CIA 3: Research on a Text in Local Language(Bengali)

Anushka Chowdhury
1324120
Contemporary Critical Theory (MEL 232)
Prof Anil J Pinto/ Prof Vijayaganesh
16^th February 2014

 

Satyajit Ray’s Feluda and Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes: A Structuralist Approach

               Western mystery and crime fiction has a prominent influence on the Bengali narratives and character portraitures. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictive creation, the character of London based ‘Consultant Detective’ Sherlock Holmes, has not only managed to withstand all the criticisms and adaptations, but also remains to be one of the greatest detective characters sketched and the most acclaimed literary piece of all time. If we look into some of the regional Indian detectives, a remarkable similarity can be noticed in Bengali detective fiction, in the character coined by Satyajit Ray – Prodosh C. Mitter, better known as Feluda. Therefore, a structuralist study of both the similar yet diverse fictional characters will highlight the prominent influence of the occidental on the oriental narratives.

Structuralism is a theoretical paradigm which discusses that things cannot be understood in isolation. They have to be seen in the larger structure they are part of. In Literary theory , structuralist criticism , relates literary texts to a larger structure which may be a particular genre , a range of inter- textual connections , a model of universal narrative structure or recurrent pattern or motif. Therefore,a structuralist study aims to find out the fundamental units on which these texts are constituted and the rules that govern these units. Vladimir Propp’s analysis, Morphology of Folktales, analyzes the structure of folk or fairy tales as a literary form. He points out that they have thirty -one common functions, regardless of language.  According to him borrowings can be both structural as well as cultural. Therefore one can notice a similarity in the structure of Cinderella and Snow White.

Arthur Conan Doyle is best known as the creator of the celebrated detective character of all times, Sherlock Holmes. He had hardly expected his work to be this highly appreciated by the masses in the 19^th century. Though he first introduced the character in the novel A Study in Scarlet in the year 1887, Doyle also tried to end the series by killing Holmes in The Final Problem (1893) to free himself from the character’s shadow and concentrate on something else but he was compelled to revive the character due to the pressure from his readers. He brought him back in The Hound of Baskervilles and declared that his death was pretence. Similarly, Satyajit Ray, who had written 35 novels centred around Feluda, had mentioned:

“When I wrote my first Feluda story, I had scarcely imagined he would prove so popular that I would be forced to write a Feluda novel every year.” (Ray)

Ray, being an avid reader of Jule Verne, H.G.Wells and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, incorporated many of their concepts in his presentation of mystery and detective fiction. Satyajit Ray left an ineradicable impression in the fields of literature and cinema. He was not only the finest Indian film director but also an admirable writer, publisher, illustrator, graphic designer and also a film critic. His science fiction and detective narratives are considered to be one of the greatest in Indian literary creations.

                 Though the two different characters belong to different time frames and geographical vicinity but identical genre, a comparative study of both will shed light on how they are structured in the same manner. Holmes’ addiction, his ways of deduction, the dramatic way of revealing the mystery, Watson as the narrator, lack of women characters, similarity in the simplistic language, the villainous Moriarty and other such characteristics have their parallel in Ray’s post modern creation, Feluda. Though they both reside in two different areas-one in London and another in Calcutta, their street names are similar and have managed to retain the significance over the ages. Holmes resides in 221B Baker Street, London whereas Feluda’s residence is on 23 Rajani Sen Street, Kolkata.

The occidental characters developed by Doyle have their parallel in Ray’s fiction. Though critics often mention Topshe to be the replica of Sherlock’s Dr. Watson, if we notice closely, we will notice that Watson’s character has been divided into two different characters in the Feluda series- one being Topshe who like Watson was the narrator and the other one being Jatayu, the comic relief throughout the narrative and therefore proving to be an important essence in the stories. Jatayu’s character, though not of much importance in the actual solution of crime, helps lighten the mood, drawing a comfort zone between an intricate plot and perplexed, excited readers. Though he fails to keep pace with the rollercoaster ride of Feluda’s mysteries, Jatayu has managed to become an almost indispensible part of Feluda’s adventures. Watson offers a magnanimous portrayal of Sherlock’s intellect. He exclaims at how the genius detective draws appropriate analysis only by taking a single glance. Similarly, Topshe, Feluda’s quintessential assistant gives an accurate record of the extraordinary events that occur around the detective. As each of the sidekicks has lesser aptitude than the protagonists, they successfully glorify their superior counterparts. Just as Watson acts as Sherlock’s foil, so does Jatayu, being blown away by the investigator’s grey matter. Although in The Blanched Soldier and The Lion’s Mane, we see first person narrative, it is soon changed to the usual Watsonian narrative.

When we shift from the principle characters, we notice remarkable similarity in the characters of Sidhu Jyatha and Holme’s elder brother, Mycroft. Both of them are endowed with vast knowledge, current and historic, gathered through extensive reading, but are incapable of detective work due to their lazyness or ‘lack of legwork’ as pointed out by Holmes. Doyle’s creation, Mycroft possesses deductive skills exceeding even those of his younger brother. However, due to the urge or incapability of putting in the necessary physical effort, he rather prefers to stick to his high Government position than chasing criminals. Mycroft however remains a sedentary problem solver for Holmes, providing solution based on seemingly no evidence. Similarly, even Sidhu Jyatha has been portrayed of having a photographic memory and encyclopaedia of information which proves to be useful whenever Feluda needs it. With modernization of Feluda’s world minor characters such as Sidhu Jyatha are becoming redundant gradually due to the advent of other advanced search engines. But Mycroft still holds an important role because of his lofty position in the government which helps Sherlock in his cases.

No detective work is complete without a remarkable villainous character, characters that are common in both the literary works. Moriarty, the malevolent classic evil genius who is often considered to be Holmes’ alter-ego, has influenced the modern representation of villain in Feluda’s works, Maganlal Meghraj. Maganlal’s appearance makes the novels such as Joto Kando Kathmandute (The Criminals of Kathmandu), Joy Baba Felunath (The Mystery of the Elephant God), and Golapi Mukter Baksho (The Mystery of the Pink Pearl) all the more appealing.

Another remarkable similarity worth noting in both the works is the silence of women characters. Nowhere in either of the series are women given much prominence. In the story The Valley of Fear Holmes’ idea of the fairer sex can be well comprehended from his dialogues where he condemns womankind in general. It was only the character of Irene Adler who managed to earn Holmes’s unbound admiration. To Sherlock Holmes she was always ‘the Woman’. Even Ray has adopted a similar take on women in the Feluda series. Being predominantly male oriented it has very less scope for female characters. Nowhere in the thirty odd novels has Ray mentioned the influence of any female characters, not even a mother figure. However, there are few women characters of negligible importance such as an actress who adds to the plot by discovering a dead body in the novel Kailashey Kelenkari (A Killer in Kailash) or the host’s octogenarian aunt with the senile idiosyncrasies in the Jahangirer Swarnamudra (The Gold Coins of Jahangir).

            Arthur Conan Doyle used language which was comprehendible by the common people unlike other mystery fiction and therefore it was well accepted by the masses. Even Satyajit Ray uses uncomplicated narrative for the easy understanding of the stories. Therefore, the simplistic and accessible approach in both form and language has ensured their general success. Even the process of deduction in crime solving and its use within the framework of narrative helps the readers to participate in the course of action.

 

Both Sherlock Holmes and Feluda display their expertise in martial arts in most of the stories. In The Adventure of the Empty House, Holmes explains to Watson how he fought off his arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty by using his knowledge of baritsu, a Victorian form of jujitsu. Feluda, like Holmes, was a man of stony built and extremely adept in martial arts, namely judo and karate. He was a great appreciator of Bruce Lee as mentioned in the novel Tintorettor Jishu (Tintoretto’s Jesus). Though Feluda was in possession of a .32 colt revolver, he used very infrequently. Even Holmes and Watson carried guns. Watson had an old army service revolver and Holmes had a Webley Bulldog revolver.

                 There are some other vague similarities that can be noticed if we look into the intricacies of the character and plot construction. Such as none of the characters are seen taking payments for the services provided, inspite of the hefty offers, double remuneration for instances, by rich clients. Ray also used Holmes’ practice of smoking a pipe with a modern touch. Smoking pipe was primarily Victorian which was used in the Indian adaptation in the form of cigarette. While Holmes was an ardent smoker of pipe Feluda was also a chain-smoker of unfiltered Charminar. Holmes’ fondness for disguises, a trait incorporated by Satyajit Ray but with a slight difference. Feluda also adopted impenetrable disguises only to save himself or gather necessary information but never with the purpose of deception. In most of the stories both the writers use a dramatic way of revealing the mystery. None of the two characters give away the information, even to their counterparts, right away. They withhold information keeping everyone in the dark to enhance the impact on the readers. Holmes in A Scandal in Bohemia told that it was simplicity that helps him deduce, to avoid answering Watson’s question. None of the stories give us any description of the characters’ families. In Doyle’s creation we find the mention of Mycroft Holmes character alone and no record of their parents or even their background. Similarly, in Ray’s stories one finds very less mention of Feluda’s family. Only once in Badshahi Angati (The Emperor’s Ring) there is a mention of Feluda’s father. Like Holmes Feluda’s character was initially presented to be slightly comical but it gradually developed into a more sharp, tall and handsome figure. Both the creations have an astounding similarity with their respective creators. Feluda, in most of his stories travelled to various provinces within India and Ray sent him to places that he had been to and liked a lot. The influence of Holmes on Feluda can be more prominently understood in Ray’s novel Feluda in London. In this novel he visits Baker Street and says, addressing to Holmes: “Guru, You showed us the way. If I am an investigator today, it is only because of you.” (Ray 554)

            As structuralism aims to find out the building blocks of a narrative, it can be applied to study how the detective fictions over the ages have similar structures irrespective of their language differences. While content varies both across culture as well as time, their structure remains the same.  If we try to explore other Bengali novels belonging to the same genre we’ll notice a similar resemblance in their structures. For instance, Saradindu Bandyopadhyay’s Bomkesh Bakshi, another detective series in Bengali and Sherlock Holmes. Therefore, inspite of the difference in places or origins, genres and time frames the characters, setting, language reflect an astounding amount of similarity with the Victorian classic which has influenced several Bengali detective narratives. Even the titles of both Holmes and Feluda series- The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Complete Adventures of Feluda, are identical to each other, illustrating how and till what extent has the Sherlock series inspired Satyajit Ray to frame a complete series following the guidelines set by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle years back.

 

Works Cited:

Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Hound of Baskervilles. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Print.

Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Valley of Fear. United Kingdom: George H. Doran Company, 1915. eBook.

Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Sign of the Four. United Kingdom: Lippincotts Monthly Magazine, 1890. eBook.

Doyle, Conan. The Five Orange Pips and Other Cases. London: Penguin English Library, 1892. eBook.

Ray, Satyajit. The Complete Adventures of Feluda. 2nd ed. 2. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2005. Print.

Ray , Satyajit. Sonar Kella. West Bengal: Ananda Publishers, 1971. Print.

Ray , Satyajit. Joi Baba Felunath. West Bengal: Ananda Publishers, 1976. Print.

Robinson, Andrew. Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye. 1st ed. Britain: University of California Press,   1989. 231-239. Print.

Leadbetter, Clair. "Why were the Sherlock Holmes stories so popular when they were first published and why do they remain so popular now? What evidence is there to support these views?." Foxhound's Pastiche Page. n. page. Web.

Belsey, Catherine. "Deconstructing The Text: Sherlock Holmes." Trans. Array Sherlock Holmes: The Major Stories with Contemporary Critical Essays. . 1st edPalgrave Macmillan, 1993. 381-388. Print.

Miller, John. "The Burden of Holmes." Wall Street Journal. December 23,2009 (2009): n. page. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.

Hart, Rob. "A Study in Sherlock." Lit Reactor. N.p., 30 05 2012. Web. 30 July. 2013.

"Feluda by Satyajit Ray." India Netzone. N.p., 29 09 2011. Web. 31 July. 2013.

"Feluda." Satyajit Ray World. Satyajit Ray Society, n. d. Web. 30 July. 2013.

DSR, . "Feluda:The Sherlock of Bengal." Miscellaneous . N.p., 22 02 2011. Web. 30 July. 2013.

"Irene Adler." Baker Street.

Dundes, Alan. International Folkloristics. United States of America: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 1999. 119-130. Print.

 

1324118 CIA3

Annie Isabel Jaison

1324118

MEL 232

Contemporary Critical Theory

Anil Pinto

 

Psychoanalysis Theory Applied in Manichitrathazhu

One score years have passed since the release the Malayalam movie ‘Manichitrathazhu, (The Ornate Lock), and it still remains an evergreen classic. Though at the initial gaze it gives the aura of a ghost movie, the film is actually based on the rationale of a mental disorder – Dissociative Identity Disorder/ Multiple Personality Disorder. Dissociative identity disorder is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct or split identities or personality states that continually have power over the person's behaviour. With dissociative identity disorder, there's also an inability to recall key personal information that is too far-reaching to be explained as mere forgetfulness. With dissociative identity disorder, there are also highly distinct memory variations, which fluctuate with the person's split personality. The "alters" or different identities have their own age, sex, or race. Each has his or her own postures, gestures, and distinct way of talking. Sometimes the alters are imaginary people; sometimes they are animals. As each personality reveals itself and controls the individuals' behaviour and thoughts, it's called "switching." Switching can take seconds to minutes to days. When under hypnosis, the person's different "alters" or identities may be very responsive to the therapist's requests. Disorders such as DID are looked upon as spiritual possession by a major chunk of the Indian population even today. Manichitrathazhu is a psycho thriller that is adeptly woven into grandma’s tale with the threads of legends and superstitions. I plan to use Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory to analyse the storyline of the movie.

Manichitrathazhu was released in 1993, and is set in an unnamed, picturesque village in Kerala. The story revolves around an old mansion- Madamballi, which is believed to be haunted. It belongs to Nakulan (Suresh Gopi), who is an engineer settled in Calcutta. He and his wife Ganga (Shobhna) are newly married. The couple comes down to Kerala to visit Nakulan’s relatives and that is when the story begins. Nakulan chooses to live in the Mansion with Ganga despite his uncle’s warnings about the house not being accommodative of girls coming from outside the family. Thus all his relatives decide to move in with the couple to ensure their safety until they return to Calcutta. Ganga is fascinated by the mansion brimming with stories and superstitions. Legend has it that about a century-and-a-half ago, a patriarch named Sankaran Thampi headed the Madamballi mansion. He brought down a beautiful dancer named Nagavalli from Tanjore and put her up at the Thekkini (south block) of the mansion. Her lover, Ramanathan, another dancer came to rescue her and Thampi came to know about this. Enraged he murdered Nagavalli in her room. Eight days later Nagavalli turned into a vampire and came to avenge her death. Thampi managed to imprison   Nagavalli’s spirit in the Thekkini with the help of powerful sorcerers. Eventually he too committed suicide and his sprit too was locked up along with Nagavalli in the Thekkini. Ganga brushes off these stories as mere legends and manages to open the ornate lock with which the two troubled spirits were locked in. She is spellbound by Nagavalli’s life like portrait in the room and also finds her dance costumes and jewellery. As the plot thickens, we slowly realise that Ganga unconsciously takes up an alter ego- that of Nagavalli, and is losing her own identity. The protagonist, Dr. Sunny Joseph (Mohan Lal) a renowned psychiatrist from USA uses Psychoanalysis to cure Ganga of her mental disorder.

Psychoanalytic theory refers to the definition of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development that underlie and guide the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy, called psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychotherapy. First laid out by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th century, psychoanalytic theory has undergone many refinements since his work. His study emphasized the recognition of childhood events that could potentially influence the mental functioning of adults. His examination of the genetic and then the developmental aspects gave the psychoanalytic theory its characteristics.Starting with his publication of The Interpretation of Dreams in 1899, his theories began to gain prominence. Psychoanalytic theory believes that human behaviour is deterministic. It is driven by the unconscious as well as biological drives. Freud’s initial cases of psychopathology led him to conclude that the abnormal behaviour could be associated to traumatic childhood experiences that were long forgotten. The influence of these lost memories shaped the feelings, thoughts and behaviours of patients. These studies contributed to the development of the psychoanalytic theory. Freud theorised that the personality consists of three different elements- the id, the ego and the superego. The id is the aspect of personality that is driven by internal and basic drives and needs. These are typically instinctual, such as hunger, thirst, and the drive for sex, or libido. The id acts in accordance with the pleasure principle, in that it avoids pain and seeks pleasure. Due to the instinctual quality of the id, it is impulsive and often unaware of implications of actions. The ego is driven by reality principle. The ego works to balance both the id and superego. In order to balance these, it works to achieve the id's drive in the most realistic ways. It seeks to rationalize the id's instinct and please the drives that will benefit the individual in the long term. It helps separate what is real, and realistic of our drives as well as being realistic about the standards that the superego sets for the individual. The superego is driven by morality principle. It acts in connection with the morality of higher thought and action. Instead of instinctively acting like the id, the superego works to act in socially acceptable ways. It employs morality, judging our sense of wrong and right and using guilt to encourage socially acceptable behaviour. The ego balances the id, the superego and reality in order to maintain a healthy state of consciousness. It thus reacts to protect the individual from any stressors and anxiety by distorting reality. This prevents threatening unconscious thoughts and material from entering the consciousness. 

In the movie, when Dr. Sunny realises that Ganga has Multiple Personality Disorder, he goes in search of her roots in her native village named Evoor. He learns that Ganga was brought up by her grandmother who filled her life with song, stories and fables. However, she longed to be with her parents who were busy building up their careers in Calcutta. One fine day, she is informed that her parents are taking her to Calcutta. The prospect of a sudden shift and the idea of leaving her grandmother troubled her deeply, thus leading to an early mental breakdown- her first psychic disorder. Though she is cured temporarily, the possibility of another psychic breakdown still remained strong in her. Later she got married and ended up in the midst of a mansion brimming with legends and fables. Ganga is so taken up by the tragic figure of Nagavalli that she gradually loses her identity in the process. When she embraces her alter ego, her husband Nakulan turned into Sankaran Thampi, the one she wanted to slaughter. There are instances in the movie that hint that Nakulan is a neglectful husband. He is always caught up with his work that Ganga is left alone with her imagination and obsession with Nagavalli. Certain interpretations even point out that Nakulan was impotent. Thus Ganga is neglected and sexually dissatisfied. Thus when she dons her alter ego, in her unconscious, she wants to kill her husband. There are also other events that strengthen this factor. Ganga shows great interest and excitement when Nakulan’s cousin tells her about her fiancé Mahadevan, who now lived in the house where Nagavalli’s lover Ramanathan used to live.  This subtly points out the fact that she is unhappy with her marital life. The music of the movie too plays a very important role. The alter ego sings in Tamil and dances in the Thekkini at night. The Pazhamthamizh pattu (old Tamil song) is clearly the doctor trying to soothe the alternate persona by singing a song in the same raaga as that of the one that the dancer dances to at night. The Dr. Sunny also instructs Nakulan to enrage Ganga for a simple reason to make him realise her transition from his wife to her alter ego and then call out to her by her name so as to check if that would make her come back to her senses. Sunny does this so that Ganga’s unconscious comes in contact with her conscious thus making her realise that she is losing control of her identity.  Freud said that it is the unconscious that exposes the true feelings, emotions, and thoughts of the individual. There are numerous psychoanalytic techniques used to access and understand the unconscious, ranging from methods like hypnosis, free association and dream analysis. Dr. Sunny uses hypnosis in the end of the movie to cure Ganga completely from her mental disorder. Though not completely a scientific movie, Manichitrathazhu is a movie that has experimented with the norms of the self, the conscious and the unconscious, and continues to remain one of the best psycho thrillers in the South Indian film industry.

 

 

Vishwavikhkhyaathamaaya Mookku" by V.M Basheer

 

Analysing the Malayalam short story “Vishwavikhkhyaathamaaya Mookku” by V.M Basheer

Sneha Susan John

1324150

 

A perfect story that defines the Malayalam society with its political and controversial happenings is the “Vishwavikhkhyaathamaaya Mookku” written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. His story was simple but, any person understanding his stories would immediately figure out the sharp images and details that he pictures in their minds. The English translation of this story is called “The World Renowned Nose” which could not carry the crux of the Malayalam piece of work .This satiric tale is characteristically a humorous reality of the inconsistent society. In addition to understanding the social and political context of his writings, Basheer also possessed a deep historical intuition about the spirit of the land. This story talks about a humble man ‘Mookken’ who experiences fortunes and fame because of his nose which suddenly grew to an uneven length in his twenty-fourth year. As the story proceeds we see the subsequent events that happen because of his uniquely shaped nose. Though the story deals with the long nose, the focus is on the society and their response to the situation. Through his detailed use of sarcasm and humour, Basheer targets the society that has always been involved with corrupt politics and controversies. Basher introduces them to the text, making them read their very own behaviour. He breaks the rationale and logical boundaries creating an unrealistic story yet projecting the realities and behaviours of the society.

The ‘true’ story- The poor cook becomes a millionare is what the plot deals with. Basher begins by calling it a true story, where he points out to the truth lying beneath the fictional story. The story begins with the man whose nose grows too long beyond the ordinary. He is soon thrown out of his job because he is not accepted by the people. People around the world come to observe his nose to which his mother and he respond exasperated. No one cared about his life or his wellbeing; they just wanted to entertain themselves by making him a show piece in the society. Mookken soon becomes rich when people began to offer him bribes to watch his nose. This made him famous and soon the most influenced person of the society.  There were television crews, photographers, interviewers, and tourists who had come to watch him. Few Political parties supported him and others opposed his fame and power. His every word influenced the media and thereby the society. He commented on the different happenings of the society and his opinions were called out loud, books were written about him, epic poems were written about his qualities, he acted in movies and performed numerous tasks to please the people. In no time, he was awarded by the government for being ‘the long nose one’ to the society. In spite of all the drama he was made the leader of the people’s struggle. On the other hand, the opposite parties claimed him to have a fake nose and the conflicts and influence on the long nosed one went on and on.  He won fame and adoration, nothing of what he was worth. Beneath this story, he points out at the truth being the foolishness and irrational societal behaviour of the community.

The story ends by Basheer questioning the masses on how foolishness has been perpetuated and how thought has been confused.  He also sympathises with the poor intellects that follow the influenced ones to gain recognition. He brings to limelight people who have not done much in the society but have been smart enough to take advantage of the society’s foolishness.

Popularity and controversies is what ruins the Indian society. Whatever is popular usually leads to controversies. To gain popularity the lead character gave into the huge corrupted practice of bribery. The whole political conflicts were created when he begins to act pricy about his nose. We realise that the credit given to the worthless news came with the cost he attached to it. He was considered nothing in the busy society till the moment he realised that he can charge people for their foolish interest in his long nose. In no time, he became the centre of attraction and slowly the man with the opinions. Everybody has opinions but his was regarded the final word. As the story proceeds, we notice a shift from humour to a very powerful message. Basher uses satire to tell his readers that people do not think before their actions. They are considered to be unwise and their life revolves around a lot of unnecessary events and opinions of the popular. Their inconsistent nature and failure to have their own opinions is brought out rightfully by the author. The man’s nose has made the whole society react and behave in accordance with him, but there was a time when they did not care about his existence. The different political parties, the activists, the government did everything to please him, though his contributions were nothing except for his bizarrely long nose.

. Basher constantly reminds the society the stupidity they have become a part of. The activists, the government and the entire society are a prey to views given by few who have begun to showcase their selves as the worthy ones. The message that the writer brings out here, is to stop hearing voices of foolishness, rather react wisely to situations that happen in the public. The author thereby tries to bring out the opinions and influences of people that he observes around him. The poor cook who had no way of living took advantage of the foolish society. By the end of the story we realise why the author calls the story, true. He means the behavioural pattern of people are truly depicted and not the literal characters.

Writing and style of Basher has been celebrated by readers among the communities of Kerala. For Basheer, writing was the means to relate and communicate.  Through his style he transports his readers to the society where they belong, and forces them to think. Through his use of language, he explores the psychology of man.  He used the tone of language itself to enhance his message. His writing do not fall under conventional Malayalam writings, instead he uses language to evoke his very community. The sense of reality creeps through this humorous narrative. Through this imaginary tale he pushes the actual message that lies beneath the literal text. The language Basheer employs is quite colloquial, that the English translation of the work does not carry the same essence. Half way through, the readers begin to read their lives between the lines. The translation of the work was not an easy task as it was quite impossible to convey the same message in a spirit that’s not its own.

            Basheer says that the society we live in has made a big deal of a pointless situation. His use of Witt, sarcasm and brevity brings in more meaning, thereby creating depth to the story. His method of writing makes the readers think and judge themselves. This story relates to our everyday lives, to the life of the society and its politics that has been built on people’s opinions and controversies.

 

contemporary critical theory, cia

The 'Myth' of the Stock Market as the Barometer of the Indian Economy (by Vishal R. Choradiya)

From sensationalised coverage on prime time television to small talk amongst friends at a wayside tea stall, the combined movement in the prices of stocks traded at markets such as the Bombay Stock Exchange (represented by the SENSEX) is widely regarded as the performance of the Indian economy itself.  A dramatic upsurge in the aggregate index points is typically greeted with self-congratulatory affirmations of a booming, prosperous economy; and a sharp fall is contrastingly met with gloom, panic, and grave predictions of an imminent economic doomsday.  Over time, this association between the enumerable performance of the stock markets and the relatively unquantifiable state of the nation’s economic health has come to be naturalised.

 

This relationship may be understood as a Barthesian ‘myth’—a second-order semiological system, and a collective means of conceptualising an abstract subject matter.  Here, the performance of the stock market captured by its index, e.g. the SENSEX, is the sign or the ‘meaning’ in the first system.  This meaning, in the greater, mythical system, functions as a signifier, referred to as the ‘form’.  The corresponding signified is the condition of the country’s economy, constituting the mythical ‘concept’.  And the correlation thus established between the form and the concept is the ‘signification’.  Together, they comprise the myth that the stock market is a barometer of the Indian economy.

 

It is interesting to note that the performance of the stock market, as meaning, is capable of being read and understood even before it dons the role of the signifier.  For instance, the SENSEX, in itself, is an index of the stocks of thirty well-established and financially sound companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.  Hence, it has its own value and would be self‑sufficient and complete even if myth did not grab it and transform it into an empty, parasitical form.  In fact, even when it becomes a signifier, it does not altogether lose its original value; it is only temporarily distanced or put on hold for signification.  Further, the SENSEX is not a symbol; it is capable of constantly returning to meaning, deriving from it, and even hiding there.  According to Roland Barthes, it is this game of hide-and-seek between the meaning and the form which defines myth.

 

On the other hand, we have the mythical concept, i.e. the state of the economy as a whole.  It defies simple quantification (unlike the performance of a stock market), being as it is an unstable, nebulous condensation.  Unsurprisingly then, the knowledge contained therein is necessarily confused; made of yielding, shapeless associations.  It has at its disposal an unlimited mass of signifiers: just like the stock market, macroeconomic indicators, international credit ratings, and even the state of a single Indian family’s finances can signify the state of the entire Indian economy.  Evidently, the mythical concept is characterised by its lack of fixity.

 

At the level of signification, the stock market is intended as an indicator of the economy than literally the economy itself.  Yet, this intention is somehow made absent by the literal sense; the signification therefore appears at the same moment both as a representation of the state of the economy and a factual statement of the economy itself.  Of course, this association is not arbitrary; it contains an analogy.  This can be illustrated by the case of the Bombay Stock Exchange, whose stocks are representative of various industrial sectors of the Indian economy, and the composition of which is constantly reviewed and modified to reflect current market conditions.

 

However, the association is also partly motivated.  In this context, Jayati Ghosh, writing for Frontline, remarks that “so much of the presentation of economics news, especially in the financial press, is oriented to the behaviour of stock markets” since the business interests of “the mainstream English language media...coincide with those of financial capital”, and that “these media also do not reflect the interests of the Indian people, nor do they even understand them” (“Stock market and”).  Hence, it is apparent that despite the analogy between a stock market and the entire economy, the myth would not exist without motivation, and such motivation is not natural.

 

As with most myths, this one also works with a poor, incomplete image where the meaning is contracted to prepare for a signification.  At any given point in time, the performance of the various stocks representing diverse industries is summed up by a single relative number, either positive or negative.  This number does not communicate the voluminous information and complexity that governs the trading decisions and sentiments that go behind it.  And in this condensed state, it becomes susceptible to the association.  Further, of all possible signifiers, the stock markets are typically chosen because of the instant sense of gain or loss they convey, and the enormous sums of money they involve, causing an immediate impression.

 

Let us now look at how this myth is received.  As laid out by Barthes, this can happen in three distinct ways, depending on the manner in which one focuses on the duplicity of the signifier, in this case, the stock market.  Firstly, the journalist or the media (already discussed above), as the producer of the myth, would consider the stock market as an ‘empty’ signifier, letting the concept fill the form of the myth without ambiguity.  So the SENSEX here would become part of a simple system where the signification is literal—the media chooses to make it a symbol for the state of the entire economy.

 

Secondly, the mythologist focusing on the stock market as a ‘full’ signifier is able to understand the distortion which the meaning and the form of the stock market impose on each other, and consequently, undo the signification of the myth.  So for the mythologist, the SENSEX becomes the alibi of the economy.  In this case, finance experts would function as mythologists, uncovering the imposture.  In the aforementioned piece, Ghosh also remarked in reference to the stock markets that “the uninitiated can be forgiven for thinking that their movements actually reflect real economic performance...” (“Stock market and”).  Similarly, writing for The Hindu, C.P. Chandrasekhar observes that “there is a divergence between stock market performance and real economy trends...  the market does not reflect in any way the real ‘fundamentals’ of the economy” (“The Sensex and”).  Also, writing specifically about the SENSEX for Moneylife, Vivek Sharma notes that “the Sensex has always been termed as the barometer of the economy...  (but it) does not seem to represent the Indian economy correctly.  The movement in the Sensex often misrepresents the behaviour of the Indian economy in general” (“Why Sensex is”).  Finally, Mukul Sharma, an economist, financial planner and adviser, in a lucid blog post, clarifies as follows:

 

While SENSEX (for that matter any index reflecting stock market performance) is a good indicator of the performance of the economy, it can never be, or at least should never be taken as a barometer of the Indian economy.  It is important to understand that movement in share prices always reflect “market sentiments” of investors...  In a way that is an opinion of the market on the expectations about the future performance of companies listed on the stock exchange.  Movements in share prices can always indicate economic health, but never measure it.  (“Is SENSEX a”)

 

Lastly, the common man, as the reader of myths, tends to focus on the stock market as a ‘mythical’ signifier, unable to distinguish between the meaning and the form, and thereby receiving an ambiguous signification.  He consumes the myth, and for him, the stock market is not a symbol of the economy as a whole, but the economy itself.  In effect, the reader lives the myth as a story at once true and unreal.  This occurs because, as we already know, the association between the stock market and the economy has come to be naturalised.  Therefore, the myth-consumer ends up reading the myth as a factual system, whereas it is merely a semiological system.

 

 

References:

 

Barthes, Roland.  “Myth Today”.  Excerpts from “Myth Today” (1957).  N.p., n.d.  Web.  14 February 2014.

Ghosh, Jayati.  “Stock market and the real economy”.  Frontline 22 May 2004.  Web.  14 February 2014.  <http://www.frontline.in/navigation/?type=static&page=flonnet&rdurl=fl2111/stories/20040604003010400.htm>.

Chandrasekhar, C.P.  “The Sensex and the economy”.  The Hindu.  7 April 2013.  Web.  14 February 2014.  <http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/Chandrasekhar/the-sensex-and-the-economy/article4591247.ece>.

Sharma, Mukul.  “Is SENSEX a barometer of the Indian Economy?”.  13 December 2011.  Web.  14 February 2014.  <http://iasmentor.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/is-sensex-a-barometer-of-the-indian-economy>.

Sharma, Vivek.  “Why Sensex is not the barometer of the Indian economy”.  Moneylife.  8 October 2012.  Web.  14 February 2014.  <http://www.moneylife.in/article/why-sensex-is-not-the-barometer-of-the-indian-economy/28904.html>.

Myth in Manipuri Classical Dance: Radha Roop Varnan (Bidisha Sinha 1324122)

Roland Barthes describes myth as a type of speech and therefore a system of communication, that is, a message. Owing to this, a myth cannot be “an object, a concept, or an idea; it is a mode of signification, a form.” Myth is not just commonly conceived mythology but it can be found in almost any text that uses a language to communicate. Dance, as a form has a language of its own. It is therefore a type of speech too whose main aim is to convey a message. Dance uses movements of the feet, single and double hand gestures, facial expression, music and lyrics to communicate. Any form of dance uses myth as a type of speech since all actions are second order signification in dance. However, the use of myth is greater in classical dance as the rules are rigid and thus there are only an exhaustible set of signs that can be used as signifiers for the second order semiological system.

In Manipuri classical dance, the ‘Radha roop varnan’ is a performance describing the features of Radha. This performance is a lashya[i] form and relies majorly on hand gestures, feet movement and the accompanying music and song. Unlike other classical dances, expressions are only given secondary importance. The dancers are required to keep a neutral expression as the dance is performed as an act of devotion to the Gods. In isolation, every movement, every beat and every word of the song in the Radha roop varnan signify a meaning quite different from the collective meaning. Together they create a myth. The text plays in the form of a performance which incorporates the sign, signifier and signified constructed before it. Thus, it relies heavily on second-order signification. The sign in the first system becomes a signifier in the second system. In the performance, the accompanying song is translated as

The flawlessly beautiful Radha is the epitome of Shringara (amour)

Adorned with precious jewels, her smile is as sweet as honey and words full of eloquence

Radha smiles to reveal the luminous beauty of her jasmine- like teeth, set like exquisite pearls

Hail, the daughter of Vrishbhanu whose complexion lights up like                            sandalwood

With a gait as frisky as the wagtail bird which mesmerizes Madan, the God              of love

She is the one who reigns over divine Krishna’s hearts

Moving gracefully as the elephant

Radha strikes you with the golden glaze of her complexion

Attired in priceless gems, her waistband enhances the beauty of her exotic                adornments

When she dances, her agile body reminds us of the swift movements of a                serpent

Look, how gracefully her delicate hands move

Hail Radha, the daughter of Vrishbhanu, the only one who can mesmerize                Krishna!

Her complexion glows brightly as exquisite gold

Intricately delicate, but at the same time spirited as lightning

Radha enchants everyone with her graceful dance

Look! How she has entwined a garland of flowers in her braid, black and long like a snake

Walking like a wagtail, her glances are as swift as a bird

Her beauty surpasses the allure of a hundred moons

When she smiles, her teeth glow like lightning

Sitting in a temple of gold and precious gems

Radha elusively hiding behind the veil, lets us glimpse only half her divine                  face

Accept the prayers and soul of this Govinda Das at your feet

O Radha! The epitome of Shringara

The dancer puts together single and double hand gestures which are limited in the classical form to express the meaning of the song.  The song is made up of multiple signs which form signifiers and point towards a different signification. We use the word signification as the use of the word ‘sign’ is problematized in the case of mythical speech as sign cannot be perceived without ambiguity. The song is an example of mythical speech. When it says “Radha strikes you with the golden glaze of her complexion”, the literal meaning is very direct but it is not what the song intends to communicate, rather ‘golden glaze of her complexion’ becomes a myth we use to communicate the meaning. We see that Radha is called the “epitome of Shringara[ii]”. Intangible qualities are mostly the content of myth.

            

The same hand gesture is used to depict various signified. The hasta mudra (hand gesture) katakamukham[iii] is used to show eyes, jewellery and smile. The mudra is thus a sign used as a signifier in the second order signification where it is used as a myth. The purpose is to use this mythical speech to convey a message that is not literal. The dancer takes on the role of Radha, Krishna, and Govinda Das, interchanging between gender roles and communicating the message at the same time. Each movement becomes a signified that lends itself to the mythification of the performance. As the dancer performs, she translates the words into movements and forms a new language. The dancer herself acts as a myth. She is herself a second order signification in that she signifies the character she portrays.

            Like all classical dance, Manipuri classical dance exploits myth and metaphor to the fullest. Meaning can only be communicated by understanding the performance in its entirety and not the signs in isolation. The language is purely movement. The language is a chain of second order signification that strings together words, movements and music. The language of dance is myth.

---

[i] Feminine form of dance in Indian classical dance

[ii] Shringara is one of the nine rasa from Bharat muni’s rasa theory described in Natyashastra and it stands for the emotion of love.

[iii] One of the single hand gestures used in Indian classical dance. http://www.freewebs.com/cdacademy/asamhastha.jpg

 

 Works Cited

Barthes, Roland. "Myth Today." The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. By Vincent B. Leitch. New York, NY: Norton, 2001. N. pag. Print.

Doshi, Saryu. Dances of Manipur: The Classical Tradition. Bombay: Marg Publications, 1989. Print.

"Manipuri Dance by Bimbavati Devi Radha Roop Varnan Invis Multimedia DVD." YouTube. YouTube, 09 Feb. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKCeGwTTLmY>.

"Manipuri Dance." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 June 2014. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manipuri_dance>.

 

 

 

 

Negotiation and the Female Self in Sarah Joseph's The Scooter (Jude Gerald Lopez: 1324106)

The target of feminism as a discourse can be said to be social structures that enforce a patriarchal mode of thinking which quite evidently dominates the social sphere and contributes to the subjugation of the female sex. Tejaswini Niranjana in her essay “Feminism and Culture Studies in Asia” sheds light on the problematized state of feminism in terms of its reception. She says:

A standard criticism of feminism across Asia derives from a charge that it is disconnected/alienated from ‘our culture’. This is a charge that is seldom made against any of our other political frameworks which are far from having a clearly identifiable ‘indigenous’ source. The implicit accusation seems to be that feminist demands are modern demands, and modernization means the erasure or giving up of Indian culture and the adaptation of western values and ways of life. (3)

It is in this space, where the objections are many, that the female self through representation should write its way into history and eliminate the haunting tag of ‘the other’ that has come to characterize it due to the dominance of what feminists call a male centered literature. Sarah Jospeh’s short story The Scooter translated by Gita Krishnakutty tries to portray the female self and its intricate idiosyncrasies which constantly negotiates with the roles assigned to it by society and with the whole process of reciprocity which is fundamental in marital relationships.

Disillusionment as a phenomenon is ever present in the narrative. The negotiation of the female protagonist with the harsh reality that exists all around her heightens and sustains a deep sense of un-fulfillment which is visible throughout the journey presented in the story. The narrative begins by giving the reader subtle hints regarding the real journey represented through the use of a metaphor induced narrative.

The start of the journey was, naturally, very enjoyable. They were filled with expectations about the extremely beautiful part of the world they were going to. But scooters cannot be relied upon for long journeys to distant places. Before they had gone very far, a screw came loose and the scooter stopped on the highway!

The journey being referred to in the opening line of the story quite explicitly suggests the nature of relationships in a social setting and its limitations. The scooter then stands for the phenomenon of marriage as a social practice, as an institutions and as an agent of legitimization. The fact that such themes are induced into the story highlights how Sarah Joseph’s work can be understood as a text that fall under both categories i.e a work written by a woman and female literature. Elaine Showalter in her book Literature of their Own while discussing “The Female Tradition” quotes the distinction G. H. Lewes makes with regard to books that are written by women and female literature. Lewes defines the latter as something “which purposefully and collectively concerns itself with the articulation of women’s experience, and which guides itself ‘by its own impulses’ to autonomous self-expression.”  

The short story brings to light the perspective of the woman substantially even though it employs a third person narration. This can be seen as a conscious attempt by the writer to induce into the literary tradition the tale of the woman and in the process write one’s body. The notion of writing the body made popular by Helene Cixous is mostly seen as a form of writing that explicitly deals with the female sexuality and the body in which both categories try to mark out space for itself. However what one needs to note is that such an approach is not really limited to the physical. The attempts of writers like Sarah Joseph through such narratives also write the female body in terms of the female perception and self which in turn constructs the physical self.

“But scooters cannot be relied upon for long journeys to distant places.” This is a recurrent imagery that occurs thrice in the story and marks the collapse of the moments of intimacy experienced by the man and the woman during their travel. The sentence used in repetition creates an air of inevitability. On inspection of the events that follow after the scooter breaks down one can quite clearly see that external forces help bring it back to life and ensure that the man, woman and child continue in their destined journey. The role of marriage, the importance inscribed to it, and the role of social structures in enforcing it is brought to light, questioned, critiqued and turned to satire here.

The role of the child as a uniting factor in a marriage is also questioned. The text not just questions it but also problematizes the whole concept. The struggle between the calm and loving mother figure assigned to the female protagonist by social structures and the female competitor in the relationship is brought to light. The roles assigned, be it arbitrary have normalized itself and hence creates conflict and ultimately brings alive a negotiation.

The scooter slipped from his grip and overturned and the child fell from her hands! The two of them looked angrily at each other.

Their eyes met and blazed in the hot noonday sun!

The child wailed loudly. Neither he nor she paid any attention.  

When the scooter falls for the second time, the man and the woman mock each other and laugh at each other. This momentary sense of dominance and a sense of liberation combined with a heightened sense of individuality leads to the fall of the child and neither pays attention to it.

The story critiques gender roles with regard to marriage as a form of relationship. Simone de Beauvoir, borrowing from the prevalent ideas posited by the existential school of thought asserts that the idea of existence precedes essence is quite important in the feminist discourse and that there exists no such thing as ‘femininity’ if we were to understand it as an essential attribute. Rather such a notion of femininity exists only as a constructed structure enforced by patriarchal norms. The end of the story serves also as a thesis to the general idea. In end the scooter breaks down for the third time due to a petrol leak and because the leak causes a nauseating odour the villagers make the man, woman and child carry the ‘decaying corpse’ on their heads. The collapse of a social institution or a signification of its inadequacies can be implied.

 

Works Cited

 

Cixous, Helene. “The Laugh of Medusa” Print

Joseph, Sarah. "The Scooter." The Daily Star 5 (2004): Web.

Niranjana, Tejaswini. "Feminism and Culture Studies in Asia." Print.

Showalter, Elaine. "The Female Tradition." A Literature of Their Own. 1977. Print.

 

                                                                                                                                                

CIA 3 Feminist approach of the movie ABCD (American Born Confused Desi)

Reginald Valsalan

1324108 / 2^nd Sem. M.A English

Mass Communication / MEL 235

Prof. Anil Joseph Pinto and Prof. Vijayaganesh

 

                                                                         Feminist approach of the movie ABCD (American Born Confused Desi)

 

 Abstract: Cinema is meant and believed to entertain, to take the viewer to a world that is starkly different from the real one, a world which provides escape from the daily grind of life. Cinema is a popular media of mass consumption which plays a key role in molding opinions, constructing images and reinforcing dominant cultural values. The paper deals with representations of women characters in mainstream Molly Wood movies like 'ABCD' (American Born Confused Desi). It is deemed appropriate to examine this issue because women are a major chunk of the country's population and hence their portrayal on screen is crucial in determining the furtherance of already existing stereotypes in the society. This paper begins the description of how women are portrayed in the movie as a strong character without any support of a man. It also undertakes some glimpses from the film to analyze the portrayal.

 

Key Words: Cinema, Molly wood, movies, feminist, empowerment.

 

Introduction

                          Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. Since 1970s, feminist film theory has revolutionized the way that films and their spectators can be understood. Feminist film theory has played a major role in improving the depiction of women role in the movies, the theory became the orthodox form of film theory, and such was the influence of it over the film industry.

                        The Aftermath of the World War 2 started giving importance to women because; it was an important time period in the continued development of gender roles in the United States. Because of the need for extra labor, women were for the first time, allowed to work outside the home in large numbers. This changed the perspective of women toward work, toward themselves, toward society and toward their place in society.  As a literary and then a filmic response to these massive changes a new narrative style emerged in the movie industry called the film noir. Film noir elevated the importance of women, often giving female characters a much more central role, showing women with greater strength and with more self-sufficiency. But these newly empowered women were also most often portrayed as inherently bad, or, at the very least, not as good as the Hollywood Virgin of earlier cinema.

 

                        The tentative thesis statement for the paper is: 'the tentative thesis for this paper is: 'portrayal of woman as an empowered character in the movie'. The study focuses on a Malyali woman who is a student in St.Aloysius College. Her ambition is to help the needy, but her good deeds have put some peoples honor and money at stake. Though she faces rough road on her way in doing good deeds, she stands firm like a rock. 

                        In the movie ABCD, the concept of empowered woman is brought in to light, though men try to treat women as an inferior or the 'other'. A similar ideology is implemented by the Indian society. However the will and courage of the Indian women break all these hurdles. The movie ABCD is purely a fiction, but the woman character introduced is the reflection of women in Kerala. The movie is about two Malayali NRI's from U.S.A who comes to study in Kerala. They meet Madhumitha (on whom the researcher's analysis is on) in her part time job of taking censes for the corporation, on people below poverty line. Then they meet her again in college, while she brings up a strike in college for increasing their fee, because it had lead one of her friends to the verge of suicide. She also helps these boys when they got into trouble with the politicians who she was going up against by helping the needy.

                       The researcher has analyzed various parts of the movie, which gives a clear picture of women empowerment and finally analysis the strength of the woman. When the protagonist Jacob and his friend is given a lift to college by the heroin Madhumitha, he tries to flirt with her by giving a crazy attitude, but instead of shying away or blushing, she stops her car and asked both of them to get out and drove off. This shows that, the film makers have exhibited an up graded version of Indian women who are not scared of men any more. In the olden days, film makers made movies where women don't know the right way of reacting to a man when he approaches her with a motive. She would either shy away or stand cowardly, not knowing what to say. Though the heroin is a bit harsh and rude to Jacob, it conveyed the message that women are not the age old concept of can be made to dance to a man's tune anymore, they have changed.

                       In another scene, the researcher focuses on the heroin and her woman friends, who stops classes in the whole college and starts off a strike, because one of their class mates tried to kill herself on the grounds that she could not afford to pay the hiked fees. When politicians and other business men heard about the ongoing strike, they comes to college to stop the ongoing strike from going any further, she along with her friends stand in front of the whole crowd present, instead of waging war hiding behind the shades, like how they were considered by the society to be. Today's world is a brand new world, with the transformation and molding, it has gone through a lot of changes even in the case of women. It has always been men, who have been doing the strikes or bandh, taking in to account the good or bad intention behind it. Even in movies until very recently, it is very rare to see women in such characters. This movie is a very strong example of changes in women portrayal in recent movies. Even when politicians and business men with very high level of influence threatened her and her friends to stop the strike or suffer the consequences, these girls replied to them saying, "You better pray that it is not you who is going cry for the things you have done". The girls were not bothered it was men or women they were going up against, according to they were fighting an evil.

                  The researcher looks at a scene where the protagonist Johns and his friend Kora, gets into  a trouble with the state government for getting involved with the Naxals, which was not true. Because they did not know what to do to save themselves, they went seeking Madhumitha's help. Understanding their situation, she accepts to help them by giving them shelter from police. Woman do have a big heart and are known to help, it has been proved to the world by great people like Mother Theresa, Diana etc But helping a person who has been convicted by the government falsely takes more than good heart. Here courage to stand up for a good cause and face whatever the consequences it may be plays a bigger role. Today it is thought by certain men that, women with such qualities do not exist. But through this movie, the filmmaker has shown it to the world that, it is a very wrong conception and, they are there and they are right amongst us.

The researcher concludes that, the film has indeed shown the empowerment of women. This is not the old age where women are considered as the second sex, they have come up in equal to the men this is a new age for women. Hitler's thoughts of woman has to be confined to the kitchen has rusted and withered away, they do not exist anymore.

Bibliography

Prakkat, Martin , ABCD (American Born Confused Desi), Prod Thameens 2013 Film, 14 June 2013.

Mulvey, Laura, Kaja Silverman, Barbara creed, and Teresa Lauretis. Feminist Film Theorist. 1. 1. London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis group, 2006. 143. eBook. <http://talmidim.cz/filosofie/Feminist Film Theorists (Routledge Critical Thinkers) - Shohini Chaudhuri.pdf>.