Modernism in Indian Literature

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. V. Ramakrishnan ◽  
Udaya Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Social Reality ◽  
Initial Orientation ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Western World ◽  
Literary Modernism ◽  
Indian Literature ◽  
Literary Cultures ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
Regional Languages

Modernism in Indian literature, like Indian modernity, resists tidy definitions. Just as experiences of modernity outside the Western world have prompted accounts of ‘alternative,’ ‘colonial,’ or ‘vernacular’ modernities, literary modernism in India calls for a recognition of historical and locational specificities. A perplexing diversity of languages, communities and literary cultures, the continued life of oral traditions and uneven levels of literacy, and complexities of political and economic realities in postcolonial India confront attempts to chart modernism’s career in India. The category itself is Protean, displaying multiple meanings and accents in various regions and contexts; what follows is no more than a preliminary map aimed at an initial orientation. Modernist departures in Indian writing, from their beginnings in the 1920s and 1930s, moved away from idealized visions of the human and dominant idioms of nationalist belonging. The thirties also saw the emergence of Marxist literary efforts, with their insistent, critical foregrounding of social reality. The Progressive Writers Association was founded in Lucknow in 1936, and similar outfits came up in many regional languages. Incipient modernism and early progressive writing overlapped in their stark estimation of reality and rejection of literary decorum. Urdu modernists like Sa’adat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai had close associations with the progressives before they parted ways. The Kallol generation poets in Bengal provoked criticism not only for formal innovations but also for their preoccupation with ‘poverty and lust.’

Irula riddles

1979 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-368
Author(s):  
K. V. Zvelebil
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
South India ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Verbal Art ◽  
Tribal Group ◽  
Economic Sphere ◽  
Literary Cultures ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Complex Forms ◽  
Image Position

The Irulas 2 are a tribal complex of four tribes inhabiting the lower slopes of the northern, eastern and southern parts of the Nilgiri mountains of South India. They speak a tribal language of their own—the ërla na:ya—in four dialects; it belongs, historically, to the Tamil-Malayalam group of South Dravidian.3 Two of the tribes intermarry, so that the Irula complex forms a tribal group of three endogamous units. Linguistically and from the point of social organization, the Irula situation may be thus symbolized asThe creativity of Irula-speaking tribes finds expression mostly in music,4 dance, and above all, in verbal art.5 They have a wealth of oral traditions characteristic for most pre-literary cultures; though modernization—thus far mostly in the socio-economic sphere—has had its impact on the Irula-speaking tribes, the absolute majority of the Irulas are still illiterate. Hence storytelling, oral rendering of myths, legends and genealogies, and other forms of verbal art are still very much alive.

Semiotic Analysis of the Objectification of Women in Selected Pakistani Advertisements

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Khalid Ahmed ◽  
Anila Tariq ◽  
Arfan Akram
Keyword(s):  
Physical Appearance ◽  
Electronic Media ◽  
Research Tool ◽  
Western World ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
Objectification Of Women

This study explored the objectification of women in Pakistani advertisements of print and electronic media. The objectification and presentation of women in the advertisements of the western world has been extensively studied but this area lacks research in Pakistan. Semiotic analysis was used as the research tool in order to explore how multiple meanings and beliefs are built in a society by advertising sex. In this research, five advertisements from different Pakistani TV channels and newspapers were selected as sample. These commercials were selected because they presented women in a specific way. For analysis, Barthian semiotic analysis on two levels of significance, that is, the denotative and connotative levels, was employed. The findings of this paper revealed that advertisements in Pakistan focus on the physical appearance and depiction of women body.

scholarly journals Art. I.—On the present State and future Prospects of Oriental Literature, viewed in connexion with the Royal Asiatic Society

1835 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
W. C. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Present State ◽  
Western World ◽  
Indian Literature ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Asiatic Society ◽  
Birth Place ◽  
Royal Asiatic Society ◽  
Sir William Jones

When the Asiatic Society was first founded in Bengal, the purposes of its institution were stated in these memorable words by Sir William Jones: “The bounds of its investigation will be the geographical limits of Asia; and within these limits its inquiries will be extended to whatever is performed by man, or produced by nature.” The announcement was hailed with enthusiasm, not only by the ardent scholars who began to explore the untrodden fields of Indian literature, but by their distant countrymen, anxious to learn the result of their investigations. Asia has ever engaged the sympathies of Christian Europe; it was the cradle of our race, the birth-place of our faith, the first great source of our civilisation. We can read no history, investigate no antiquarian problem, nor examine any philological research, without having our attention more or less directed towards those vast plateaux whence our forefathers descended into the western world. Every new fact communicated respecting them interests us like intelligence of our family; every fresh monument of antiquity discovered in these regions claims the same respect that we accord to the tombs of our ancestors.

3. Theatre and drama

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marvin Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Western World ◽  
Audience Participation ◽  
Community Theatre ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Strict Regulation ◽  
The Impact

‘Theatre and drama’ considers the source and status of the material performed on stage, whether it originates as a written text or not. Improvisation is seen in many cultures and is recorded in China and the Middle East centuries before any written dramatic texts are found. Community theatre based on improvisation and audience participation remains popular in the non-Western world where oral traditions are strong. The wider publication of dramatic texts from the 17th century and the strict regulation of their performance played a significant role in Western theatre development. Drama and theatre, as studied at university, and the impact of postdramatic theatre, as described by Hans‐Thies Lehmann, are also discussed.

scholarly journals SPEAKING IN MEDIAS RES: MODERNISM VERSUS MODERNITY IN SHERWOOD ANDERSON’S WINESBURG, OHIO

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-115
Author(s):  
Yonca DENİZARSLANI
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Literary Modernism ◽  
Shared Experiences ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Sense Of Time ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
The Times ◽  
Narrative Techniques ◽  
The Individual

Since the times of Homeric epics, speaking in medias res has been the most suitable form of storytelling, leaving the threshold of narrative ajar in the present, upholding a historical sense. This ancient historical sense of time, inherent in oral traditions revived in early twentieth century literary Modernism as T. S. Eliot stated in his 1919 essay, “Tradition and The Individual Talent:” “… And it is at the same time what makes a writer most acutely conscious of his place in time, of his own contemporaneity.” Be it a messianic revival or primitivism, calling for a coherent context for all, the Modernists were in urge for new narrative techniques overcoming the devastating traumas of the World Wars, representing the shared experiences worldwide. In this respect, early twentieth-century. Modernism provided a literary niche for a new generation of storytellers engaged in the momentous grasp of time coalescing with an epiphany. Thus, regarding the present global crises of humanity against which we need to retreat to our local worlds, a review on literary Modernism would suggest a solution as it had once achieved as an internationalist current by gathering the minds and shared experiences in recovering from the overwhelming forces of modernity. This article aims to review literary Modernism and its correspondence with ancient forms of storytelling and sense of time in Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio stories regarding the shared thematic motifs transcending the cultural and national boundaries in representing the overwhelming traumas of early twentieth century modernity.

scholarly journals The Remo Denomination. An Inquíry into the Ethnohistory of the Ucayali Basin

1970 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 61-103
Author(s):  
Łukasz Krokoszyński
Keyword(s):  
Historical Data ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Short Description ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Social Organizations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Accounts

The arttile was originally published without an abstract. Short description written by Michał Gilewski The article is dedicated to the uses of the term Remo on the Ucayali. Its goal is to present all historical data available. It includes historical accounts of the groups called the Remos, oral traditions of groups connected with Remos and informations of social organizations of related Panoan groups. Author suggests that “comparing data on the past presented by contemporary Panoan groups and their conceptions of identity, the author hopes to indicate a possibility of another view on the native social reality”.

Évolution du phénomène de traduction dans le domaine littéraire de langue bretonne

2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-222
Author(s):  
Nelly Blanchard
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
First Century ◽  
Literary Translation ◽  
Power Imbalance ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
Intercultural Relationships ◽  
Literary Cultures ◽  
Minority Literatures ◽  
Regional Languages

Arguing that the concept of littérature-monde conceals unequal relations between literary cultures, this article examines the socio-economic contexts of literary translation from and into Breton from the fifteenth to the twenty-first century. The value of translation across the corpus of 1025 texts lies primarily in creating intercultural relationships and promoting cultural diversity. Translation into Breton represents a vital defence of a language with dwindling speaker numbers: in the late 1970s it increases dramatically, with littérature de jeunesse spearheading a change in state policy allowing regional languages to be taught in schools. Yet translation can also reinforce an existing power imbalance, highlighting the central role played by French in the linguistic and literary construction of Breton society. Poetry, songs and contes translated from Breton often perpetuate stereotypes of a bardic, oral culture, while nationalist writers reject self-translation into French as capitulation before the dominant culture. Since the 1980s, many have chosen to bypass French by translating into languages such as Welsh, Scottish, Irish or Catalan, creating a network of minority literatures. Since the market for Breton translation is so small, however, such texts serve as valuable identity markers, a symbolic, affective force articulating a quest for socio-political legitimacy via literature.

Voices from the Past

Tsunami ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 27-36
Author(s):  
James Goff ◽  
Walter Dudley
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Eruption ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Western World ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Catastrophic Events ◽  
The Past ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
History Of

The history of catastrophic events is not always written down; it is often embedded in place-names, oral traditions, and myth. With examples of oral traditions of sea monsters and the folly of wizards, this chapter discusses catastrophic prehistoric tsunamis generated by a massive earthquake and volcanic eruption that affected Polynesian communities and culture in the 15th century. In Japan, where the roots of oral traditions and written records are much older, the origins of the word “tsunami” are traced through the country’s cultural progression to its introduction to the Western world and to other related Japanese words that merit adoption, such as “Yoda.”

scholarly journals Social Reality and Cultural Propagation in Funke Akindele-Bello’s Jenifa’s Diary

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-110
Author(s):  
Stephen Ogheneruro Okpadah
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Western World ◽  
Television Series ◽  
Cultural Space ◽  
British English ◽  
Analysis Methods ◽  
Yoruba Language

Apart from originating contemporary norms and cultures among its viewers, Nigerian television series portray new and emerging constructions and practices that the populace is able to identify with. Recently, one television series that has become popular in Nigeria is Jenifa’s Diary. Its popularity stems from its incorporation of the Nigerian English, the British English and the indigenous Yoruba language, as well as the antics and codification(s) of the eponymous character, Jennifer. Her utility of a distinctive English language which deviates from the Nigerian Pidgin and the British English, has made this series popular among viewers. This has created a new linguistic culture and also appropriated what I term the Jenifanlingua franca. It is not a rarity to see children, teenagers and adults communicate in the same manner as Jennifer. Against this backdrop, this paper examines Funke Akindele-Bello’s television series Jenifa’s Diary as Nigerian social reality and a medium for cultural propagation. This study examines socio-cultural nuances in Jenifas Diary. The research is qualitative as it utilises the literary and content analysis methods. The study reveals that Jenifa’s Diary captures the plight of the African been to in the Western world and that the television serial is rich with its incorporation of the Nigerian Pidgin English, the British English and some indigenous Nigerian languages such as the Yoruba language, as well as the antics and codification(s) of the eponymous character, Jennifer. While Jenifa’s Diary and other Nigerian television series are products of social realities, they also create spaces for new socio-cultural landscapes. The study has been able to explain the imperative of television series on the Nigerian socio-cultural space. Cineastes should produce television serials that will educate and stimulate the populace towards becoming better people in the society.

scholarly journals Translating the Buddha: Edwin Arnold’s Light of Asia and Its Indian Publics

Humanities ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Douglas Ober
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Early History ◽  
Western World ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Regional Languages ◽  
Varied History

In this article, I examine the popular Victorian poem The Light of Asia (1879) and its reception and adaptation in late nineteenth and early twentieth century colonial India. Authored by the popular writer, Sir Edwin Arnold, The Light of Asia is typically regarded as one of the foundational texts of modern Buddhism in the western world. Yet significantly less has been said about its influence in Asia and especially in India, where it has as an equally rich and varied history. While most scholarship has focused on its connections to the Sinhalese Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala and his popular campaigns to ‘liberate’ the MahaBodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, the singular focus on Dharmapala has obscured the poem’s much more expansive and enduring impact on a wide array of colonial Indian publics, regardless of caste, region, religion, ethnicity or language. The article explores the early history of its numerous adaptations, dramatizations, and translations in various regional languages. In providing an analysis of the poem’s Indian publics, the article shows how regional, political, and cultural idioms formed in multilingual contexts enable different readings and how literary and performative cultures interacted with colonial conceptions of religion, nation, and caste.

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