Pursuits: A Journal of English Studies

The Posthuman Homo Faber in Atwood’s Oryx and Crake: An Ironic Portrayal

2023-06-06T02:45:05+00:00

As a dystopia, Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake speculates the looming consequences of scientific inventions and technologies manifested in the destruction of natural equilibrium and posthuman complexities. Homo sapiens' unlimited desires and aspirations for enhancement and excellence have driven humans to enact the Creator. Crake, almost a mad scientist in the novel, creates the Crakers — genetically modified humans. To analyze this life force, the paper uses theoretical insights of humanists like Giannozzo Manetti, Rene Descartes and Friedrich Nietzsche regarding their celebration of human exceptionalism, reason, and free will. But, to counter-argue transgression in the pretext of progress, the paper also uses Donna Haraway’s concept of inter-speciesism and Rosi Braidotti’s critical posthumanism. They promote interdependence, critical review of the past and abstinence to address the posthuman crises and existential dilemmas. The enhanced Crakers are immune to starvation and ordinary diseases, devoid of art, imagination and creativity; but ironically feed on grass and their own excrement, and lack the essence of being human. They challenge Crake's genome project by transcending the lab-limitations but adapting to natural evolution. Hence, this paper examines Atwood's speculation of how modern science and technology distorts the symbiosis and disfigures the humans resulting in unwanted negotiations for survival. A post-human homofaber, Crake tries to resolve the existential crisis by eliminating the Bastion of humanity itself but ironically dehumanizes the human. The question is how far will humanity overrule nature? Who is accountable to repair the earth? Thus, this paper enables a thought exercise to retrospect on human insensibility and undergo abstinence of desires and luxury to save the future of this planet and lives from facing the impending apocalypse, as shown in the novel.

Construction of Lahure Culture in Nepali Literature

2023-06-06T02:59:02+00:00

The Gurkha and lahure with identical sense has gained their name and fame in western discourse. After the Anglo-Gorkha war fought in 1814-16 A. D., the hill-people of Nepal joined in British and Indian army forces and were referred to as ‘Gorkhas’ or ‘Goorkhali’or 'lahure'. The British rulers referred to them as ‘Gurkhas’ and British construction of lahure culture brought a division between lahure and non-lahure in Nepali society. It reveals that the practice of Gurkha as a product of western imperialism is still in use. The orientalist martial discourse dominates the historiography of Gurkhas. This article uses Lionel Caplan's theory that deals with the Gurkhas in the context of the western military imagination. The recruitment in military force accepted the Gurkha culture and turned their mythological character into reality to a considerable increase in Gurkha recruitment. The fact that Nepali writers and singers raised the different voices to accept and oppose the reality of lahure culture.

Coolie from Marxist Perspective in Mulk Raj Anand’s Coolie

2023-06-06T03:13:26+00:00

The aim of this article is to analyze critically about Mulk Raj Anand's novel Coolie from Marxist perspective. Although Marxist theory of literature developed out of Marx’s and Engel's general remarks concerning culture, art and literature in relation to their discussion about social economic and political questions as a literary theory. So Marxist criticism can be taken as the twentieth century phenomenon. Coolie is a great work of art and a number of themes and ideas have been woven into its texture. However, its central theme is the exploitation of the poor and the under-privileged by the forces of capitalism, industrialism and colonialism. This theme had been studied in depth with reference to Munoo, a poor, helpless orphan, who is denied his fundamental right to life and happiness, who is exploited and made to suffer, till he dies of consumption. Munoo is not the only victim of such exploitation, the novelist makes it quite clear, that such exploitation and denial of life and happiness is the lot of the poor everywhere in India, whether in villages or big cities like Daulatpur and Bombay. The lot of the poor is equally wretched and miserable whether in rural or urban India.

Shaileshwarī as the Goddess of Power and Creation in Her Mythological Literature

2023-06-06T03:24:44+00:00

This paper attempts to highlight the paurānic ("mythical") or religious story of the temple of Goddess Shaileshwarī of Silgadhi, Doti under Seti zone, Nepal with Northrop Frey's theories of Myth Criticism, Archetypal Criticism, and the Quest-Myth so that the people of Nepal and India would know about the temple's mythical and religious importance. By spreading the temple's mythical story in Nepal and India, we could promote the religious tourism of Nepal, especially of the local area. The story of Goddess Shaileshwarī goes back to the Satya Yuga when Shiva and Pārvatī got married as mentioned in the "Mānas Khand" of The Holy Skanda Purān. After Their marriage, They stayed in the temple area to enjoy Their divine honeymoon for some time. Then, Brahmā (the Creator) came to this temple and prayed to Pārvatī, now known as Shaileshwarī or Shilādevī. Similarly, two Indian Brāhmans and Lord Rām―all three from India― visited the temple, worshipped, and prayed to Shiva and Pārvatī, and were blessed by Her in the Tretā Yuga. Shaileshwarī is the Goddess of the universe who fulfils Her devotees' desires. Shiva and Pārvatī are the archetypal symbols or primordial images of creation, destruction, re-creation, power, knowledge, and a sacred sexual union. Every male and female creature is a living embodiment of Shiva and Pārvatī. Also, Shiva and Pārvatī live in each other's body as Ardhanārīshwara ("Lord Shiva whose left part is of Goddess Pārvatī "). So, every male and female is divine and both have each other's qualities, too.

Ecological Conscience in Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things

2023-06-06T03:35:30+00:00

This paper analyses how the twin protagonists reflect their ecological conscience despite modern development in Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things (1997) from an eco-critical perspective. Roy's narrative revolves around the frightening image of River Meenachal after the rapid development of the tourism industry in Kerala, India. The novel projects the interconnection of human beings, plants, and animals with River Meenachal. But the pollution into the lifeblood invites numerous hazards into nature. The encroachment toward the river occurs with modern materialistic development in India. Its immediate impact falls badly on plants, animals, and human beings. These issues in the novel invite a systematic exploration with the eco-critical insights proposed by Aldo Leopold and Paul W. Taylor. As a qualitative applied research, this paper draws on ideas from Leopold's concept of “Land Community” and Taylor's “Bio-centric Outlook”. An ecological conscience is the only way to get out of the complexities caused by modern development. Harmony and integration with nature render the vibration of ecological sublimity to the protagonists. Their reflection secures the ecological future of Kerala, India, as well as other parts of the world.

Dialectics of Subaltern voices in Barbara Nimri Aziz’s Heir to a Silent Song

2023-06-06T04:33:57+00:00

Heir to a Silent Song is a prose work by an American writer, anthropologist, critic and a vibrant researcher Barbara Nimri Aziz. Beside the delineation of her travel record and the rustic life of common people living in the eastern hills, the prose echoes the subaltern voices as a protest against evils and aberrations existing in the social system. As an epitome of the voices of the voiceless, it depicts the plight, the grievances and the pathos of basically two female rebels from the eastern hills of Nepal: Yogmaya and Durgadevi.

Subaltern studies are the study of social protest, and the social exclusion and exploitation. Since subaltern refers to the group of oppressed, suppressed and marginalized people, Aziz ventures to portray them as the messiahs of subaltern people in her work. This paper strives to explore how Aziz delineates them as the representative figures of subaltern aesthetics. It attempts to answer the questions: “How do Yogmaya and Durga Devi represent subaltern voices? and what do they combat for? ”This research study conceptualizes the theoretical frameworks of subaltern theories to invigorate the study. Aziz presents how two women combat for female rights and justice for the poor and low class people in the contemporary society during Rana regime. The desperate struggle of two subaltern females against social evils like caste and gender discriminations, corruption, exploitation, fraudulent activities etc. is a striking thrust of the prose work.

The Interplay of Class Struggle and Human Relationships in G. G Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera

2023-06-06T04:48:15+00:00

Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his Love in the Time of Cholera explores complex themes of social injustice, class struggle, and alienation in a Spanish colonial town located along the Caribbean coast of Colombia. He uses a masterful blend of magical realism, vivid imagery, and insightful prose to offer a poignant portrayal of the societal inequalities that plague the town and its inhabitants. At the centre of the novel's narrative are the two young lovers, Florentino and Fermina, who are separated by their social classes. Fermina's father expects her to marry Urbino, a man who can elevate their family's social status.

Marquez illustrates how Florentino, despite his deep love for Fermina, is confined by his lower social class and thus must work tirelessly to amass wealth with the help of his uncle. This struggle for social mobility is a powerful commentary on the constraints that exist within the town's social hierarchy. Throughout the novel, Marquez aptly captures the complex interplay between social classes and the effects they have on individuals. He shows how societal expectations and constraints can tear individuals apart and how class consciousness can have a devastating impact on human relationships. The power dynamics in the society are portrayed with great sensitivity, and the author offers a stark reminder of the injustices that exist in the society.

The novel is also rich in symbolism, which adds another layer of meaning to the narrative. The image of cholera, which permeates the novel, serves as a metaphor for the moral decay and sickness that exist within the town's social hierarchy. The character of Fermina also serves as an embodiment of the struggle against social conventions and the desire for personal freedom. The text offers a profound commentary on the human condition. Marquez's insightful understanding of social inequality and the effects of class consciousness on individuals is masterfully portrayed in the novel.

The Lived Experiences of Students and Teachers with Disability in Keller’s and Wright’s Autobiographical Works

2023-06-06T05:15:11+00:00

The study explores the lived experiences of students and teachers with disabilities inside schools/colleges while pursuing their studies and working in Hellen Keller’s The Story of My Life and Mary Herring Wright’s Sounds Like Home: Growing up Black and Deaf in the South. This study inquires what they have experienced and how they have made meanings from the campus phenomena. This research has utilized the disability studies theory, specially based on Alice Hall and Tobin Siebers, to interpret the selected autobiographical texts, and note-taking technique has been used to collect the required information from the autobiographical texts. The findings of the study are that the school/college infrastructures, practices, the executives’ attitudes are unfriendly, hostile and adverse to the students and teachers with disabilities while pursuing studies and working at schools/colleges. They suggest that the executives, administrators and other physically normal teachers and students can create the disabled-friendly physical, academic and social environment at the educational institutions if they slightly modify their attitudes and practices, and eliminate their conscious negligence to the needs of the disabled. The findings of the study can motivate the executives to enable physical and social (attitudes and practices) environment and service delivery, address the needs and demands of the disabled, and manage the required sources/materials and performance assessment system in schools/campuses.

Artistic Craftsmanship and Architectural Representation of Newar Rituals in the Heritages: Study of Krishna Mandir and Adinatha

2023-06-06T05:30:19+00:00

Artistic-architectural craftsmanship in and around the Krishna Mandir in Patan and Adinath Temple in Chovar Kirtipur are based on myth making of the factual and fictional world representation of the history of art and artistic development. Arts, performances and activities of the god-goddesses carved in the statues and portraits reflected there in different positions are researchable. Erotic activities carved in the statues, tudals and roofs expose then activities of gods-goddesses that reflect the history of our ancestor’s and the present ritual groups worship there on the statue with certain expectations as they believe that the honor of gods-goddesses is to fulfill their dreams and desires with their blessings. The objective of this article is to show the importance of historical arts and architectural craftsmanship-based activities that create the relationship among nature, religion and human-non human activities. To achieve the research goal, this study centers in ritual activities and artistic representation on the historical places of Adinath Temple in Kirtipur and Krishna Mandir at Patan in Nepal. This researcher applies Cultural and Environmental study methods through field visit applying interview-based technique. Finding of this paper is that the carving nature and carved portraits in and around Krishna Mandir and Adinath Temple are reflections of the socio-cultural activities connected with cultural history.

American Exceptionalism, and Jasmine’s Agency and Self-identity in Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine

2023-06-06T05:40:40+00:00

The paper examines the development of Jasmine’s agency and self-identity in her all avatars – Jyoti, Jasmine, Jazzy, Jane and Jase – during her odyssey from Hasnapur to Iowa. Drawing and departing different critics and thinkers like James W. Ceaser, Johannes Thimm, and Stephen M. Walt, it shows whether American ideology fortifies her becomingness of a self-willed female protagonist in her troublesome life experience of poverty, exile and immigration. Hence, the paper argues that her the agency and self-identity to act on her own freewill remains all the same even to the end despite being exposed to the American ideals of liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, republicanism, democracy and laissez faire economics. American exposure does not significantly change her determination and spirit that she has shown while boldly denying the prediction of her widowhood and exile by shouting at the astrologer. Hence, the paper argues that her the agency and self-identity to act on her own freewill remains all the same even to the end.

Shattered Dream in Gopinath Mohanty’s Paraja

2023-06-06T05:51:09+00:00

This paper attempts to analyze an amazing picture of the tribal people as known Paraja in the third world countries. They live around the river and ponds of the dense forest. Through the acts of tyranny and atrocity, the moneylenders, exploit their illiteracy and human rights. The unity of Paraja illustrates poverty-ridden Sukru Jani, the protagonist of the novel, Paraja. It portrays the sense of loss and feeling of revenge grown in the tribal people at the end. Though poor and illiterate, he is a giant pillar against the social power system. The novel shows how the moneylender or governor harasses and compels the tribal community. The tribal people innocently fall in the coil of the village landlord agency of the government, because they are not skilled and knowledgeable. They are culturally deprived and exploited by the moneylender in the society.

Traumatic impact of Tran Mong Tu in her poem “The Gift in Wartime”

2023-06-06T05:59:22+00:00

This study surveyed the traumatic impacts of Tran Mong Tu in her poem, “The Gift in Wartime”. The poem is related to the Vietnam War (1954-1975) survivors and Tu’s trauma. As Tu’s husband’s death traumatized her and she expressed her frustration and tension in the poem, several other war victims were traumatized. Her trauma represented the Vietnam War survivors. This research attempted to find out the cathartic release of war veterans' traumatic impacts. She behaved like an abnormal person. She offered her husband roses and tears on his grave. The findings of the study showed that one of the best therapies or cathartic release of traumatic impacts was to forget it, compromise it and purge it. Transformation and purgation are the best ways to release the trauma. The study focuses on realizing the fact and being satisfied by adjusting to the situation. Trauma has not been studied yet from this angle. Crying might be the most common ways of outlet of cathartic release. Releasing the trauma depends on the individual’s tackling and compromise. Writing is the best way of releasing the trauma although listening to music also lessens it. Tu attempted to release her traumatic pain through her poems. She suffered psychologically from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study employed the trauma theory to analyze the poem.

The Impact of Western Civilization on Forests in Barkskins

2023-06-06T06:08:07+00:00

This research article very critically scrutinizes how forests in North America are devastated by the growing human civilization. It deals with ecological degradation in an American novelist Annie Proulx’s novel Barkskins whose location is North America. In course of analysing the novel critically, the article describes how Barkskins revolves round the story of white colonists and indigenous Indians in North America or today’s Canada. Firstly, it reveals how two families: Sel family (a poor biracial family of French and Mi’kmaq) that cuts trees and Duke family (rich French family) that does business of fur are linked to trees and deforestation. Secondly, the article focuses on the impact of western civilization on forests regarding forests as the antagonist to western civilization. Western colonialism is also a vehicle of civilization that causes deforestation. Due to civilization, humanism is developed. So, anthropocentric nature of people causes deforestation. Thirdly, European civilization has a negative impact on Indigenous people and their culture. Apparently, forests are shown as a symbol of darkness, evil forces, backwardness and an obstacle for human progress, but in the name of civilization, whites do deforestation due to their greed of colonization and anthropocentric nature. Hence, the first objective of the research is to explore why the whites regard forests as the antagonist to civilization. Likewise, the second objective of the article is to discover the real cause of them to do deforestation. Besides, as for the broad theoretical methodology, Greg Garrard’s theory of Ecocriticism is applied for the textual analysis of Barkskins since the article deals with the ecological destruction of North America by whites and ecocriticism has emerged as a response to the heavy damage done to ecology by human beings.

Recognition and Identity of Minorities in Nepal

2023-06-06T06:18:07+00:00

This article underpins the multitude of minorities’ identity in cultural diversity of Nepal. Identity for conscious beings including the underprivileged in Nepal becomes crucial when they feel being discarded and marginalized in almost all aspects of the political territory wherein they deserve the right to lead respectful citizenry lives. This paper questions the deprivation of the minorities including Muslims, and Dalits from the social and political engines of development. The article seeks to unleash the minorities from the pool of domination, and oppression by exploring the solutions to the problems as faced by the deprived communities over the centuries in Nepal. Identity is associated with the cultural and social properties which are sought after by the respective groups. These properties enrich the communities and let them express and retain their significance through in both societal and political lives. The existing literature shows that Muslims, and Dalits are the most marginalized and deprived communities in almost all sectors of political, social and cultural life the country accorded as the nation to respect the principles of equality, diversity, and justice in the constitution of Nepal 2015. However, these communities suffer inequality, injustice, and discriminations in nearly all respects of life. The state does not seriousness in identifying and addressing the problems of these communities in a substantive manner. This paper by employing the qualitative research design has studied the secondary data on identity and recognition of the deprived communities to investigate into the status of Muslims, and Dalits in the light of the principles of multiculturalism.

Matter, Motion, and Laws of Motion of Matter

2023-06-06T06:28:39+00:00

This article explores fundamental properties inherent in matter. It is relevant to identifying the role of matter over human consciousness and the development of the universe. The article addresses the research problems concerning the primacy of matter or consciousness, mutability or the immutability of the matter, and law-abided or random motion of matter. The article deals with the research problems through the review-based analysis of the dialectical materialistic critique of the basic properties of matter. The article reveals that matter is primary over consciousness and there is nothing immutable in the universe. Motion is inherent in a matter and it is law-abided. There are two contradictory aspects inside a thing and the unity between them is relative and the struggle is absolute. A thing comes to its qualitative change through its quantitative change and the qualitative change leads the thing to new quantitative change for the new qualitative change. The thing moves to a new stage of development negating the old one and after several negations, there is the repetition of the first one. This repetition does not signify just the replacement of the old one, but it will be more advanced both in quantity and quality.