Catherine Maria Andrade

1324123

MEL 232

Contemporary Critical Theory

Dr. Anil Pinto

 

A Feminist Critique of Nirmon, A Konkani Film

Abstract: Konkani cinema is a minor part of the Indian film industry, and films in this language have been produced mainly in Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. It caters to a small portion of the Indian subset, with just about 40 full-length films being produced from its birth in 1950 till date. The text selected for analysis, a film called Nirmon, was one of the highest grossing movies of its time. Feminism is a social movement which has had an enormous impact on film theory and criticism. Feminist film critics try to understand the all-pervasive power of patriarchal imagery. This paper will attempt to look at the text from a feminist perspective, examining the roles of the lead female artist and other minor roles in the light of the patriarchal structure and other existing stereotypes in society.

Nirmon is a Konkani film produced in 1966. It was directed by A. Salam and starred Shalini Mardolkar and C.Alvares in the lead roles, with Anthony D’Sa, Jacint Vaz, and Antonette Mendes, among others. It was remade into a Bollywood movie called Taqdeer a year after its release, retaining the same director and lead female actor. The character of the male lead is loosely modelled on Lord Tennyson’s character Enoch Arden.

The story is one of a happy, middle-class Goan family, consisting of the father Marku, a music teacher; his beautiful and faithful wife Claudia; and their three children, two daughters and a son. In search of better prospects for his family, Marku decides to take up a job at sea, a career option which is well-explored in the Goan society. He entrusts his wife and children into the hands of Rudolph, his friend, who later turns into his foil. This step establishes at  the outset that the woman needs to be ‘taken care of’ by some male figure or the other, and is deemed quite incapable of handling affairs by herself.

A ship-wreck at sea, of which Marku appears to be the lone, miraculous survivor, causes him to lose his memory and wander the lands where he is stranded, far from his hearth and home. Meanwhile, hearing news of the ship accident and with no knowledge of survivors, Claudia assumes the role of a widow. With no male member to support the family, they are soon faced with abject poverty, the children going to bed hungry. Claudia is shown weeping bitterly at the sight of her starving children; later desolately stirring a pot of what appears to be simply boiling water, possibly signifying the state of affairs in her mind. Seeing no other option before her, she accepts Rudolph’s offer of marriage, but remains faithful to the memory of her husband in her heart of hearts. Time passes, the children grow up into fine young ladies and a handsome lad, and Claudia, all the while, continues to miss her husband Marku.

A decade later, Marku suddenly regains his memory after hearing a girl play the song Claudia, which he used to sing to his wife. He rushes back to Goa in search of his family, but finds his house in shambles, with no sign of them around. He then lands up as a spectator outside a rich man’s house, which is hosting a grand party. He is shocked to find his family inside, seemingly very happy, his three children singing the very same song. He decides to leave them in that happy state and go away, but a strange turn of incidents brings him into contact with them once more. He chances upon his younger daughter getting molested by a man, and drives him away. His daughter sees him later and calls him home to thank him, though none of them recognize him as their father. His wife, however, is vaguely suspicious of a higher order of things in play, and goes to visit him at his place. There, she realizes that he is indeed her long-lost husband Marku, and faints with the enormity of the impact.

What follows is quite predictable: the family is overjoyed and overwhelmed at the return of their father and husband, but this is where Marku’s best friend Rudolph turns into his enemy. Livid at his apparent return from the dead, he stops the family from reuniting with him, and plans to eradicate him once and for all. He leads Marku to a mine, where he plans to blow him up. However, like all happy endings where peace is restored and good triumphs over evil, Rudolph himself falls inside and gets killed. Seemingly unperturbed by the sight of his death, the family has a tearful and happy reunion, making the troubled events of the past quite inconsequential.

A few observations are due here, regarding the characterization of Claudia, which entirely follows the stereotype of the ideal and chaste Indian housewife. She remains clad in a sari throughout the movie, despite the fact that it is set in a Goan household, which is well-known for its Westernised ways. Also, her daughters and the rest of the female populace in the movie are clad in the usual Goan attire of dresses. Thus, the sari presumably leads to the air of chastity and moral uprightness that surrounds her character as the faithful Indian wife, setting her apart from the rest, showing her in a pure light.

Claudia apparently has no other friends or family she can turn to in troubled times, and is left with no option but to submit to Rudolph’s scheming plans of marriage. This follows the common belief about women that throughout their life, they either belong to one male figure or the other, passing on from the hands of her father to her husband in the event of her marriage. In this case, she is ‘passed’ on from the hands of her husband to his best friend in the event of his approaching absence from home.

Despite all of this, however, she remains true to Marku, never giving herself fully to her new husband, taking the Christian wedding vow ‘till death do us part’ to a different level altogether. She is shown to be mourning the death of her husband right until the time he unexpectedly shows up, unhappy even in the midst of joyous celebrations around her. One would expect her to adapt to her new state of life, but she remains stagnant in times gone by, unable to overcome the feelings she has for her first husband. Here, Rudolph could be looked at with a pitying glance, considering he never got the love of the woman he loved.

The daughters, meanwhile, grow up to be beautiful young ladies, keeping the memory of Marku sacred throughout, respecting the father figure in their lives. In the beginning of the movie, Marku is shown teaching one of them to play the song Claudia on the piano, and she remembers and plays it years later, at the fateful party of which he is a confused onlooker. The elder daughter, having reached a certain age, is shown with a love interest, following the norms of patriarchy. Also, it takes an incident of female subjugation and male triumph for the father to come into contact with his family.  The younger daughter is made to play the role of the damsel in distress, and gets rescued from the clutches of the evil man by a kind stranger. It could have just as well happened that one of the children spotted the poor, homeless man being bullied by someone and have invited him over for a meal, thus precipitating the chain of events that would lead to their eventual reunion. However, it had to be a male act of heroism that would light the way.

Coming back to Claudia, when Marku returns to the scene unexpectedly, there arises a true dilemma of what should be done: she has always been in love with him and it is but obvious that they should reunite, but morality dictates that she should spend the rest of her life with the man who she has married. There is no possible way this issue can be resolved legitimately. So, by a lucky turn of fate, her new husband gets eliminated from the picture, leaving the path to her true love cleared. What’s ironic is that the family has an emotional reunion at the mines right after Rudolph has died. One would expect a modicum of gratitude and some amount of feelings towards the man who has, if not anything else, supported them financially all these years.

Thus, in this paper, the researcher has made an attempt to critique the text from a feminist perspective. The Konkani movie Nirmon has been analyzed and the researcher has looked at the female lead role, Claudia, as well as the minor roles of her two daughters. Women in the movie have been depicted as conforming strictly to the norms of patriarchy, subjugating their personal interests in favour of the all-powerful male figures. The research has a scope of expansion by conducting psychoanalysis of the characters, for a more detailed insight.

 

References:

Cardozo, Tomazinho. “Panaji: Konkani Cinema – A Long Way to Go.” Web.

Smelik, Anneke. “Feminist Film Theory.” Web.

Literary Criticism CIA 1324138

 

Mishelle Godvia Shiri

1324138

Literary Criticism
Anil Pinto

16 February 2014

                                      Deewar: The Oedipal Struggle

 

 

‘Mere paas maa hai’ (I have mother with me) – a dialogue delivered by the dimple cheeked Shashi Kapoor in a movie titled, ‘Deewar’, a 1975 Indian crime drama film directed by the late Yash Chopra ,even after thirty five years of its release in 1975 remains one of the most significant and emulated dialogues in Indian cinema. The line, often used, misused and abused gravely in different comical situations, is a signifier to its listener of the turbulent years of 1970s and80s, the decades marking the transition  of modern Indian history.

As my text, therefore, I have chosen this movie in order to explore the very present psychoanalytic phenomena echoing throughout its 2 hours within the psyche of the protagonist Vijay. Through a brief overview, I have attempted to analyse the dynamics that exist within Indian cinema corresponding to the psychoanalytic implications of the “Oedipus complex”, a theory proposed by Dr. Sigmund Freud in his essays on Psychoanalysis and later on adapted by Jacques Lacan, a big contributor in the semiological understanding of the phenomenon

Synopsis of Dewaar.

The story of Dewaar follows the lives of a family of four which is reduced to three.

The story begins with the Anand Babu,  a man who leads the workers of a mill on strike in demand for higher wages and better working conditions. Later he is confronted with a cruel choice by a ruthless management who kidnap his wife and two young sons are threatened to be killed at the expense of the demands of these workers .Under duress, he signs certain papers where in the workers give up their demands and therein desert their right to strike and also agree to work under conditions laid down by the management. Having saved the lives of his family members, he also betrays the trust invested in him by the workers. His life is made unhappy by the town dwellers. Abused, insulted and injured Ananda Babu goes into deep silence and unable to endure the prick of conscience, he leaves his family behind and abdicates himself to the unknown.

The family now has to fend for themselves and bear the rage of the people. One day, Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan), the older of the two brothers, is assaulted by a group of men and questioned about who is father is. When he returns home that day, hurt, his arm is tattooed with the words, ‘Your father is a thief’. These words are lined deeply into his arm and also become imprinted into his mind. The constant memory of that painful imprint never leaves Vijay until his death.

Troubled by their condition in the town and ostracised by the society, the mother and sons leave the village and go to Bombay, the city where one could find a life, success and dignity.  However, in harsh contrast , they live a life of utter poverty and distress.

The mother, Sumitra Devi, eventually finds work as a labourer. Later on we see Vijya gradually taking to work for the family as well. Two meagre salaries enables the younger brother Ravi (Shashi Kapoor), to be sent to school.

Thus, from this very point, we see the parting of the two boys into two different roads though they belong to the same household. This is a point that becomes highlighted by Vijay’s refusal to step inside the temple, unlike Ravi, who is dutiful and cheerfully accompanies his mother into the temple.

After a lapse of years we now witness the next stage where the boys have both grown into men.Vijay works as a labourer at the docks that belongs to a local mafia. After the death of an innocent co-worker Vijya refuses to pay ‘protection money’ to the local gang governing the docks and gets himself involved in a fight.

Following this incident, Vijay becomes recognized as a rebel and a boy filled with aggression. This leads another underworld don, Dawar played by Iftikhar, to invite Vijay to join his business. Before long, Vijay is in the owns millions, and his mother and brother are now moved from a miserly one room home to a top notch mansion.

The lives of these brothers would have continued to stay in different compartments under the same roof but as fate would have it, Ravi, who up until this point is unemployed, receives commission into the police Before long, he is given to handle a case of finding evidence that would implicate Dawar and his associates with smuggling and other illicit operations.

 In what becomes a very heart breaking and sudden turn of events, duty compels and brother is pitted against brother.

Once Ravi discovers that his own brother is leading a life of crime, the two cannot remain under one roof; Ravi leaves, and takes their mother, who is at the heart of their equation, along with him.

 The film eventually winds its way to tragic conclusion. A search warrant is issued for Vijay’s name, and a chase through the city streets leaves Vijay, wounded and bleeding, caused by a bullet from his brother’s revolver. He is trading on the verge of death but despite it all , makes his way through the city in a stolen car with his brother dangling on top of it. He is a few minutes away from death but does not let go of his life till he collapses into his mother’s arms, where he can at long last find the eternal and peaceful sleep. It is, as some would maintain, the return to the womb.

The context of this story provides for us , and in abundance, a deep seated implication of the mother – son dynamic that is inescapable in any level of understanding of the film.

The same context sets the stage for the development of an extensive and growing yet controversial field of psychoanalysis as it lays for us a multi-layered understanding of this dynamic that characterizes relationships in many Indian cinematic domains, even to this day.

Analysis:

The psychoanalytic forerunner of the movie is Vijay.Vijay’s character is presented to the viewer as a constant and intense engagement with struggle. Vijay becomes thence for us a model of representation on many levels- sociologically, cinematically and psychologically for struggle.
On the sociological front, Vijay becomes a representation and the product of the collapsing and turbulent times of the 1970’s. Cinematically he becomes the archetype of such characters who have within them a constant struggle and ache for its resolution. Psychologically,he presents to us still a model of struggle, but this struggle unlike its other two manifestations is at the heart of a psychoanalytic conflict of the stages of development within a child that eventually lead to the becoming a fully civilized heterosexual being with a sense of morality and conscience. However, the struggle, like in the other two spheres, remains unresolved and ends in a seemingly in-evitable tragedy. In the following sections, we will briefly look at the different levels and stages of the sub-conscious struggle of Vijay’s character from the time of his childhood till his death in the end.

Vijay Varma and the Psychoanalytic Battle .

In the movie, Vijay Varma, a role played by Amitabh Bacchan , presents to us as viewers of a certain tradition of cinema, some sense of dilemma. We are not fully sure if he is a protagonist who seemed to have lost his way along the conflicting road of morality or an antagonist who , by fate and the role of family , happened to have a few good morals. Whatever the conflict, we are certain that Vijay ultimately chooses for himself a path that leads to his own destruction, sadly or otherwise, dying in his mother’s arms. Though this may seem plain , if we put on our psychoanalytic perspectives and view the character of Vijay from the eyes of Freud, we become very much aware a certain conceptual phenomenon of his that we see developing throughout the movie – The Oedipus Complex.

Further, through the movie we see Vijay as a boy till the time he dies in the arms of the mother constantly engaging in a certain struggle. His journey begins with the trauma he is thrust into as a child because of his father and never escapes it even long after he and his family come out of it. Vijay as a child is forced to replace his father in the equation of his family and assume the role and responsibilities after him. Thus we see the beginning of Vijay’s Oedipal journey symbolically represented at this point onward. However, what we come to witness as a completely converse concept to what should happen is the fulfillment of the desire central to the Oedipal complex in the case of Vijay which is the desire to replace the father or in Lacanian terms, become the object of desire of the mother.

Vijay’s conflict throughout the film remains at the Oedipal stage and continues throughout in his pursuit of the Phallus. We may conclude from the ending of the film a view that can be looked at in two different directions. One direction is that the conflict remains unresolved as there is no possible means of getting past the conflict due to the absence of the father figure as well as the impossibility of the child obtaining the phallus thereby shaking the grounds of civilized society which will lead to the collapsing of social systems. Thereby, death of the child was inevitable and was a forgone conclusion

Vijay, though not the moral hero still establishes himself as a substantial protagonist in the plot. But the eventual fate of Vijay serves to the viewership the morale of giving into the demands and destructive powers of the id which is a threat to civilization and society.

 

Therefore, with these conclusions and with the background of the time in which this movie was produced, it becomes very easy to understand how Vijay’s character serves as a implication into the larger sub-conscious of the Indian psyche and serves as a reminder to the eventual fate of death to anyone who is a threat to the society and its structures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Appignanesi, Richard and Zarate Oscar. Introducing Freud. Cambridge: Icon Books Lts.,, 1992. Book.

 

Freud, Sigmund. "Civilization and its Discontents II." Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and its Discontents. London: Imago Publishing Co.,Ltd, 1941,1948. 14. Book.

Klages, Mary. "Psychoanalysis." Klages, Mary. Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008. 65-64. Book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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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.

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[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>.