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This blog is an experiment in using blogs in higher education. Most of the experiments done here are the first of their kind at least in India. I wish this trend catches on.... The Blog is dedicated to Anup Dhar and Lawrence Liang whose work has influenced many like me . . . .
Now you can view this blog on your mobile phones! Give a try.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
UGC Sponsored One Day International Seminar on Defamiliarizing Identities Iin Post-Colonial Literature
Organised by Department of English Madras Christian College (Autonomous),
Tambaram, Chennai
12 July 2013
This
conference is an attempt to distil dilemmas, to reclaim and re-create
indigenous experiences. Restoration of human self and transformation would,
therefore, deal with the question and perception of identity. Presenters are welcome to concentrate on the
following themes also.
Multi-Culturalism
Non-canonical literatures
Oriental Studies
Resistance Studies
Commonwealth literature
LGBT Literature
Oral Literature
Cultural Studies & Migration Studies
Dalit literature
Diasporic literature
Points to remember:
Presenters are requested to avoid plagiarism. Effective
software will be used to find out plagiarism.
Manuscript of the full paper in MS-Word should not exceed 10
pages including cited works. The paper should have Times New Roman, font size
12’, A4 (8.27”x11.69”) paper size, with 1.5 line spacing, justified, and 1 inch
margin on all sides. Abstracts will be selected by the selection committee that
consists of eminent professors from various International Universities.
Acclaimed Writers, Academicians and Professors have
consented to take part in this one day event. A Book with ISBN Number on the
outcome of the Seminar is planned.
DD must be drawn from any nationalized bank in favor of “The
Bursar, Madras Christian College” Payable at Tambaram.
Address for Communication
Dr. S. Franklin Daniel
Convener
Department of English
Madras Christian College (Autonomous) Tambaram, Chennai,
India- 600059
Website: mccenglish.hpage.com
Thursday, March 07, 2013
UGC Sponsored National Seminar on Literature and Environment
The Department of English, Sree
Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Kerala is organizing a UGC
sponsored National Seminar on the topic Literature and Environment on 25,
26 and 27 March, 2013.
Students, research scholars and
academicians are invited to participate in the three-day National Seminar and to
present papers related to the topic. The presented papers will be further
screened and published as a book.
The possible areas of focus are:
· Ecofeminism
· Ecolinguistics
· Environmental Journalism
· Religion and Environment
· Ecology and Bionomics
· Environmental Law
· Environmental Literature (Nature writing, Science writing,
Writing the Environment)
· Ecology and Cinema
· Children's Literature and Environment
· Ecospirituality
· Climate and Environment.
The last date for submission of
abstracts is 11th March, 2013
Full papers
: 19th March 2013.
The papers may be sent to: jjean960 AT gmail.com
Regards
Seminar Co-ordinator :
Dr N. Jenny Rappai
Associate Professor
Department of English
Sree Sankaracharya University of
Sanskrit
Kalady.
Friday, February 08, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Addictive Relationships
The following might seem like a very general article on addictive relatiosnhips, something that many of us have seen/ been a part of. It may be an interesting read in terms of identifying whether you are in one currently. As counselors, one of the main issues that most clients come with is 'being stuck' in an unhealthy relationship and not being able to come out. This article from a popular psychology source might help you better understand this vicious cycle.
Addictive Relationships
It
is often very hard to end a love relationship even when you know it is bad for
you. A “bad” relationship is not the kind that is going through the usual
periods of disagreement and disenchantment that are inevitable when two
separate people come together. A bad relationship is one that involves
continual frustration; the relationship seems to have potential but that
potential is always just out of reach. In fact, the attachment in such
relationships is to someone who is “unattainable” in the sense that he or she
is committed to someone else, doesn’t want a committed relationship, or is
incapable of one. Bad relationships are chronically lacking in what one or both
partners need. Such relationships can destroy self-esteem and prevent those
involved from moving on in their careers or personal lives. They are often
fertile breeding grounds for loneliness, rage, and despair. In bad
relationships the two partners are often on such different wave-lengths that
there is little common ground, little significant communication, and little
enjoyment of each other.Remaining in a bad relationship not only causes
continual stress but may even be physically harmful. An obvious harm is the
physical abuse that is often a part of such relationships. In a less obvious
way, however, the tensions and chemical changes caused by the constant stress
can drain energy and lower resistance to physical illness. Continuing in such
bad relationships can lead to unhealthy escapes such as alcohol or drug abuse
and can even lead to suicide attempts.
In
such relationships, individuals are robbed of several essential freedoms; the
freedom to be their best selves in the relationship, the freedom to love the
other person through choice rather than through dependency, and the freedom to
leave a situation that is destructive.
Despite
the pain of these relationships, many rational and practical people find that
they are unable to leave, even though they know the relationship is bad for
them. One part of them wants out but a seemingly stronger part refuses or feels
helpless to take any action. It is in this sense that the relationships are
“addictive.”
Are You Addicted?
Listed
below are several signs of addiction. Consider whether they apply to you:
- Even
though you know the relationship is bad for you (and perhaps others have
told you this), you take no effective steps to end it.
- You
give yourself reasons for staying in the relationship that are not really
accurate or that are not strong enough to counteract the harmful aspects
of the relationship.
- When
you think about ending the relationship, you feel terrible anxiety and
fear which make you cling to it even more.
- When
you take steps to end the relationship, you suffer painful withdrawal
symptoms, including physical discomfort, that is only relieved by reestablishing
contact.
If
most of these signs apply to you, you are probably in an addictive relationship
and have lost the capacity to direct your own life. To move toward recovery,
your first steps must be to recognize that you are “hooked” and then try to
understand the basis of your addiction. In this way, you gain the perspective
to determine whether, in reality, the relationship can be improved or whether
you need to leave it.
The Basis of the Addiction
There
are several factors that can influence your decision to remainin a bad
relationship. At the most superficial level are practical considerations such
as financial entanglement, shared living quarters, potential impact on
children, feared disapproval from others, and possible disruption in academic
performance or career plans.
At
a deeper level are the beliefs you hold about relationships in general, about
this specific relationship, and about yourself. These beliefs may take the form
of learned societal messages such as “Love is forever,” “You are a failure if
you end a relationship,” “Being alone is terrible,” and “You should never hurt
anyone.” Also relevant are beliefs about yourself such as “I’ll never find
anyone else,” “I’m not attractive or interesting enough,” or “If I work hard
enough I should be able to save this relationship.”
At
the deepest level are unconscious feelings which can keep you stuck. These
feelings develop early in childhood, often operate without your awareness, and
can exert considerable influence on your life. Children need to be loved,
nurtured, and encouraged in their independence. To the extent that parents are
successful in doing this, their children will be able to feel secure as adults
in moving in and out of relationships. To the extent that these needs are not
met their children may be left feeling “needy” as adults and may thus be more
vulnerable to dependent relationships.
Strategies for Overcoming
Relationship Addictions
Robin
Norwood, in her excellent book “Women Who Love Too Much” outlines a ten step
plan for overcoming relationship addiction. While this book is directed toward
women, its principles are equally valid for men. Stated here (reordered and
sometimes paraphrased), Norwood suggests the following:
- Make
your “recovery” the first priority in your life.
- Become
“selfish,” i.e., focus on getting your own needs met more effectively.
- Courageously
face your own problems and shortcomings.
- Cultivate
whatever needs to be developed in yourself, i.e., fill in gaps that have
made you feel undeserving or bad about yourself.
- Learn
to stop managing and controlling others; by being more focused on your own
needs, you will no longer need to seek security by trying to make others
change.
- Develop
your “spiritual” side, i.e., find out what brings you peace and serenity
and commit some time, at least half an hour daily, to that endeavor.
- Learn
not to get “hooked” into the games of relationships; avoid dangerous roles
you tend to fall into, e.g., “rescuer” (helper), “persecutor” (blamer),
“victim” (helpless one).
- Find
a support group of friends who understand.
- Share
with others what you have experienced and learned.
- Consider
getting professional help.
When to Seek Professional Help
Some
counseling may be called for when any of these four circumstances exist:
- When
you are very unhappy in a relationship but are unsure of whether you
should accept it as it is, make further efforts to improve it, or get out
of it.
- When
you have concluded that you should end a relationship, have tried to make
yourself end it, but remain stuck.
- When
you suspect that you are staying in a relationship for the wrong reasons,
such as feelings of guilt or fear of being alone, and you have been unable
to overcome the paralyzing effects of such feelings.
- When
you recognize that you have a pattern of staying in bad relationships and
that you have not been able to change that pattern by yourself.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
In light of the recent rape incident that shook the country, I was asked to write an article trying to better understand Pedophilia as one of the sexual deviancies/ sexual disorders. I wanted to share it in the forum in case it was useful to anyone.
Write back if you have any queries :).
PEDOPHILIA
Pedophilia
is a psychiatric disorder that is used to describe an individual 16 years or
older who has a primary sexual interest in prepubescent children, 11 years or
younger.
According
to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), in order to make a
diagnosis of pedophilia, the person initiating the sexual relationship must be
at least five years older than the prepubescent child. The ICD- 10 describes it
as a ‘disorder of adult personality and behavior’.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
(DSM-IV TR) describes it as a paraphilia- a sexual attraction to something out
of the norm.
Pedophilia
as a practice is a punishable offense in most parts of the world. In the light
of the current story that’s making the news- the story of Nirbhaya- the girl in
Delhi that lost her life recently; we pause this New Year to ask ourselves- how
much do we know about sexual offenses and sexual disorders. Further, how
prepared are we to handle something like this?
In order to better understand a
concept like pedophilia, that seems so bizarre and unacceptable to all of us, a
metanalysis conducted by Finkelhor and Araji proposed a four factor model to
explain why adults get attracted sexually to young children. The first
explanation they propose is called Emotional Congruence Theory developing from
the psychoanalytical school of thought. This model proposes that people with
pedophilia have arrested psychological development. Thus Pedophiles experience
themselves as children with child like needs and thus wish to relate to other
children.
A
theory of symbolic mastery suggests that a relationship with a child helps the
pedophile have a sense of mastery of shame, humiliation and guilt encountered
as a child at the hands of an adult. Thus one of the ways in which the
pedophile combats the childhood sense of powerlessness is by reversing the
roles in adulthood and overpowering another child.
A second model called sexual arousal to children comes from
the point of view that the act is not sexual in nature at all. Like rape is a
crime of violence, pedophilia is a crime of power and dominance.
A third group of theories called the blockage theories try
to understand why pedophiles cannot get the same amount of sexual stimulation
or satisfaction from heterosexual adults. Individual psychology theories claim
that the individuals have an extremely high sense of castration anxiety that
makes it impossible for them to function normally with adult women and have
sexual relations with them. A more practical explanation from the same
theoretical orientation claims that pedophilia is a reaction or an outcome to
earlier experiences with failed sexual attempts- like impotency, abandonment by
the first lover etc.
A final explanation of this disorder is a group of theories
called disinhibition theories. A number of studies conducted along these lines
discovered that pedophiles generally have lower impulse control, neurological
deficits, alcohol abuse or senility contributing to this behavior. Similar
studies have also found pedophiles to have lower intelligence levels than
normal people.
Further,
they may have situational factors like unemployment, losses etc that are major
stressors for them. This leads to another related factor that in the diathesis
stress model, pedophiles have a lower threshold of stress tolerance making even
small triggers very difficult to handle. A study also showed that early
incidence of child molestation led to a cycle reaction inducing pedophilic
behavior later on.
A study conducted in 2008 identified a neural imbalance or
a deficient mechanism in the amygdala of the brain which is responsible for
arousal and emotional valuation. The normal regulating mechanism is absent in pedophiles
thus reversing the mechanism and resulting in deviant sexual behavior.
Clinical psychologists and researchers primarily use three
methods to diagnose pedophilia- sexual behavior (history), self reports and
psycho physiological behavior responses. Some of the tests used to measure
psycho physiological behavior responses include polygraph tests and viewing
time. In crime related questions, polygraph tests show an elevated rate of
heartbeat, skin conductance, respiration etc. Further in viewing tests,
pedophiles ‘linger’ on images of children longer than normal people.
One of the surer predictors of pedophilic behavior include
possession of child pornography. Further, a phallometric measure of sexual
arousal to children is positively correlated to later sexual offense. Similarly,
there is also a positive correlation between antisocial personality disorder
and later sexually deviant behavior.
With the above studies, we can see how pedophilia is a
disorder and needs treatment and help. In terms of research conducted on how
best to work with such a problem, studies show that there may be a few ways to
develop insight in such individuals as they are often in denial.
One way is to treat pedophile as an addiction and assign
individuals to a de- addiction group. Another method suggests using insight
oriented therapy to discuss in depth emotional and childhood concepts. Another
way to work with this issue could be aversion therapy by associating the
pedophilic urge/fantasy to something repulsive like an electric shock/nausea
etc. Covert sensitization in which the person imagines the consequences of
engaging in the activity like imprisonment may also prove to be beneficial in
management of the tendencies.
Finally, victim empathy training in which the individual is
exposed to materials like audio and print material in which victims describe
the horror and their experiences may help the perpetrator empathize with his
victims better and check his impulses.
With respect to medication, anti androgen medicines that
reduce the sexual urges and desire are the only effectively researched drugs.
It is important as parents and others working with such
individuals that we work with the trauma of the victims first in a sensitive
way. It is best to work with it like a post traumatic disorder in order to
prevent uninhibited sexual promiscuity in later years or the extreme guilt and
isolation (the other extreme).
When working with such individuals, it’s important to
always put the safety of the child first even if it means shifting the child
away from its primary home if that is best for them at that time. The counselor
or social worker is advised to work with caution and kindness but firmness to
help the child understand that it is not their fault in any way.
What
do we do as citizens, as social workers and counselors, as parents and people
sensitizing the community? How would we ‘prevent rather than cure’ and protect
our children from this evil?
Some
practical tips include,
1.
Never
disclose personal information, such as your address, to strangers online.
2.
Never
meet privately in person with anyone you have met online.
3.
Never
get close to a car if a stranger stops and asks for directions.
4.
Never
accept a ride from, or go anywhere alone with, an adult you don’t know.
5.
No
adult should touch you or ask you to touch him in any way that is confusing or
frightening. If this happens, refuse and tell your parent immediately.
6.
No
adult should ever ask you to keep a touch or a kiss secret. If this happens, tell
your parent immediately.
7.
If
any of these things happens, you will not be punished even if you have broken a
rule.
Teaching the
children the difference between good and bad touch, having frank discussions
about sex when appropriate and value based classes that constantly ingrain good
values in children may help them to be better prepared for unforeseen events.
They may be better equipped to say no if the situation is fishy or inappropriate.
Finally, self defense must be incorporated in the school curriculum so that
children are prepared to protect themselves at least early on by calling for
help, stalling or buying more time. Basic things like keeping to a group,
sticking to a curfew, avoiding peer pressure and substance abuse may also
reduce the risk of being in a vulnerable position.
Finally, a
healthy bond of trust should exist between parent and child so that in the
event of any regrettable incident, the child feels comfortable sharing it with
their parents without the fear of being blamed, condemned or worse yet,
ignored.
REFERENCES
Finkelhor, D. (1986).
Explanations of Pedophilia: A Four Factor Model. Journal Of Sex Research,
22(2), 145.
Sartorius, A. (2008).
Abnormal amygdala activation profile in pedophilia. European Archives Of
Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience, 258(5), 271-277.
Abel
GG, et al. “Pedophilia,”
in Gabbard GO, ed. Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders, Third
Edition.
American Psychiatric Press, 2001.
Briken
P, et al. “Pharmacotherapy
of Paraphilias with Long-Acting Agonists of Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing
Hormone: A Systematic Review,” Journal
of Clinical Psychiatry (August
2003): Vol. 64, No. 8, pp.
890–97.
Fagan
PJ, et al. “Pedophilia,”
JAMA (November 20, 2002): Vol. 288, No. 19, pp. 2458–65.
Green
R. “Is
Pedophilia a Mental Disorder?” Archives of Sexual Behavior (December
2002): Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 467–71. Commentaries and rejoinders, pp. 479–510.
McConaghy
N. “Unresolved
Issues in Scientific Sexology,” Archives of Sexual Behavior (August
1999): Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 285–318.
Quinsey
VL. “The
Etiology of Anomalous Sexual Preferences in Men,” Annals of the New York
Academy of Sciences (July 2003): Vol. 989, pp. 105–17.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
An exploratory Study on Body Art- People With It and Perceptions Towards It
Dear Readers,
I am a final year MSc Psychology (Counseling) student at Christ University.
My dissertation is about studying personality differences in people with and without body art- tattoos in specific.
While that may be the topic of my primary research, I would also be interested in doing a qualitative analysis of certain related topics. Hence, I am taking a shot and posting a few questions on this forum. Please feel free to answer them as you like and pass it on to friends or people you think might be interested.
Your replies will go a long way in making this research possible.
Thank You,
Vani S
P.S. Please mail all responses to vani.univ@gmail.com. Your responses will be kept private and confidential and used only for the purpose of this research.
Body Art-
Definition as per this study- People with a tattoo(s) and a maximum of one ear lobe piercing on each ear to allow for a cultural sanction.
Questions-
Answer the following if you have a tattoo. You may also answer this on behalf of someone you know who has a tattoo (mention the same). Please feel free to express as much as you want for any of the questions and back them with personal experience, anecdotes or academic studies. Thank You.
Demographic Data-
Name-
Age-
Sex-
Religion-
Socio Economic Status-
Education-
Occupation-
Email Id-
Telephone Number-
1. What is your perception about the personality of a person that decides to ink themslves? (Eg: They might be reckless/ extroverted)
2. Why do you think people decide to get tattooed/ Why did you decide to get tattooed?
3. What are some of the factors that helped you go ahead with the decision of getting inked even though it is a permanent mark on your body?
4. Do you think people who get tattooes are significantly different (personality traits and behavior wise) from people without tattoos?
5. Have you ever suffered discrimination or stigma from your workplace/ elsewhere because you have a tattoo?
6. Do you think the Indian cultural and value system has a significant impact on getting a tattoo? (Eg: increased resistance from family)
7. Do you have a tattoo (s)? If yes, can you list the details? (Where, Colour, Size, Number of tattoos etc)
8. Do you think people often regret getting inked years later? If yes, what may some of the reasons be for the same?
9. What are some of the questions you are commonly asked by people post getting the tattoo and how do you respond to the same?
10. Would you get more tattoos inspite of the number of practical challenges, restrictions, the cost, the discouragement from family and other similar factors? If yes, why? If No, why?
Other remarks-
I am a final year MSc Psychology (Counseling) student at Christ University.
My dissertation is about studying personality differences in people with and without body art- tattoos in specific.
While that may be the topic of my primary research, I would also be interested in doing a qualitative analysis of certain related topics. Hence, I am taking a shot and posting a few questions on this forum. Please feel free to answer them as you like and pass it on to friends or people you think might be interested.
Your replies will go a long way in making this research possible.
Thank You,
Vani S
P.S. Please mail all responses to vani.univ@gmail.com. Your responses will be kept private and confidential and used only for the purpose of this research.
Body Art-
Definition as per this study- People with a tattoo(s) and a maximum of one ear lobe piercing on each ear to allow for a cultural sanction.
Questions-
Answer the following if you have a tattoo. You may also answer this on behalf of someone you know who has a tattoo (mention the same). Please feel free to express as much as you want for any of the questions and back them with personal experience, anecdotes or academic studies. Thank You.
Demographic Data-
Name-
Age-
Sex-
Religion-
Socio Economic Status-
Education-
Occupation-
Email Id-
Telephone Number-
1. What is your perception about the personality of a person that decides to ink themslves? (Eg: They might be reckless/ extroverted)
2. Why do you think people decide to get tattooed/ Why did you decide to get tattooed?
3. What are some of the factors that helped you go ahead with the decision of getting inked even though it is a permanent mark on your body?
4. Do you think people who get tattooes are significantly different (personality traits and behavior wise) from people without tattoos?
5. Have you ever suffered discrimination or stigma from your workplace/ elsewhere because you have a tattoo?
6. Do you think the Indian cultural and value system has a significant impact on getting a tattoo? (Eg: increased resistance from family)
7. Do you have a tattoo (s)? If yes, can you list the details? (Where, Colour, Size, Number of tattoos etc)
8. Do you think people often regret getting inked years later? If yes, what may some of the reasons be for the same?
9. What are some of the questions you are commonly asked by people post getting the tattoo and how do you respond to the same?
10. Would you get more tattoos inspite of the number of practical challenges, restrictions, the cost, the discouragement from family and other similar factors? If yes, why? If No, why?
Other remarks-
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Literary Criticism, Critical Theory & Criticism around Creative Writing
I've studied criticism in many forms. During my under-graduation at Christ College, I studied the different schools of literary criticism—new criticism, formalism, structuralism, etc. It was extremely interesting—like observing a thought manifest into words, and then into a complete theory. Even though what these theories enabled was to be able to critique literature and understand it from different perspectives, what soon became clear was that the theories could stand on their own, and be understood as independent working systems of thought in progress. Although we were talking about literature, I felt that we could as easily be talking about anything else—about completely different meaning making processin in society. It became, instead of a way to understand and study literature, a way to understand and make sense of society.
The second form of criticism I studied was during my Masters, which was Critical Theory. I was studying Criticism of society here—looking at Lacan, and Derrida, and Barthes. There was a purpose to the criticism; in some cases, as when we were studying Post-colonialism, if it was to study the impact of the West on nations that had been colonised, understand our own (Indian) relationship to Colonialism, and our efforts to unconsciously Decolonize the West; in other cases, it was a theory of understanding and building piece, where we spoke of reconciliation of countries which had been torn apart by racism, apartheid, or genocide. This form of criticism also lent itself to allow one to look at objects and the relationships we share with them, and how this contributes to our understanding of materials. In all these cases, there was a purpose to the criticism. We were moving towards a goal—to achieve something. To gain, for lack of a better word, some kind of closure in argument of pros and cons that led nowhere.
Now that I'm "studying" MFA Creative Writing, the approach to Criticism is entirely different. We are looking at Criticism not to give us answers of what has already been created, but to help us work towards creating more literature. We work around discussions of craft, and plot; character, and setting, and we do this not to achieve a deeper understanding of what already is, but what can be. It is like drawing blueprints from something that exists, and then, using those blueprints to create new buildings, and new models of architecture. There is much more freedom; to make of it, what we will, and to use it how we please. This is, a criticism that begins in theory, but ends in creation. Criticism that begins without the aim of solving a problem, or getting closer to it, but as a catalyst, and enabler to help a practioner of the craft of writing. It is, might I add, my favorite version of criticism.
The second form of criticism I studied was during my Masters, which was Critical Theory. I was studying Criticism of society here—looking at Lacan, and Derrida, and Barthes. There was a purpose to the criticism; in some cases, as when we were studying Post-colonialism, if it was to study the impact of the West on nations that had been colonised, understand our own (Indian) relationship to Colonialism, and our efforts to unconsciously Decolonize the West; in other cases, it was a theory of understanding and building piece, where we spoke of reconciliation of countries which had been torn apart by racism, apartheid, or genocide. This form of criticism also lent itself to allow one to look at objects and the relationships we share with them, and how this contributes to our understanding of materials. In all these cases, there was a purpose to the criticism. We were moving towards a goal—to achieve something. To gain, for lack of a better word, some kind of closure in argument of pros and cons that led nowhere.
Now that I'm "studying" MFA Creative Writing, the approach to Criticism is entirely different. We are looking at Criticism not to give us answers of what has already been created, but to help us work towards creating more literature. We work around discussions of craft, and plot; character, and setting, and we do this not to achieve a deeper understanding of what already is, but what can be. It is like drawing blueprints from something that exists, and then, using those blueprints to create new buildings, and new models of architecture. There is much more freedom; to make of it, what we will, and to use it how we please. This is, a criticism that begins in theory, but ends in creation. Criticism that begins without the aim of solving a problem, or getting closer to it, but as a catalyst, and enabler to help a practioner of the craft of writing. It is, might I add, my favorite version of criticism.
Friday, November 30, 2012
What is Translation?
* The different meanings of a word:
-etymological
-conceptual
-linguistic
-sociological
-metaphorical
* The different meanings of the word "education:"
-etymological: derives from L. educare to look after a child
-conceptual: the training of individuals to produce knowledge for the betterment of the state (Kant)
-linguistic: the learning of facts, skills, ideas
-sociological: emancipation, social standing etc
-metaphorical: (several meanings possible)
* The word "translation" etymologically derives from L. trans across and L. latus moving, carrying. In medieval times, it was originally used in the sense of exhuming a body from one plot of earth and transferring it to another plot. Thus, the modern meaning of the word "translation" is metaphorical- that of transferring text (the body) from one plot of earth (one language) to another plot of earth (another language).
* The three kinds of translation identified by Roman Jakubson:
1. intra-lingual: from one variant of language to another, from one dialect to another or even paraphrasing
2. inter-lingual: from one language to another
3. inter-semiotic: from one semiotic system to another
Jakubson hails from the Prague school of structuralism and was Lévi-Strauss' instructor of semiotics.
* Saint Jerome was the patron saint of translation and his birthday is celebrated as "Translation Day."
* Susan Bassnett was a translation theorist who founded and later abandoned/shut down the field of study today known as "comparitive literature." She published a seminal book called "Translation Studies."
* The word "turn" in the "cultural turn of translation" is linked to Derrida who was responsible for turning the gaze towards oneself (as opposed to upon a subject which was structuralism's modus operandi). This "turn" is what Anil Pinto calls "belly-button gazing."
- Anshuman Manur
-etymological
-conceptual
-linguistic
-sociological
-metaphorical
* The different meanings of the word "education:"
-etymological: derives from L. educare to look after a child
-conceptual: the training of individuals to produce knowledge for the betterment of the state (Kant)
-linguistic: the learning of facts, skills, ideas
-sociological: emancipation, social standing etc
-metaphorical: (several meanings possible)
* The word "translation" etymologically derives from L. trans across and L. latus moving, carrying. In medieval times, it was originally used in the sense of exhuming a body from one plot of earth and transferring it to another plot. Thus, the modern meaning of the word "translation" is metaphorical- that of transferring text (the body) from one plot of earth (one language) to another plot of earth (another language).
* The three kinds of translation identified by Roman Jakubson:
1. intra-lingual: from one variant of language to another, from one dialect to another or even paraphrasing
2. inter-lingual: from one language to another
3. inter-semiotic: from one semiotic system to another
Jakubson hails from the Prague school of structuralism and was Lévi-Strauss' instructor of semiotics.
* Saint Jerome was the patron saint of translation and his birthday is celebrated as "Translation Day."
* Susan Bassnett was a translation theorist who founded and later abandoned/shut down the field of study today known as "comparitive literature." She published a seminal book called "Translation Studies."
* The word "turn" in the "cultural turn of translation" is linked to Derrida who was responsible for turning the gaze towards oneself (as opposed to upon a subject which was structuralism's modus operandi). This "turn" is what Anil Pinto calls "belly-button gazing."
- Anshuman Manur
Sunday, November 18, 2012
15th Nov Translation Studies
Translation Studies
Discussions of class on 15th Nov 2012.
Expectations of the class:
·
The class to share with each other translations
of Indian forms which they come across.
·
Every student to read the essay and share their
understandings which helps all to get different prespectives of the same essay.
·
To collect everyone’s prespective of the essay
and threading everything together (by teacher) to evolve a framework.
·
Discission in the class should be able to help
in translations.
·
To learn: why and how to translate? –
linguistic, legal and social aspects.
·
Balance between theory and practical.
·
To learn aesthetics of translation and
translation review.
·
The essays to be completed in time.
·
Key concepts of the essays to be given (by
teacher) and a class discussion on that, prior to reading the essay so that
it’s esaier to understand the essays and saves time too
[discussion: if key points are given in
advance to our reading we may miss out on other points which we would otherwise
make a note of. Also, it’ll make us think on one particular line and not give
space enough for our own understanding.]
·
To find the relevance of ‘theories’ of
translation and to develop practical ability.
·
Whole class as one to locate points in essays.
·
Being able to relate to the essays.
·
Reading essays at home and discussing it in
class.
Ø
Keya Majumdar’s essay
Ø
Skype
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