Language Lab Review - DELL Software

Hello Readers!

Here is a post about Computer Assisted Language Learning - CALL. It contains automated language computer software. These software are designed in such a way that language learner can access the language components from various features like Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing, Reading, Speaking, Listening etc. With the help of computer and a language learning software installed, a learner can learn language with it's own pace and convenience.

At the department of English MK Bhavnagar University, a language learning software called Globarena is installed in a computer and students are asked to review the software. At the department there was a full fledged language laboratory functioning where the main sever computer was linked to all other desktops and together students used to experience the process of CALL.

The shocking COVID19 Pandemic hit at the second decade of the 21st century and we witnessed a sudden change in teaching learning process. Though mankind has surpassed the first and second wave of pandemic and recovering from the same but one has to be careful and maintain social distancing and follow SOP and govt guidelines.

Well, show must go on and that's why for the language review we had to visit the department and take the first hand experience on our own. Here are some of the glimpses of the 'retro' language learning laboratory software.

The home screen of the student console, where several language learning components are given

By clicking on each of them a separate interface opens with new graphics and content.

Teacher Console from which teacher can monitor the learners activities and progress

The full setup of the server desktop with 2.1 sound system for audio output and microphones for input

The demonstration of the software by Dr. Dilip Barad via YouTube

Click Here

for the detailed demonstration

and know-hows of the language lab software.

* Fundamental Language Skills

The basics of fundamental language skills are designed to make familiar with the language with first language learners and second language learners.

* Communication Skills

* Listening Skills

Based on the audio clip one has to answer the questions

By selecting the answers, we can see the correct ones

* Conversations/Speaking Skills

The given topics in the Table of Contents (ToC)

The conversation is displayed on the screen and one has to do a role play of any character. One has to read and speak aloud the lines given for the role and record our voice. By clicking on the record button we can start speaking and at the end of line one has to stop the recording. Then the full audio conversation can be listened.

The video file size exceeds the given limits by Blogger.com

putting the drive video link below. Please click and visit

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12RV7WSLiNyK8WPzmonDWihiJvYF-vDvJ/view?usp=sharing

 

* Give five advantages of language learning software with reference to your review and experience:

1. Self-paced learning

2. Interactive

3. Learner Centric

4. Provides individual teaching

5. Self-learning

* Give five disadvantages of language learning software with reference to your review and experience

1. Fixed and static in place

2. Learner distraction is possible

3. Lack of physical surveillance

4. Technical glitches

5. Old version of software

* List at least five things (related to language skills) you think can be learnt from this language lab program

Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary building, 

* Give five new words (vocabulary or pronunciation) you learnt while reviewing the software: *

Vestibule, rampant, palindrome, hatch, discriminations (earlier I used to type 'e' in the beginning)

* How would you like to rate Language-Lab-In-Mobile as App?

I would give 3 points out of 5 to the app.

International Yoga Day - June 2021

Welcome Readers,

Namaste !

In 2014, United Nations approved this day to be observed as International Day of Yoga world wide. Here is a detailed post about Yog.

I've been fond of Yog and Meditation right from my childhood. I, humbly consider myself as a practitioner. Here's a gist of my understanding from the years' practice.

Yog which means connection, the basis of the word(धातु) is युज्. Connection can only be made when there are two entities. Here, body(साधन) and mind (मन) are two entities and Yog is what unites them. According to Patanjal Yog Sutra by the sage Patanjali, Yog is a way of meeting the supreme light and that is परमात्मा. Many practitioners claim the divine and celestial experiences from Yog and meditation.

Well, Yog has eight limbs which is known as अष्टाङ्ग. These are as further. यम, नियम, आसन, प्राणायाम, प्रत्याहार, धारणा, ध्यान, and समाधि. A diligent Yogi practices these extremely difficult limbs and strives for the ultimate salvation which is मोक्ष. 

Too heavy to read and difficult to understand, isn't it? We, the human beings are bound to live a life which is followed by society at large. Or let's say it's tough to get liberty to perform this practice. What other miseries one can afford? Okay, let me try to simplify.

- - -

Yog, just like mathematics, is a matter of practice,(अभ्यास). Our body needs cleansing, not only outwardly, but also inwardly. We take bath, brush teeth, clear throat, cut nails . . . These are outward cleansing. But body also needs internal cleansing. Ayurved suggests numerous methods of cleansing. रक्तशुद्धि (blood cleansing) and नाड़ी शुद्धि (vein cleansing), पंचकर्म (five steps for cleansing) are some of them. Of course, they do carry various benefits. 

These steps are beneficial if performed before doing Yog, in the early morning. These processes are being conducted at various health centers and ayurvedic hospitals.

Our body is made up of seven dhaatu, धातु, the key elements that form a human body. They are as further. रस, (rasa) रक्त, (blood) मांस, (muscles) अस्थि (bones), मज्जा (neuron system), मेद (fats, proteins...), and वीर्य (adrenaline glands). All the seven elements should be in a fine balance in order to live a healthy life. Yog helps us doing so.

By performing asanas with perfect in breathing we can cultivate flexibility in actions and in thoughts. Relaxing asanas like शवासन, सुखासन, मकरासन, are for giving rest not only to body but to mind as well.

पद्मासन and ध्यान (meditation), is for stability in action and purification in thoughts. Our daily life is affected by many positive and negative thoughts of ours and of others. We perform our duties, responsibilities by our conscience. But this conscience needs to be focused at any cost. Meditation makes us vigilant about our own thoughts, language and action. If we meditate in the early morning, we become master of our own actions and decisions we make during the entire day. If we meditate at night, we come to know about our dealings with people, thoughts we have spread, feedbacks we have received. This helps us to improve ourselves from the flaws and helps us next day. The moment we start meditating, our ego deflates. We get the best chance to reflect upon our behavior. Whenever done, meditation purifies thoughts and actions.

Human relations are based on giving and taking. People we meet in our life are either givers or takers. According to given time and circumstances, we as an individual keep on shifting our positions from givers to takers and vice versa. This shifting is a never ending bond which is called as ऋणानुबंध. Human being is never free from this chain.

Here are some photos of me performing some Asanas while attending an online/virtual Yog day celebration 2021. It was organized by Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of English, MK Bhavnagar University.

The Banners at the English Department

Here's a glimpse from an online session of Yog Day 2021. Thanks to Daya Vaghani for sharing the screenshots on Facebook.

Me performing Yog at home.

As described in Shrimad Bhagvad Gita, these are the virtues an individual can cultivate.

अभयं सत्त्वसंशुद्धिः ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः ।

दानं दमश्च यज्ञश्च स्वाध्यायस्तप आर्जवम् ।।16.1।।

अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्यागः शान्तिरपैशुनम् ।

दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम् ।।16.2।।

तेजः क्षमा धृतिः शौचमद्रोहो नातिमानिता ।

भवन्ति सम्पदं दैवीमभिजातस्य भारत ।।16.3।।

- - -

सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामया,

सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद् दुख भागभवेत।

ऊँ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

Yes, this ocean of Yog is very vast and deep to dip but we can apply at least some portion and witness the most positive changes. After all, Yoga is the most ancient practice of well-being you know...!

Thanks a lot for staying tuned !

Shiva Baby | Film and Culture | Openness of Thought

Welcome Readers!

It was a YouTube advertisement of an online film screening platform and a film trailer was shown. It seemed as casual as other film trailers hit the screen but what made me curious about it was the title.

Click Here to watch the trailer.

Yes. Shiva Baby. Indeed an eye-sparkling title for Indian audience. Digging deeper got me to the real fact about the real context of the word shiva. The film has no connection with Hindu god Shiva but it has a completely different perspective. Well, this makes me question that are we open to multiple cultures? How much do we know about other religions and their rituals and myths around them? These are not the questions of national interest or whose-who-GK kind but they too have their places.

Cultural Openness

The world has become a global village and in the time of fast progression and development, one needs to be open and sporty about all the cultures and religions around the world.

Meaning and the Context

Shiva is a Hindu god and the supreme strength in all respects among the Trimurti - Brahma Vishnu and Mahesh. But shiva is also a name of ritual of lamentation, mourning in Judaism. Isn't it beautiful that how two cultures share similarities and yet they are celebrated in different contexts? If one looks with wider view point, many stories of gods are much similar.

Here's a paragraph on this ritual. According to Wikipedia entry,

Shiva (Hebrew: שִׁבְעָה‎, literally "seven") is the week-long mourning period in Judaism for first-degree relatives. The ritual is referred to as "sitting shiva" in English. The shiva period lasts for seven days following the burial. Following the initial period of despair and lamentation immediately after the death, shiva embraces a time when individuals discuss their loss and accept the comfort of others.[1]

Its observance is a requirement for the parents, siblings, spouses, and children of the person who has died. It is not a requirement for an individual who was less than thirty days old at the time of death.[2] At the funeral, mourners wear an outer garment that is torn before the procession in a ritual known as keriah. In some traditions, mourners wear a black ribbon that is cut in place of an everyday garment.[3][4] The torn article is worn throughout the entirety of shiva. Typically, the seven days begin immediately after the deceased has been buried. Following burial, mourners[5] assume the halakhic status of avel (Hebrew: אבל, "mourner"). It is necessary for the burial spot to be entirely covered with earth in order for shiva to commence. This state lasts for the entire duration of shiva.

During the period of shiva, mourners remain at home. Friends and family visit those in mourning in order to give their condolences and provide comfort. The process, dating back to biblical times, formalizes the natural way an individual confronts and overcomes grief. Shiva allows for the individual to express their sorrow, discuss the loss of a loved one, and slowly re-enter society.[6]

A detailed, well-documented guide of how this ritual is conducted and followed in Judaist culture.

http://images.shulcloud.com/618/uploads/PDFs/mourning5.pdf

Now we have two contextual meanings of Shiva. Let's be open, and think global.

Happy Perspectives !!!

The Doctor's Word by R. K. Narayan

Welcome Readers!

It is believed that mind is a master and body is servant. The thoughts we perceive, ideas we share and the words we speak, mark their positive and/or negative impact on the body regardless of the intensity of the thought. Imagine a situation where a doctor is trying to save life of a patient and outside the OT, relatives are waiting for some positive response. What should a doctor do? Is s/he there to tell lies about patient's health? What if s/he says some soothing words to the relatives and then the patient dies?

Well, we find several real life examples around us in which a person unknowingly takes too much pressure and gets panic about the pain and attracts more suffering. In many cases doctors tell positive lies to patients and relatives and if its a life and death situations. When a doctor says it's alright and you will get better, they find some relief. Can't it be happen that a patient itself become it's own curer? 

Yes, its a month of June and it is known that 21st June is celebrated as International Yoga Day.  Here are some small but worth reading paragraphs cited from the short story "The Doctor's Word" by R. K. Narayan.

(image downloaded from Amazon)

... he was not a mere doctor expressing an opinion but a judge pronouncing a verdict. The patient's life hung on his words. This never unduly worried Dr. Raman. He never believed that agreeable words ever saved lives. He did not think it was any of his business to provide comforting lies when as a matter of course nature would tell them the truth in a few hours. (Narayan, 19-20)

Today, standing over a bed, the doctor felt that he himself needed someone to tell him soothing lies. He mopped his brow with his kerchief and sat down in the chair bedside the bed. On the bed lay his dearest friend in the world: Gopal. They had known each other for forty years now, starting with their kindergarten days. They could not, of course, meet as much as they wanted, each being wrapped in his own family and profession. Occasionally, on a Sunday, Gopal would walk into the consulting room and wait patiently in a corner till the doctor was free. And then they would dine together, see a picture and talk of each others life and activities. It was a classic friendship, which endured untouched by changing times, circumstances and activities. (Narayan, 20)

Dr. Raman, here, is a rational thinker. Faithfully doing his duty, he has never gave his opinions excessively to any patients. But in the situation of the story, Dr. Raman breaks his rule. His dearest friend Gopal is ill and perhaps because of the bond of friendship, he needs something convincing to tell him.

Dr. Raman says to his friend that he'll live. But the doctor somehow knew that it won't happen. He asks his fellow assistants to arrange something more for Gopal.

But the next day Gopal's recovery made him surprised. He couldn't believe that words also play their role in healing the health. At the end of story his assistant asks him:

"... the assistant sitting beside him in the car asked, "Is he going to live, sir?"

"I will bet on it. He will live to be ninety. He has turned the corner. How he has survived this attack will be a puzzle to me all my life," replied the doctor. (Narayan, 26)"

શબ્દો જ જીવાડે, શબ્દો જ મારે. આ એવું સત્ય છે જેમાં ગળ્યો અને કડવો બંને સ્વાદ આવે છે. ખરું ને?

Thanks !

Work Cited

Narayan, R. K. Malgudi Days. Indian Thought Publications, 2006.

Assignment 16 - English Language Teaching-2

Welcome Readers!

English Language Teaching has become an integral subject for teachers to educate people for the people's holistic development. Nowadays, English is used for showcasing confidence and creating a good impact in a professional environment. But learning English is something more than that.

Here's a small blog post about my preparation for a digital portfolio and my experience of working on my presentations.

"If you are failing to plan, you're planning to fail."

This famous quote by Benjamin Franklin encourages me to schedule and organize everything around me. I used to plan and draft several tasks, and thinking activities assigned by our teacher Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad. This assignment was quickly scheduled in the form of an experience-sharing post to highlight the key aspects of my digital portfolio.

What is a Digital Portfolio?

A Digital Portfolio is an online record of all the activities and works done by a student throughout the academic years. Bachelor's and Master's degree courses are not just for academic progress. They also serve the purpose of multi-faceted development of a student, including personality development, cognitive and critical thinking development, shaping social interactions, making presentations of one's own work, explaining the ideas of studies in simple words for people in general, and so on...

Portfolios are the digital showcases. They are the result and the outcome of the new methods applied in the teaching-learning process, such as Blended learning and Flipped Learning. By preparing the digital portfolio, learners also reflect on the pedagogical changes from their part in the teaching-learning process.

The following is a link to my portfolio.

https://sites.google.com/view/rohitvyas/

Thanks for visiting. Stay tuned !!!

Assignment 15 - Cinema and OTT Platforms as a Medium of Communication

 

Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakumarsihnji Bhavnagar University

 

Written Assignment – Paper 15

Cinema and OTT Platforms as a Medium of Communication

 

Submitted by Rohit Vyas

 

M.A. English (2019-21)

Semester 4

Roll No: 19

Paper 15 – Mass Communication and Media Studies,

Unit – 3

PG Enrolment Number: 2069108420200041

E-mail: rohitvyas277@gmail.com

 

        Introduction

To start the assignment, let’s put a question first. Is it true that we can’t communicate without language? What if we humans wouldn’t have speech, language? Indeed there is a gesture theory which could help understand the non-verbal communication. But can we possibly state that without language we can converse? The answer would be ‘no’. There are several answers to the question as such and especially in the 21^st century it’s quite a worth to discuss about communication and its mediums.

 

In the very beginning, there were several ways to communicate, like kite flying, sending birds as a messenger and so on. Later on, there came postal services and telegrams. Telephones were the first invention to be in the category of audio communication services. Then, mobile phones, SMS services, email services, smartphones and the series of modern electronic gadgets made communication seamless and effortless.

 

On the parallel, there were several modes of entertainment which became popular among the masses. Historically looking at the aspect of entertainment, there was a variety of activities like street arts, puppet shows, play performances, folk cultural performances and so on. Largely, today, there are mediums beyond just television and radio. Cinema was the emerging one as a revolutionary medium of communication, which served a large purpose of entertainment also.

The definition of communication

 

According to Oxford definitions,

The activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information Speech is the fastest method of communication between people. (Oxford Definitions)

The basic purpose of communication is to pass messages and information from one end to another. To refer to a basic process of how communication takes place, Stuart Hall’s trajectory would help.

The encoder creates the message either in form of written things, speaking, or making a gesture. The message is decoded by the receiver who understands the encoded message by reading, or listening or making sense of the gesture.

Cinema and Its Emergence

According to a website dedicated to cinema,

No one person invented cinema. However, in 1891 the Edison Company successfully demonstrated a prototype of the Kinetoscope, which enabled one person at a time to view moving pictures. (Science and Media Museum)

“The first permanent studio, opened in 1911, was Nestor Studio. Major studios with names that are still familiar today, including Paramount, Warner Bros., and Columbia, soon followed. By the 1920s, movie making was the dominant industry in the area.” (Paxson)

If Indian cinema is to be discussed, one can state that Alam Ara was the first talkie film released in March 1931. Before that release, there was a first full length silent film titled Raja Harishchandra, released in 1913.

Wherein the Western countries,

The 1927 movie The Jazz Singer is often cited as the first successful talkie, or movie that included recorded dialogue. Audio technology changed the movie industry in several ways. (Paxson)

Several awards like Oscar, IIFA, Filmfare, BAFTA, Academy awards, Golden Globe Awards are given to best films to appreciate and encourages quality content in films.

The Purpose

What purpose do the films serve in communication? There may be several arguments for the question but to be precise, films basically serve two purposes, one of them is for entertainment and the other is for conveying messages to masses. Messages, are more of a concern for highlighting the contemporary issues and encouraging people to bring societal changes of the given era. In such way, it can be said that movies, like literature are the mirror to society.

If one looks for the structure of the communication that takes place in films is as follows.

The film contains a message or multiple nuggets of messages that applies to larger benefits to society. Then people having different identities like students, critics and laymen consume the film in various ways and analyze important factors from the film. Some of them capture the timely nuances of fashions, trends in technology, human behavior at large, scripting, narration and filmography, issues in society, and many other aspects. So the mode of communication can be said that it is single to multi. The messages transfers from one medium to masses.

Cinema in 21^st Century

Before bringing the modern cinema into consideration one may look for the traditional genres of the films which were prevalent and popular in the past. Historical drama, fiction, love drama, patriotic drama, suspense thriller, horror, comedy and documentary were some of the famous genres. To name a few films, Mugha-e-Azam, Shahid Bhagat Singh, Paakizah, Shree 420, Jaagte Raho, Silsila, Coolie, were some of the said genres.

Just like the early period of cinema, the new gust of the films established another variations in the filmmaking industry. Sci-fi thriller, docu-drama, physiological thriller, horror-comedy are some of the new genres. The use of different production technology and film cameras have made the film production much faster than all the previous decades. VFX is the technology used for graphical movements, IMAX, 3D, 5D and 4K, Dolby Digital, Dolby Ultra are the video and audio perfection technologies which enhances the end consumer experience. Some of the examples are, Avatar (2009), Inception, Jurrasic Park, Magic Magic (2003), Dunkirk etc.

 

Over-the-top OTT platforms

As the newest of the form of cinema is now getting narrowed down to the hand held devices such as tablets and smartphones, and came in the new form called OTT, the movie watchers are having personalized experience. This is considered as drastic change in the entertainment industry.

Over-the-top platforms surpass the film screens, theatres and film distributors, reaching directly to the consumer’s device. It was earlier called as home viewing. Where in the television it was called as movie-on-demand. The genres are also emerging and more sub-genres like adventures, adult-rated, sexually abusive language, and so on.

Netflix was found in the year 1997. An OTT platform which is popular throughout the world. Another platform is from Amazon prime video. Thereafter many film companies and production studios have launched their own OTT platforms, such as Zee5, ALT Balaji, Disney+, Voot Select, OHO Gujarati, and several others.

As Paxson cites about the early stages of OTT platforms and the emergence of home viewing experiences, he states:

“One potential benefit for both the movie industry and movie viewers is that even if a movie is not as successful in theaters as its creators hoped, that movie can still generate revenue in the home viewing market. Indeed, some movies that are determined to be unlikely to make a profit in the theaters are released directly to video formats.” (Paxson)

         

Conclusion

As above mentioned, the importance of audio visual media has emerged as good medium of communication, cinema and OTT platforms are contributing at large in communication. Majority of youth gets more influenced by the OTT programs. But there’s a hidden threat of getting misguided from false inspirations. In some cases parental advisory and guidance is necessary for kids and younger teenagers.

Cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out.
― Martin Scorsese

Cinema is for society and society creates the cinematic content. As mentioned earlier, cinema mirrors the zeitgeist of time, culture, society, and politics. So as society reacts accordingly after watching the content. Thus, both, cinema and ott platforms are a medium of communication which serve the purpose of entertainment and conveying meanings.

 

Work Cited

Paxson, Peyton. Mass Communications and Media Studies: An Introduction. PDF, Continuum, 2010.

Reference:

Park, Sungwook, and Young-Sun Kwon. Research on the Relationship Between the Growth of OTT Service Market and the Change in the Structure of the Pay-TV Market. PDF, 2019.

Assignment 14 - Tradition and Modernity in ‘The Swamp Dwellers’

Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakumarsihnji Bhavnagar University

 

Written Assignment – Paper 14

Tradition and Modernity in ‘The Swamp Dwellers’

 

Submitted by Rohit Vyas

 

M.A. English (2019-21)

Semester 4

Roll No: 19

Paper 14 – African Literature, Unit – 4

PG Enrolment Number: 2069108420200041

E-mail: rohitvyas277@gmail.com

 

         Introduction

 

        The key objective of this assignment is to highlight and bring in front the binary yet, worthwhile conflict of tradition and modernity in light of a play The Swamp Dwellers written by Wole Soyinka, who is a Nigerian playwright, novelist and poet. He belongs to a traditional Yoruba tribe and culture which is reflected in the play as well. He is also awarded Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. In his Nobel Speech he has stated as following.

 

"For me, justice is the first condition of humanity." – Wole Soyinka.

 

        About the Play

       

        The Swamp Dwellers, the very title suggests the age long neglected and marginalized human beings who strive to live better life like citi-zens. Here an intentional use of this hyphen suggests the class divide between villagers and city residents. The play not only draws the parallel between the poor and rich but also makes a trajectory of thoughts which travel from one generation to another.

 

        The Swamp, which means a loose grounded muddy land, which can also be seen as a very curious metaphor which can be pictured as mental captivity of one’s own thoughts. Especially when one faces issues with the succeeding generations, in terms of thought conflicts. Symbolically, the swamps can also be seen as traditional mindset of people in which society vainly struggles to come out from. The Setting of the play is southern Nigeria. Alu and Makuri are parents who live in the swamps, and they have two sons, Awuchike and Igwezu. Both sons are living in the city. The play begins with the arrival of Igwezu. He comes from city and is in the debt of his brother Awuchike. Desala, who is Igwezu’s wife leaves him and marries Awuchike because of his wealth. Just in time, Igwezu comes to know that the Kadiye who is priest of Satan god, takes sacrifices from people. Moreover to his prayers, he also lives a lavish life as compared to swamp dwellers.

 

        Awuchike is an absent character who never returns to swamp. He is present only in the conversation of Alu, Makuri and Igwezu.

 

The Conflict

 

It seems difficult at some point to make a statement or conclude which one is more favorable. But the conflict is not only limited to traditional value systems and modern beliefs. The area is much extended to the high family bondage. Whenever an individual comes across the issue like family life and its importance, one can easily decipher the contrast of joint family and nuclear family. In the play Awuchike is believed to be dead to his family, because he never returns to the swamps. Although it can be stated that death is also used as a symbol in the play.

 

Family bondage

 

The human being, as known as true at large, is a social animal. To cite Aristotle’s quote,

 

“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. ” – Aristotle, Politics

 

The age old family value system looks towards the collective development of every member of the family. For reference, one can see the Indian family system with this reference. During the marriage ceremony, a groom marries a bride, takes the oath to take the equal responsibly and take care of bride’s family, and bride also takes the oath for the same. All this oath taking and accepting one another’s parents as a family in whole can only flourish when there is love, which is more complex and abstract basic human emotion, which, if aptly worked upon, can create a good bondage between two families.

 

As the time passes, one can see some changes within this structure of family based system. The succeeding generation questions the traditional values and established rituals. The minute observation provides the visible outcomes that youth, in general tends to go away from home, liberate themselves from the responsibilities and finds a new way of living on their own. To give more clear idea about such social structure a quote can be cited here:

 

[In other words,] while the behavior patterns of archaic humans remained fixed for tens of thousands of years, Sapiens could transform their social structures, the nature of their interpersonal relations, their economic activities, and a host of other behaviors within a decade or two. (Harari, 38)

 

Alongside, if one makes further advancement in the idea of family bondage, one can safely state that, time has changed many notions about marriage, religion and social structures.

 

Here, in light of the play Awuchike is dead to his parents, so it can be seen as disowning one’s own children in modern society. Moreover, Awuchike also turns his back off to the family. So his disrespect is also the cause of the symbolic death.

 

Faith or Blind faith?

 

Another aspect of the play which quite suitably advocate the duo of tradition and modernity is faith. One could raise a question about faith, trust, and blind faith. What can be the aftermaths of blind faith? Well, it is largely seen with the synonymous word ‘hope’. Since years, people have believed in several myths in different religions. Christianity has Satan and God, good and evil. Hinduism has Dev and Danav and so on.

 

Kaidye is a character in the present play who preaches people and asks for sacrifices of whatever good materials they have. His physical appearance is more fat and likely to be living a very lavish life than other villagers. Swamp dwellers value the soil. But the character of Kadiye is questioned by Igwezu.

 

Kadiye becomes speechless and doesn’t answer Igwezu’s questions, and his silence proves that his is a traitor. Many superstitions lead to death of people and chaos also. Though Igwezu could have followed the Kadiye as he had lost everything like fortune, his standing as a man, as he also lost his wife. It is believed that when one has lost everything or very little to care, s/he may turn to blind faiths and superstitions. Youth and women largely come under such bad influences. But like Igwezu one can opt for remaining free to question and do critical thinking.

 

Modernity

Do we ever know what is to be modern? Where do we locate the word modernity and traditions? Just like an individual takes the growth in a given environment, it may give much satisfactory outcome if the environment is nurtured fully in a child. The civility in the manners, cultured way of behavior and tactics, and as above mentioned in the quote, interpersonal interactions with society denotes the term modernity for an individual.

In the play we find Awuchike as an absent character yet he represents modernity in a particular way. His remaining in the city and not returning to the swamps itself justifies the curious and cunning statement of his modernity. There are few drawbacks of modernity as well. Awuchike even puts his brother in debt. His father Makuri cries out of worry and sorrow as follows:

Makuri: It ruins them. The city ruins them. What do they seek there except money? (Soyinka)

The materialist approach or the attraction for material wealth is also being highlighted by Soyinka. Desala, wife of Igwezu leaves him due to his poor condition and loss in business. She marries his brother Awuchike who lives in city and has much wealth.

Yoruba culture

The play contains many cultural symbols. Yoruba is a tribe in which Soyinka is given a synonym to it. As in an article stated:

Soyinka's triumph begins with Yoruba culture, often when the results of his work are examined, critics will formulate that Yoruba culture is Wole Soyinka and Wole Soyinka is Yoruba culture. (Baihaki, Yakob, 8)

 

Conclusion

 

Tradition and modernity are largely seen as opposites to one another but, one can also argue that they are supplements. The presence of one thing creates the necessity of the other. The second thing, by coming to an existence, creates the relative bond with the first one. Modernity has their own advantage but it exist because there was a tradition at first place. Soyinka has neatly knitted both the things in the play The Swamp Dwellers.

 

Works Cited

 

Baihaqi, Muhammad, and Muhammad Yakob. "YORUBA CULTURE INFLUENCE INTO CONTEMPORARY STAGE THROUGH WOLE SOYINKA’S THE SWAMP DWELLERS." Elite Journal, vol. 4, no. 1, June 2019, http://journal.uin alauddin.ac.id/index.php/elite/article/view/7929.

Soyinka, Wole. 1969. “Three Short Plays: The Swamp Dwellers, the Trials of Brother Jero, the Strong Breed”. London: Oxford University Press.

Assignment 13 - New Literatures

Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakumarsihnji Bhavnagar University

 

Written Assignment – Paper 13

Unreliable Narration in ‘The Sense of an Ending’

 

Name: Rohit Vyas

Semester 4

Roll No: 19

PG Enrolment Number: 2069108420200041

E-mail: rohitvyas277@gmail.com

Course: M.A. English (2019-21)

Paper 13 – New Literatures, Unit – 2

 

Introduction

 

The Sense of an Ending is a postmodern novel written by Julian Barnes in 2011. The book received The Man booker Prize in literature in the same year. The author Julian Barnes has written this novel keeping in mind of the young audience. It can be said that it’s a YA fiction – which stands for Young Adult fiction.

 

The title of the novel is taken from Frank Kermode’s book with the same name, The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction. It holds the detailed study of modern fiction and its contemporary usage in literature.

 

The novel is divided into two parts, ‘One’ and ‘Two’. It holds the sharpness of language with brevity. As if Barnes has enlivened the quote – “Brevity is the soul of wit”. The matter-of-fact writing style is one of the iconic of Barns’ writing styles. Apart from the positive critical reception of the novel, it also holds some drawbacks.

 

The novel sets up in the USA, where, three Science Sixth school friends, Tony Webster, Colin, and Alex make a promise for a life-long, friendship. The protagonist, Tony Webster recalls his memories of his meeting with Adrian Finn and his encounter with Veronica Ford.

 

However, the first-person narration of the novel seems very unreliable due to several reasons like first-hand tempering of the memory element, compromising the philosophical thoughts with past by the protagonist, so on and so forth.

 

Where it all begins…

 

It would be more agreeable to argue about the unreliability of the narration by first putting a quote:

 

... then the Last Judgment begins, & its Vision is Seen by the Imaginative Eye of Every one according to the situation he holds. – BLAKE

 

To elaborate the quote regarding the present novel, the notion of thinking about the characters and their context differs from reader to reader. Blake talks about the Last Judgment in a different context and the vision which is to be seen by the people at large is going to be very fictional and imaginative, a bit at length away from reality. So here, in this novel, how Tony is narrating the story of his past younger days is much unreliable.

 

To cite a few quotes from the original text, can prove the narrative technique on its own.

 

I remember, in no particular order (Barnes, 3)

 

The first initial line itself defines the unreliability of the narration; if the narrator doesn’t remember in any particular order, readers may raise doubts and questions about the forthcoming pages and events. But as a postmodern novel, it is open to interpretation and questions.

 

Positively looking at the unreliability of the narrative technique, one can presumably ponder a bit deeper in the arena of what T S Eliot has mentioned as The Theory of Depersonalization, in which the author has to remove the personal experiences and detach itself from the very content.

 

Here, a quote by Umberto Eco would be applicable:

 

"A narrator should not supply interpretations of his work; otherwise he would not have written a novel, which is a machine for generating interpretations."

— Umberto Eco, postscript to The Name of the Rose

 

Moreover to the quote, the novel has much more to do with autobiographical aspects, as it already seems. Tony Webster sometimes clarifies what he wants to say by tempering his memory by going in his past.

         

The use of negative sentences gives more weight to the unreliable tone. Here it goes as:

 

I’m not very interested in my schooldays, and don’t feel any nostalgia for them. But school is where it all began, so I need to return briefly to a few incidents that have grown into anecdotes, to some approximate memories which time has deformed into certainty. If I can’t be sure of the actual events any more, I can at least be true to the impressions those facts left. That’s the best I can manage. (Barnes, 4)

 

Readers’ dilemma…

        

         The novel begins with hyphens. As a postmodernist text, ‘The Sense of an Ending’ has an ample amount of hyphens to connect the dots between fragmented memories. There are some markers also that signify the loose cohesion between the first and the second part.

        

         Readers may get confused and mislead when they reach half way round the novel. The fragments of the memory are as follows.

 

         —a shiny inner wrist;

—steam rising from a wet sink as a hot frying pan is laughingly tossed into it; —gouts of sperm circling a plughole, before being sluiced down the full length of a tall house;

—a river rushing nonsensically upstream, its wave and wash lit by half a dozen chasing torchbeams;

—another river, broad and grey, the direction of its flow disguised by a stiff wind exciting the surface;

—bathwater long gone cold behind a locked door. (Barnes, 3)

 

Here are the markers where readers get confused. Secondly, the narration begins with a deep philosophical excerpt that lead the readers in time, space and its malleability. The questions are automatically answered in the trajectory of the narration but one has to refer to the first page again and again for connecting the dots.

 

Julian Barnes as a postmodern author, has aptly used the subjectivity for Tony Webster. Where Tony himself finds the memory very tempered at the age of sixty. He recalls the incident of meeting Veronica and her family at her home, and comes across the word ‘damage’. He questions himself:

 

What did I mean by “damage”? It was only a guess; I didn’t have any real evidence. But whenever I looked back on that unhappy weekend, I realised that it hadn’t been just a matter of a rather naïve young man finding himself ill at ease among a posher and more socially skilled family. (Barnes, 43)

 

When one does any work or task with utmost consciousness, one doesn’t need to clarify their decisions, actions and give justifications to anyone. If so happens it becomes shallow to discuss or further the story. But here the unreliability comes up when Tony elaborates the word ‘damage’:

 

When I wrote to Adrian, I wasn’t at all clear myself what I meant by “damage.” And most of a lifetime later, I am only slightly clearer. (Barnes, 43)

 

The Question of Accumulation

 

How could an individual conclude any of such unreliability when it comes on the table of the postmodern fiction? Though it’s agreeable that the modern angst leads to the generation of the anxious, autobiographical literature which possibly may hold some looseness in their prose but here the prose style is matter-of-fact yet it’s unreliable. As Adrian Finn points out several integers and makes some equations out of the real life experiences, one can possibly put an analogy of the accumulated points. But one has to be careful in making any opinions from the face value of anything.

 

'The falseness of an opinion is not ... any objection to it,' says Nietzsche, adding that the only relevant question is 'how far the opinion is life-furthering, life-preserving, species-preserving.' (Kermode, 50)

 

Here, we can conclude that the novel contains unreliable narration with unsuitable fragments that make some disposition in reader’s mind. Yet the novel stands as one of the milestones of the postmodern fiction. It suggests multiple interpretations to unfold and encourages readers to question the content, context, characters and narration.

 

 

Works Cited

 

Barnes, Julian. The Sense of an Ending. Vintage, 2011.

Fish, David. "Book Review: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco." Medium, 16 May 2017, dsfish.medium.com/book-review-the-name-of-the-rose-by-umberto-eco-265be0c09e79.

Kermode, Frank. The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction with a New Epilogue. PDF, Oxford UP, USA, 2000.