E.E.205:- Cultural Studies

Name: Nargis I. Saiyad

Paper: E-E-205-B: Cultural Studies

Topic: Post-Colonial Study

SEM: 2, Part: 1.

Year: 2011/12.

Submitted To,

 Dr. Dilip Barad,

Dept.of English,

Bhavnagar University.

 Post-Colonial Studies

·         Meaning of 'Cultural studies':

                            

                        The meaning of 'cultural studies' is hard to define. Let's see Showman's definition:

                 

·         Elaine Showalter:

                                 "Cultural studies" is not so much a discrete approach at all, but rather a set of practices.

·         Types of Cultural Studies:

                          There are five types of cultural studies. They are as follows:

> British cultural Materialism,

> New Historicism,

> American Multiculturalism,

> Post modernism and popular Culture,

> Postcolonial studies

                    We will evaluate postcolonial studies.

·         Definition of Postcolonial studies:

                     

                      We can define post-colonial studies as given below:

                         "Post-colonial studies means the study of the English language within politicized context, especially those writings that developed at the colonial "front", which also explores the oppression of the non-European races by European once and which also studies diasporic texts outside the usual western genres."

·         Post-colonial studies:

                   The word 'Post-colonial' refers to the time after the colonialism. After the colonialism, the third world countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean were separated from colonialism but left to rebuit themselves. Many post-colonial writers focus on both colonialism and the changes that came after the colonialism.

·         Edward said:

                His book 'Orientalism' was an important touchstone to postcolonial studies. In it he describes how the Eastern people were called by the western people.

·         Frantz Fanon:

                      He was a French Caribbean Marxist, who wrote in French Algerian language to deconstruct emerging national regimes that were based on inheritances that were given from the imperial powers.

                              In his book 'Black Skin White Mask', he talks about racial prejudice. The book is the reflection of his own experience of life. He describes how the white people behaved with black people, how black people were feeling inferiority, how the life of black people was crushed by the white. His book, 'The wretched of the Earth' published in 1961, was an inspiring book for postcolonial critics.

·         Homi k. Bhabha:

     

                                   Homi Bhabha's post-colonial theory is very important in post-colonial studies. It includes the analysis of nationality, ethnicity,       politics etc... He takes the idea from de-construction that the dichotomies between center and periphery, colonized and colonizer, self and other are false binaries.

                                              

·         Salman Rushdie:

    

                                                      One best-known example of diasporic text is Salman Rushdie' essay is 'Imaginary Homelands'. The powerful conflict arising from the colonial past in Rushdie's   'Midnight's Children’ published in 1980, gives his viewpoint about the history of modern India.

·         Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak:

       

                                In the post-colonial feminism, the most important figure is Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. She examines the effect of political independence upon "subaltern" or women in the third world. She gives voice to their problems and pains. Her best-known work, "Can Subaltern Speak?" is very effective and popular one.

   

·         Other examples:

        

                    Besides the writing, given above the works of Rudyard Kipling, E.M.Foster, Jean Rhys, Jamaica Kincaid are also important. Even Shakespeare's Caliban is also re-read today in their New World contexts.

·         Pramod K. Nyre's view:

              

                         Pramod K. Nyre presented his view about postcolonial studies in his book 'Cultural Studies: Scope, Aim, Methods' in the title of 'Postcolonialism and cultural studies.'

                          

                              Globalization has an influence on local cultures. Cultural studies also need to be conscious of the racialized nature of globalized. Simon outlines a set of reasons for connecting postcolonialism with globalization of studies. (2000)

                            He means culture is affected by economic factors. Media also determine what aspects of culture are adopted. For example, fashion. Cultural study should know the colonial relationship between first world's and 'Third world.'

            Colonialism is one kind of globalization where the European imposes their cultural modes of the colonized people. MTV, McDonald's are global companies which spread in all the countries, with local effects. So, cultural studies try to know how a globalized market makes the formation of cultures.

                Nyre has given the example of the movies. How Hollywood fills circulate globally? Will the audience watching those movies from Asia or Africa create any effect to the film-maker? A culture can not be reduced to its material goods or products. For example, American food or cloths doesn't mean Americanization but it is also that they carry cultural values.

                               Globalization produces 'hybrid' products. Global goods are manufactured in South and South East Asian sweatshops where employees are paid very low wages but because agencies market it, because that are local and global both, profits goes with the 'First World' companies.

                                 For example, in India purified water bottles of some company are popular and are highly sold but those are of the foreign companies. So, water goes from our rivers, workers are from our country but the profit goes with the foreign country.

·         Conclusion:

                        

                    Thus, Postcolonial theory is one of the best theories to study culture which gives deep understanding of the relationship between the local and first world countries.

                  

                      

E.C.204:- Victorian Literature

Name: Nargis I. Saiyad

Paper: E-C-204: The Victorian Literature

Topic: Two essays of ‘Cultural and Anarchy’

SEM: 2, Part: 1.

Year: 2011/12.

Submitted To,

 Dr. Dilip Barad,

Dept.of English,

Bhavnagar University.

 'Culture and Anarchy' is a controversial philosophical work written by a moralist and also one of the best-known critics Mathew Arnold. His all these ideas can be seen through his essays of his essay book 'Culture and Anarchy'. It is divided into many chapters. The first two chapters are very important.

·         'Sweetness & Light'

                  For Arnold, culture is the study of perfection. His views about the connection of religion and 'high' culture are very famous. He says that religion is bond for 'high' culture. He does not include popular culture as a culture.

          "The kingdom of God is within you"

This is religion's thought. Culture does perfection in an internal condition. He says that we can not conceive culture in isolation. If one would try to achieve it individual, he or she will not get succeed. He/she require someone to be cultured. He felt about the function of culture. He gives the example of the views of Mr. Bright, Mr. Frederic Harrison etc.... These all call it as the frivolous and useless thing but Arnold says that it fulfills mankind. According to him, the point of view of Epictetus is best. He says,

                     'It is a sign of aphuia'

It means without natural talent, dull. Especially the word 'aphuia'. The Greek word means well-grown, graceful, clever, witty, a finely tempered nature. A perfection in which the characters of beauty and intelligence are both present and that unites these two noblest things. Jonathan Swift in his book 'Battle of the books' calls them,

   'The two noblest of things, sweetness and light'

                  For Arnold, culture is connected with the idea of sweetness and light. He tries to explain this idea with the help of Greek words 'aphuia & euphuia'. The euphyes is the man who tends towards sweetness and light: the aphyes is our Philistine. Culture hates hatred, has one great passion for sweetness and light.

     Here, he also gives the meaning of

                              "What is greatness?"

                    It is a spiritual condition. The condition to excite love, interest, admiration. He says that if the situation comes that the England was swallowed up by the sea tomorrow, how it would be remembered as?  the England of the last twenty years or the England of Elizabeth? He says that the people to whom we call Philistines, who believe most that greatness is proved by being rich by thought not by being very rich materialistically.

                             In short, he wants to say that cultured men have a best knowledge, best ideas of their time. He gives the example of a man Abelard in the Middle Ages, such were Lessing and Herder of Germany. People will remember their work than the others who will write in a German.

·         'Doing As One Likes'

              In this second chapter, he talks about the Anarchy in a society.

               As the title suggest, he talks about the danger of 'doing as one likes' means the personal liberty and freedom is dangerous. Arnold says that freedom is worshipped by the English people, they desire for it. He talks about the British constitution and liberal practitioners like Mr. Bright. Arnold had fear that this kind of freedom can send the society towards anarchy.

             Arnold also gives the example of middle class and working class people. He writes that middle class is the great representative of trade and dissent that with its maxims of everyman in business, religion, dreads a powerful administration which might somehow interfere with it. After it he talks about the working class who firmly believes that it is their right to do what they like to do.

Arnold wanted to say that their masses were quite as raw and uncultivated as the French; and so far from their having the idea of discipline. He also remembers the conscription. In the America, there was a rule to every young person to serve in the army for at least pre-decided particular age.

              He gives the example of the Hyde Park Protesters and its results. This was a place where the person was free to speak as their will. Mr. Murphy lectures at Birmingham and shows on the Catholic people of that town in that type of words that can be addressed to thieves or murderers. There came a need of basic principal of authority. The question was,

    "Who should be entrusted with this authority?"

The answers:

> Carlyle - Aristocratic class,

> Mr. Lowe - middle class,

> Reform League - working class

                    Carlyle, Mr. Lowe, Reform league believed different class. At the end, Arnold says that all these three class are honest, all have 'sweetness' which was essential for 'culture' but lack was 'light'.

                  At last, Arnold says that 'our best selves' should be given the authority because it is our truest friend and so, when anarchy comes, we may turn with sure trust.

                      In the conclusion, he quotes Bishop Wilson's thought and it is,

'Firstly, never go against the best light you have.'

'Secondly, take care that your light be not darkness'

   We do not consider more about the second one.

·         Conclusion :

  

              Through his essay, Arnold gives us moral. To make the value of Matthew Arnold and his works, Lipman has rightly said that,

"Arnold's great value to us is as a lonely spokesman for the individual's search for an inward culture."

        

   

EE- 305, The Post Colonial studies

 Assignment Paper:-E.E. 305 Post- Colonial Literature

Topic:-Two essays from ‘Imaginary Homelands’         

Name: - Saiyad Nargis I.

Roll No:-14

Semester: - 1

Batch:-2011-12

                                         Submitted to,

                                                   Dr. Dilip Barad

                                                   Dept. of English

                                                   Bhavnagar

                                                  Essays - ‘Imaginary Homelands’         

                                     Essayist - Salman Rushdie

About the essayist-

                           Salman Rushdie was born on 1947 in Bombay. He was a novelist and an essayist, too. The genres in his writing are magic realism, satire and post-colonialism. His main subjects are criticism and travel-writing. His style is often classified as magical realism mixed with historical fiction and dominant theme of his work is the story of many connection disruptions and migrations between the eastern and western world. He won the Booker prize in 1981 for his second novel ‘Midnight’s Children’. Much of his fiction is set on Indian continent. His latest novel is ‘Luca and the Fire of Life’ published in November, 2011 for which he announced that he has begun writing his memoirs.

About the ‘Imaginary Homelands’-

                        ‘Imaginary Homelands’ is a collection of essays which covers a wide variety of topics like, ‘Imaginary Homelands’, ‘Commonwealth Literature doesn’t exist’, ‘The New Empire within Britain’, ‘Attenborough’s Gandhi’ etc…

Introduction-

                             In this, the essayist talks about his experience of London seminar.

                          In the beginning, he says that the essay is taken from contribution in a seminar which was held in 1982 in London. He first tells about the condition of different countries. He says that this time was the time of festival in India and in these days Indira Gandhi was back as India’s premier. In Pakistan, Zia regime was consolidating after the execution of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Britain was in the Thatcher revolution and in America. Ronald Reagun was still a cold warrior. This was the structure of the world. He says that the upheavals of 1989 and 1990 changed all these.                       

                   It was such a situation that the old was dying and yet the new was not coming. There were new possibilities, uncertainties, and dangers with a transforming international scene. Gramci says about this,

   ‘In this interregnum there arises a great diversity of morbid symptoms.’

                         Rushdie says that this is an incomplete book of 1980s’s views told by him and Rushdie says that there were not all the symptoms morbid. He says so, because he had published his second novel ‘Midnight’s Children’ in 1981 which was much appreciated by accepted by the people. He was enjoying writing it and he says that first time the people liked his book. He had written the novel ten years ago but it was rejected and after ten years he could begun to write and he felt good. After telling all these, now Rushdie starts to talk about his experience of London seminar.

                     In the seminar, there were perhaps all the ‘Indo-Anglian’ writers like, Nirad C. Chaudhari, Anita Desai, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao etc…Only R.K.Narayan was absent. Someone told the essayist that,

“Narayan is so courteous that he always accepts, but he never shows up.”

                    Now Rushdie was eager to listen all these writers. It was exhilarating for him to meet and listen them but there were worrying moments, too. One novelist started his speech by reciting Sanskrit sloka. Then instead of translating it, he says that every educated writer would understand, educated Indian would understand it. But there were many writers like Rushdie who couldn’t understand it but it doesn’t mean that they were not Indian.

                      Then he talks about one the paper of one Indian academy in which they had ignored minor community. After it he talks about the volumes of his work. At the end, he writes the acknowledgement. He especially thanks to Susannah Clapp because his phrase was first the title of the essay and then of this book.

Attenborough’s Gandhi-

            In this essay, Rushdie talks about Attenborough’s movie ‘Gandhi’.

                           He says that deification is an Indian disease. In India, Gandhi is higher than anyone but he has a question which he asked to people many a time. He asks;

“Why American academy wish to help him by offering in a temple eight glittering statuettes to a film?”

                      The answer may be that he satisfies certain longings in the western psyche. It can be divided in three answers,

A.   The exotic impulse to see India as the fountainhead of spiritual-mystical wisdom,

B.   The Christian longing for a ‘leader’ dedicated to ideals of poverty and simplicity,

C.    A political desire that revolutions should be made purely by non-violence alone.

                            Rushdie says that the British have been mangling Indian history for centuries. Much of debate has been done about this movie that Why not Subhas Bose? Why no Tagor? , Why not Nehru? The answer is that the center is important for any artistic work because that creates meaning.

                           There are many powerful sequences in this movie. For example, the American massacre. In court-martial an Englishman asks the question about Jaliawala Bagh to Dyer. The scenes say that his actions were those of a cruel and immediately after condemned by Anglo-India. It was false.

                          The British in Punjab in 1919 were afraid of second Indian mutiny. When Dyer goes to England, he was welcomed as a hero. The meaning was completely changed here.

                        In the movie, Gandhi’s assassination comes in the beginning as well as in the end, also. In between this there is nothing about assassination. In the movie, Nathuram Godse is a member of the Hindu-fanatic RSS, who blamed Gandhi as a reason for the partition. In the movie, he is in crowd that represents him differently,

o   It may be that he represents the crowd that turned against Gandhi,

o   Godse was ‘one lone nut’,

o   Gandhiji is a Christ and his assassination is the crucifixion which is done by Godse

               In the movie, Godse was not the representative of mob because he was not alone in his work. The awkward aspects are there in the movie. The movie also omits Gandhi’s fondness for Indian billionaire industrialists. He died in Birla House in Delhi.

                 Gandhiji also represents the portraits of most of the leaders, who struggled for the independence. Patel is a hardworking man whereas he is like a clown here; Jinnah is portrayed as count Dracula, the most important change is in the personality of Nehru.

                  Nehru was not Gandhiji’s disciple. Their debate was famous. Nehru was the urban sophisticated person who wanted to industrialize India while Gandhi was a rural man, handicraft-loving and so, there was conflict in their ideas. In this film, Nehru becomes acolyte of Gandhi.

                Here, Bose was violent. He improved the movie. The message of Gandhi was to fight against oppressors without weapon, without violence but it was all non-sense. The leaders in India didn’t succeeds because they were more moral than British. The British were smarter, craftier who fought with politician than opponents.

                 Rushdie says that it was a best film of 1983, God help the film industry. It was expensive movie. Ben Kingsley performs the role of Gandhi.

             Thus, Rushdie gives his views about Attenborough’s film and at the end, he writes a very significant line,

‘Rich men, like emperors, have always had a weakness for tame holy men, for saints’.

Imaginary Homelands-

                 Rushdie remembers his past life in this essay. He saw a hanging picture on the wall. It was of 1946 on when he was not yet born. The house may be three-storeyed.

                   He remembers the famous sentence of L.P.Hartley’s novel ‘The Go-Between’ and the sentence is

                                ‘The past is a foreign country’.

                   A few years ago he revisited Bombay which was his lost city. He found a telephone directory and he saw his old address, a telephone number. It was an eerie discovery. Then he saw a photograph in the house and stood there. He was overwhelmed. It was in black and white colour but the colour of his mind filled the colour in that picture.

               Then he talks about his novel ‘Midnight’s Children’. When he was writing it reminds him his past and he thought to capture his all past not only in photos. He says that Bombay is a city built by foreigners. He says that when he was writing a book in North London, he was looking out of the window. It was totally new. It was totally like that that he saw in the news-paper in childhood.

                  He also talks about Saleem. His mistakes were of memory. He gives his experience that before he started to write ‘Midnight’s Children’, he recalled his past memory, past Bombay. Then he remembers the Bombay of the 1950s and 1960s. He also remembers Bombay-Kashmir and Delhi-Aligarh. He recalls Bombay’s dialogues, ads for Binaca and for Kolynos.

He remembers the board,

                         ‘Drive like Hell and you will get there.’

                 He also remembers Saleem’s theme song ‘Mera Joota Hai Japani’.

                He says that the writer who is out of country and even out-of-language may experience this loss in intensified form. He says that John Fowles begins ‘Daniel Martin’ with the words like whole sight: or all the rest is desolation. He says that we are not Gods but we are wounded creatures, cracked lenses.

                 He recalls the conference in which he took part in New College, Oxford. The conference was about of modern writing. He says that the black American writer Richard Wright wrote that black and white were in war but their description was incompatible.

                  He tells about his one topic of ‘Midnight’s Children’ –Indian pessimism. He says that Indian writers of England are the same animals. He asks what ‘Indian’ means out side India. He agrees with the writer Ralph Ellison who wrote a collection ‘Shadow and Act’ in which he writes that he is happy of being black in America at that time.

              Art is a passion of mind and the imagination works best when it is free.

            At last, he remembers Saul Bellow’s latest novel ‘The Dean’s December.’ In this novel, the dog barks and Rushdie says that dog is barking for its limits and dog says to open the universe. Rushdie then says that it is for everyone and so, everyone says,

                     “For God’s sake, open the Universe a little more!” 

 

 

   

 

E.C.304 E.L.T

Assignment Paper:-E.C 304 E.L.T.

Topic:-English as a ‘second language’ in India

Name: - Saiyad Nargis I.

Roll No:-14

Semester: - 1

Batch:-2011-12

                                         Submitted to,

                                                   Dr. Dilip Barad

                                                   Dept. of English

                                                   Bhavnagar

vIntroduction-

                              Kapil Kapoor represents his ideas about the international language English in India. In our country, English plays a role of second language. Let’s see his views about it.

vAbstract -

              

                       In abstract, Kapil Kapoor says that we have to understand the role and goal of English as a foreign language and we have to choose teaching theories and practices otherwise no any methodology and technology would be helpful in changing the views successfully.

v What do we mean by ‘second language’?-

         We can understand it in two ways:

                            i.            After one or more Indian languages, which are important and essential, there comes English as a ‘second language’.

                         ii.            In school, after the primary stage, second language is introduced.

vHistorical perspective of English-

                           To know the effect of English as a second                    language, we should understand its historical perspective. English    has become centre language, so we can say it is a symbol of        linguistic centralism. Other languages can be seen as a linguistic regionalism. After freedom from Britain, the main two questions   aroused-

          i.            The status of English,

       ii.            Relationship of English

                               Those who knew English demanded English, to achieve this, conceptual structure developed and it has three parts:

1.    modernization,

2.    mythology,

3.    language policy

                               Both modernization and internationalism became same and the implication of English made other Indian languages ‘traditional’ means anti-modern and backward.

                              The second question aroused was the relationship of English with other Indian languages. To define the relationship, ‘language-planning’ came out. It gave new mythology.Other languages became regional languages. Even Hindi became regional language and it was used in official language and many states made it a regional language.No any other language can be seen with English, so it became the language of national integration, a ‘pan-Indian’ language and it helped in promoting.

v English as a ‘window’-

                      Because of the role of English, Kapoor says that it is the ‘window’ because

1)   It is a language of knowledge especially in the reference of science and technology,

2)   It is a language of modern thinking,

3)   It is the language of reason,

4)   It is a link language,

5)   It is the language of the world,

6)   It is the lingua-franca.

                 Indian languages are ‘the walls’ and English is the window and it gives the light of modernization.

vLanguage-planning-

            

                 To know the importance of ‘language-planning’, Kapil Kapoor has given the example of the report of the Education Commission of 1964-66. It says,

“…….most complicated problem that the country has faced since independence and one that has resisted a solution. It goes on to add that on account of educational, cultural and political reasons.”

                    It shows that this problem was since independence and it is the most complicated problem.

vThree-language formula-

                In 1956, Central Advisory Board on Education proposed the three-language formula. This idea was adopted at the chief minister’s conference in 1961 with a modification. The chief aim for formula was to make English an integral part of school. It creates negative effect, too.The students who really want to learn another language, they would certainly learn English now. It made Hindi less important than English. The students have a choice now to choose between Hindi and English. Three-language formula has affected even our classical language-Sanskrit. Sanskrit is now on its decline. What a tragedy!!!!! It is the language of God and it is being destroyed. The political purpose is cleared in Macaulry’s 1813 report in which he has said,

           “No Bangalee who undergoes this education has any respect left for anything Hindu.”

                   A student should be allowed to choose any second or third language.

vFailure in teaching English-

               The teaching of English has got failure to some extent. Many committees or education commissions tried to solve this problem by taking information about the weightage, teacher-training, methodology, teaching theories etc…Kapoor has given the significant example of the meeting of ELT experts that they gather like Egyptologists meet every year when the Nile has reeded after floods. Inappropriateness of accepting English as a second language may be the cause of failure. The ELT experts have given the definition of English in the reference with the specific functions of English and the educational planners have defined English by comparing it with Hindi. Hindi is more effective in reference to English.

vEnglish as a library language-

                        The Education Comission, 1964-66 has said                about teaching that in higher education, English will be as a library language and it should be taught from std.5 though we know that for many students who come from the rural areas, can’t begin their study before class 7!!!!

vWhat are the first language, L2 and L3?-

                            The first language is used in the school level as a medium of instruction and a medium to express and for communication and it is generally the mother-tongue or the regional language.

                                   The second language (L2) comes after the first language. It is used to make the speaker able to speak for wider participation. It is generally the state official language or national language.

                                  The third language (L3) comes after the second language. It helps to prepare the learner for all-India mobility. The aim to introduce third language is to make the learners be able to make the learners express correctly in that language.

                                 The NCERT-1986 has presented a report and in the report, the picture is like this:

           Stages                 Class                Languages

a)   Lower primary    1 to 5          mother-tongue/state                                                                                                                                                                           

b)  Upper medium    6 to 8          state+Indian+English

c)    Secondary           9 to 10        state+Indian+English

d)  senior secondary  11 to 12      state+ESP+optional

                           This report also tells about the role of English.

vProblems of English as a second language-

                        The second language helps people to keep their personal relations with others, it helps in business, in their socio-cultural activities and in the identity with a large group. In India, we study a foreign language as a second language, as an Indian language. So, we don’t get necessary competence. U.G.C. sponsored many seminars, tests but all seem to do nothing. English as a second language creates problems. It can be solved by removing English as a second language and make it a third or optional language.

                           The major problems are the use of language drill, use of simple text, not sufficient reading, role of grammar etc…A second language is generally considered as a language of repeating not for thinking!!! Any teacher can’t teach limited language. If he wanted to teach one sentence, he will have to teach grammar, vocabulary, sentence pattern. There are some conceptual problems, too. For example, the standard of English is falling.

                          We have failed to make-up our mind to one appropriate language theory. The west gave up grammar-centered language teaching and adopted behavioural models. Direct method,     

Audio-visual techniques help in language teaching but these all are costly and now even mother-tongue is taught with the help of these things. India was first grammar centered. Grammar and mathematics are principal instruments to sharpen the mind and now the west has also discovered that the grammar is a cognitive and primary to understand the language properly.

                         ‘Method’ and ‘methodology’ are the most important in the west. It is believed that if we have right method, we can achieve our goal. ‘Technology’ is used in methods. Audio-cassettes, language laboratory, television, radio, computer-use of internet all are used in the technical method and these all have made the teaching expensive. The tradition of teaching with the black-board and text book is being lost.

vConclusion-

                 Thus, we can see Kapil Kapoor in his essay ‘Teaching English as a ‘second language’ in India’ has cleared the concept of English as a second language, he has mentioned the problems in teaching English as a second language, what is the function of English in India, what are L1, L2, L3, the use of technique in teaching English all are explained in this essay. This essay helps us to understand the advantages and disadvantages of English as a second language.