Assistant Professor of English at King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah (K.S.A.)Taught at universities in India, Libya and Ethiopia. Published 13 research articles in academic journals. I am interested in creative writing too.The More I Desired… is my first attempt at a full-length novel. Love in Libya is another novel. Two more books are in line. One of them is a collection of short stories and the other one is a collection of folktales from North India. I have worked on Hindi to English translations too. A major work of my translation is a compilation of the sayings of Acharya Tulsi, a Jain saint. A Hindi novel Vismrit Yaatri by Rahul Sankrityayan is yet another work of translation by me published under the title A Forgotten Traveler.
Vivek Dwivedi (ed.), The Shifting Role of Women: From Chores to Cores. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing., 2023
A feminist [literary] aesthetics, although is not a distinctive field of knowledge or epistemolog... more A feminist [literary] aesthetics, although is not a distinctive field of knowledge or epistemology, yet it has come to be known as such, in use to identify a distinct set of perspectives to read texts and raise certain questions about theories and assumptions on representations of women in literature, art, and other audio-visual media using aesthetic categories. Therefore, feminist scholars actively engaged in aesthetic interpretations investigate how the gendered representation of women in aesthetic objects leaves a mark on the conceptualizations on literature, art, aesthetic judgements, artists and their works. The other facet of feminist scholarship is aesthetic interpretation of works by women, especially since in the mainstream patriarchal academia there are fears of male appropriation of feminist works, the interpretations are to be jealously guarded.
English as a Foreign Language) learners may fail to observe the rule which makes their English so... more English as a Foreign Language) learners may fail to observe the rule which makes their English sound substandard. This paper investigates whether adult Saudi EFL learners follow assimilation rules in English. Selected words and phrases spoken by a group of participants, where assimilated nasal sounds were used, were recorded using Praat software. Drawing spectrograms of the sound signals, time taken by participants to pronounce the assimilated sound segments was calculated. The time taken by native speakers of English to pronounce the same sound segments was also checked. The mean values of time taken by participants and native speakers to pronounce each assimilated sound segment were compared, with the assumption that if the participants took more time to pronounce the sound segments, they missed assimilation. The findings revealed that although in comparison to native speakers, Saudi EFL learners clocked slightly higher time duration, for most sounds the difference in time was not significant from the statistical point of view. The conclusion is that Saudi English learners are making efforts to be as close to native speakers as possible in using assimilated nasal sounds in English.
DH Lawrence was hailed as a progressive writer after the publication of Lady Chatterley’s Lover a... more DH Lawrence was hailed as a progressive writer after the publication of Lady Chatterley’s Lover as the theme of the narrative suggests a shift in emphasis through (a) giving expression to women’s sexuality, speaking for their freedom of choice in sexual fulfillment if their marriage fails, and (b) depicting a working class man having sexual relations with an aristocratic woman, when the ruling class man fails to have sexually fulfilling relations with his wife. But, in the 1970s prominent feminist critics launched a tirade against DH Lawrence and Lady Chatterley’s Lover saying that (a) the novel undermines women’s sexuality, endorsing male-centered view of sexuality, hailing heterosexual relationship as the only emotionally satisfying relationship, and (b) it advocates women seeking fulfillment through motherhood. From Jungian perspective on the effects of archetypes upon human personality the principal male character in the novel, Mellors, is hermaphrodite, therefore, neither superior nor inferior to the principal female character. However, the writer imposes upon the reader the belief that (a) the male protagonist possesses traits that make him a demigod to be looked at with awe by the female protagonist, and (b) conjugal happiness in married life solely depends upon the adjustments a woman needs to make owing to the awe-inspiring prowess of her man.
Creative writers are myth-makers. Myths are perpetuated by story-tellers, dramatists, poets and e... more Creative writers are myth-makers. Myths are perpetuated by story-tellers, dramatists, poets and even historians. Myths are made endearing to the masses through the power of the pen. Myths are created and re-created, visited and revisited and re-contextualized in every age. Some myths are more endearing to people than others and they keep on circulating in one or the other form. Some myths are particularly revisited at particular historical moments in particular cultures. One such myth is the myth of the ‘knight errant,’ a chivalrous man who devotes his life to the service of his nation, especially, helping people in distress. “Historical” romances have been created on these myths for centuries. From Homer and Virgil to modern-day fiction writers, myth-making on romances has been a favourite theme. Romances are liked by one and all. To most of us these stories possess the power of truth and our cultural notions, prejudices and love-hate relationships with the heroes are shaped by popular myths. More than that, some myths, through shaping our ideas of our own culture, may define our notions of other cultures not practically known to us. Miguel de Cervantes in Don Quixote debunks the myth of such historical romances, but in the process he creates the myth of Don Quixote – a man who strongly believes in the truth of historical romances and who himself tries to live the ideal life of a knight errant serving his nation and fighting for justice for his countrymen in distress. The myth is particularly interesting because of the historical time it was set in – the time of upheaval against the Arab rule in Spain, crusades in the Christian world, wars with Turkish Ottoman Sultans in which the Christian world was gaining ground, and the ensuing ethnic cleansing in Spain. The present paper looks at the impact this myth had, and still continues to have, on the thought patterns in the two worlds: the Arab world and the Christian world. The story of Don Quixote is alluded to be based on the accounts of an Arab writer/historian Sidi Hamid Benengeli and it regularly refers to Arabs/Moors and their presence in Spain. In addition, there is one whole chapter devoted to the story of a Moorish girl who falls in love with a Christian fugitive and who not only saves his life but for her love of Christianity returns with this man to Spain as his wife. The present paper is an attempt to study such myths/narratives from contemporary perspective.
Key Terms: Myths, Reality, Historical Romances, Ethnic generalizations, Cultural mindset
Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red is a complex narrative, structurally as well as semantically. The p... more Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red is a complex narrative, structurally as well as semantically. The predominant leitmotif of the novel offers easy reading as a postcolonial perspective on a historical romance. Historical figures abound in it and the genealogy of the modern Turkish nation forms the basis of the story that relies upon the trajectory of clash of ideas among miniature painters - whether or not to adopt the perspectival painting techniques developed by infidels, that is, Frankish painters. The book is also open to be read as a short history of cultural Islam in the Middle Ages. But over and above all this, some specific details in the book and some narrative and style features suggest that the narrative is a reinterpretation of the Islamic ideology in a historical perspective and with a view to re-contextualize it in the present world scenario, especially in the context of the supposed misreading and misinterpretation of the tenets of the religion. Experiments with the narrative mode and the thematic complexity involve subversion of the mainstream Islam to open up ways and means for inclusiveness and to allow the possible intercultural borrowings for the growth of cultures. Orhan Pamuk writes in Turkish but all of his works are available in English. His 2001 novel My Name is Red is analyzed in the present paper with the observation that whether consciously (under the influence of poststructuralist/postmodernist fiction writers) or unconsciously, Orhan Pamuk has created a work that is richly experimental and owing to that it poses a challenge to the reader in arriving at a definitive/fixed meaning.
Key Terms: Reinterpretation of history, Culture, Indeterminacy, Intertextuality, Perspetival painting, Experimentation and Style.
Abstract
Freud’s influence on literature has been immense. His concepts on psycho-somatic growth ... more Abstract Freud’s influence on literature has been immense. His concepts on psycho-somatic growth of human beings have provided a very effective tool of analysis to writers as well as critics to delve deep into the hidden aspects of people’s personalities and their (secret) thoughts. Psychoanalytic literary criticism conventionally makes use of biographical material to draw conclusions on the writers’ intended meaning. But this exercise created its own discontents. Ferdinand de Saussure’s revolutionary idea of linguistic sign and the arbitrary relationship of signifier and signified brought about a sea change in the theories of meaning and aspects of literary criticism as well. Psychoanalytic criticism also felt the impact of the linguistic turn in literature, especially after Lacan had a fresh look at Freud’s idea of the unconscious and pronounced that “The unconscious is structured like a language.” The psychoanalytical critical perspective, thus, shifted from the individual (author, characters or the reader) to the aspects of language. The present paper presents a critical look at some of these changes and shifting perspectives. Also, some crucial events from Arundhati Roy’s novel The God of Small Things are replayed keeping in mind Lacanian views on language, the unconscious and psychoanalysis.
Key Terms: psychoanalysis, the unconscious, language, linguistic turn and textuality
Peter Pan may be a cultural icon in his cultural settings, but from a different perspective Peter... more Peter Pan may be a cultural icon in his cultural settings, but from a different perspective Peter seems to be the creation of an imperialistic mindset as he bears all the paraphernalia of the children’s upbringing at the height of imperialism; in the games, in the symbols, in attacking and defeating the alien forces, in the territories acquired, in associating or despising ‘uncivilized’ and ‘inferior’ peoples, etc., i.e. everything their imagination could conjure up from the raw materials around. Therefore, no surprise Peter is a white man, his regiment of lost boys is a brigade of white men, Wendy is a white woman, and all the rest (“the villains”) are either non-whites or whites lost to the English society for their “bad” character! The question is: whose culture is it, anyway, Peter is an icon of? Isn’t it the right time to look into the images Peter seems to have been created to represent? Peter refuses to grow up. Can’t we take it as a malady of imperialists who refuse to grow up; still want to play childhood games and wish to live on tree-tops with fairies, places secure and away from “contamination?”
Keywords: Culture, imperialism, cultural images, imaginary lands and climes
Vivek Dwivedi and Majed Alenezi (eds.), Dictating the Rules of Engagement for Contemporary Women. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing., 2022
There has been a steady increase in the number of Arab women's creative fiction of late. A cursor... more There has been a steady increase in the number of Arab women's creative fiction of late. A cursory glance at the works reveals that to a large extent these creative works by Arab women display deep concerns about women's emancipation, and therefore, may be labelled as feminist writings. The present study is focused on the selected works of the younger generation of Arab women novelists who published after the turn of the present millennium. Fadia Faqir's The Cry of the Dove, Maha Gargash's The Sand Fish, Rajaa Alsanea's The Girls of Riyadh, Samar Al-Muqrin's Women of Vice, Badriya Al-Bishr's Love Stories on al-Asha Street, and Seba Al-Herz's The Others have been critically examined from the perspective of the manner of representation of common Arab women in their novels, with special reference to the concepts of resistance, subversion, betrayal, ruptured dominant narratives, and negative activity of the protagonists.
Vivek Dwivedi (ed.), The Shifting Role of Women: From Chores to Cores. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing., 2023
A feminist [literary] aesthetics, although is not a distinctive field of knowledge or epistemolog... more A feminist [literary] aesthetics, although is not a distinctive field of knowledge or epistemology, yet it has come to be known as such, in use to identify a distinct set of perspectives to read texts and raise certain questions about theories and assumptions on representations of women in literature, art, and other audio-visual media using aesthetic categories. Therefore, feminist scholars actively engaged in aesthetic interpretations investigate how the gendered representation of women in aesthetic objects leaves a mark on the conceptualizations on literature, art, aesthetic judgements, artists and their works. The other facet of feminist scholarship is aesthetic interpretation of works by women, especially since in the mainstream patriarchal academia there are fears of male appropriation of feminist works, the interpretations are to be jealously guarded.
English as a Foreign Language) learners may fail to observe the rule which makes their English so... more English as a Foreign Language) learners may fail to observe the rule which makes their English sound substandard. This paper investigates whether adult Saudi EFL learners follow assimilation rules in English. Selected words and phrases spoken by a group of participants, where assimilated nasal sounds were used, were recorded using Praat software. Drawing spectrograms of the sound signals, time taken by participants to pronounce the assimilated sound segments was calculated. The time taken by native speakers of English to pronounce the same sound segments was also checked. The mean values of time taken by participants and native speakers to pronounce each assimilated sound segment were compared, with the assumption that if the participants took more time to pronounce the sound segments, they missed assimilation. The findings revealed that although in comparison to native speakers, Saudi EFL learners clocked slightly higher time duration, for most sounds the difference in time was not significant from the statistical point of view. The conclusion is that Saudi English learners are making efforts to be as close to native speakers as possible in using assimilated nasal sounds in English.
DH Lawrence was hailed as a progressive writer after the publication of Lady Chatterley’s Lover a... more DH Lawrence was hailed as a progressive writer after the publication of Lady Chatterley’s Lover as the theme of the narrative suggests a shift in emphasis through (a) giving expression to women’s sexuality, speaking for their freedom of choice in sexual fulfillment if their marriage fails, and (b) depicting a working class man having sexual relations with an aristocratic woman, when the ruling class man fails to have sexually fulfilling relations with his wife. But, in the 1970s prominent feminist critics launched a tirade against DH Lawrence and Lady Chatterley’s Lover saying that (a) the novel undermines women’s sexuality, endorsing male-centered view of sexuality, hailing heterosexual relationship as the only emotionally satisfying relationship, and (b) it advocates women seeking fulfillment through motherhood. From Jungian perspective on the effects of archetypes upon human personality the principal male character in the novel, Mellors, is hermaphrodite, therefore, neither superior nor inferior to the principal female character. However, the writer imposes upon the reader the belief that (a) the male protagonist possesses traits that make him a demigod to be looked at with awe by the female protagonist, and (b) conjugal happiness in married life solely depends upon the adjustments a woman needs to make owing to the awe-inspiring prowess of her man.
Creative writers are myth-makers. Myths are perpetuated by story-tellers, dramatists, poets and e... more Creative writers are myth-makers. Myths are perpetuated by story-tellers, dramatists, poets and even historians. Myths are made endearing to the masses through the power of the pen. Myths are created and re-created, visited and revisited and re-contextualized in every age. Some myths are more endearing to people than others and they keep on circulating in one or the other form. Some myths are particularly revisited at particular historical moments in particular cultures. One such myth is the myth of the ‘knight errant,’ a chivalrous man who devotes his life to the service of his nation, especially, helping people in distress. “Historical” romances have been created on these myths for centuries. From Homer and Virgil to modern-day fiction writers, myth-making on romances has been a favourite theme. Romances are liked by one and all. To most of us these stories possess the power of truth and our cultural notions, prejudices and love-hate relationships with the heroes are shaped by popular myths. More than that, some myths, through shaping our ideas of our own culture, may define our notions of other cultures not practically known to us. Miguel de Cervantes in Don Quixote debunks the myth of such historical romances, but in the process he creates the myth of Don Quixote – a man who strongly believes in the truth of historical romances and who himself tries to live the ideal life of a knight errant serving his nation and fighting for justice for his countrymen in distress. The myth is particularly interesting because of the historical time it was set in – the time of upheaval against the Arab rule in Spain, crusades in the Christian world, wars with Turkish Ottoman Sultans in which the Christian world was gaining ground, and the ensuing ethnic cleansing in Spain. The present paper looks at the impact this myth had, and still continues to have, on the thought patterns in the two worlds: the Arab world and the Christian world. The story of Don Quixote is alluded to be based on the accounts of an Arab writer/historian Sidi Hamid Benengeli and it regularly refers to Arabs/Moors and their presence in Spain. In addition, there is one whole chapter devoted to the story of a Moorish girl who falls in love with a Christian fugitive and who not only saves his life but for her love of Christianity returns with this man to Spain as his wife. The present paper is an attempt to study such myths/narratives from contemporary perspective.
Key Terms: Myths, Reality, Historical Romances, Ethnic generalizations, Cultural mindset
Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red is a complex narrative, structurally as well as semantically. The p... more Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red is a complex narrative, structurally as well as semantically. The predominant leitmotif of the novel offers easy reading as a postcolonial perspective on a historical romance. Historical figures abound in it and the genealogy of the modern Turkish nation forms the basis of the story that relies upon the trajectory of clash of ideas among miniature painters - whether or not to adopt the perspectival painting techniques developed by infidels, that is, Frankish painters. The book is also open to be read as a short history of cultural Islam in the Middle Ages. But over and above all this, some specific details in the book and some narrative and style features suggest that the narrative is a reinterpretation of the Islamic ideology in a historical perspective and with a view to re-contextualize it in the present world scenario, especially in the context of the supposed misreading and misinterpretation of the tenets of the religion. Experiments with the narrative mode and the thematic complexity involve subversion of the mainstream Islam to open up ways and means for inclusiveness and to allow the possible intercultural borrowings for the growth of cultures. Orhan Pamuk writes in Turkish but all of his works are available in English. His 2001 novel My Name is Red is analyzed in the present paper with the observation that whether consciously (under the influence of poststructuralist/postmodernist fiction writers) or unconsciously, Orhan Pamuk has created a work that is richly experimental and owing to that it poses a challenge to the reader in arriving at a definitive/fixed meaning.
Key Terms: Reinterpretation of history, Culture, Indeterminacy, Intertextuality, Perspetival painting, Experimentation and Style.
Abstract
Freud’s influence on literature has been immense. His concepts on psycho-somatic growth ... more Abstract Freud’s influence on literature has been immense. His concepts on psycho-somatic growth of human beings have provided a very effective tool of analysis to writers as well as critics to delve deep into the hidden aspects of people’s personalities and their (secret) thoughts. Psychoanalytic literary criticism conventionally makes use of biographical material to draw conclusions on the writers’ intended meaning. But this exercise created its own discontents. Ferdinand de Saussure’s revolutionary idea of linguistic sign and the arbitrary relationship of signifier and signified brought about a sea change in the theories of meaning and aspects of literary criticism as well. Psychoanalytic criticism also felt the impact of the linguistic turn in literature, especially after Lacan had a fresh look at Freud’s idea of the unconscious and pronounced that “The unconscious is structured like a language.” The psychoanalytical critical perspective, thus, shifted from the individual (author, characters or the reader) to the aspects of language. The present paper presents a critical look at some of these changes and shifting perspectives. Also, some crucial events from Arundhati Roy’s novel The God of Small Things are replayed keeping in mind Lacanian views on language, the unconscious and psychoanalysis.
Key Terms: psychoanalysis, the unconscious, language, linguistic turn and textuality
Peter Pan may be a cultural icon in his cultural settings, but from a different perspective Peter... more Peter Pan may be a cultural icon in his cultural settings, but from a different perspective Peter seems to be the creation of an imperialistic mindset as he bears all the paraphernalia of the children’s upbringing at the height of imperialism; in the games, in the symbols, in attacking and defeating the alien forces, in the territories acquired, in associating or despising ‘uncivilized’ and ‘inferior’ peoples, etc., i.e. everything their imagination could conjure up from the raw materials around. Therefore, no surprise Peter is a white man, his regiment of lost boys is a brigade of white men, Wendy is a white woman, and all the rest (“the villains”) are either non-whites or whites lost to the English society for their “bad” character! The question is: whose culture is it, anyway, Peter is an icon of? Isn’t it the right time to look into the images Peter seems to have been created to represent? Peter refuses to grow up. Can’t we take it as a malady of imperialists who refuse to grow up; still want to play childhood games and wish to live on tree-tops with fairies, places secure and away from “contamination?”
Keywords: Culture, imperialism, cultural images, imaginary lands and climes
Vivek Dwivedi and Majed Alenezi (eds.), Dictating the Rules of Engagement for Contemporary Women. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing., 2022
There has been a steady increase in the number of Arab women's creative fiction of late. A cursor... more There has been a steady increase in the number of Arab women's creative fiction of late. A cursory glance at the works reveals that to a large extent these creative works by Arab women display deep concerns about women's emancipation, and therefore, may be labelled as feminist writings. The present study is focused on the selected works of the younger generation of Arab women novelists who published after the turn of the present millennium. Fadia Faqir's The Cry of the Dove, Maha Gargash's The Sand Fish, Rajaa Alsanea's The Girls of Riyadh, Samar Al-Muqrin's Women of Vice, Badriya Al-Bishr's Love Stories on al-Asha Street, and Seba Al-Herz's The Others have been critically examined from the perspective of the manner of representation of common Arab women in their novels, with special reference to the concepts of resistance, subversion, betrayal, ruptured dominant narratives, and negative activity of the protagonists.
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Papers by Pradeep Sharma
But, in the 1970s prominent feminist critics launched a tirade against DH Lawrence and Lady Chatterley’s Lover saying that (a) the novel undermines women’s sexuality, endorsing male-centered view of sexuality, hailing heterosexual relationship as the only emotionally satisfying relationship, and (b) it advocates women seeking fulfillment through motherhood.
From Jungian perspective on the effects of archetypes upon human personality the principal male character in the novel, Mellors, is hermaphrodite, therefore, neither superior nor inferior to the principal female character. However, the writer imposes upon the reader the belief that (a) the male protagonist possesses traits that make him a demigod to be looked at with awe by the female protagonist, and (b) conjugal happiness in married life solely depends upon the adjustments a woman needs to make owing to the awe-inspiring prowess of her man.
Key Words: mothering, fatherhood, psychoanalysis, feminist theory, archetypes.
Miguel de Cervantes in Don Quixote debunks the myth of such historical romances, but in the process he creates the myth of Don Quixote – a man who strongly believes in the truth of historical romances and who himself tries to live the ideal life of a knight errant serving his nation and fighting for justice for his countrymen in distress. The myth is particularly interesting because of the historical time it was set in – the time of upheaval against the Arab rule in Spain, crusades in the Christian world, wars with Turkish Ottoman Sultans in which the Christian world was gaining ground, and the ensuing ethnic cleansing in Spain.
The present paper looks at the impact this myth had, and still continues to have, on the thought patterns in the two worlds: the Arab world and the Christian world. The story of Don Quixote is alluded to be based on the accounts of an Arab writer/historian Sidi Hamid Benengeli and it regularly refers to Arabs/Moors and their presence in Spain. In addition, there is one whole chapter devoted to the story of a Moorish girl who falls in love with a Christian fugitive and who not only saves his life but for her love of Christianity returns with this man to Spain as his wife.
The present paper is an attempt to study such myths/narratives from contemporary perspective.
Key Terms: Myths, Reality, Historical Romances, Ethnic generalizations, Cultural mindset
Orhan Pamuk writes in Turkish but all of his works are available in English. His 2001 novel My Name is Red is analyzed in the present paper with the observation that whether consciously (under the influence of poststructuralist/postmodernist fiction writers) or unconsciously, Orhan Pamuk has created a work that is richly experimental and owing to that it poses a challenge to the reader in arriving at a definitive/fixed meaning.
Key Terms: Reinterpretation of history, Culture, Indeterminacy, Intertextuality, Perspetival painting, Experimentation and Style.
Freud’s influence on literature has been immense. His concepts on psycho-somatic growth of human beings have provided a very effective tool of analysis to writers as well as critics to delve deep into the hidden aspects of people’s personalities and their (secret) thoughts. Psychoanalytic literary criticism conventionally makes use of biographical material to draw conclusions on the writers’ intended meaning. But this exercise created its own discontents. Ferdinand de Saussure’s revolutionary idea of linguistic sign and the arbitrary relationship of signifier and signified brought about a sea change in the theories of meaning and aspects of literary criticism as well. Psychoanalytic criticism also felt the impact of the linguistic turn in literature, especially after Lacan had a fresh look at Freud’s idea of the unconscious and pronounced that “The unconscious is structured like a language.” The psychoanalytical critical perspective, thus, shifted from the individual (author, characters or the reader) to the aspects of language.
The present paper presents a critical look at some of these changes and shifting perspectives. Also, some crucial events from Arundhati Roy’s novel The God of Small Things are replayed keeping in mind Lacanian views on language, the unconscious and psychoanalysis.
Key Terms: psychoanalysis, the unconscious, language, linguistic turn and textuality
The question is: whose culture is it, anyway, Peter is an icon of? Isn’t it the right time to look into the images Peter seems to have been created to represent? Peter refuses to grow up. Can’t we take it as a malady of imperialists who refuse to grow up; still want to play childhood games and wish to live on tree-tops with fairies, places secure and away from “contamination?”
Keywords: Culture, imperialism, cultural images, imaginary lands and climes
Books by Pradeep Sharma
But, in the 1970s prominent feminist critics launched a tirade against DH Lawrence and Lady Chatterley’s Lover saying that (a) the novel undermines women’s sexuality, endorsing male-centered view of sexuality, hailing heterosexual relationship as the only emotionally satisfying relationship, and (b) it advocates women seeking fulfillment through motherhood.
From Jungian perspective on the effects of archetypes upon human personality the principal male character in the novel, Mellors, is hermaphrodite, therefore, neither superior nor inferior to the principal female character. However, the writer imposes upon the reader the belief that (a) the male protagonist possesses traits that make him a demigod to be looked at with awe by the female protagonist, and (b) conjugal happiness in married life solely depends upon the adjustments a woman needs to make owing to the awe-inspiring prowess of her man.
Key Words: mothering, fatherhood, psychoanalysis, feminist theory, archetypes.
Miguel de Cervantes in Don Quixote debunks the myth of such historical romances, but in the process he creates the myth of Don Quixote – a man who strongly believes in the truth of historical romances and who himself tries to live the ideal life of a knight errant serving his nation and fighting for justice for his countrymen in distress. The myth is particularly interesting because of the historical time it was set in – the time of upheaval against the Arab rule in Spain, crusades in the Christian world, wars with Turkish Ottoman Sultans in which the Christian world was gaining ground, and the ensuing ethnic cleansing in Spain.
The present paper looks at the impact this myth had, and still continues to have, on the thought patterns in the two worlds: the Arab world and the Christian world. The story of Don Quixote is alluded to be based on the accounts of an Arab writer/historian Sidi Hamid Benengeli and it regularly refers to Arabs/Moors and their presence in Spain. In addition, there is one whole chapter devoted to the story of a Moorish girl who falls in love with a Christian fugitive and who not only saves his life but for her love of Christianity returns with this man to Spain as his wife.
The present paper is an attempt to study such myths/narratives from contemporary perspective.
Key Terms: Myths, Reality, Historical Romances, Ethnic generalizations, Cultural mindset
Orhan Pamuk writes in Turkish but all of his works are available in English. His 2001 novel My Name is Red is analyzed in the present paper with the observation that whether consciously (under the influence of poststructuralist/postmodernist fiction writers) or unconsciously, Orhan Pamuk has created a work that is richly experimental and owing to that it poses a challenge to the reader in arriving at a definitive/fixed meaning.
Key Terms: Reinterpretation of history, Culture, Indeterminacy, Intertextuality, Perspetival painting, Experimentation and Style.
Freud’s influence on literature has been immense. His concepts on psycho-somatic growth of human beings have provided a very effective tool of analysis to writers as well as critics to delve deep into the hidden aspects of people’s personalities and their (secret) thoughts. Psychoanalytic literary criticism conventionally makes use of biographical material to draw conclusions on the writers’ intended meaning. But this exercise created its own discontents. Ferdinand de Saussure’s revolutionary idea of linguistic sign and the arbitrary relationship of signifier and signified brought about a sea change in the theories of meaning and aspects of literary criticism as well. Psychoanalytic criticism also felt the impact of the linguistic turn in literature, especially after Lacan had a fresh look at Freud’s idea of the unconscious and pronounced that “The unconscious is structured like a language.” The psychoanalytical critical perspective, thus, shifted from the individual (author, characters or the reader) to the aspects of language.
The present paper presents a critical look at some of these changes and shifting perspectives. Also, some crucial events from Arundhati Roy’s novel The God of Small Things are replayed keeping in mind Lacanian views on language, the unconscious and psychoanalysis.
Key Terms: psychoanalysis, the unconscious, language, linguistic turn and textuality
The question is: whose culture is it, anyway, Peter is an icon of? Isn’t it the right time to look into the images Peter seems to have been created to represent? Peter refuses to grow up. Can’t we take it as a malady of imperialists who refuse to grow up; still want to play childhood games and wish to live on tree-tops with fairies, places secure and away from “contamination?”
Keywords: Culture, imperialism, cultural images, imaginary lands and climes