scholarly journals Portrayal of Bangladeshi Existentialism: “Like a Diamond in the Sky” in Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-58
Author(s):  
Moniruzzaman ◽  
Safi Ullah

Shazia Omar, a Bangladeshi novelist, depicts the less-known imagery of modern Dhaka in her debut novel “Like a Diamond in the Sky” (2009) where she portrays Bangladesh infected with depression, drug addiction, power-play, corruption and fundamentalism. Deen, the protagonist, is lost in addiction, isolated from his mother and outer world but in love with Maria, aware of the future of Bangladesh and eager to search for the meaning of life. Deen, which literally implies the earthly life in Bangla, is an existentialist who is conscious of himself and the people around him. He is aware of his capacity, limitation, existence and essence. He comments on different orders and institutions that hinder at the path of freedom, and about politicization and islamisation in Bangladesh. Not only Deen but also his widowed mother, his friend AJ, drug peddler Falani, the sergeant of the Police, Deen’s girlfriend Maria- all are conscious of their existence and essence. This novel is about a journey from a dark and aimless world to redemption, to a meaningful life. Omar presents existentialism and existential crisis as noticed in Bangladesh in her novel where almost all characters try to find the meaning of life, though in different ways. Omar says in an interview that the novel “explores their feeling of alienation in the chaotic metropolis of Dhaka city” and her protagonist struggles “to find a spiritual connection”. Before writing this novel, Shazia Omar researched in a rehab in Mumbai, visited slums of    Bangladesh and thus shaded light on the darker and less-discussed imagery of Bangladesh. “Like a Diamond in the Sky” is thoroughly examined in the light of existentialism, developed by Descartes, Kierkegaard, Sartre and Heidegger. This paper analyses how “Like a Diamond in the Sky” represents Bangladeshi existentialism, and existentialists who are conscious of existence and essence. It also discusses the observation, of Omar’s characters projected in the novel, about established orders and institutions and finally, desire for freedom and searching for meaning of life.

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 645-651
Author(s):  
Rutika Nikhar

31ST December 2019, was the day the WHO came to know about the new corona virus after a cluster of pneumonia cases caused by the virus in Wuhan province of China. On March 11 2020 WHO declared COVID-19 as pandemic. Since then the world hasn’t remained the same. It has not only changed the medical community, but also the overall mind-sets and behaviour of people worldwide. What began as a Whatsapp forward, was soon analysed worldwide through various social platforms, media and publications. The novel corona virus SARS-CoV-2, has spread from Wuhan, China to almost ALL the continents and along with it spread the rumours and myths and misinformation regarding it. The virus killed tens of millions of people, and engraved fear in the minds of the hundreds of millions. The paranoia and panic led to people to form their own speculations and have their own conclusions. Not just the fear, but the incomplete information with respect to the virus and the disease in itself has caused confusion in not just common population but the medical fraternity as well. Months of research and studies on the virus and the disease has helped clear the myths surrounding it. But yet these myths still exist amongst the people receiving misinformation and rumours and among the ones who have no access to a legitimate source of information. So let’s bust some myths surrounding the virus that changed the world.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 967-984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikail Mamedov

The article analyzes the Stone Dreams novel by the famous Azeri writer Akram Aylisli. Published in the Russian literary journal Druzhba Narodov (Friendship of the People) in December 2012, it condemned anti-Armenian pogroms in the republic and in the cities of Baku and Sumgait in particular at the end of the 1980s. The novel also refers to the massacre committed by Turkish troops on Christmas of 1919 in the midst of the Armenian Genocide, 1915–1923. At that time, Turkish commander Adif-bey ordered the mass execution of the Armenian population in the author's home village Aylis (Agulis in Armenian). Almost all Armenians were killed, with the exception of a few young girls who by the late 1980s had turned into gray-haired women. The writer knew them when he was a young man, and the whole of his narrative was based on the stories that were told by the older people in the village. The novel caused mass outrage in Azerbaijan, for allegedly being one-sided. This included mass demonstrations in front of the author's house and the public burning of his books.


Author(s):  
Nadia Saeed ◽  
Muhammad Ali Shaikh ◽  
Stephen John ◽  
Kamal Haider

The purpose of this paper was to highlight the miserable plight of women during the Victorian era, the age of social reforms, political improvements, collective welfare, and material prosperity. During this age, Queen Victoria worked on various issues that had remained the cause of unrest among the people. Her efforts, in this regard, were indeed commendable, but she took no interest to resolve issues of women who had been suffering terribly under patriarchy. The subject of women remained ignored for many years, then some writers started to highlight the miserable state of these passive creatures who were the constant victims of social, political and economic injustices, inequalities, deprivations, and domestic violence. Of all the feminists, Thomas Hardy stood unique as he brought to light almost all areas of life where women were suffering awfully and their voices were suppressed under the male-dominated system. Hardy took serious note of the long-ignored subject of society and provided a vivid and realistic picture of Victorian society through his extraordinarily brilliant novels. Thomas Hardy’s famous masterpiece ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman” is one of the best novels depicting women-related issues that shook the minds of the people to proceed towards this delicate matter. The contents or events described in the novel confirmed that women were the disadvantaged section of society who were deprived of their due rights and respect in society. They were objectified and preferred to a man in each sphere of life.


This research article focuses on the theme of violence and its representation by the characters of the novel “This Savage Song” by Victoria Schwab. How violence is transmitted through genes to next generations and to what extent socio- psycho factors are involved in it, has also been discussed. Similarly, in what manner violent events and deeds by the parents affect the psychology of children and how it inculcates aggressive behaviour in their minds has been studied. What role is played by the parents in grooming the personality of children and ultimately their decisions to choose the right or wrong way has been argued. In the light of the theory of Judith Harris, this research paper highlights all the phenomena involved: How the social hierarchy controls the behaviour. In addition, the aggressive approach of the people in their lives has been analyzed in the light of the study of second theorist Thomas W Blume. As the novel is a unique representation of supernatural characters, the monsters, which are the products of some cruel deeds, this research paper brings out different dimensions of human sufferings with respect to these supernatural beings. Moreover, the researcher also discusses that, in what manner the curse of violence creates an inevitable vicious cycle of cruel monsters that makes the life of the characters turbulent and miserable.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-19
Author(s):  
Tasnia Ahmed ◽  
Md Aftab Uddin

Spreads are used widely for making the fast foods more amazing and tasty. Varieties and cross combinations of ingredients are used to make many flavours of fast foods. Different restaurants prepare their signature spreads for attracting people but this can cause opposite result if not prepared using high quality raw materials and proper hygienic conditions are not maintained. Current study was conducted on ten different types of spreads (pesto, cilantro, queso, tomato sauce, peanut butter, honey, mustard, cream cheese, chocolate sauce and butter) which are used by the local restaurants in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Almost all the samples (nine out of ten) harbored total viable bacteria exceeding the standard limit. Four spread samples showed high fungal count (102 cfu/gm). Four samples showed to be positive (˃101/ml recommended acceptable count) for Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. which indicates that these spread cannot be recommended for public consumption. Among all the samples examined, only chocolate sauce showed acceptable result without the presence of coliforms, Staphylococcus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. This finding suggests proper maintenance of sanitation in spread preparation and selling area. A proper guidelines and monitoring can help keep up the quality of food additives. Stamford Journal of Microbiology, Vol.10 (1) 2020: 16-19


ATAVISME ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-116
Author(s):  
Muhammad Rosyid H.W.

Penelitian ini bertujuan membahas hubungan intertekstual novel Candra Kirana karya Ajip Rosidi dengan "Tjerita Panji Angreni". Unsur apa saja dan bagaimana novel Candra Kirana memiliki hubungan intertekstual dengan "Tjerita Panji Angreni' sebagai teks hipogramnya adalah pertanyaan penelitian ini. Dalam menelaah hubungan intertekstual ini, penulis menggunakan teori intertekstual Michael Riffaterre yang menitikberatkan pada analisis isi dengan metode pembacaan heuristik dan hermeneutik. Temuan penelitian ini adalah bahwa novel Candra Kirana menunjukkan hubungan intertekstual dengan Tjerita Panji Angreni melalui unsur tema, citra tokoh, dan alur cerita. Meskipun demikian, novel Candra Kirana juga mentransformasikan makna-makna progresif yang berbeda dengan "Tjerita Panji Angreni", seperti makna nasionalisme yang berupa cinta akan kerajaan, makna kesetaraan gender yang berupa kesetiaan laki-laki, keberanian, kekuatan, perjuangan dan ketidakpasrahan perempuan, makna kerakyatan dengan pelibatan tokoh utama dari kalangan rakyat dan makna religiusitas yang berbentuk dasar niat Panji dalam mencari pasangan hidup.[Intertextuality on Novel Candra Kirana and "Tjerita Panji Angreni": Riffaterres Perspective] This research aims to discuss the intertextuality of Candra Kirana novel by Ajip Rosidi with "Tjerita Panji Angreni". What elements and to what extend Candra Kirana novel has an intertextual relationship with Tjerita Panji Angreni as the hipogram text were the questions of this research. In examining this intertextual relationship, the writer used Michael Riffaterre's intertextual theory which focused on content analysis with heuristic and hermeneutic readings. The findings of this study were that the novel Candra Kirana showed intertextuality with the "Tjerita Panji Angreni" through elements of themes, character images, and story lines. Even so, Candra Kirana's novel also transformed progressive meanings that differ from the Tjerita Panji Angreni such as the meaning of nationalism in the form of love for the kingdom, the meaning of gender equality in the form of male loyalty, courage, strength, struggle and women's insecurity, the meaning of populist with engagement the main character of the people and the meaning of religiosity in the form of Panji's intention in finding a life partner.Keywords: intertextuality; novel; "Tjerita Panji Angreni"


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 469-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhagyashri Vijay Chaudhari ◽  
Priya P. Chawle

“A lesson learned the hard way is a lesson learned for a lifetime.” Every bad situation hurts; however, it sure does teach us something a lesson. In the same manner of a new lesson for Human lifetime, history is observing 'The Novel COVID-19 ’, a very horrible and strange situation created due to fighting with a microscopic enemy. WHO on 11 February 2020 has announced a name for new disease as - 19 and has declared as a global public health emergency and subsequently as pandemic because of its widespread. This began as an outbreak in December 2019, with its in Wuhan, the People Republic of China has emerged as a public health emergency of international concern. is the group of a virus with non-segmented, single-stranded and positive RNA genome. This bad situation of pandemic creates new scenes in the life of people in a different manner, which will be going to be life lessons for them. Such lessons should be kept in mind for the safety of living beings and many more things. In this narrative review article, reference was taken from a different article published in various databases which include the view of different authors and writers on the "Lessons to be from Corona".


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Askar Nur

This research explains the mysticism of mappadendang tradition in Allamungeng Patue Village, Bone Regency, which is believed by the local community as a form of shielding from danger and can resist reinforcemen such as Covid-19 outbreak. This research is a descriptive study using qualitative method and an ethnographic approach. This research was carried out with the aim of identifying the mystical space in mappadendang tradition which was held in Allamungeng Patue Village. After conducting the tracing process, the researcher found that mappadendang tradition which was held in Allamungeng Patue Village, Bone Regency in July 2020 was not a tradition of harvest celebration as generally in several villages in Bone Regency, especially Bugis tribe, but mappadendang was held as a form of shielding from all distress including Covid-19 outbreak. This trust was obtained after one of the immigrants who now resides in the village dreamed of meeting an invisible figure (tau panrita) who ordered a party to be held that would bring all the village people because remembering that in the village during Covid-19 happened to almost all the existing areas in Indonesia, the people of Allamungeng Patue Village were spared from the outbreak. Spontaneously, the people of Allamungeng Patue Village worked together to immediately carry out the mappadendang tradition as a form of interpretation of the message carried by the figure.


Author(s):  
Olga B. Ponomareva ◽  
Valeriya I. Orlova

This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the basic concepts that make up the conceptual sphere of the novel “Of Human Bondage” by W. S. Maugham. These concepts act as cognitive dominants of the linguistic consciousness of the protagonist’s linguistic personality in the work under study. The novelty of this research lies in the fact that it is performed within the framework of a new paradigm of linguistics — the cognitive linguistics, which involves the study of mental and linguistic representations of thought processes that occur during the perception of information. Moreover, the novel “Of Human Bondage” by W. S. Maugham has not attracted the attention of linguists-cognitologists previously, which adds to the novelty of this article. In addition, the present study provides a comprehensive description of the basic concepts making up the conceptual sphere of the novel. The linguistic methods of representing various concepts in the analyzed work are determined by the national, personal, cultural, and psychological aspects of Maugham’s thinking. The authors employ a communicative-cognitive methodological analysis proposed by N. S. Bolotnova involving the modeling of textual and intertextual semantic fields of artistic concepts and the analysis of the conceptual sphere of a literary text. The universal concepts RELIGION, LOVE, PASSION, THE MEANING OF LIFE, which constitute the conceptual sphere of the novel by W. S. Maugham “Of Human Bondage”, are analyzed. The main result of the study is that THE MEANING OF LIFE concept is universal, not individual, and it includes other universal concepts, such as RELIGION, LOVE, PASSION, THE MEANING OF LIFE, conceptual metaphors and metonyms, symbols, and other words-associates, which constitute the broad figurative and evaluative periphery of the conceptual sphere of the novel.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-258

The essay investigates the phenomenon of laziness by first analyzing the opposition between laziness and the good. Both utility and the good make reference to labor. This opposition between labor and laziness is pivotal in Oblomov, Ivan Goncharov’s famous novel written in 1859. It marks a radical transition from a feudal paradigm to a capitalistic one. The two main characters in the novel are Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, a Russian, and Andrey Ivanovich Stolz, a German, who together seem to personify the contradiction between laziness and labor. But the purpose of the essay is to deconstruct that opposition. In this connection, one can cite Kazimir Malevich, who maintained that laziness is the Mother of Perfection and is always unconsciously inherent in the conscious intent to work. Analysis of the Latin concepts of otium and negotium indicates that the laziness/labor opposition may be deconstructed as a dialectic between labor and its opposite. In other words, laziness does not stand in contradiction to labor but is instead its inseparable dialectical other. In the last part of the essay, the article considers the thinking of Anatoly Peregud, a poet who spent almost all his life in a psychiatric hospital. According to Peregud, Lenin derived his pseudonym from the Russian linguistic root “len” (laziness) in order to make laziness central to communism. For his part, Lenin saw Oblomov as an emblem of the main obstacle standing in the way of communism.


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