scholarly journals The Language of Partition: A Study of the Narrative Structures of Selected Stories

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 160-184
Author(s):  
Barnali Saha

The Partition of India in 1947 that resulted in the death and displacement of millions of people continues to inhabit the cognizance of the people of South Asia as a historical phenomenon laden with violence. Although the bequest of the Partition is palpable in episodes of religious tension, discourses on minority belonging, secularism, nation and nationalism in India, critical exploration of the phenomenon as a tension-ridden historical episode has largely been restricted. The present research paper deals with the stylistic aspects of a series of seven short fictional narratives from Bengal and Punjab. In this paper, the scholar talks about how the creative-imaginative representation of Partition has till date remained confined to the discussion of thematic aspects with the result that the elements of narration have remained insignificant in critical mediation. As such, the scholar addresses the gap in the genre of Partition studies by critically reading and stylistically scrutinizing the narrative elements of a series of selected Partition narratives to see how violence as a leitmotif in these seven selected fictional texts is documented.

Author(s):  
Prakriti Arora

Purpose: This research paper is an attempt to examine the themes of colonialism, diaspora, and sufferance caused by the partition of India and Pakistan through the lens of language and conflict in identities. The paper also seeks to delve deeper upon the consequent breakdown of language as depicted in the short-story Toba Tek Singh. Methodology/ Approach: Textual analysis of mixed modes of reading.  Findings: The short story effectively traced the turmoil and clamour enveloping the people afflicted by the events that followed the partition. Rich with the themes of colonialism, diaspora and the horrors of the partition, the text brought the issues being faced by the people in a way that they were subtly intermeshed within the discourses of the inmates of the mental asylum, which was where the story was situated. The text, characteristically a short story, reflects the feelings of the people that sprouted during and after the partition in a nonchalant way. This subtlety and novelty of expression questions the basis of a ‘nation’. Conclusion: The short-story revolves around the accounts of a number of inmates who are seemingly devastated by the new changes and the new ways of labelling lands. Even if they are able to make sense of this imposed change, they refuse to reason with it completely as a few of them must be relocated, which would consequently distance them from their friends.


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.


Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 72-83
Author(s):  
Tushar Kadian

Actually, basic needs postulates securing of the elementary conditions of existence to every human being. Despite of the practical and theoretical importance of the subject the greatest irony is non- availability of any universal preliminary definition of the concept of basic needs. Moreover, this becomes the reason for unpredictability of various political programmes aiming at providing basic needs to the people. The shift is necessary for development of this or any other conception. No labour reforms could be made in history till labours were treated as objects. Its only after they were started being treating as subjects, labour unions were allowed to represent themselves in strategy formulations that labour reforms could become a reality. The present research paper highlights the basic needs of Human Rights in life.


In the chapter, Haq gives a snapshot of the human progress of South Asia, comparing it with other regions. He was worried about the region beginning to lag behind all other regions, including Sub-Saharan Africa. He highlights the role of the two largest economies in the region, India and Pakistan, in financing the major investment in education, health and nutrition for the people. Haq advocates some fiscal and monetary reforms are suggested to invest in human development.


2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 91-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gita Dharampal-Frick ◽  
Bhaswati Bhattacharya ◽  
Jos Gommans

AbstractWe believe ourselves to be the most astute men that one can encounter, and the people here surpass us in everything. And there are Moorish merchants worth 400,000 to 500,000 ducats. And they can do better calculations by memory than we can do with the pen. And they mock us, and it seems to me that they are superior to us in countless things, save with sword in hand, which they cannot resist.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 273-276
Author(s):  
Bai Salam Macapia Ibrahim

The Meranaw people are fond of “pananaroon” or proverbs. Most of the old folks use these proverbs to express their thoughts toward a situation. Meranaw and non-meranaw alike who are not exposed to the Meranaw community may misunderstood and misinterpret this Meranaw sarcasm as expressed through proverbs. By using qualitative analytical approach, this research paper aims to unveil the Meranaw pragmatics by analyzing and semiotically interpreting video recorded Meranaw speech acts delivered in Meranaw wedding gathering along with the reactions of the people involved in the interaction. Some of the aspects of language studied in pragmatics which are also be considered in studying the data include diexis, presupposition,performative,and implicature. The study shows how junctures plays a vital role in understanding pananaroon. Morever, the study shows that the Meranaw people are one of those whose language is very powerful in the society. It will take an outsider to immerse himself with the folks to fully understand what a word means and or a gesture means.


Author(s):  
Ayushi Nayak ◽  
Nicole Boivin ◽  
Patrick Roberts

Today, over half of the people living in South Asia are employed in an agricultural sector that supports one of the most densely populated regions on Earth. Yet the origins of agriculture in this environmentally and culturally diverse region have received relatively little attention compared to other parts of the Old World. Narratives of agricultural origins have frequently been monocausal, treating this massive landmass as a single entity. Recently, multidisciplinary applications of diverse methods (including archaeobotany, systematic radiometric dating, stable isotope analysis, and ancient DNA) have facilitated more nuanced insights into the origins, as well as the social and environmental consequences, of different farming foodways in prehistory. Here, we review the current application of these techniques across the Indian Subcontinent, focusing on the insights they have provided into cultivation and herding practices, dietary reliance on particular foods and culinary techniques, demographic turnover, changing settlement patterns, and the environmental impacts of agricultural practice in the Holocene. We argue that such approaches are essential if we are to properly understand the diverse drivers of different farming practices, as well as their demographic, ecological and dietary outcomes on the production and consumption of food in different parts of South Asia. Only then can we begin to discuss the prehistoric origins of the culinary and agronomic diversity that characterises this region today.


2018 ◽  
pp. 843-867
Author(s):  
Jyoti Chandiramani ◽  
Aanchal Airy

Urbanization in the South Asia Region (SAR) stood at 34% (2014) and is relatively sluggish when compared to that of the World at 54%. The World Urbanization Prospects (2014) and World Bank Report (2016) reveals that the future urbanization globally will be concentrated in Asia and predominantly in the select countries of SAR - Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The chapter analyses the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the select countries, which are indicative of the quality of life of citizens, benchmarking it with that of Asia and the world. The analysis reveals the slow, messy and hidden nature of urbanization in the region which is required to be addressed. The conclusions recommend large investment and policy imperatives which should bring about sustainable urbanization ensuring basic urban services resulting in improved demographics, Human Development Indices and other socio-economic characteristics of the people in the region.


BMJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. j1528
Author(s):  
Zulfiqar A Bhutta ◽  
Samiran Nundy
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Abhishek Kaicker

An unprecedented exploration of the relationship between the Mughal emperor and his subjects in the space of the Mughal empire’s capital, The King and The People overturns an axiomatic assumption in the history of premodern South Asia: that the urban masses were merely passive objects of rule and remained unable to express collective political aspirations until the coming of colonialism. Set in the Mughal capital of Shahjahanabad (Delhi) from its founding to Nadir Shah’s devastating invasion of 1739, this book instead shows how the trends and events in the second half of the seventeenth century inadvertently set the stage for the emergence of the people as actors in a regime which saw them only as the ruled.


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