Northrop Frye - Archetypes of Literature

Hello Readers!

We are familiar with movies, TV soaps and plays. Numbers of movies are there which are adapted from various novels and fiction literature. They all have various implications of meanings and symbols to convey the message in a particular way. 

Northrop Frye was the critic who described various theories regarding archetypes. Though the concept of archetypes was precisely given by a Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. Jungian archetypes study the human personality and psyche, whereas Frye's archetypes study the patterns and symbols of literature. 

Jung's (left) archetypes of psyche and N. Frye's (right) literary archetypes

Archetypes are different pattern through which we read various things. Through archetypes we can make a better picture of various things in mind. E.g., we are reading a novel in which we read various symbols like water, fire, palace, landscape, animals etc. These are the markers which create a patter in our mind to make an image of something. In a Bollywood movie Aakhree Raasta, in which Amitabh Bachchan is in double role. A particular scene of graveyard in the movie can be considered as an  archetype because it signifies that something tragic can happen in the plot. Archetypes are psychologically refers to one's psyche. There is also an interesting study of psyche in which three parts are there, conscious, subconscious and unconscious. It is our collective unconscious which records the patterns, images and actions.

Archetypal criticism is a branch of literary theory in which a work of art is justified through various literary archetypes. E.g., types of narratives, patterns of actions, persona of characters, images and symbols in story, etc. The human body has various types of skin colors, faces and voices, but to see in a deeper context we can see the skeleton of body is the same in all humans, no matter of gender, skin color or geographical backgrounds. The same way literature also has a particular skeleton which can be seen as the beginning, the middle part or progress and the end. To be precise, every narrative has this three basic elements. The critics and theorists who have worked on the archetypal criticism are Northrop Frye, Carl Jung and J. G. Frazer.

Archetypal critic emphasizes on the symbols, images, patterns and actions of the characters etc. The archetypal critics' work is to give critique on the narrative and to bring out the commonly used archetypes used in a work of art. To see this in a wider context we can study various films, web series, and TV shows also.

By giving analogy of Physics to Nature and Criticism to Literature, Frye is trying to emphasize giving proper justice to literature. Nature is foundational core of physics, a branch of science. In the same manner literature is the base on which criticism is being taught. But when mentioned, it is said that physics is taught, through nature. Similarly,  criticism is taught through various literatures. It can be said that whatever we learn through literature is criticism of life. Rather than stating that I am a student of literature, it should be said that I am studying criticism through literature.

Just the way science and technology, physics, chemistry, commerce are considered as organised body of knowledge, criticism is also an organized body of knowledge, because it studies various work of art in a particular method, methods given by various respective critics and theorists. Critics just like scientists, try to prove their views with reason and arguments. Being a part of literature, criticism is also worth studying branch of knowledge. 

Since ages, it has been a firm and strong relation of literature with history and philosophy. When a creative writer sits down to write something he always has some historical sense in background. Just like some mobile applications run in background on smartphones. Literature is criticized with the historical sense and philosophical approach. 

* Inductive Method - illustration of grave digger scene from particular to general. It is the method of looking at things with a wide view or in a larger context. E.g., looking at a picture with a very close view will not show the fullest version of it. But if we step few steps back we see the better and clear picture. Thus this method is applicable in the Hamlet's grave digger scene. Hamlet is in a graveyard and he is holding a skull of a jester, Yorick. He communicates with diggers. It generalizes that whatever or whoever we are, death will make everybody general and common. Because death is common and general for all.

* Deductive Method - This method moves from general to particular. Music moves in time, because it opens up with rhythms, words, and melody. Just one words after the another, second by second. Painting moves in space, because it appears directly and wholly at a time. We see the full pattern of painting all at once. In music rhythms are temporal and in paintings, patterns are spatial. When a critic applies those things in any work, he mixes up both the thing. Arts move with both the things temporally and spatially. We can say that literature is made up of words. Words can have both, rhythm and words bound together create a picture. 

* Indian season also have similarity with archetypes because seasons are also considered as archetypes, such as winter as death, summer as meeting time, spring as birth or beginning etc. In Indian concept also there are three mains seasons, each having two sub-seasons.

Based on the seasonal grid this lyrics of a Gujarati poem written by Priyakant Maniyar

This poem is highlighting the archetype of autumn, (પાનખર). Autumn is considered as archetype for separation or sorrowfulness. Here also a pain of a feather is described in the season of autumn. It is separated from the wings of a bird, swinging in the air. Once flown at the height of the sky, now fallen like a leaf from the barren tree.

Thank You!

References:
* "પાનખર", pp 59, શેઠ, ચંદ્રકાન્ત, "પ્રિયકાન્ત મણિયારનાં કાવ્યો", આદર્શ પ્રકાશન, (2006). 

Workshop on Cultural Studies 2019

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On 27th December 2019, a full day workshop on Cultural Studies was organised at the department of English, MK Bhavnagar University. The resource speaker Dr. Kalyani Vallath from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala was invited for detailed explanation of the subject.

Cultural studies is not only the branch of study but also the study of politics, nature, environment, people so on and so forth. Cultural studies contains multiple studies within itself. If one wants to study the culture, one should require a bunch of knowledge of historical sense, traditions, religions, etc. Cultural studies include capitalism, politics, communication, multimedia, advertisement and much more. In order to study this topic, one should be ready to dive deep into the ocean of various cultures. Critics and theorists have given many arguments and opinions about cultural studies. Stuart Hall was the major figure who worked at first about the cultural studies. It seems that in the early 1950s and 60s, the systematic study was established.

* If a layman meets the student of literature and language, one would explain him about cultural studies like this.

Culture means what we do in our daily life. What clothes we wear, how we cook our food, and which festivals we celebrate, what language we speak, how we use the mode of transportation, how we communicate with one another; all those things are defining our culture. It also consists the types of rites and rituals we follow and to which community we belong to. The culture is the mixture of all those things. Many learned people have made this thing a part of study and they have found many interesting things. Nowadays students are selecting this subject as their major and doing their best in the field.

* If one is asked in an interview to teach cultural studies, here is the way one can introduce the subject to the students.

"Students, welcome to the realm of cultural studies. As you all know that even having similar human bodies we still differ from each other in many ways. For example, this class also has it's own culture, because it contains various students coming from different areas and regions. This is the fundamental idea of culture. It doesn't deal with the question who we are, but it surely deals with how we are. If you are accessing internet then you'll be able to find out many blogs and articles related to cultural studies. Here I've shared the link of my blog to your social media group to read something on the subject. Furthermore, this is also culture. Many years back there were very few incidents that people were able to see or meet each other in person, because of lack of transportation, or communication. But here we can see that culture, like time and space is gradually changing and expanding itself. Just as I've shared my work without showing you any physical paper holding in my hand, and still you are able read my blog through internet and smartphones. The interesting thing about culture is it's so plural. If you will just look around yourself, you will find many same things but still different from each other. The people we see around us are so different. Their faces, their skin color, their attires, their apatite, their language, their festivals, their religious practices... and the list will be longer than we imagine. Now let's dive deep into the sea of cultural studies. This is just the beginning, in details we shall see how scholars have furthered this studies."

The whole session was full of examples and interesting talks. I remember the example of food Kalyani mam had given. India is so plural and it is the best place to talk about cultural studies. From North India to South India we have variety of foods and dishes.

The entire workshop was very fruitful and full of references and examples. Thanks to our head of the department, Dr. Dilip Barad for organizing this workshop. Special thanks to Dr. Kalyani Vallath for sparing her precious time for the students.

Thank You!

Literature and Religion - Sunday Reading

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Literature gives liberal values and ideas. It sharpens our minds and enables us, to think rationally, to look at things with multidimensional ways. Whereas religion tries to bind the horizons of thinking. Mostly religions are rich with myths and narratives. They seem very near to truth but if looked at length, they are just stories. Experiences and incidents make stories and narratives. The cause and effect are bound in such a way that narrative looks like a true event.

In literature, poetry is considered as criticism of life. Thus a creative writer is a critic at first place. He observes life and various experiences and puts his views into words. By producing literature, he takes a neutral standpoint and throws light on what people are unable to see. In this era of post-truth, speaking of religion at length, it conditions human minds in such a way that things which are unacceptable scientifically, are being believed blindly. This blindfolded walk of religion leaves people speechless, thoughtless and incompatible for questioning.

On the other hand, fields like science, information technology, business and commerce are continuously growing in their researches and giving their best to the world. Such as businesses are now shifted to digital platforms and sciences are expanding their horizons towards galaxies and universes. Here we scarcely find the little connection of religion. Scientist always problematize the problem and question almost everything. Reasonably, they break the arguments and make new theories from one to another. Is seems that only a little part of the population is awaken and the latter major part is still sleeping and waiting for some miraculous being to do something for them. Perhaps they might be thinking that religion will do something worthy. Thought the characters and caricatures we have read in various religions seem very true and real, but they are not. It is us who will have to wake up and thing rationally, cultivate habits for questioning. Here is am image of write up from a Gujarati writer and Columnist Jay Vasavada.

Clicked on 29/12/2016 from the previous day's magazine, Shatdal (શતદલ)

With his striking words towards our incapability to question, Jay Vasavada satires our stereotype habits. The words from image say : "We don't have the habit to question. Because the present 'gurus' - whether they are of religion or education, teach us that, "Don't ask questions, do what we ask you to do." Questions asked in the right direction set us to go deeper to find the answers, to quest and to explore the answers. Thus the horizons of knowledge expand. Rather than licking the forwarded philosophies from WhatsApp, positive change comes only if something is self learned, self understood." - Jay Vasavada writes in Shatdal dated 28/12/2016.

* India was a land of dharma but Europeans reduced it to Hinduism, Islam. And we accepted it.

"The term Dharma does not mean religion. It simply means duty."

Due to the lack of historical sense, we mistook various terms and interpreted them on our own, and created narratives around them. Not all of the ancient text talk about Hinduism, but there are many texts which have given philosophical views even without talking about god. It has spirituality and philosophical Matas (मत) and Mimansas (मीमांसा), to which we call views, theories and hypotheses. Talking about religious texts, one article on Bhagvad Gita. Click the tile below to read.

* Bhagvad Gita wasn't always India's defining book. Another text was far more popular globally.

In his essay on Archetypes of Literature, Northrop Frye gives a hypotheses that:

"God for the critic, whether he finds him in Paradise Lost or the Bible, is a character in a human story; and for the critic all epiphanies are explained, not in terms of the riddle of a possessing god or devil, but as mental phenomena closely associated in their origin with dreams."

"Religion is nothing but a narrative and God is just a character in that narrative."

Myth, as the basic archetype in all the literature, carries forward the narrative. In religion we find numerous myths and they all have stories. E.g. from the epic Ramayana, we find various narratives like Ram and Ravana fight, Kidnapping of Sita, Shabari's prolonged wait for Ram, massacre of Jatayu and many more. Similarly form the epic Mahabharata, we find myths like Krishna's birth and his adventures, myth of Parshuram's meeting with Karna, etc. If one looks at those myths though the lenses of criticism and archetypes, one will find that all the events are highly loaded with archetypes and events. Events carry the environment and inside it, we find plot, characters, and the chain of cause and effect. Thus they create a narrative and obviously they would have tragic and comic end also. 

Here is a worth reading Wikipedia page to read about Relationship between religion and science.

Critic's job is to justify the work of art without having any prejudicial notions and thoughts. World view of literature is possible because of criticism. Literature without criticism is like a vehicle without headlights. During the day time literature may enjoy the momentary space but when the darkness occurs, (time passes) it won't be able to survive without the headlights of criticism. Northrop Frye, through his essay, has given sharp and appropriate views on archetypes and world literature. Articles and images mentioned above have helped students to understand more about religion and literature.

Thank You!

References:

* Banerjee, Prathama. “India Was a Land of Dharma but Europeans Reduced It to Hinduism, Islam. And We Accepted It.” ThePrint, The Print, 28 Dec. 2019, https://theprint.in/opinion/india-was-a-land-of-dharma-but-europeans-reduced-it-to-hinduism-islam-and-we-accepted-it/341923/.

* Banerjee, Prathama. “Bhagavad Gita Wasn't Always India's Defining Book. Another Text Was Far More Popular Globally.” ThePrint, 15 Dec. 2019, https://theprint.in/opinion/bhagavad-gita-not-indias-defining-book-another-text-was-more-popular/334904/.

* “Relationship between Religion and Science.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Jan. 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_between_religion_and_science.

Story behind the Images

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A photographer always looks for a remarkable moment from which he can not only take photo but also can relate a good story also. Various types of images we see nowadays that contain very striking stories. On the grounds of religion, several images are currently being spread that contain stories that provoke us to think rationally, critically. Technology has also played very vital role in the campaign of any thought or idea through image. Memes and edited funny images convey the message instead of genuinely clicked photograph.

Here I've shared few images memes and images which will set us up to think critically.

Image on left. Many gadgets are there who receive our voice and immediately react and reply. Amazon is quite good at delivering things. Perhaps Virgin Mary wanted to remain virgin and yet wanted a baby. She might've spoken Jesus to Alexa but a living baby came as Amazon's standard delivery. Image on right. Mascot of McDonalds is hanged in the manner of crucifixion of Jesus. But this is not the actual image, here the mascot is smiling and his feet are rested on a little stand. It seems like this image is made as a counterpart of the actual one. Here is the unedited image.

ODED BALILTY / ASSOCIATED PRESS

An artwork called "McJesus," which was sculpted by Finnish artist Jani Leinonen and depicts a crucified Ronald McDonald, is seen on display as part of the Haifa museum's "Sacred Goods" exhibit, in Haifa, Israel, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. 

Fun apart, both the images are representation of a particular religion. Iconography is now emerging surprisingly different way. Editing tools and software are now easy available on the web and by modifying some parts the image can change into something new.

Thank You!

References:

* Kuruvilla, Carol. “Crucified Ronald McDonald Sculpture Sparks Protests In Israel.” HuffPost India, HuffPost India, 15 Jan. 2019, https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/mcjesus-haifa-israel-protests_n_5c3dff71e4b01c93e00dc8a5?ri18n=true.

* “The McDonald's Clown Crucified like Christ and the Diocese of Lanzhou.” CHINA-VATICAN, 21 Jan. 2019, http://www.asianews.it/news-en/The-McDonald's-clown-crucified-like-Christ-and-the-diocese-of-Lanzhou-46029.html.

* Shirlyn. “15 Funny Alexa Memes For Those Who Own The Echo.” Inspiring Pictures Quotes - SayingImages.com, 30 Sept. 2019, https://sayingimages.com/alexa-meme/.

Gazette - The Journal of Country

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Politics is the hot favorite topic in the morning discussion while having tea or coffee. People like to gossip on many things after reading newspaper, or after watching TV. But if we seriously look into any matter we come to know that gossips and facts are vary far from each other. In order to go deep into anything, firstly we require the original sources and documents. Especially speaking of political events, one can come to know the reality only by going through the original document. Though there are some reliable sources and news channels which provide us unbiased and transparent information. Let's have a quick view on some of the web resources which provide us best original content. There are also some official websites launched by Indian government.

Gazette is the official journal or rather a newspaper of any country. In India it is called भारत का राजपत्र. Gazette shows the current political happenings and incidents of the parliament. Here is the list of government gazettes. Almost all the countries now have their gazettes on the online platform. India also has the official website for the gazettes. Click here to visit the official website. There is one more interesting website which gives all the information about bills and amendments passed in the parliament. PRS Legislative Research. Click here to visit the website.

Nowadays India is witnessing a number of riots and protests regarding Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). In order to study what's going on in and around the burning topic, by following it's civic duty, one should go through all the original bills and circulars passed in relation to the said topic. As a citizen of India, one should be clear in one matter, that without looking deeper into any matter one should not raise voice neither in anything's favor or in against. We are seeing that how people are doing both, opposing and supporting this amendment. At many places of the country protest is happening on a larger grounds. Here I've put the official gazette of this amendment. Citizenship Amendment Act 2019.

In these two news reports we can see how people are vigorously protesting the amendment act and NRC.





Thank You!

Shashi Tharoor - Sahitya Akademi Award 2019

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Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician and currently serving as the member of the parliament, from Kerala. He is a fluent speaker of English language and has delivered many speeches at various places. People also get amazed by his rich vocabulary and by the usage of difficult words with long spellings. He has written many books highlighting political incidents and historical aspects. Recently his popular yet controversial book "An Era of Darkness: British Empire in India" has won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2019. Click here to read an article about it. The work Tharoor falls in the category of creative non-fiction. Sahitya Akadmi Award is given for literature every year. Click here to read the list of authors who have received this award till 2019.

Here are some videos in which Shashi Tharoor gives speeches and interviews. Let's have a look.

(1) Tharoor's speech at Oxford Union

Shashi Tharoor strikes very sharp arguments with the usage of word 'Loot'. During the time when India was known as "Sone Ki Chidiya" or "The Golden Sparrow", her GDP was much higher before arrival of British colonies. Tharoor again strikes that Britishers impoverished India by looting raw materials and transferring them to England. Here one question can be asked that can it be said that Industrial revolution wouldn't have taken place if India wouldn't have been colonized by British empire ? Tharoor again says that Prosperity of Britain is based on the de-industrialization of India. A very remarkable line from the video is this:

"The Sun never sets in the British Empire because even God couldn't trust the English in the dark." - Shashi Tharoor

(2) Looking Back at the British Raj in India

At the University of Edinburgh, Tharoor gave an excellent speech on looking back at British Raj. He talked about his PhD and most importantly about the academic rigor which is must required for writing any thesis or paper. This was very relating to the students of literature, especially who are doing their graduation and post - graduation. In a nut shell, Tharoor talks about how Britishers and other colonizers looted India. All the colonizers came to this country and robbed all the useful things. India was capable enough to produce textile and steel, and in agriculture also India was producing much organic and nutritious crops. But the drawback for India was new machinery and technology was not easily accepted. Otherwise India was potent enough to rule all over the world and govern the highly prestigious culture. In some manner it can be stated that the submissiveness of Indians was also the result of this colonization. Not a single empire would have dared to enter this country if the three watch words Liberty - Equality - Fraternity were applied among the princely states and provinces of India.

(3) Interview on his book "An Era of Darkness"

In this video Tharoor talks about his book An Era of Darkness. Britain transformed India from the richest country in the world to the poor country. Taxation, economy and many things were made weak. He says that how Britishers attacked the Indian economy by increasing tax. People, who were unable to pay the tax, were whipped, tortured and harassed, treated very cruelly by the Britishers. India was rich in many industries also, such as steel, textile, hand loom etc. These colonizers made Indians weak enough that Indians lost the courage to strike back, and raise the voice. By taking the advantage of this weakness, Britishers kept on looting and sucking the prosperity of India for 200 years.

(4) Another Interview on his book with Suhasini Krishnan




(5) Interview with Vishnu Varma

In the later 3 videos on the book written by Tharoor, he throws light on various aspects by attacking the British colonies and it's influence which lasted for 200 years. Indeed this book will be of a worth reading. None other than Tharoor have talked about Indian economy with such deep historical sense, and after having a close introduction to the book, if we try to write a brief critique on it, it stands as an individual talent with the parameters of T. S. Eliot's essay, Tradition and Individual Talent.

References:
(1) Agencies. “Shashi Tharoor Named for Sahitya Akademi Award 2019.” Millennium Post, Millennium Post, 19 Dec. 2019, http://www.millenniumpost.in/features/shashi-tharoor-named-for-sahitya-akademi-award-2019-391842.

(2) “List of Sahitya Akademi Award Winners for English.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Dec. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sahitya_Akademi_Award_winners_for_English.

Death - A Bitter Truth

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Have you ever thought about death ? Ever thought that how the experience it would be to face that moment ? Well these questions should be raised in our mind and one can be more positive about death. One should accept that the death is the bitter truth and one must accept it. Both, birth as well as death are such opposite ends that they sometimes seem very close to each other. As a student of English literature I see some reflection of the concept of death in some poems like John Keats's Ode to Nightingale, John Donne's Death Be Not Proud and so on.

For this thinking activity I've searched some death poets and their poems. Here's what I've found.

* According to Poemhunter.com there are 100 poems on death. Click here to visit the website. To name a few, Emily Dickinson, Pablo Neruda, William Butler Yeats, Elizabeth Browning, Kahlil Gibran, John Donne are some poets who wrote death poems.

* In the poem Death Be Not Proud, John Donne challenges death and denies the fear of death by writing the lines:

'For thou shall die'

Another poem on Death is Death is Nothing at All by Henry Scott Holand, and here are few lines of the poem.

Death is Nothing at All

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
That, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Here we can see that poet has denied the fear of death. The poet says through the lines that death is nothing but like changing the room. The attempt has been made to generalize the idea of death.

This is not the only example in which death is seen as normal thing. Some writers celebrate death and some mourn for it. To highlight the importance of death, pain or sorrow, there are certain images and metaphors for it. Such as winter and snowfall, darkness of the night, thorns with flowers, silence etc.

We all have many different experiences, both good and bad. But those who have produced literature about death, may have faced very crucial, more painful experience than the other people. This may be the reason for them to write on this topic. Though it can't be denied that when one sits down to read about death one becomes too judgmental about death. an individual thinks of death from the authors perspectives only. Such is the influence of the words on reader's mind. Philosophically thinking, death is the ultimate reality. Everyone wants to die without pain but and after observing that it's not happening so, writers have made an attempt to do catharsis through thinking of easy death.

Thank You!

ભારતીય કાવ્ય મીમાંસા - Indian Poetics

Hello Readers!

India has the vast ocean of multi-cultural folklore and legends. The country's iconic unity in diversity reflects the variety of culture, people, tradition, rites and rituals, clothing, food, and pleasant colors of festivals. How one can forget music while speaking of India? Ranging from classical to modern music, this country has vastness of Gharanas (family or lineage of music) and schools of musical instruments which have given many popular classical singers and instrument players. All in all, performing arts, to name a few, painting, singing, dancing and acting have their deep roots in the Sanskrit scriptures. Most importantly, language plays pivotal role in the expression of emotions and feelings. The Indians speak multiple languages, like Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, English, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and many others. These languages have the widespread discourse, ranging from ancients and modern family of languages. Click here to know more about Indian languages. As a student of language and literature, I'd like to share the shining gems of knowledge of Indian Poetics.

If we look at the Indian Poetics (भारतीय काव्य मीमांसा) as a branch of study, it can be said that this text is far ahead from our time. In the Western world, critics like Plato, Aristotle and other major ones, have given many theories of literature. But Indian Poetics was produced far before than this. There are many touchstones also to analyse the literature.

To open the new horizons of this distinguished discourse, Dr. Vinod Joshi, a Gujarati poet and critic was invited to deliver a week long talk session; starting from 3rd December to 8th December, at the department of English M. K. Bhavnagar University. Students were very excited to know about the subject and it's depth. As a part of syllabus, students of English department are learning the paper called Literary Theory & Criticism : Western & Indian Poetics - 2.

भरतमुनिविरचितं नाट्यशास्त्र (Natyashastra by Bharatmuni) is the ancient text which puts forward the very fundamental concepts of poetics and how it should be looked at. How it can be more interesting, with the use of different Rasas.

ભાવ અને રસ આ બે શબ્દો ને કેન્દ્ર માં રાખી ને પૂર્વભૂમિકા બાંધી. તેમણે સ્નાતક શબ્દ નો સાચો અર્થ સમજાવતા કહ્યું કે निःशेष स्नातः इति स्नातकः। અર્થાત, જે શરીર નું એકપણ અંગ કોરું ના રહી જાય તેવું  સ્નાન કરે છે તે સ્નાતક છે. અને જે આ પ્રકારે બે વખત સ્નાન કરે તે અનુસ્નાતક છે. અભ્યાસના સંદર્ભે વિદ્યાર્થીએ જ્ઞાન નું સ્નાન કરવાનું છે અને તે પણ વિષય ના દરેક ખૂણા ને ઉજાગર કરી ને. This was really new thing to know.

ભાવ બે  પ્રકારના હોય છે સ્થાયી ભાવ અને અસ્થાયી ભાવ. જન્મ થી જે ભાષા સાંભળીને આપણે મોટા થયા હોઈએ તે ભાષા દ્વારા આપણે ભાવ ને વ્યક્ત કરીએ છીએ. ભાષા ની ગેરહાજરીમાં પણ ભાવ ની હાજરી હરહંમેશ હોય છે. જયારે વિચારો કરીએ છીએ ત્યારે તેમના પર ભાષાનું સામ્રાજ્ય હોય છે.

Seven schools of Indian Poetics

કુલ સાત સંપ્રદાયો/schools છે. (1) રસસંપ્રદાય જે ભારતમુનિએ આપ્યો (2) ધ્વનિસંપ્રદાય કે જે આનંદવર્ધને આપ્યો, (3) વક્રોક્તિ સંપ્રદાય કે જે કુંતક એ આપ્યો, (4) રીતિ સંપ્રદાય કે જે વામને આપ્યો, (5) અલંકાર સંપ્રદાય કે જે ભામહ એ આપ્યો, (6) ઔચિત્ય સંપ્રદાય કે જે ક્ષેમેન્દ્ર એ આપ્યો.

1. Rasa School

(1) रससम्प्रदाय - Rasa School. નાટ્યશાસ્ત્ર ના છઠ્ઠા અધ્યાયમાં ભરતમુનિ રસ વિષે વિસ્તૃત વાત કરે છે. તેમણે એક રસસુત્ર આપ્યું છે. જે નીચે મુજબ છે.

रससूत्र - विभावानुभावव्यभिचारिसंयोगातरसनिष्पत्ति।

આ સૂત્ર ને સંધિ છોડી ને અન્વય કરી ને વાંચીએ તો...
विभाव, अनुभाव, व्यभिचारी (संचारी), संयोगात, रसः निष्पत्तिः।

વિભાવ - જેને આધારે રસ નિષ્પન્ન થાય તે. વિભાવના બે પ્રકાર છે, આલંબન વિભાવ કે જેમાં પાત્રો નો સમાવેશ થાય છે અને  બીજો ઉદ્દીપન ભાવ. અનુભાવ એટલે પ્રતિક્રિયા, reaction. વ્યભિચારી અથવા સંચારી ભાવ એટલે કે સતત બદલાતો અને વહેતો જતો હોય, constant and sudden change of emotions. આ ત્રણેય ભાવો નો સંયોગ થાય ત્યારે રસ નિષ્પન્ન થાય છે, પ્રગટ થાય છે. કયા ભાવમાંથી કયો રસ જન્મે છે તે હવે જોઈએ.

નીચે આપેલા કોષ્ટકથી મુદ્દાની વિગતે સમજણ લઈએ.

સ્થાયી ભાવ માંથી નિષ્પન્ન થતાં રસો
ક્રમ	ભાવ	રસ
1	रतिः	शृंगार
2	शोकः	करूणा
3	उत्साहः	वीर
4	क्रोधः	रौद्र
5	हासः	हास्य
6	भयः	भयानक
7	जुगुप्सा	बिभत्स
8	विस्मयः	अद्भूत
9	शम/निर्वेदः	शांत

 - छंद अनुष्टुप

श्रृंगारकरूणवीररौद्रहास्यभयानका।
बीभत्साद्भूतशांतश्च नवनाट्येरसास्मृता।।
- भरतः नाट्यशास्त्र

रसौ वै सः Among all the other schools of Indian poetics, Rasa is the best.

ભરતમુનિ ના આ મત ને પડકારનારા ચાર પુર્તિકારો પણ છે.

(1) ભટ્ટ લોલ્લટ : એમનું માનવું છે કે નાટકમાં રસ હોતો નથી પણ તેને ઉત્પન્ન કરવો પડે છે. અને એ રસ નો પ્રથમ અનુભવ નટ અને નટી એટલે કે અભિનેતા અને અભિનેત્રીને થાય છે. નાટકમાં વિવિધ પાત્રો ભજવનારા વિવિધ વ્યવસાયમાંથી આવતા હોય છે. જેમકે દુષ્યંત નું પાત્ર ભજવનારા રમેશ ભાઈ નગરપાલિકા માં અધિકારી છે, આખો દિવસ અરજીઓ જોઈ ને આવ્યા હોય અને થીએટર માં એ વિચારો લઈને જશે તો એમને રસની અનુભૂતિ કેમ થશે ? જો કલાકાર જ રસ નિષ્પન્ન કરવામાં નિષ્ફળ જાય તો ભાવક ને તે રસો ની પ્રતીતિ થઇ ના શકે. Name of the theory : उत्पत्तिवाद

(2) શ્રીશંકુક - ચાર પ્રકરની પ્રતીતિઓ દ્વારા અપને રસ ને અનુમાની લેવો પડે છે, ધારવો પડે છે. 1. યથાર્થ પ્રતીતિ, 2. મિથ્યા પ્રતીતિ 3. સંશય પ્રતીતિ 4. સાદ્રશ્ય પ્રતીતિ. name of the theory - अनुमितिवाद

(3) ભટ્ટનાયક -  તેમણે catharsis ની વાત કરેલી પ્રક્ષકો અને કલાકારો, બંને ભાવનુભાવમાં એક સરખી કક્ષા એ પહોંચે ત્યારે સાધારણીકરણ catharsis થાય છે. રસ સંપ્રદાયમાં આ સિદ્ધાંત ને મહત્વનો ગણાયો છે. Name of the theory - भुक्तिवाद

(4) અભિનવગુપ્ત - તેમણે કહ્યું કે પ્રકાશાનન્દમયઃ જ્ઞાન અને વિશ્રાંતિ ની અનુભૂતિ કરાવે તે ઉત્તમ કાવ્ય છે.  Name of the theory - अभिव्यक्तिवाद

ટૂંકમાં કહીએ તો... सर्वपदंहस्तिपदे निमंत्रम - હાથીના પગલામાં બધા ના પગ સમાઈ જાય તેમ રસ માં જ બધું સમાયેલું છે.

2. Dhvani School

(2) ધ્વનિ સંપ્રદાય: આનન્દવર્ધને આ સંપ્રદાય માટે એક પુસ્તક લખ્યું ધ્વન્યાલોક. ભાષાની અભિવ્યક્તિ વિના પણ ઘણું કહી શકાય છે. ધ્વનિના બે પ્રકાર છે.

* લૌકિક ધ્વનિ - વસ્તુ ધ્વનિ અને અલંકાર ધ્વનિ, વસ્તુ ધ્વનિ માં વિચાર કેન્દ્રમાં હોય અલંકાર ધ્વનિ માં અલંકાર કેન્દ્રમાં હોય.

* અલૌકિક ધ્વનિ - રસ ધ્વનિ કે જેમાં ભાવ કેન્દ્રમાં હોય છે.

કાવ્યશાસ્ત્રમાં ત્રણ મુખ્ય શબ્દશક્તિઓ કહેવાઈ છે.

1. અભિધા: કાવ્યમાં જે શબ્દ આપ્યો હોય એનો સીધો જ અર્થ લેવાય તેને અભિધા કહે છે. જેમકે "અંધારું થયું અને અજવાળું ગયું." વાક્ય ને એના એ જ અર્થ માં સમજવાનું.

2. લક્ષણા: સીધા ને બદલે જે નજીક નો અર્થ આપ્યો હોય તે જ લેવાય જેમકે, મારું ઘર હાઈ કોર્ટ રોડ પર છે. અહીં પર ને બદલે નજીક નો અર્થ સાઈડ માં અથવા પાસે છે તેમ લઇ શકાય. દરેક રુઢિપ્રયોગો લક્ષણા શક્તિ નું ઉદાહરણ છે. લક્ષણા ના બે પ્રકારો છે. સારોપા લક્ષણા અને ઉપાદાન લક્ષણા.

3. વ્યંજના: સીધો અર્થ મળે તેનાથી વિપરીત અથવા અન્ય અર્થ લેવાય તે વ્યંજના છે. જેમકે સૂર્યાસ્ત થયો તેને જીવનમાં દુઃખ આવી ગયું અથવા મૃત્યુ થયું તેમ જોઈ શકાય. જે પ્રગટપણે દેખાતું નથી છતાં તે વ્યક્ત થઇ જતું હોય તેને વ્યંજના કહે છે.

એક બિલાડી જાડી - અભિધા

તેણે પહેરી સાડી - લક્ષણા

તળાવમાં તો મગર - વ્યંજના

આ ત્રણેય શબ્દશક્તિઓ એકબીજા પર આધારિત હોય છે. વ્યંજના સૌથી ચડિયાતી શક્તિ હોવા છતાં પણ તે અભિધા પર આધારિત છે. અને લક્ષણા શક્તિ પણ અભિધા પર આધારિત છે. તેથી અભિધા પ્રાથમિક શક્તિ છે.

3. Vakrokti School

કવિના હાથમાં ભાષાની કાનસ છે જે કાવ્યને ઉજળી બનાવે છે.

"દર્પણશી આંખ તમે ફેરવી લીધી

ને મારો ચહેરો ઢોળાઈ ગયો ધૂળમાં..."

વક્રતાના ઉપયોગ થી કાવ્ય ને સુંદરતા મળે છે. જે ભાષાની તાસીર અને રોનક બદલાવી દે તે વક્રતા છે.

"તળાવને વાગેલો પથ્થર, તરંગ થઇ ને તળાવને પંપાળે"

"વરસાદડો તો પેલ્લુંક થી છે જ સાવ વાયડો,

ટીપે ટીપે ઈ મને દબડાવે, જાણેકે હું એનું બૈરું અને ઈ મારો ભાયડો"

વક્રોક્તિ માટે કહેવાયું છે કે, "तद्विद आह्लाद कारिणी" જે તદ્વિદ એટલે કે જાણકાર છે તેમને માટે વક્રોક્તિ આહલાદક છે. તદ્વિદ શબ્દ પરથી પ્રતિભા શબ્દ આવ્યો. અને પ્રતિભા ના બે પ્રકાર છે.

* કારયિત્રી પ્રતિભા એટલે કે જેમના માં સર્જન કરવાની શક્તિ છે તે

* ભાવયિત્રી પ્રતિભા એટલે જેનામાં ભાવન કરવાની આસ્વાદ કરવાની શક્તિ હોય તે.

* કુન્તકે વક્રોક્તિના છ પ્રકાર પાડયા છે.
1. વર્ણવિન્યાસ વક્રતા - શબ્દો અને અક્ષરોના સમન્વય થી નીપજતું સૌંદર્ય એટલે વર્ણવિન્યાસ વક્રતા.
નર્મદાષ્ટક નો આ શ્લોક તેનું સારું ઉદાહરણ છે.

अलक्षलक्षलक्षपापलक्षसारसायुधं

ततस्तु जीवजन्तुतन्तुभुक्तिमुक्तिदायकम् ।

विरिञ्चिविष्णुशंकरस्वकीयधामवर्मदे

त्वदीयपादपङ्कजं नमामि देवि नर्मदे ॥ ७॥

શ્રીરામસ્તુતિ પણ તેનું ઉદાહરણ બની શકે.

श्रीरामचंद्रकृपालु भजमन हरण भवभय दारुणं ।

नवकञ्ज लोचनकञ्ज मुखकरकञ्ज पदकञ्जारुणं ।।

2. પદપૂર્વાર્ધ વક્રતા - પદની આગળના ભાગમાં જે વક્રતા હોય તે પદપૂર્વાર્ધ વક્રતા છે.

"તમે ટહૂક્યાંને આભ મને ઓછું પડ્યું... 'તમે ' શબ્દ પંક્તિ નું સૌંદર્ય વધારે છે.

"जहाँ  डाल डाल पर सोने की चिड़िया करती है बसेरा"

"જે કાઈં મળ્યું છે એ જ મળ્યું એમ ના ગણાય
એ પણ મળ્યું ગણાય કે કંઈ મળ્યું નહિં."

3. પદપરાર્ધ વક્રતા - પદ પછી આવતું પદ અને તેની વક્રતા એટલે પદ પરાર્ધ વક્રતા.

आरम्भगुर्वी क्षयिणी क्रमेण लघ्वी पुरा वृद्धिमती च पश्चात ।
दिनस्य पूर्वार्धपरार्धभिन्ना छायेव मैत्री ख़लसज्जनानाम ।।    - नीति।। ४९

4. વાક્યવક્રતા
examples: To be or not to be that is the question.
You too Brutus !
Coward dies many times before death, but I am Julius Caesar !
...मेरे पास माँ है।

5. પ્રકરણ વક્રતા : આખા કાવ્ય અને એક અંશ કે પ્રસંગ ને લઈને એક સ્વતંત્ર પ્રકરણ બને તે પ્રકરણ વક્રતા છે.

જેમકે વસંતવિજય, અને અતિજ્ઞાન જેવા કાવ્યો, તેમના મૂળ કથાનક કરતા સ્વતંત્ર રીતે જોવાય છે.

6. પ્રબંધ વક્રતા: આખી કૃતિ, નવલકથા, કાવ્ય માં વિવિધ પ્રસંગો કે પાત્રો, કથા, વાર્તા ને મહત્વ હોય પરંતુ તે જે સૂચવે છે તે સૂચન પ્રબંધ વક્રતા કહેવાય. અસત્ય પર સત્ય નો વિજય એ રામાયણ નું સૂચન છે. રામ અને ભરત વિના ભાઈચારા ની ભાવના સૂચવી શકાય નહિ. એવા ઘણા પ્રસંગો છે, જેમકે રામ અને અહલ્યા નો પ્રસંગ, શબરી અને રામ નો પ્રસંગ વગેરે...

આ બધું જ જેમાં શક્ય બને તે ઉત્તમ કાવ્ય બને છે.

કાવ્ય ના ત્રણ ગુણ હોય છે. 1. પ્રાસાદિક ગુણ જેમાં સહેલાઇ થી સમજાઈ જાય તેવી સુલભ્ય ભાષા જેમાં હોય તે પ્રાસાદિક ગુણ છે.  2. ઓજસ ગુણ - જેમાં ભાષામાં તેજ અને પડકાર આવાહન જેવા સંકેત હોય તેવા કાવ્ય માં ઓજસ ગુણ હોય છે. જેમકે ભવભૂતિ નું નાટક માલતીમાધવ, બાણભટ્ટ નું કાદંબરી અને શિવતાંડવ સ્તોત્ર તેના ઉદાહરણો છે. 3. માધુર્ય ગુણ - જે શ્રુતિરમ્ય હોય કર્ણપ્રિય હોય તેવા કાવ્યમાં માધુર્ય ગુણ હોય છે. જેમકે મધુરાષ્ટક કાવ્ય.

4. Alankar School

Alankar means ornaments. It can be seen as artistic embellishment also. ભામહે અલંકારશાસ્ત્ર ગ્રંથ આપ્યો તેમાં અલંકાર વિશે વિસ્તૃત વર્ણનો આપ્યા છે. અલંકાર અને ભાષા બંને applied હોય છે.અલંકાર કુદરતી કે જન્મજાત નથી હોતો. દમયંતી નું મુખ ચંદ્ર જેવું છે. એ અલંકાર થી ભરેલ વાક્ય છે. અલંકાર હંમેશા શબરો સાથે ઓતપ્રોત હોવો જોઈએ, અડોઅડ નહિ. કાવ્યમાં અલંકાર હોય પણ ક્યારેક ના હોય તો પણ ચાલે. સરલ અલંકાર, નિરલંકાર જેવા પ્રકારો ભામહે આપ્યા છે.

ઝીણું દળું તો ઉડી ઉડી જાય, જાડું દળું તો કોઈ ના ખાય.

જ્યાં જે અલંકાર ઉપયોગ માં લેવાનો હોય ત્યાં એજ અલંકાર ઉપયોગ માં લેવાવો જોઈએ. તેના સ્થાનમૂલક ધર્મો હોય છે. જો યથાસ્થાને ઉપયોગમાં લેવાય તો તે સાર્થક થાય છે, અન્યથા નહીં. ભામહ કહે છે કે જો અલંકાર ઓળખાઈ જાય તો એ કાવ્ય કાવ્ય જ નથી. જેમ દૂધ માં સાકર ભળે અને તેમાં ગળપણ ઓતપ્રોત થઇ જાય તેમ અલંકાર કાવ્યમાં ઓતપ્રોત હોવો જોઈએ. આખે આખું કાવ્ય જો અલંકારથી પ્રચુર હોય તેમ છતાં તે ઉત્તમ કાવ્ય ના પણ હોય. ભાલણ નામના કવિએ નળાખ્યાન લખ્યું ત્યારે દમયંતી ની વાત રજુ કરતા કહ્યું કે બ્રહ્મા એ ચંદ્ર બનાવ્યો અને પછી એક સુંદર સ્ત્રી નું નિર્માણ કરવા માટે ચંદ્ર માંથી એક પિંડ લઇ ને દમયંતી ને બનાવી, અને ચંદ્રમા ની અંદર જે ડાઘ છે તે એના લીધે જ છે, એવું ભાલણ કહે છે. જયારે પ્રેમાનંદ દમયંતી નું વર્ણન આ રીતે આપે છે, શુકચંચુ નાસિકા, હંસગામિની ચાલ, દાડમકળીશાદંત...

T S Eliot એ Objective Co-relative ની વાત કરી છે તે અલંકાર સાથે ઘણું સામ્ય ધરાવે છે. તાટસ્થ્યપૂર્વક નું તાદાત્મ્ય, કિનારે રહેલું, છતાં સાથે જોડાયેલું.

5. Riti School

રીતિ નો અર્થ અહીં શૈલી એવો લેવાનો છે. દરેક સાહિત્યકાર, સર્જક ની અલગ રીતિ હોવી જોઈએ. Way of presentation or style. એક સ્થપતિ શિલામાં છુપાયેલી મૂર્તિ ને કંડારવા માટે તેની આસપાસ નો વધારાનો ભાગ ટાંકણાથી દૂર કરે છે અને એક સરસ શિલ્પ ને આકાર આપે છે. એ તેની શૈલી છે. વામન  કહે છે કે રીતિ જ કાવ્યનો આત્મા છે. रीतिरात्मा काव्यस्य । Style is a man, style is a personality.

પાંચાલી શૈલી, વૈદર્ભી શૈલી, ગૌડી શૈલી, લાટી શૈલી, વગેરે સ્થળ ની રીતિ છે.

6. Aucitya School

ક્ષેમેન્દ્ર એ ઔચિત્યવિચાર ગ્રંથ માં વ્યાખ્યા આપતા કહ્યું છે કે જે સમુચિત હોય છે તે ઔચિત્ય છે. સમુચિત શબ્દ  સમુચિત સ્થાને હોય ત્યાં ઔચિત્ય હોય છે. Best word in best order - Coleridge.

મેશ ના આંજું રામ, લેશ જગા નહિ હાય સખી રી નયન ભરાયો શ્યામ.

ત્રિવિધ એકતા સ્થળ, સમય અને કર્તૃત્વ ની જે હોય તે ઔચિત્ય છે. Time Place and Action.

Overall the whole six day's session was very fruitful and students were very contented to gain the knowledge from the distinguished poet Dr. Vinod Joshi. Special thanks to our head of the department, Dr. Dilip Barad for organizing such a great session.

Thank You!