Cerificate course in Gender and Culture

The Certificate Course in Gender and Culture begins this Saturday, 10 Jan 2009 at 2 pm to 6 pm in Room 913, II floor, Auditorium Block of the University. The course is jointly offered by Christ University and Centre for the Study of Culture and Society.

The first session this Saturday is a lecture by Tejaswini Niranjana. This session is open to all.

Those interested can contact Naresh Rao for the forms. Those who have taken other certificate courses can also take, provided the classes do not clash. The course is conducted on every satuday from 2-6 pm from Jan to March 2009.

When Cultural Studies meets 'Cultural evening' compering

Recently I was asked to compere the so called 'cultural evening' at the second day of the 7th International Whitehead Conference held at our university. Reluctantly though, I accepted it. But I could not bring myself to repeat the cliche'd and problematic ways in which the 'traditional' and dances have been talked about. My exposure the cultural studies had radically changed my received notions of culture. Hence, I set out to create a script, informed by developments in cultural studies in India.

Although there were nine dances, the script does not use words like folk, classical, ancient and instead tries to be matter of fact by drawing upon contemporary research on these forms. For the programme I evolved the title 'showcasing India through the performative traditions and practes'. Although, retrospectively I see one or two slips, on the whole it comes across to me as a unique attempt. I wish the readers will carry this experiment ahead.

Of course, I am grateful to my co-compere but for whose open mindedness and unconditional support the script would not have been realized.

Please click here for the compereing script

7th International Whitehead Conference Book Fair at Christ University

As part of the 7^th International Whitehead Conference, Christ University, and Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram are organizing a book fair from January 5 to 9, 2008 in DVK auditorium in Christ University premises. Over 5000 titles covering social sciences, humanities from reputed publishers such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Sage, Routledge, Viva, Orient Blackswan Marg, Motilal Banarasidass, Asian Trading Corporation, are on display. A discount of 15% is available on all purchases. All are welcome to visit the book fair.

A handicraft exhibition is also organized as part of the conference.

The conference is being organized by the PG Department of Philosophy, Christ University and the Faculty of Philosophy, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram. The conference is bringing together scholars, working on the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, mathematician, scientist, and philosopher.

A number of scholars from over 100 universities and 20 countries like Belgium, USA, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Germany, Korea, and Japan are attending the 7^th IWC 2009.

For further infomraiotn on the conference, visit www.whitehead-bangalore.in

Happy New Year 2009

I wish all the readers, visitors, commentators, and coauthors of this blog, because of whom this sacred space exists, a happy and fulfilling New Year 2009.

anil

National Conference on Religion: Function and Dysfunctions

St. Aloysius College Mangalore and Mangalore Sociology Association are organizing a national level conference on Religion: Function and Dysfunctions in the month February.

Papers are being invited by members of Mangalore Sociology Association, Sociologists and the public on the main theme or any of the sub-themes. The sub-themes are: Religion and Social Mobility, Conversion and Social Mobility, Constitution and Conversion, Dysfunctions of Communal Violence, Hinduism as a way of life, Islam and Peace and Christian Humanism.

Those who wish to present the papers are requested to send an abstract of 300 to 400 words to the Organizing secretary so as to reach him before January 20. Selected papers will be published in a book.

To send the abstract and for further queries one is expected to contact the Organizing Secretary, St. Aloysius College, Mangalore- 575003, Mobile: 9945413289, E-Mail: richardpais123@gmail.com.

The Second Coming - Notes

1. E-Notes
2. Readers Feedback
3. Does 'The Second Coming' Realy Talk About The Iraq War?
4. Sparknotes
5. Essay1
6. Essay2
7. Authority In 'Ozymandias' And 'The Second Coming'
8. 'The Second Coming' Compared To Things Fall Apart
9. Answer.Com

Thirteenth National Workshop Perspectives on Caste and Gender in Early India

Thirteenth National Workshop

Perspectives on Caste and Gender in Early India

2 – 5 February 2009

Venue

Centre for Contemporary Theory and General Semantics, Baroda

For details click here

or visit the forum site by clicking here

National Seminar on Subaltern Encounters in Indian English Literature and Translation

St Aloysius College (Autonomous)

Mangalore, Karnataka, India

is organising a UGC Sponsored National Seminar on

Subaltern Encounters in

Indian English Literature and Translation

on

9&10 January 2009

For details of the Seminar click here

For the registration form - Click here for Pdf / Click for MSWord

Animal Farm - Notes

hey y'all...please do give in your inputs on the subject in the comments link.im sure everyone has a little bit to add..happy reading!
1. Wikipedia
2. The Literature Network
3. Background
4. Study Guide
5. Interpretations
6. E-Zine
7. Some Important Questions
8. Some Quotes
9. E-notes
10. Novel Guide
11. Background Essays-Good Read
12. Animal Farm-The Fable ,The Satire , The Allegory
13. Spark Notes
14. More Notes
15. Cummingstudy
16. Gradesaver
17. An Amazing Test To See If You Have Really Understood

PS :As usual id say concentrate on the themes and interpretations provided. look for more background information and do post the links.

14th December 2008- motif

1. What is a motif?
A: A Motif is a recurring structure, contrast, or literary device that can help to develop and inform about the text's major themes.
Source- http://www.sparknotes.com/


2. What are the motifs in the novel 'Animal Farm'?
A: Songs-Animal Farm is filled with songs, poems, and slogans, including Major's stirring “Beasts of England,” Minimus's ode to Napoleon, the sheep's chants, and Minimus's revised anthem, “Animal Farm, Animal Farm.” All of these songs serve as propaganda, one of the major conduits of social control. By making the working-class animals speak the same words at the same time, the pigs evoke an atmosphere of grandeur and nobility associated with the recited text's subject matter. The songs also erode the animals' sense of individuality and keep them focused on the tasks by which they will purportedly achieve freedom.
State Ritual-As Animal Farm shifts gears from its early revolutionary fervor to a phase of consolidation of power in the hands of the few, national rituals become an ever more common part of the farm's social life. Military awards, large parades, and new songs all proliferate as the state attempts to reinforce the loyalty of the animals. The increasing frequency of the rituals bespeaks the extent to which the working class in the novella becomes ever more reliant on the ruling class to define their group identity and values.

Source- http://www.sparknotes.com/


3. Difference between motive and motif-
A: Motive is the reason for doing something. Motif is a reoccurring theme within a novel.

Source- http://www.yahooanswers.com/

Referance:-

Pinto,Anil. Class Lecture.Animal Farm.Owell,George.Xhrist University,Bangalore,India 14 Dec 2008

13th December- Allegories in Animal Farm-presentations

Introduction-
1. Definition of Allegory
2.Why is George Orwell's novel 'Animal Farm' an allegory?
3.What is it an allegory of?
A: It is an allegory of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.
Presentation summaries-
1. Siddharth Venkatasubramaniam spoke about how Squealer is an allegory of Stalin.

• Squealer was the propaganda chief for Napolean
• He tries to change the negative attitude of people towards Napolean
• His role in the novel is similar to that of the KGB in the revolution.

2. Joshi spoke about how Moses the raven is an allegory of the Russian Orthodox Church

• Moses the raven represents the Russian Orthodox church
• It is an analogy of how Stalin was against the Russian Orthodox Church
• The Soviet Government suppressed religion

Discussion that followed the presentation-

1. Possible significance of the name-

• The name is criticizing a particular class of the society. It satirizes the orthodox church and the religious group who had false consciousness
• It criticizes the niche of Christianity which potrays two types of Christ

3. Hima Mammen spoke about Mollie the horse which is a representation of the class of aristocrats to whom the political situation makes no difference

• Mollie is the pet of the human beings
• She is very feminine in her characteristics
• She is dependent and materialistic
• She gives away her freedom for small things that make a huge difference to her (ribbon)
• She is indifferent to the troubles of the farm and represents the class of society whch remained unaffected by the revolution and the political situation prevelant at that time.
• She represents the class of society that have found another world (the old order and the new order) that they cannot give up.
• Extra information discussed- 'The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian' by Nirad C. Chaudhuri talks about an Indian who cannot get over the fact that India is no more ruled by the British. A man who believes that during the British rule, there was a class, order, sophistication, discipline etc.Finally, not being able to handle it anymore, the man goes and settles down in England which is similar to the situation Mollie undergoes in Animal Farm. She runs away!
• The character of Mollie is similar to that of Marie Antoinnette in the French Revolution.

4. Abhishek Chaudhari spoke about how Snowball is an allegory of Trotsky-

• Trotsky formed the South Russian Labur Party
• Ideas of Stalin and Trotsky were always in conflict and similarly in the novel, the ideas of Napolean and Snowball are always contradicting.
• Trotsky was sent into exile and in the novel Snowball escapes
• Extra information- In the actual revolution, Stalin sent the KGB to murder Trotsky but this detail is not mentioned in the novel. This shows that no writing can be a perfect representation of reality. It has the style, creativity, angle and ideas of the writer who moulds the characters and incidents.In writing, a real life character is moulded in such a way that it has some relation with the other characters.
• Question raised after this discussion-(a)Is there anything in the revolution that is a representation of the windmill incident?(b) Is there anything in the novel that is a representation of the South Russian Labour Party?

5. Titto spoke about Boxer and Clover-

• Represent the working class of society.
• In Animal Farm, Snowball and Benjamin can be said to represent the Intelligensia while Bozer and Clover represent the ignorant and unaware working class.
• Question raised by Alan Polson- Why was education necessary? A:- To raise awareness and to unite them for revolution.
• Mr. Pinto's question- Is working class equal to the peasants? A:- Anybody who works for a wage is part of the 'working class'.
• Generally the working class is aware of the political situation but in the novel, though Boxer and Clover are part of the working class, they are oblivious to the conditions.

6. Shalini Chandy spoke about Benjamin the donkey-

• Benjamin represents the older population of Russia.
• There is a possibility that Benjamin represents the Jewish people as he has the same intelligence as the pigs but is not a leader as one would expect a charactr of equal calibre to be.
• Benjamin neither adviced nor criticized. He represents those people who had no expectations from the revolution.
• Question raised by Alan Polson- Could Benjami be some sort of an advisor to the Czar? A:- He couldn't be because as mentioned earlier, the characterof Benjamin neither advised nor criticised.
• Point discussed with regard to the above question- Mr.Jones represents the Czar, so if Mr. Jones was dependent on Benjamin in any way, he could be considered an advisor to the Czar.
• Discussion/ Point to be verified- Why is Benjamin compared to a donkey and not any other animal? The doubt arises because a donkey is generally an animal of slavery, so why the donkey?

Referance:-

Pinto,Anil.Class discussions and presentations.Animal Farm.Owell,George.Christ University,Bangalore,India.13 Dec 2009

2nd December 2008-Defintion of story

What is a story?
-Sanyogeeta Chavan (1st FEP)

What's a story? A story in its broadest sense is anything told or recounted, more narrowly and more usually something told or recounted in the form of a casually linked set of events; account, tale, the telling of a happening or connected series of happenings, whether true or fictitious really good story has a sense of truth and resonates with some basic universal aspects of being human. It does not have to be profound, a good story should move the readers, make him/her laugh, think, and ponder over it afterwards. A story should have substance. its the skeleton of the story. A good story needs conflict and resolution. Stories are made up of people, places, and happenings. Strong stories usually have a well defined main character a he, a she, an animal, a machine or whatever that encounters some kind of conflict or trouble. It is the believable action moving the story from beginning to middle to end that keeps the audience entertained. They want to know what is going to happen. A story creates vivid images. This is the part that makes interaction so important. Stories help the reader/listener to think of his/her own stories.

Writer Edgar Allan Poe's definition of a short story-

A short story is a brief tale that can be read in one sitting. He believed that such a story could have a more powerful impact and give greater pleasure than a longer tale read at different sittings.

Referance:-

Chavan,Sanyogeetha.Classroom presentation.Defintion of a story. Christ University, Bangalore,India. 2 Dec 2008

11th November 2008 notes and discussions - II Sem FEP

Frameworks chosen- Industrialisation, Patriarchal States, and their Discontents
Novel being discussed- Animal Farm by George Orwell
Points discussed :-

1. Republic- Ideal state that Plato wants to construct
2. 15th century-Thomas More's book Utopia- contains notions of an ideal state
3. Utopias are the flipside of society.Utopias are constructed and the reverse happens.
4. 20th century- Animal Farm- an example of Dystopia.
5. Dystopias do not engage in poetic justice.
6. The concept of Poetic Justice

Referance:-

Pinto,Anil.Class Lecture.Animal Farm.Owell,George.Christ University,Bangalore,India. 11 Dec 2008

Welcome Vani to this blog as a co-author

Dear readers, visitors, and followers of this blog,

Vani Subramaniam of II Sem FEP is joining this blog as a co-author. She will be posting the classroom discussion on British Literature paper that I facilitate in that class.

A warm welcome to her. I request you to extend your cooperation and encouragement to her.

Anil

Violence - an old response, mine

On 10 June 2007 I received a forward with the subject line "these are the worlds most wicked people - Have No Words To Describe".

The email had seven photographs of a six or seven year old-looking boy being punished, perhaps for 'stealing', by making a jeep run over his hands. The images were brutal. But the fact that the script on the pictures which was in Arabic and photos indicated that there was an obvious reference made to Islam. This made me to look at other details in the forward. The forward showed that the mail had originated on 21 July 2006 , almost a year before, and had been forwarded to 213 people before it reached me. The mail created a series of thoughts in me and I decided to give a response and emailed the response to all the 213 email addresses on the very day I received the email. There was only one reply with two words "Thank You"

The recent violence in Mumbai and the subsequent demand for retaliation reminded me of the email and the response I had written and thought I must reproduce it here.

It has been a little difficult to make this post here, because, for the last three years that I have been experimenting with blogs in education, I have kept this blog strictly for 'academic' purposes and have tried to refrain from my 'personal views on contemporary issues' creeping in here. Hence, it is with a lot of hesitation, that I am making this post.

If you are a person who completely supports violence in the name of nation, religion, better society, better future, 'enough is enough rhetoric', then in your own interest and that of mine you may avoid reading further.

Following is the response I emailed on 10 June 2007 to the 213 emails I had found in the forward.

-------------------
HI all
I received this following email forward asking me/us to condemn 'violence in the name of religion'. If we are to condemn only Islam and Islamic countries for it, I think we are victimizing Islam, thereby perpetuating our own hidden agenda of becoming self-proclaimed promoters of our religion at the cost of other religions.

We also need to condemn violence in the name of religion that happens in the case of Bush who attacked Iraq in the name of God (by which he obviously meant a Christian god) and by extension all self-declared American wars, and victimization of Islamic counties by the US. Closer home we need to condemn violence that happened in south canara in the name of cow protection/slaughter, Vadodara incident where Hindutva forces ransacked university campus, even when there are constitutional provisions to address ones grievances.

Instead of condemning violence in other religions it is important that we condemn violence carried by the religious and community leaders of our own religions and communities- Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Jains. If we do not condemn violence by our own religions, then, let us accept that we too are communal deep within us.

Violence has different expressions. When it happens in the name of religion we call it religious-sponsored or communal. But what about domestic violence against women and children, what about the violence in the name of dresscode, better grades, Indian culture, linguistic identity, beyond-the-reach-of the-poor education that we see in our institutions and society, displacement in the name of industrialization, dams, IT that we keep tolerating? Shall we also condemn that?

Violence in any form, in all places, and in all times should be condemned- most importantly in our immediate places- house, schools and colleges, neighborhood, city in our own little ways.

As we become conscious of physical violence we also need to become aware of psychological violence. While it is easy to represent physical violence through photographs like the ones sent to me, it is extremely difficult to represent as well as understand invisible violence in the form of psychological violence. The immediate examples that come to my mind are one of parent imposed violence on children and the other management-teacher-imposed violence in schools, through assignments, exams, nicknames, passing remarks which create wounds that are difficult to heal.

The psychological violence we inflict on other communities, people by stereotyping or calling names is also a issue to be worried about. By visual violence i refer to the huge banners, buntings that 'decorate' all our public places put up by political parties, religious groups in the name of morhcas, conferences, rallies. They also need to be paid attention to and condemned.

May I now request you to spread this nuanced understanding of violence with the same enthusiasm with which you forward some unknown landscapes of the US or Canada or the morphed faces of our cricket players post-world cup?


Anil Pinto