Thinking activity on structuralism

Hello readers !

Welcome to my world. This blog is part of my academic activity. This blog is about Structuralism and literary Criticism.

When we hear the word "structuralism" then we think that what is it?  In a general meaning a movement of thought in the humanities, widespread in anthropology, linguistics, and literary theory, and influential in the 1950s and ’60s. Based primarily on the linguistic theories of Ferdinand de Saussure, structuralism considered language as a system of signs and signification, the elements of which are understandable only in relation to each other and to the system. This term borrowed from linguistics.

Structuralism is an intellectual movement and approach, that relate to all human sciences. In society one who follow the rules and became docile, subjected from the power and surrendered. So that is the Structuralism.

In our life everything is constructed by others, even our perception and thought itself, are constructed and not natural, and in particular that everything has meaning because of the language system in which we operate. It is closely related to Semiotics, the study of signs, symbols and communication, and how meaning is constructed and understood.

So the task is  as structuralist critic , how we connect the Structuralist approach with any serials, movies, images or advertisement.

In many Hindi movie we see that the same structure and plot also. In which we mentioned that some of the incident is same. That showed a culture and intertextual connection. The movies are :

Structuralist critics analyse mainly prose narratives, what is the conventions of a particular genre. If we look at on Genette's Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method in which first main concept is that "order"  Basically each and every story have their own beginning , middle and the end. But sometimes we see that the chronology of the event is not followed in a perfect form. 

One of the recent example is that the web series : Queen, that is a 2019 Indian historical drama web television series. That is based on the novel of the same name by Anita Sivakumaran, which is loosely based on the life of the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.  The whole story at the beginning to the end is about her life and her suffering and struggle against society.

In the beginning we see that she is sitting in  chair and front of media. And she giving answer of the question. So in this answers we know about her. So this way the story is going on. That is the different narrative technique.

Now If we look at  the structure of the movie and then we find how structure changed with time. When we think how tradition that is expressed in movies with context of real life. Basically luxurious or millionaire women who don't want to marry with poor man. In the many Bollywood movies we find that different structure from that context. In this following movies like Anari no 1, Dulhe Raja. Both of these movies have the same structure. In which the hero who is not belongs to luxurious life and who is Marry with prosperous women. So we can say that the structure is changed.

👉Anari no 1: 

Naive Raja (Govinda) is employed as a lowly waiter in a hotel. One day he serves and looks after a wealthy businessman K.K. (Kader Khan), who lends him a suit, and gives him some money, so that he could find a rich woman to woo and marry. Raja thinks Sapna (Raveena Tandon) is wealthy and successfully woos her and wins her heart, only to find out that she too is on the lookout for a rich prince charming. She thought Raja was the rich, debonair, and eligible bachelor Rahul Saxena (Govinda).

👉Dulhe Raja :

Poor Raja opens a fast foot restaurant right opposite a five star hotel run by it’s owner Singhania, earning his wrath. The wealthy hotel owner uses all his influence to remove Raja, but in vain. Things get worse for the wealthy man, when his daughter Kiran wants to marry the poor hotelier. Then both get married.

So here I am deals with one advertisement. First of all you think about whether this advertise is about friendship or like kidnapping.

You  can see in the advertise that neither this advertise is about friendship or nor about kidnapping.  So that two possibilities became our convention. Because from childhood we treat like this that if whoever seems with knife then we think that something bad is happening, and if one who is talking very gentle way then we do not worry. But the whole thing is unfold in the last when the brand's picture and the word like "Dikhane ka jee kare". Generally people who invite people for build their relationship but now time we see that the reason behind invite people for showed their wealth. So this advertisement through we can see that how time is changed. People don't really interested in those people rather than showing his or her wealth. This way the advertisement unfold in different ways.

 So this image is become a sign for whole advertisement. So we think that this advertise is about friendship but that is not but is about Greenlam laminates.

Thank you 😊......

Thinking activity on Northrop Frye : Archetypal criticism

Hello readers !

Welcome to my world.

 Here in this blog you know about Northrop Frye (1912 - 1991) and his concept of 'Archetypal Criticism' . He was written more than forty books, but the most celebrated work is Anatomy of Criticism (1951). ' The Archetypes of literature ' is first published in Kenyon review ( vol. 8, 1951), later reprinted in Fables on Identity,  is in Frye's word

 ' to some extent summarized the statement of the critical program' later expanded in Anatomy of Criticism.

So the Archetypal criticism is good for  Novel and also the poetry and drama. The theory of Carl Jung , ' Collective unconsciousness' is not followed by Frye. Because Jung believed that literature originated in collective unconsciousness stored as racial memory within each individual. But for Frye literature originates in other literature as stories are broken down into bits and reshaped into other stories. If we look at in literature each and every story have beginning, middle and end. But the modern literature and the modern writer who don't believe in this structure.

Let's have some of the questions about Northrop Frye and his ' Archetypes of literature'.

✍️ What is Archetypal criticism ?What does the Archetypal critic do ?

 The word Archetypes is from the Greek word arkhetupon, the first mold and the model,in the meaning of being initial version of something later multiplied. In literature, an archetype is a typical character, an action, or a situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature.

Archetypal criticism is the type of critical theory that is mainly interpret a text by the narrative technique and the symbol, various imagery, type of character, incident and also literary works.  Is the study of how writer used mythical symbol and also different images. And also identify them how that is appropriate.

If we think the job of Archetypal critic then we find that they have to know about the various Archetypes and do note that how one writer used that specific Archetypes, in this literary work, what does that mean?  How that is appropriate with the context of history.

✍️What is Frye trying to prove by giving an analogy of ' Physics to Nature'  and ' Criticism to literature'?

Frye's trying to compare both elements like ' physics to nature' and  ' Criticism to literature' . Here we can see how Frye prove his view through comparing season's characteristics with literary work, and it's genres , characteristic of character and emotions. There are two frameworks by Frye that is comedy and Tragedy and that subdivision in Satire and Romance.

Frye discuss the four seasons that is Spring, Summer, Autumn, winter.

four seasons in the cycle of the natural world, are incorporated in the four major genres of 

👉 comedy (spring),

👉  Romance (summer), 

👉 Tragedy (autumn), 

👉 Satire (winter).

So the each season aligned with different literary genres. Comedy paired with spring that through we can say that the birth of the hero and also spring symbolize the defeat of winter and darkness.

✍️ Share your views of criticism as an organized body of knowledge. Mention relation of literature with History and Philosophy.

Criticism is the organized body of knowledge. That through we look at various approaches.  Literature have a vital reaction with History and Philosophy. Both of strong pillars of the literature. In between literature grown. Philosophy as important as history or vice versa. In history we find that past events, action and scene. In philosophy we look for  morality, ethics and wisdom. Let's see how literature made up, literature is all about ideas and events. Without event we not get any idea and without idea no literature.

✍️ Briefly explain inductive method with illustration of Shakespeare's Hamlet's grave digger's scene.

Northrop Frye discuss the two methods to prove his observation that is Inductive method and Deductive method. In the inductive method observation from particular to general. For understanding of this concept the best example is the Hamlet's grave digger's scene by Shakespeare. By The closet study  we get the general meaning through the particular thing or event. There were two men who made a grave for Ophelia. Singing a song and quietly do his work. They also mocking on dead Ophelia and commented that whether she allowed to buried or not. Here we can see that they have no grief for deadly person. They do work as we do other work. They don't have grief at all.

 Another thing is that Wilson Knight who was the literary critic and his famous work The wheel of fire  in which we find that  collection of Essays on Shakespearean play. He argued that the scene reflection of the society of that time. Social political scenario of the time. The skull representation of the corrupted society. This particular scene Hamlet expressed his love for Ophelia and that is lead towards his death. So we can say that this is the example of the inductive method particular to general.

✍️ Briefly explain deductive method with reference to an analogy to music, painting, rhythm and pattern.

In the Deductive method we see that the Process going on general to particular. If we take reference to an analogy to music  then we can say that move in time whether the painting presented space in terms of arts. In both cases organizing principle recurrence. So the reputation  is gives us general ideas.

In music Rhythm is temporal and in painting pattern is spatial. In the reading of the book we feel  both elements together.

✍️ Give example of the outcome of deductive method, Refer to the Indian seasonal grid. (If you can, please read a small Gujarati, Hindi and English poem from the Archetypal approach and apply Indian seasonal grid in the interpretation.)

In the Indian seasonal grid and Hindi scriptures, we find that six seasons to  that are: 

 Winter

 Pre- winter

 Summer

 Spring

 Autumn

 Monsoon

In which Northrop Frye mentioned how season came as an archetype in literature.  Here this poem is about summer.

Our Summertime Fun

I looked outside and viewed the trees,

Smelled the summer air,

I felt the warm breeze.

The sun with its golden bars.

That drop so gently on the field afar.

The beautiful blue sky,

Painted very seldom with white clouds so high.

The wet green grass,

Doused with the morning's rain.

Perfect weather for camping.

We'll go have a fish.

Mum will mix the batter,

And stick the fish on a platter.

A joy so reckless and wild,

That's in the heart of every child.

Now we look at our skin.

Let the sunburns begin.

We'll play in the sun.

• Adelle M. Scott ( June 21, 2019)

So in the first stanza we find that the discretion of the summer. As we know  that summer aligned with romance. Smelled the summer air and beautiful blue sky. In the second stanza the line 

'Perfect weather for camping

We'll go have fish'

So in this line through we can say that summer is the season of happiness and also festive. 

Sunday reading activity : ( click here to visit my blog on religion and literature

Thank you........

Workshop on Cultural studies by Dr. Kalyani Vallath

Hello readers!

Welcome to my world. Here in this blog I am going to share my experience and understanding of cultural studies. In this fruitful workshop we got chance to know about cultural studies and  it's various key points.She is the highly passionate teacher and an edu-entrepreneur. Her style to explain each and every point with example is wonderful.She came from Trivandrum, Kerala. She do her Phd on children cinema in Canada.

As part of  activity, we have to explain several questions that is asked by sir. That all questions are given below.

⭐What is your understanding about the concept  of cultural studies ?

Before the session I am not able to speak confidently about what is Cultural studies but after the session I think I had cleared concept about it. Cultural studies is about studying human nature and culture, that is the study of us. Culture is related to our society. If look at how Culture change then we can say that culture transforms in individual experience, social realities, power relations. Also we can say that cultural studies deals  Culture  as part of everyday Life.  Cultural studies innovative interdisciplinary field of research  and teaching.

⭐How would you explain a layman about cultural studies ?

Earlier the word culture belongs to only the high class or sophisticated but new revival in cultural studies emphasis more on  ordinary people. As Matthew Arnold  mentioned that 'Culture is study is about perfection'. And also culture is talk about elite and high class people now time in the beginning of the culture studies in which we find that the layman frist.So there were first theorist who belongs to Frankfurt School are like...

Max Horkheimer,

Theodor Adorno, 

Erich Fromm,

Herbert Marcuse, 

Walter Benjamin, 

Leo Lowenthal.

We can not say that layman don't have culture but they also have culture and rituals.

⭐How many examples from the session were so catchy that you will never forget it ? What about it.

Kalyani Vallath ma'am taught us with example that through we easily get understand the theory or the things. When she gave an example that time the image create in our mind and that through we understand the theory perfectly. 

How Culture transforms in individual experience, for this understanding ma'am gave her on example that is she realized in flite way to Singapore. When she asked for food then she chooses the Asian food. And then she got very different types of food. That she can't eat. So that through ma'am said that how this experience through my thinking has changed because she thinks that Asian food means like Indian food. How Culture is differentiate us. So the individual experience transforms our mentality.

Another example is about cloth in which madam talk about how people judge women in ground of her dressing style.If women wear 'Sari ' then she is very devoted and genuine women. But if one woman who denies to wear sari and choose other dresses then that is the big crime. Society look her in a 'different' way.

Thank you ....

Shashi tharoor

Hello readers !

Welcome to my blog. This is about famous author Shashi Tharoor. 

He was the Indian politician, writer and a former international diplomat. And also he is an acclaimed writer having authored 18 bestselling works of fiction and non- fiction. Who is currently serving as member of parliament, Lok Sabha  from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala since 2009. In this year he won the very famous Sahitya Akademi award for 2019. This award goes to his famous creatively non-fiction work " An Era of Darkness ".

In this blog we listen to the interview of Shashi tharoor and then write down our likes and  dislikes. (Click here to watch interviews )

This work is published in 2017.  This is written in a post colonial context. How the British empire is ruled on Indian people. And also the thing is how they make a disastrous effect on in Indian Economy. In his interview we find that many arguments that I like the most. 

• Indian Economy :

Through the interview we got the information about the economic percentage of India.  In the time period 1600 when Britishers came to India and at that time India's GDP was twenty three percent. When they left India and  at that time GDP was only three percent. That showed us how they lumbered the indian. Another thing is that Britisher increase their percentage. As we know that ancient India is known as "sone ki Chirya" the golden sparrow. They bring everything from India and increase their wealth.

English language :

How English language came in india. Through the Britishers, right. Britishers who speak in English language and that is the gifted language by them. Shashi Tharoor argued that the credit of this english language does not go to the Britishers but the Indians. Because they took a English as a language for their work.

Development of Railway in India :

Another argument is that Indian railway's credit goes to the Britishers and in which we don't find any colonial aspects. But Shashi Tharoor said that the Indian Railways are the big colonial stamp.  Railway's is not helpful to Indian people as much as Britishers because through the railway they increase their wealth and easily find the raw materials and easy transportation. And also transportation of labours. So that through Shashi Tharoor made his point clear that the Railways are the big colonial stamp.

How different is British Colonial rules from others :

In world history we can find out the different countries like France, Belgium, England's colonial rules are different. In India we got freedom through Gandhi's अहींसा. If we make Ahinsa agitate in front of churchill. Then there is no worth. Shashi Tharoor said that the Colonial rules are different.

 👉 Reviews of the book :

I have read the reviews of the book ' An era of darkness'. In this review we understand the situations and how Britishers ruled upon us. How cruelly they ruled upon us.

(As Tharoor points out, prior to colonialism India was one of the foremost world economies, a country of great craftsmen and culture, the birth-place of many great religions and philosophical theories, a land which, like all others had experienced is fair share of intolerance and oppression, but still a place where a multitude of communities had co-existed in relative peace and harmony. It is therefore one of the greatest-and most insidious-myths peddled by the British that India was a bucolic backwater, whose citizens were stuck in a stupor of stupidity and ignoble idiocy, waiting to be roused by the great British liberators. In reality  greed, avarice, racism and the cold calculating laws of the market and realpolitik were the motivating factors behind colonialism, to drain Indian of it’s resource , both intellectual and economical; the idea that colonialism was driven by some sort of altruistic motive, or by the ideas of the enlightenment is ridiculous.) -Inderjit Sanghera

Also many people said that the British abolished the evil of indian society. But Shashi Tharoor points out that that is not true. The abolition of the cruel rules in India that is not because of the Britishers but the Indians like Raja Ram mohan Roy and others. Who fight against the evils of Indian society.

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o :

             Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is a Kenyan writer and academic who writes primarily in Gikuyu. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature.

Summarise Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's views on Introduction : Towards the Universal Language of Struggles from - Decolonising the mind : The Politics of language in African Literature :

        This is a collection of essays about language and its constructive role in national culture, history, and identity.

Decolonising the Mind is split into four essays:

"The Language of African Literature," 

"The Language of African Theatre,"

 "The Language of African Fiction,"

 and "The Quest for Relevance."

Ngũgĩ describes the book as 

"a summary of some of the issues in which I have been passionately involved for the last twenty years of my practice in fiction, theatre, criticism, and in teaching of literature".

References :

Thiong'o, Ngũgĩ wa (1986). Decolonising the Mind. ISBN 0-435-08016-4.

Thank you.......

Also many people said that Britisher who abolished evil of the indian society. But Shashi Tharoor point out that, that is not true. The abolition of the cruel rules in India that is not because of the Britishers but the Indians like Raja Ram mohan Roy and others. Who fight against the evils of Indian society.

Thank you.......

Thinking activity on John Keats

Hello readers !

This blog is a part of thinking activity. In our syllabus we have paper of romantic literature. In which we learnt about John Keats (1895-1821) and his poem like Ode to Nightingale, Ode to Autumn, Grecian Urn, Psyche. This thinking activity is given by Heenaba Zala. 

So in  this task we have to find out how death is generally dealt by other writers in literature. Normally people don't want to talk about Death. Even some of the people can't think about death because they feel fear. They can't eccept the reality . Generally most of the people considered death as mighty and dreadful. But if we look for a literature and then we find that poet or author have various thoughts on death. They showed us every side of the death that is good or bad.

"Death is not the opposite of life but a part of it "

Let's see how John Keats portrayed death in the poem Ode to Nightingale :

This poem is the quite a long poem, in which eight stanzas.

"Darkling, I listen and far many a time,
I have been in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme, 
To take into the air my quiet breath "


In this poem we find that he was tried to enter the life of Nightingale. He uses a strong symbolic meaning of the Nightingale and it's world to ascape from harsh reality. He uses imagery of Nightingale. If we look historically then we got the idea about how poet use this imagery in poem, Nightingale represent the freedom and inspiration. But here John Keats including many more things. He explore deepest creative expression and the mortality of human life. Keats focused on death and. It's in evitbilily in his work. For Keats small, slow acts of death occurred every day.

👉  Other poet's view on Death :

• John Donne : Death be not proud ( click here to read poetry )

The famous poem " Death be not proud" is written by pioneer of Metaphysical poetry, John Donne. In which he came from very different perception about death. In this poem's title itself suggest that ' death don't be proud'. Here poet think totally different than John Keats. John Donne can say that confidently, that death has no courage of capacity to kill even him death is nothing more than permanent rest to bones and soul is delivered to a new body.

" For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.....

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery."

Here John Donne said that o poor death you can't kill me. Death is not a painful experience but this is the rest of the life. Our soul is Never died.

" One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die."

This lines through poet wants to say that death is nothing but a mere sleep in between man's earthly lives and the eternal after life. Death no more visit them. Donne proved death's powerlessness in the end of the poem. And also said that death is itself die not a man.  So poet's mean to say that those who dies is actually dead. And one more thing  is death is the pitiable figure like in this poem the word : " poor death".

• Emily Dickinson( 1830-1886) : "Because I could not stop for death " (click here)

'Because I could not stop for death' is a lyrical poem, first published posthumously in Poems : series 1 in 1890. Many of her poems deal with  the theme of the death and immortality. Her life's evidence through we can say that she lived much of her life in isolation. May be that's why she build friendly with death. If we look at in her life she was troubled from a young age by the ' deepening mence' of death and especially the death of those who were close to her.

In this poem Dickinson portrays death as her colleague in the carriage. We can't think of death and here death is the colleague.

Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –

The Carriage held but just Ourselves –

And Immortality.

The second line is showing us that death kindly stop her personal. She said that the death is 'Kindly gentleman'. Here Dickinson try to give a human characteristic to the death.

"We slowly drove – He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility –"

How slowly they drove and death has no haste. And they visit various stages of life like childhood, the school and to her grave also. It seems she herself is already dead. What happen when people die?  every man ask this question to herself or himself. Here in this poem we find that the inevitability of death and the uncertainties that surround what happens when people actually die. Here we can say that how women think about the concept of Death.

Generally people don't want to talk about death but the poet who has fascinated by the death. 

Thank you......