Religious Oppression and Injustices in the Irish Order of Nuns: A Critical Examination of the Film “Philomena” (Published)
This paper explores the themes and criticisms raised in the film “Philomena” regarding the Irish order of nuns and their treatment of women and children. The film sheds light on the injustices committed by the nuns, such as forced adoptions and the oppression of unmarried mothers. It highlights the role of religion in shaping societal attitudes towards sexuality and the consequences faced by those who violated these moral standards. The paper discusses the film’s portrayal of both compassionate and cruel nuns, questioning the credibility and morality of the entire Catholic order. It emphasizes the need for specificity when addressing the injustices committed by the nuns and acknowledges that not all nuns share the same behaviours or beliefs. Furthermore, the paper explores the role of journalism in uncovering these past injustices and the tension between the media and the secretive nature of the convent. Overall, “Philomena” serves as a timely reminder of the historical mistreatment and oppression endured by women and children in Catholic Ireland, calling for a re-evaluation of religious moral standards and the treatment of the vulnerable.
Keywords: Hypocrisy, Irish order of nuns, oppression., religious moral standards
Irony as Narrative Tool in Uwem Akpan’s Say You’re One of Them and Wale Okediran’s After the Flood: A Comparative Approach (Published)
The study decries violence in all its ramifications including that perpetrated by nature and its elements, or that inflicted on one another by the characters in the works, or that unleashed on the audience by the authors who appear to be insensitive to readers’ psychology in the fictionalization of violence. It argues that the relationship between art and reality is not imitation which argument the Baroque model sustains, but distortion. And the failure to realize this robs art of its intrinsic value and presents nearly one to one correspondence. The study is somewhat hypothetical and somewhat theoretical in its espousal of the technique of irony, stating that the two works in analysis are shrouded in ironies. It postures that irony has both literary and social functions. The literary function is demonstrated in open contrasting and antithetical phenomena, whereas the social function is manifest in social criticism in which it uses other devices, especially satire to accomplish. In the course of performing this second function, the study shows that the authors have deployed irony in these works to reveal hypocrisy in religious/ethnic ideologies, corruption and quackery, ignorance and primitiveness.
Keywords: Baroque, Distorts, Flood, Hypocrisy, Imitates, Quackery, Religious and Ethnic Violence, irony