Oral Literature and the Representation of the Image of the woman in the Contemporary African Context: The Study of Nso, Mbum and Idoma Proverbs (Published)
The paper investigates the representation of the image of the woman in oral literature using selected proverbs from Nso, Mbum and Idoma oral communities. The paper is anchored on the prediction that these proverbs are both ideologically and aesthetical relevant to the communities that produce them. The thrust of argument of this paper resides around the premise that the languages of the people are vectors of their significant view points, and collective cultural experiences. The study holds that as an aspect of oral literature, proverbs serve various functions and one of such is that as mirrors of the social and cultural experiences of the people they can be read as instruments that reveal how women are viewed, thought of, expected to act, live and behave in the society. From the functionalist perspective and the relevance theoretic lens, the paper sees proverbs as contributing in uncountable ways to the positive transformation of oral communities due to their dynamic and transcendental character. The analysis revealed that the selected proverbs under scrutiny in this study are effective instruments through which one can perceive the representation of the image of a woman in most African oral communities for a better transformation, recognition, and reevaluation of developmental policies.
Keywords: Oral literature, Proverbs, Representation., image, woman
Justine Moritz, a subaltern in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (Published)
Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley represents series of critical issues like disability, gender, inequality, masculinity, and among those issues and concerns, the representation of the “subaltern,” especially of the “female gendered subaltern,” is particularly significant because it plays a decisive role in examining the social context of the novel. In contemporary literary criticism, postcolonial theory is one of the most gripping schools of thought. The subaltern, as a theoretical concept in literary criticism, stays under the umbrella of Postcolonial theory. “Subaltern,” a term was first familiarized by Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist and political activist, refers to people represented as being of inferior status or rank; subordinate of rank, power, authority and action. This essay, the result of my study on the novel and the subaltern, argues that Justine Moritz is a subaltern and her representation in the novel, voice and silence, alienation, resistance and death are integral components of her subalternity. It considers the illustration of Justine Moritz as a character, the treatment she gets as a member of the community and as an individual, her social mobility, her being trapped in an oppressive system, her being abused by the creature, her psycho-alienation and her struggle and resistance to establish her own agency as a subaltern. It will review the concept of “subaltern” given by such critics and thinkers as Antonio Gramsci, Ranajit Guha, and Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak. Then, it will interpret close reading with a special focus on the character of Justine Moritz to find out her positionality and relevance to “subalternity,” with reference to the establishment of her individual subaltern agency through her death. However, analysis in this essay will examine how hegemony and supremacy of the dominant class plays constructive role, and will also include examples of subaltern resistance against the hegemonic power structure though this act of resistance leads to death and destruction. The methodology of this essay is analytical and substantial help from secondary sources will be taken.
Citation: Mohammed Shaifuddin (2022) Justine Moritz, a subaltern in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, European Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, Vol.10, No.7, pp.12-23
Keywords: Frankenstein, Gramsci, Hegemony, Justine, Representation., Spivak, Subaltern
The Image of Victorian Women As Depicted In Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (Published)
This paper attempts to explore how successful Charlotte Bronte is in creating for her novel Jane Eyre a heroine of her age, dramatizing her own autobiography, including social problems that she encountered as a woman during the Victorian era. And how she can tackle and address many nineteenth century Victorian social problems such as class and gender inequality, race prejudice, and religious beliefs. The research uses the descriptive analytical method, and in it is revealed that Bronte has deliberately created Jane, the main character along with other female characters to refute Victorian inherited conventions that treated women unfairly, many critics and writers think and confirm that women were oppressed during Victorian era. Bronte made an innovation by raising a powerful, passionate, female character who can articulate her thought, and fight for her rights. This portrayal contracts with the real women images of Victorian time, who were oppressed and marginalized by men. It is sum up that Charlotte Bronte revolts against the inequality between men and women during the nineteenth century, she portrays this rejection in the Jane Eyre’s resistant behavior.
Keywords: Inferior, Representation., Response, image, passionate
Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass”: An Irony of Inclusiveness (Published)
Although some believe that Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” is inclusionary democratic poem, it additionally is exclusionary. Widely read as carrying the idea of inclusive democracy and nationalism, the critics like Betsy Erkkila defines him not only as an American but the world citizen in terms of his inclusive thoughts. But this claim of Whitman’s inclusiveness is ironically lacking in the poem, “Leaves of Grass” and in the reality. Whitman sounds rather sentimental than real in the poem. Though he seems to celebrate democracy, his idea of nationalism has failed to give comparatively equal space to the minorities of immigrants, African-Americans and Native Americans. Moreover, in his efforts to appear inclusive he sounds exclusive that has given an imperial tone to the poem. This paper aims at showing the gap between the ideal notion of nationalism and the problem of excluding minor nationalities in the poem. This contrast of Whitman’s ideal and the real will be discussed primarily with reference to the textual evidences and analysis with the ideas of critics. After some basic concepts of democracy and justice, the paper is to bring that issue into consideration.
Keywords: Democracy, Imperial, Inclusiveness, Minorities, Nationalism, Representation.
Depressing Connections between the Misogynist Project of Political Islam and Western Academia in the Backdrop of Literary Work of Khaled Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ (Published)
This paper seeks to explore the role of political Islam, its relation with the West and its impact on the women of Afghanistan. It discusses the term political Islam, discourse issue of Islamic feminism, demonstrates the power of patriarchy and displays the Western project to support misogynist construction of Islam. It shows how the framework of Islamic feminism re-describes political Islam as a discursive establishment, simultaneously; it presents Esposito’s insights on the representation of political Islam in the West. Furthermore, this paper investigates the subjugated Living of women focussing on an understanding the misogynist attempts that marginalize women. A small critique of some postcolonial works illustrating the chauvinist character of identity politics in Muslim societies is used to explore the set assumptions. Theoretical model of Islamic feminism provides methodology for analyses of A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007). This paper concludes that this novel presents a flourishing view of Islam and reinforces the need to educate the West about the Islamic concept of peace, tolerance and gender indiscrimination.
Keywords: Islamic Feminism, Patriarchy, Political Islam, Representation.