading ordinary day to day life. Despite their apparent geographical, cultural and contextual differences the predicaments of women that they reflect in their writings show some similarities. Family being an important unit forms the backdrop in both writers in which they place their women protagonists. The present study is an attempt to compare Manju Kapur and Jhumpa Lahiri as feminist writers who react almost identically having been placed in different native contexts to woman's problems. The technique that both use as writers is different with one writing her best in a short story and the other in prose using almost similar themes with family forming an integral part of their works. The study brings forth that Manju Kapur is a 'feminist' writer whereas Jhumpa Lahiri is a 'feminine' writer. Manju talks of women's body, spaces, and their psyche as the main highlight whereas Lahiri talks not of gender but of generations and relations. Manju's women are found in confined places like kitchen, the dressing room, or the attic where Virmati was locked whereas Lahiri's women are placed in open spaces with all exposure but still they meet the same fate. Lahiri and Manju do not out rightly deny the hope of harmony in family by expounding on the notions of relations and family in their respective works.
Dalit experience in autobiography: A comparative study of government brahmana and mudrahiya
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Gora, Devendra Kumar; Sen, Rajinder Kumar
Dalit Autobiography, a recent offshoot, introduces a new world of experience in Indian literature. It widens the range of expression and makes use of the language of the Dalits who have been excluded from the mainstream Indian society and discriminated, exploited, humiliated and marginalised on the basis of low caste status. There are various Dalit autobiographers who portray the sufferings of Dalits in their creative works. Aravind Malagatti and Tulsi ram are two significant Dalit autobiographers who have made attempt in raising the voice of Dalits in hierarchical society. The foremost objective of this research is to highlight social, cultural and economic conditions of Dalits and role of Education in their development within the reference of the autobiographies of Aravind Malagatti's Government Brahman and Tulsi Ram's Murdahiya . Both Aravind Malagatti and Tulsi Ram represent Dalit society in their personal narratives. Both Aravind Malagatti and Tulsi Ram interrogate social norms in different episodes of autobiographies and use their personal experience to expose the domination and subjugation of Dalits. A thematic approach from Dalit perspective has been adopted for this study.
Depiction of dalit explotation and remonstration: a comparative study of salaam and muktiparva
(Central University of Punjab, 2013) Chitra; Sen, Rajinder Kumar
Dalit literature sheds the light on the whole society. Dalit literature depicts the suffering and pain of the Dalits. In Dalit literature, short story and novel writing both the genre has important place. By presenting the problems of the present social structure in India, these texts portray significant social critique of the prevailing problems. Omprakash Valmiki's Salaam (short story collection) and Mohandass Namishrai's Muktiparva replicate the internal distress, pain and revolt of Dalits. This research is an attempt to analyze these two texts and to reproduce as a social critique. Omprakash Valmiki's Salaam represents the discrimination, illtreatment, sufferings, untouchability and harsh realities of Dalits. It also highlights the socio-economic and political exploitation of Dalits by the upper caste. Mohandas Namishrai's Muktiparva is not only the depiction of Dalits, but it is also a mirror of the whole Indian society. Muktiparva shows the conditions of Dalits after independence. Dalits are still exploited and neglected due to their caste in the society. It unveils the social structure that exploits Dalits. It represents the socioeconomic, political and cultural gap between the Dalits and upper castes in Indian society. Through these texts, Omprakash Valmiki and Mohandass Namishrai have tried to bring self-assured attached with the whole society. Both texts highlight the struggle, discrimination against exploitation on the basis of caste system and raise the voice for the upliftment and empowerment of Dalits.
Diasporic Spaces: A Comparative Study of Selected Diasporic Fiction
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Shah, Samees Ahmed; Singh, Amandeep
This study is an attempt to do the comparative analysis of three novels by three Indian English women writers, The Namesake, Jasmine and Born Confused by Jhumpa Lahiri, Bharati Mukherjee and Tanuja Desai Hidier respectively. Starting with diaspora, its phases and its types, it focuses on the making of diasporic spaces amid diaspora. It also shows the characters' struggle to make their home and space in a foreign land. Every character is shown as having his/her own perception of home, space and world of belonging. All three novels are an important part of Modern Diasporic Indian English Literature. Study of 'diaspora space' shows how individual identity is shaped and where differences are created, and it also shows how identities are formulated and constructed by physical, mental and social attitudes. Individual identities and his/her relation with homeland have undergone considerable change in recent decades. It has lost its fixity and migrants are in a process of becoming global citizens. The study of the three novels taken up for comparison suggests that all the characters try their best to penetrate their roots deep into the American soil, but everyone is not fully successful in doing so. All diasporic people struggle to create a separate space in host country but everyone struggles in his/her own way. Analysing diaspora space and other identity issues relating to diaspora helps in understanding of how and where identity is shaped and differences are made and remade.
Domestic space: A comparative study of born confused and queen of dreams
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Naik, Showkat Ahmed; Singh, Amandeep
Within a variety of academic disciplines, diaspora has gained a stupendous magnitude over the times. Dispersion of an established system brought about by the crisis coercion, catastrophe and other forcible movements is called diaspora. After the dispersion the individual needs some specific place to continue his life and the place he chooses subsequent to the dispersion is termed as domestic space, space which allows privacy, security and creativity. Domestic space is imbued with the sense of homeliness and in view of this home is considered as the most imperative element of domestic space which has begin to attract an increasing amount of critical attention across the humanities and social science. While living in the domestic space human being is always at the periphery of the war, the domestic space becomes a scene of conflict. Numerous authors around the world have presented domesticity in their creative works yet little has been written on the experience. Tanuja Desai Hidier and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni had traversed into the new territories and tried to delve into the new suburban's of the domestic space. The foremost objective of this research is to analyse the domestic space in the course of Diaspora alluding from Tanuja Desai's Born Confused and Chitra Divakaruni's Queen of Dreams. The heart of Born Confused is about learning how to bring two cultures together without falling apart yourself in the process. Likewise Queen of Dreams vivifies the arrogant, deceitful and the xenophobia of the Americans towards the immigrants after the 9/11 attack on World Trade Centre. Born Confused and Queen of Dreams are blended with the dwelling of domestic space created by immigrants themselves which not only gives them the impression of place of living but acts as a whole territory.
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.
Ecocritical concerns in tracks by louise erdrich and the stone carvers by Jane Urquhart.
(Central University of Punjab, 2017) Kaur, Jaskaran; Kaur, Zameerpaal
Ecocriticism is a new approach to literature and an ecological criticism that examines the human representation of nature. Humans try to dominate the whole Earth and its inhabitants. The Ecocritical theory distributes the fundamental principle that human civilization is connected to the physical world and in return affected by it. Ecocriticism examines the critical apprehensions connected with nature such as deforestation, devastation of wildlife, overuse of natural resources, pollution regarding air, water, soil, and noise and rising level of sea water, etc. These issues are raised by scientists and environmentalists who focus on environmental issues and supremacy of man over non-human living and non-living substance. The comparative study of Tracks and The Stone Carvers reveal the ecocritical perspectives and suggest the preservation of nature and to live in peace with nature. These novels show their deep rooted social consciousness and ecological consciousness of their society. Natural environment has always remained a significant part of these texts and with the current increase environmental problems and issues, writers have exclusively paying attention on environmental problems.
An Ecocritical Study Of Gita Mehta's A River Sutra And Arundati Roy'S The God Of Small Things
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Singh, Sapinder; Kaur, Zameerpal
Ecocriticism is one of the most recently emerged interdisciplinary field of literary criticism. It refers to a study of literary texts involving the physical environment. The novels, A River Sutra By Gita Mehta and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, selected for this study, focus on the depiction of landscape, rivers, non human world etc. This study analyses the role of physical environment in the plot construction of both the novels. The novels deal with beautiful depiction of landscape. A River Sutra deals with Indian culture and mythology. Likewise, The God of Small Things deals with the themes of love, morality, fear and environmental destruction. The study discusses the functions of ecocriticism to trace the interconnectedness of all beings. Both the writers have focused on the impact of biosphere on the characters in their novels. The study reveals that the writers have indeed given primary importance to the place or bioregion in their novels. This study focuses on the burning issue of environmental degradation- a severe threat to human being as well the entire ecosystem, as depicted in the novels.
Engendered subjectiveness: Construction of queer idenity in vijay tendulkar's a friend's story and mahesh dattani's on a muggy night in mumbai
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Chandal, Priynka; Saini, Alpna
The present study deals with comparative analysis of Vijay Tendulkar's A Friend's Story and Mahesh Dattani's On a Muggy Night in Mumbai with respect to treatment of queer issues, their repression and social stigma faced by queer individuals. The focus is to find out how various social, economic and political discourses work towards repression of queer identities and reaffirming the oppressive discourse of heteronormative sexuality. Both Vijay Tendulkar and Mahesh Dattani have employed the fundamental themes of queer identity, oppressive attitude of society and psychological dilemma of queer individuals in their respective plays. In both the plays under study i.e . A Friend's Story by Vijay Tendulkar and On a Muggy Night in Mumbai by Dattani, there runs the unconventional theme of alternate sexuality which has been dealt with compassion and understanding. This study takes into account various unexplored issues related to queer identity. This study explores how these plays raise the issue of the emancipation of rights of queers and undertakes a comparative analysis of the two plays in order to discover varying attitudes towards this issue in Indian drama corresponding to the periods of the two playwrights.
Female identy in partition literature: A comparative study of Bapsy Sidhwa's ice candy man and Amrita Pritam
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Nancy; Sen, Rajinder Kumar
Partition of India was the great historical event in 1947. Partition affected the millions of people and changed the whole scenario of the sub-continent. Women were most affected in partition era. Feminism as a movement explores the suppressing status of women in the Patriarchal society. In the domain of patriarchal culture, woman is a social construct. Feminism is a highly innovative concept representing a significant departure from the traditional mode of critical evaluation. The present study tries to investigate the portrayal of the partition by the two writers from India and Pakistan Bapsi Sidhwa and Amrita Pritam with their novels, Ice Candy Man and Pinjar . In these novels both the writers represents the series of female characters who have survived in the chaotic time of 1947. They project realistically the women's plight and exploitation in the patriarchal society. It explores how men establish their masculine power and fulfil their desire by assaulting women. Through the feminism theory, the present study has tried to locate the identity of women which changes in partition and their actual identity is broken down and they have to create a new identity which mostly forced on them.
A filmic historic mapping of 1857 : A comparative study of styajit ray's shatranj ke khiladi and shyam benegal's junoon
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Singh, Jagdish; Saini, Alpna
The representation of history through the medium of film has been an important trend in the filmic world. While concerning with the different issues raised by the cinematic representation of a historic event, the films involve various types of thematic, ideological and hegemonic discursive practices of the period. The 'discontinuous' nature of history and the deconstruction of established notions from time to time makes the film version of history subordinate to the times in which it is made. The present study focuses on the comparative analysis of two films: Shatranj Ke Khilari by Satyajit Ray and Junoon by Shyam Benegal. Both the films are based on the revolt of 1857. The focus is to analyse how Ray's metaphoric use of chess and Benegal's blending of the historic event with the personal makes the difference in representing history through the medium of film. Both the films showcase the history of the revolt, its background and the colonial strategies of the British. The study focuses on how the filmic representation of a historic event in the non-fictional way differs from the fictional and historic representation.
Filming of fiction: A comparative study of bapsi sidhwa's ice-candy-man and1947 earth
(Central University of Punjab, 2012) Singh, Barjinder; Kaur, Zameerpal
A visual adaptation of a literary text is a complex phenomenon, involving the basic paradox of word and image, so some sort of compression, omission is natural when the linguistic signs are converted into visual signs. The visual adaptation of a literary text may result into the reinterpretation, modulation, adaptation or reassessment of the meaning of earlier literary texts. The partition of the Indian subcontinent has got widespread resonance in literature but there has been a relative silence in serious cinema and academia about partition and its related issues. Bapsi Sidhwa's novel Ice-Candy-Man tries to reassess or reconstruct the history of Partition giving voice to the marginalised groups on the levels of gender, class, ethnicity and nationality. Sidhwa reviews the history of Partition from a more or less feminist and Pakistani perspective to displace or counter the discursive tendencies of historical thought in Europe or India. 1947: Earth, unlike the novel can be seen as part of the grand narratives of communal violence and human nature. The film adaptation of the novel closely adheres to the novel in terms of general plot or dialogues. But since cinema is entirely different medium having its own concerns of economics, authorship, production, distribution and reception, some of the issues in the novel are silenced while others are foregrounded. This dissertation studies the dynamics of the adaptation of Sidhwa's novel from this perspective.
Historico-mythical analysis of girish karnad's tugh laqhlaq and swarajbir's krishna
(Central University of Punjab, 2013) Disha; Saini, Alpana
The present study proposes to do the comparative analysis of two plays- Tughlaq by Girish Karnad and Krishna by Swarajbir. Both the playwrights go back to ancient sources to conceive their plays. Karnad exploits the history of intelligent, sharp but unsuccessful Muslim ruler Tughlaq who is popularly known as "mad Muhammad". Swarajbir has used the mythical and historical character of Krishna to construct his play. The thread that unites both the plays is the negotiation of mythical and historical personages used in the plays with the contemporary reality. Both the plays transcend the periods they belong to and emerge as examples of metaphoric depiction of modern times. This study explores how these plays are charged with a contemporary flavour and to analyse these texts from a poststructuralist perspective comprising of various streams of thought such as archetypal criticism, Marxism, Historicity, Discourse analysis, Culture Studies and Gender Studies that further allow the texts to unravel and allow for a multifaceted research.
Mythico-patriarchal constructiuon of a women in githa hariharan's the thousand faces of night and mahasweta devi's stories draupadi and breast-giver
(Central University of Punjab, 2013) Vandana; Saini, Alpna
The present research offers a comparative study of Githa Hariharan's novel The Thousand Faces of Night and Mahasweta Devi's stories ''Draupadi'' and ''Breastgiver''. The focus of the analysis will be on the interpretative use of mythology from feministic perspective underlining women's oppression and predicament in a patriarchal society. Both the writers take mythological tales as patriarchal discourses with implied patriarchal stance and tend to revise these tales with altered ends to give voice to the silenced female perspective. The study explores how by reinterpreting mythical tales from feministic perspective, both writers Githa Hariharan and Mahasweta Devi inclusively expose and question women's suppression in a male-dominated set up.
Orientalising the Postcolonial Nation-State: A Study of The Inheritance of Loss and Half a Life
(Central University of Punjab, 2012) Kaur, Manpreet; Kaur, Zameerpal
In the postcolonial analysis, the term nation-state has been critiqued mainly because the postcolonial nation states experience multiple exclusions and unequal power distribution. This feeling of marginalisation and exclusion is voiced by many postcolonial writers who are concerned with the psychological effects of the political and economic-cultural structures of the postcolonial world. Both the novels selected for this study, disclose the effects of up-rootedness and displacement and ultimately the quest for a particular nation-state. Kiran Desai in her The Inheritance of Loss deals with the themes of cultural conflicts, migration, nostalgia, globalization, multiculturalism, political struggles and economic inequality. Likewise, V. S. Naipaul in his novel Half a Life traces the themes of alienation, migration, displacement, rootlessness, mockery and self-deception of the emigrants. Biju in The Inheritance of Loss and Willie Chandran in Half a Life expose the gamut of issues including the multiple exclusion and distribution faced by postcolonial nation-states, threats of migration, loss of identity, globalization, and economic disparity. The attempt was to analyse both the texts selected for the study to bring forth the underlining beliefs and ideologies. The focus was also on understanding the effects political movements and situations have on personal relations. Study of both the texts foregrounds the miserable conditions of the lives of subaltern people and their continuous struggle and hope of assimilation in the postcolonial nation-states.