English Language Teaching Institute of Symbiosis (ELTIS) is organizing a National Conference in collaboration with English Language Teachers’ Association of India (ELTAI) on February 11 & 12, 2011. The theme of the conference is ‘ELT: Language and Culture’.
For further details click here
(Information sent by Shardool Thakur, Pune)
Thursday, January 06, 2011
BA IV Semester EST 431 Literary Theory Syllabus for Mid Sem for PSE, JPE, CEP
Unit 1
Terry Eagleton 'What is Literature?'
What is Literary Theory?
Humanist Literary Theory: Plato from Repulic "Book 10" ;Aristotle, Horace, Sir Philop Sidney, Sir Francis Bacon,Joseph Addison,Edmond Burke, Samuel Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. John Keats, Edgar Allan Poe, Mathew Arnold.
Unit 2
Structuralism: Ferdinand de Saussare "Nature of linguistic Sign" . Excerpts from 'Course in General Linguistic' Claude Levi-Strauss and 'The Structural Study of Myth';
Humanism, Structuralism, Poststructuralism
Humanism, Structuralism, Poststructuralism
Deconstruction: Binay Opposition; The Role of the Centre; Bricolage
Unit 3
Psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud 'Creative Writers and Day Dreaming'
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Human Rights Certificate Course. Tuesday 4/1/11.
UN and Human Rights and Duties
What are human rights?
Most of the class agreed with ‘they are the basic rights an individual should have by the virtue of being a human.’
If they are rights given to an individual, who gives him/her these rights?
Others answered that any issue against an individual would be a human rights issue. With the example of the Sufi shrine in Shimoga it was explained how religious issues (in terms of claiming land) are not treated as human rights violations.
Another response was that human rights are the rights acquired at conception. This brought us to discussing the ‘inalienable’ nature of human rights.
Mapping out Human Rights
The most important concept that is the foundation of the understanding of Human Rights: is the role of the state.
It is essential to understand that Human rights violations are charged against the state.
Many have claimed the existence of human rights in Indian history. But the acceptance of human rights would suggest a neglect of the ‘divine right’, which was the dominant guiding force through the history of Indian society.
John Locke and Natural rights
Challenging the then predominant belief of original sin and the inheritance of this sin by every individual of the human race, Locke propagated the idea of Tabula Rasa. This marked the shift from the Divine right of the King and the Christian Monarchy. This suggested that a child is born with a clean slate and it is society that ‘writes’ on this slate. The Lockean doctrine of natural rights approached the individual as free to define his/her character based on interaction with society. To read about the understanding of Tabula Rasa from the 11th C Ibn Sina, and following through St. Thomas Aquinas, Locke and Freud, and its application in different fields: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_rasa
Social Contract Theory
The relationship between the individual and the state, which involves the rights of an individual, is no longer considered a divine rule; it is a contract. This introduced the concept of the contract theories, a broad class of theories that explain the ways in which people form states to maintain social order. It implies that people give up sovereignty to a government to receive social order through the rule of law. (Law can only be enforced on a body, it cannot function without a physical human body; someone has to be held responsible, a face to represent.)
For further references to the social contact theories of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract#Philosophers .
It is in a way, legitimate state authority, derived from consent of the governed. For example, Hitler is often seen as a dictator who forcefully took over Germany. But we forget that he was democratically elected and that it was a state sponsored violence. Once at power, he claimed that the Jews are his people and he is free to do with them as he pleases, even sending them to concentration camps in a similar way that a parent claims authority over his/her child defending their reasons and power to beat the child when they feel right.
The contract between you and state is to be protected by the police. So violation of our rights happens when the state steps past its role as protectors to exploiters; Fence eating the grass.
Theoretically, no citizen can say no to war and is expected to pick up a gun and fight for the state at a war situation. This sweeping power that is allowed to be imposed upon us by the state began to be questioned; the protection of human rights from the state.
The question of Human rights only comes into the picture in a state that enforces control. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) declares a protection of the people against violation by the state. (Declaration, not law) The situation of mass violation of people’s rights by different states, brought the need for a UDHR and for the United Nations, an international body that would keep a watch on the governments of countries, ensuring they don’t overstep their power and violate citizens.
Context of UDHR
By questioning the claim that ‘human rights are western rights’, the argument of the drafting of UDHR was discussed.
The developing countries including Latin America, Africa, India etc drafted the declaration that reflected the fundamental beliefs shared by countries around the world regarding human rights, in an attempt to ensure they avoided a situation such as the suffering of Germany. These declarations were later inculcated and the provisions of human rights were made part of the Indian constitution.
The allies supported these third world countries; (Atlantic Charter 1941) a joint statement by Franklin D Roosevelt and Winston Churchill of their mutual goals for post WWII. It explained the objectives of the war and reaffirmed the four freedoms; “the freedom of opinion, of expression, of religion and the right to basic needs”. This was an ‘assurance that all men in all the lands may live put their lives in freedom from fear and want’, that promised an evolution, avoiding another Germany of repressed citizens.
The UDHR was drafted in 1948 after WWII as the first global expression of rights that every human being is entitled with.
Hence the UN and the UDHR was created with the purpose of watching over and protecting the citizens of countries.
RSA and ISA
The Repressive State Apparatus and the Ideological State Apparatus was discussed in response to categorizing human rights violation in public schools and private schools. The RSA includes Heads of State, government, police, courts, army etc. that can intervene and act in favor of the ruling class by repressing the ruled class, while the later includes ideological practice by institutions like the media and education systems.
For further details of RSA and ISA and the difference between their functions, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Althusser#Ideological_state_apparatuses
Questioning the fundamentals
The previous discussion led to another, which pointed out that the media is always for the government; commenting on their ideologies but never questioning them. For example, though the Times of India might comment on the slow or poor development of the metro, it will not question if the metro is required in the first place. Similar questions can be raised with respect to every field; in Social work for instance; Why should the poor be uplifted? Why must a boy in the slum be educated?
This highlights the importance of developing a critical faculty of thought as an approach.
Further reading:
· Upendra Baxi and PIL
· Non-human persons rights; Animal rights.
Reference:
Pinto, Anil. 'Introduction to Human Rights.' Christ University. 4 Jan 2010. Lecture.
Pinto, Anil. 'Introduction to Human Rights.' Christ University. 4 Jan 2010. Lecture.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Certificate Course in Human Rights
Following are the links to various UN Declaration put up as support material to the section of Certificate Course in Human Rights I am teaching on 4,5,10, and 11 Jan 2011 at Christ University.
1. a. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948
b. Wikipedia on The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948
2. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966
1. a. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948
b. Wikipedia on The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948
2. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966
6. UN Declaration and Duties and Responsibilities of Individuals 1997
7. Pinto, Anil. 'Human Rights and Media'
7. Pinto, Anil. 'Human Rights and Media'
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Jacques Lacan and Subjectivity
22 December, 2010
Notes by: Sneha Sharon
'I' might seem a mono-syllabic innocent usage but it has been subjected to a wide range of observations. This 'I' is seen as a realisation of oneself and modern as well as post modern set ups have wondered whether one's usage of 'I' is similar or different to somebody else's usage of 'I'. If so, how similar or how different is it? Does an individual's usage of 'I' also differ from situation to circumstances?
Platonian notion of Essence preceedes existence and the Aristotelian notion of existence preceeds essence to Descartes idea of 'I think therefore I'm' have been followed up by the Marxists who understood consciousness as being determined by social existence; Freud, wherein this notion of the 'I' is broken and Lacan who re-read Freud thus extending him today is a widely read name in the field of philosophy, psychoanalysis and contemporary feminist art.
In the cultural theories of understanding of the 'self', 'subject' is a major keyword such that many a times it has been used as though it were a substitute for the other. The 'self' is therefore subject to the manifold concerns we as humans face today be it social, cultural, economical or political.
Subjectivity is therefore something that connects us with the outside world- the 'self' is not a sole entity, it is always being played upon by circumstances governed from the world outside. Subjectivity then helps us understand why the 'I' and the 'other' are so linked. It is then to understand that the 'subject' is a construct.
Lacan's most influential statement has been- "the unconscious is structured like a language". This gave a feeling that the unconscious too then was a system just like language and thus was the communication/ language was the very thread of subjectivity. Lacan could be taken to have followed a certain Sassurean understanding too.
According to Lacan, there are three stages - The real, imaginary and the symbolic. The real for Lacan is not reality per se. This 'real' is but outside language and is thoroughly different from the symbolic. It is a 'need' stage, all your needs are fulfilled but you are not aware of the same. This is the stage where you do not other your mother, do not find yourself as being separate from her. It is therefore an organic/ whole stage. Between the 'real' and the 'imaginary' is a gap. The 'self' is 'real' but the 'subject' is 'imaginary' and thus displaced. The 'subject' stage is when you start realising yourself as a separate, individual entity. The imaginary dwells in the realm of of imagination and deceptions. The relationship between the ego and the image within the mirror stage are also places of radical isolations, a narcissitic relationship. This stage is that of wants.
The Symbolic order is a stage of desires, the big 'other'. You are then the subject as well as the perpetrator. Meaning to say that one becomes a desiring subject, always needing something but still not being able to achieve it. Desire then comes as a component to fill up the void between the real and the imaginary orders, that is the 'needs' and 'want' stages. For Freud, this lack was a sexual lack. This order is not in the lines of language but restraints. It is somewhere understood as being in the dimensions of the signifier. In this order, the unconscious is the discourse of the 'other'. It is also a realm of the culture unlike the Imaginary which was a realm of the nature.
Thus, it is to understand that in the questioning of the 'I', there is no particular 'I'. It is either the 'self' or the 'subject' or both used interchangeably.
Reference
Abraham, Renu. Subjectivity. Christ University. 22 Dec. 2010. Lecture.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Humanist Literary Theory
Following notes are by Jyotsna S. of II Year PSEng.
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In the latter half of the chapter on Humanist theory, the traditions and thoughts of many influential thinkers stemming from both Platonic and Aristotelian thought have been examined. Before even attempting to consider what these thinkers have put down in literature and philosophy as their own traditions, it is necessary to examine exactly what the oral traditions of Plato and Aristotle themselves is.
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In the latter half of the chapter on Humanist theory, the traditions and thoughts of many influential thinkers stemming from both Platonic and Aristotelian thought have been examined. Before even attempting to consider what these thinkers have put down in literature and philosophy as their own traditions, it is necessary to examine exactly what the oral traditions of Plato and Aristotle themselves is.
The society of ancient Greece was one that thrived in almost all aspects that modern society can achieve standards of excellence in. It had highly developed and advanced systems of education, legislation and administration; some however arguing that literature itself was incomplete at the time, as ancient Greece only had to make do with drama and poetry. Nevertheless, the influence of Greece spread all across the rest of Europe and the world due to these main events: (not listed in chronological order)
1. The conquests of Alexander the Great
2. Trade routes including what would formally be called the silk route later on
3. Greece becoming a roman colony around 46 BCE.
4. The spread of Christianity across Europe
This helped the spread of Greek thought all across Europe, then Persia and Ethiopia and is the reason why most scholars refer to Greek philosophy as the foundation of western thought.
I’ve also put up a link to more on Greek philosophy:
The philosophers listed agree with either Plato and/or Aristotle in part, or disagree with both.
Coming to the philosophers and writers who explore the tradition of Platonic and Aristotelian thought, the first of them is:
QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS
Horace mainly explains that the purpose of poetry, or literature in general is that it is ‘dulce et utile’, or sweet and useful. Horace insists that poetry serves the didactic purpose that Plato seeks, but provides pleasure at the same time; therefore in essence, Horace states that the two goals are not incompatible. He says that poetry is a useful teaching tool because of its pleasure which makes it accessible. Like Plato, Horace also sees nature as the primary source for poetry but argues that poets should imitate both nature and other authors. Horace’s ideas are especially important as they define the ideas about literature that can be traced from the ancient world to the renaissance. Among other such important philosophers is the Neo Platonist St. Thomas Aquinas. Therefore you can see some traces of agreement with Plato on poetry.
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY:
One of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan age, Sir Philip Sidney is most famous for his ‘’The Defence of Poetry’’, sometimes cited as the defence of poesy. Apparently he was influenced at least in part by Stephen Gosson. Sir Philip Sidney directly attacks Plato for his thoughts on poetry, the essence of his defence being that poetry , by combining the liveliness of history with the ethical focus of philosophy, is more effective than either history or philosophy in rousing it’s readers to virtue.
He also says that poetry completes a process that is left incomplete by nature, therefore teaching readers the inner meaning of the things and events of the material world. Finally, Sir Philip Sidney says that the mimetic form of poetry, instead of reflecting inferiority, presents a higher level of reality, something which lends shape to the otherwise raw observation of nature.
SIR FRANCIS BACON:
Perhaps the most striking element about Bacon is that he not only refers back to Elizabethan tradition, but defends it passionately. He follows Aristotle in the thought that poetry does not present an inferior representation of the world we live in, rather a world better than the one we live in. He also says that history and reason, although tied to human experience, only present the sensory world. Bacon argues that imagination can create realities not yet manifested if not limited by sensory or other experiences. He disagrees with Plato on the fact that poetry manipulates and lies to the reader, but instead Sir Francis Bacon says that poetry presents a ‘feigned history’ which speaks directly to the human soul. More importantly, Bacon felt that poetry is greater than rationality because reason can only observe the pre-existing material world, but poetry allows the mind to create its own worlds and rule over them.
JOSEPH ADDISON:
Joseph Addison, of the Addison and Steele duo was not only famous for his numerous plays, but also for his thoughts on poetry, following Plato in the sense that he too is concerned with what poetry does to the minds of the readers, although unlike Plato he is less concerned with a poem’s moral effect, rather with its aesthetics; what he calls how the poem ‘delights’ rather than how it instructs. Influences of John Locke can also be seen in his ideas. Addison describes two types of pleasure in imagination:
· Primary pleasure- from the immediate experience of objects through sensory perception , such as seeing the vivid colours of a changing tree
· Secondary pleasure- the experience of ideas from the representation of objects, when those objects are not present. For instance, reminiscing about the tree and writing a poem describing it’s beauty or painting a picture of it.
Even though Addison gives more importance to the aesthetic quality of a poem or of literature in general, he states that imagination itself is less refined that the faculty of reason and is more commonly found in untrained minds. This he says because of his belief that reason investigates the cause of things whereas imagination is only content with experiencing them either directly or through representation.
EDMUND BURKE:
Since Burke’s thoughts are somewhat vaster and can be traced back to many other schools of thought, I took the liberty of putting up one link that may prove useful.
Burke also follows John Locke in stating that all human knowledge comes from sensory experiences. Burke explains that imagination is a creative power that works in two ways-
1. To represent images of nature as perceived by the senses
2. To combine these images in new ways
Burke also says that imagination cannot achieve creations that are completely original, it only combines the images received from the sensory world, but imagination is not tied to the natural world. For burke, art is not a copy of the natural world, but a sort of recreation itself.
Burke also opposes Plato’s argument that art is merely a copy; instead says that the critical assessment of art must be based on the concept of taste. A shoemaker may want an accurate picture of a shoe, while a dancer may want a picture that gives a sense of the shoe’s motion and liveliness; an emotional rather than physical quality.
Taste is a matter of sensibility according to Burke, rather than a matter of reason or logic. He goes on to say that reason requires education and training, but sensibility can be developed to a greater or lesser degree in all individuals. In this aspect he seems to reflect the thoughts of Addison.
A concept which would further help to understand Burke is the Lethe, or the river of forgetfulness, a concept found in Greek mythology.
SAMUEL JOHNSON:
One important aspect to keep in mind while examining the thoughts of Samuel Johnson is that of the birth of fiction around the 18th century, following the rise of the novel as an important element of literature. Johnson says that fiction depends on the idea of mimesis, presenting stories which imitate nature or real life, unlike poetry or drama, however fiction depends on the idea of realism, presenting stories to readers as though these individuals were real people.
To understand Johnson, one must also look at the mixed concepts of fiction, poetry and realism, for which the roots of all these concepts must be looked at:
-the restoration
-the post reformation period of the 18th century
Like others, Johnson is concerned with the morality of literature. Quite simply, in his view good art is one that has a positive message and bad art contains a negative message, encouraging readers to replicate the behaviour found in literature. Therefore, Johnson feels that novels are potentially more harmful than poetry as they are more realistic in form; being easily mistaken for descriptions of real life. He also argues that Greek and Roman writers presented the best models for any literary art, which is why any critic or writer must have a thorough knowledge of the classical literary tradition.
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS:
Reynolds follows Plato in arguing that the highest and soundest kind of art and criticism refers to an eternal immutable nature of things, a kind of universal idea common to all times and all forms of art.
He is referring to a sort of irrefutable art that transcends time and genre, but the question of refuting art itself is derogated by Reynolds as he says that the assessment of a critic is subjective as he is but mortal. The solution to this problem, therefore, is to ‘’try and discover the principles of human nature on which all forms of imaginative art are founded, and then try to base an aesthetic standard on those principles.’’ He also agrees that one cannot be trained to feel just as one is trained to reason, however it is a well trained faculty to know when reason should give way to feeling.
In essence, Reynolds says that the great end of all art is to make an impression on the human faculties of imagination and sensibility, not on the faculty of reason.
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH:
Wordsworth broadly follows Aristotelian thought and also reflects the ideas of the school of romanticism, stating that anything closer to nature was superior to anything artificial.
Why did Wordsworth turn his attention to the language of speech and writing of the common man, so to speak? The answer lies in the examination of economic and social events of change at the time, that is, a poet catered to the common man more than ever, for the first time in history. Up until the mid 18th century, the subjects of poems were royalty as they were the sole patrons of poets. Now however, poets wrote about the common man who could afford to subscribe to them. He represented a large scale shift in European poetry towards the common man, infusing it with pastoral tradition. However, one can question as to how accurate Wordsworth’s descriptions of the common man are as he himself came from a feudal background and may have had little or no exposure to the average lifestyle or common man.
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE:
JOHN KEATS:
Keats’s views on poetry probably represent at best, Hellenism. According to him, rational thought breaks the world into subject and object for the purposes of classification and analysis in the Aristotelian process called ‘science’.
Keats speaks about an interplay , in the sense that sensations and empathetic experiences ( including poetry) break down the barriers between subject and object and insist on this interaction between the two entities. However, Keats also feels that poetry and science, empathy and reason are two incompatible elements which are also oppositional.
However, the most important key to understanding Keats in this context is negative capability, which in essence is the ability to stay comfortable with uncertainty and doubt without the need to find certainty. This is different from nihilism, which has an ingrained sense of hopelessness in it.
EDGAR ALLAN POE:
MATTHEW ARNOLD:
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