An Artist of the Floating World

An Artist of the Floating World

            Twelve years ago the very first book read for the Subiaco Library Book Club was Kazuo Ishiguro’s then recent novel Never Let Me Go (2005). I recall that most of the attendees agreed that it is an excellent novel; a consensus that was similarly reached with this novel. An Artist of the Floating World is Ishiguro’s second novel and was inspired by Marcel Proust’s Modernist classic In Search of Lost Time (1913). Appropriately the novel features the unreliable recollections of artist Masuji Ono, who is struggling to come to terms with life in post war Japan. Ono’s memories and musings provide the basis for the novel’s thematic centre, which focuses on both the inherent subjectivity of perception and the pressures that society and culture bring to bear on the individual, particularly during times of great upheaval.

Throughout the novel we learn, through numerous flashbacks, that Masuji Ono enjoyed a career as a fairly prominent artist during the decades leading up to the Second World War. The beginning of novel, set in 1948, finds him retired and pondering both his life and the state of Japan as the country begins to recover from bitter defeat. The novel is beautifully written, with spare, almost poetic prose that is always hinting at Ono’s subconscious stirrings. Clues of a barely buried past come early in the novel when Ono’s grandchild, the precocious Ichiro, asks Ono where his paintings are and Ono swiftly indicates that they are stored away. Ono acts as a subtle personification of Japan itself, wavering between denial about the past and full awareness of the actions and decisions that ultimately led the country to ruin. Ishiguro establishes and then maintains a subtle tension throughout the narrative by not fully revealing Ono’s exact role in the country’s imperialist past until the last third of the novel.

An Artist of the Floating World is a compelling novel despite containing little in the way of drama. Instead the novel is deeply psychological and highly symbolic. Ono is, by his very nature, an unreliable narrator, and often his perception of both the past and the present is called into question. Ono’s plight is summed up beautifully during a scene in which he is sitting with his daughters on his back porch and one daughter comments that Ono should leave the garden alone, that he had pruned some trees too harshly and had ruined the symmetry of the garden. Ono can’t see her perspective at all and totally disagrees with his daughter. This brief interaction sums up the whole thematic thrust of the novel, but due to Ishiguro’s subtle style the point is never laboured. Even the repeated scenes of Ono sitting in his favourite pre-war bar, somehow still standing among the bombed-out ruins, are poignant rather than obvious.

Aside from Ishiguro’s brilliant writing style, An Artist of the Floating World works so well because Ono is such a sympathetic character.  At the end of the novel five years has passed since the end of the war and Japan has undergone significant changes. These changes are shown through Ono’s point of view, an old man pondering both the past and the future and wondering if the young people he sees around him as he sits on a bench that approximates a bar he once loved feel the same as he did when the will of the nation, and his world view, seemed so certain. It is a fittingly poignant conclusion to a novel of subtlety,  stylistic elegance and emotional complexity.

1. 'Lantern' appears 34 times in the novel. Even on the cover page, the image of lanterns is displayed. What is the significance of Lantern in the novel?

Lanterns in the novel are associated with Ono’s teacher Mori-san, who includes a lantern in each of his paintings and dedicates himself to trying to capture the look of lantern light. For Mori-san, the flickering, easily extinguished quality of lantern light symbolizes the transience of beauty and the importance of giving careful attention to small moments and details in the physical world. Lanterns, then, symbolize an outlook on life which prizes small details and everyday moments above the ideological concerns of nationalists or commercial concerns of business people. It is an old-fashioned, aesthetically focused, and more traditional way of viewing the world.

2. Write about 'Masuji Ono as an Unreliable Narrator'.

An aging artist who created propaganda for the Japanese during the Second World War and is now preoccupied after the war with assessing his legacy. Ono grew up with a father who did not support his becoming an artist, then moved to the city in which the novel takes place as a young man. He makes money by painting works for export to foreigners. His work catches the eye of an artist and patron of the arts named Mori-san, and he spends the next seven years living in Mori-san’s villa. Then, under the influence of the nationalist Matsuda, Ono decides to change his style of painting to promote Japanese imperialism. During the war and the years leading up to it, Ono’s propagandist paintings earn him prestige in the city, but after the war’s end, nationalist ideas are discredited and Ono is forced into retirement. In the post-war period, Ono feels that, even if his work pursued a mistaken ideology of nationalism, his good faith effort to do what he believes in and make an important contribution means that he can be proud of his life’s work. Ono lost his wife Michiko and son Kenji in the war, but he doesn’t discuss his grief. Ono also feels that the younger generation’s bitterness towards his generation and desire to sweep away all the old traditions is too extreme a response to the devastation of the war. Instead, he concerns himself with arranging the marriage of his youngest daughter Noriko, who resents her father because of what she sees as his sordid past and the shadow it casts on her marriage prospects. Ono also cultivates a close relationship with his grandson Ichiro. Near the end of the novel, doubt is cast on Ono’s account of his career’s importance and impact by his daughter Setsuko, who suggests he was “merely a painter” who had little impact on the fate of Japan or even, as he had thought, on his daughter’s failed first engagement.

3. Debate on the Uses of Art / Artist (Five perspectives: 1. Art for the sake of art - aesthetic delight, 2. Art for Earning Money / Business purpose, 3. Art for Nationalism / Imperialism - Art for the propaganda of Government Power, 4. Art for the Poor / Marxism, and 5. No need of art and artist (Masuji's father's approach)

4. What is the relevance of this novel to our times?

Thinking Activity : 1984

Thinking Activity :1984

Nineteen Eighty-four, also published as 1984, novel by English author George Orwell published in 1949 as a warning against totalitarianism. The chilling dystopia made a deep impression on readers, and his ideas entered mainstream culture in a way achieved by very few books. The book’s title and many of its concepts, such as Big Brother and the Thought Police, are instantly recognized and understood, often as bywords for modern social and political abuses.

What is Dystopian Fiction?

From movies to novels to video games, dystopian fiction is consistently one of the hottest genres in entertainment. But given its broad scope and variety of forms, the dystopian genre can sometimes be hard to categorize

First, let’s define Utopia and Dystopia

A Utopia is considered an ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects. The idea of it is derived from a 1516 book by Sir Thomas More that describes an imaginary ideal society free of poverty and suffering.

Dystopian Fiction :

Dystopia is the opposite of utopia: a state in which the conditions of human life are extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror (or all three). A dystopian society is characterized by human misery in the form of squalor, oppression, disease, overcrowding, environmental destruction, or war. Below is an example of a real dystopia in present-day Syria.

DYSTOPIAN FICTION DEFINITION :

The dystopian genre imagines worlds or societies where life is extremely bad because of deprivation or oppression or terror, and human society is characterized by human misery, such as squalor, oppression, disease, overcrowding, environmental destruction, or war.

Characteristics of Dystopian Fiction :

Corporate

Religious/Philosophical

Technological

Bureaucratic

Reproductive

Totalitarianism — defined as total social control over a given population through techniques such as thought police and surveillance — is also a feature of dystopian fiction. It figures prominently in famous dystopian novels such as George Orwell’s 1984, which we investigate further below.

 '1984' dystopian fiction:

In 1949, British author and essayist George Orwell wrote of a future where a global despotic power controlled the people of Oceania with surveillance and propaganda. This was "1984.It depicted a dark future where technology exists in the public realm only as a tool for the elite to control society.But while the book is a work of dystopian fiction, some of the technological innovations that it predicted have come true in the 70 years since it was published.

In 1984, characters live in fear of wars, government surveillance, and political oppression of free speech. The London of the novel is dirty and crumbling, with food shortages, exploding bombs, and miserable citizens. The government is an all-powerful force of oppression and control, and crushes the characters’ identities and dreams. This dystopian vision of the future, written thirty-five years before the year the novel is set, suggests that man’s inherent nature is corrupt and repressive. Orwell wrote the book in the aftermath of World War II and the rise of fascism in Germany and the Soviet Union, and paints a pessimistic picture of society’s ability to avoid further global disasters.

2) your learning about the novel from online screening of the film.

The novel 1984 by George Orwell is one of the interesting novel and we also did a screening of this novel. Screening helps us to understand lots of things.In this work screening helps to understand such a situation of dystopian society. How people were brainwashed and how everyone obeyed particular parties it’s clear to mind. It throws light on so many things. Whatever we see is more memorable than we watch.

3) What according to you is the central theme of this novel?

According to me Totalitarianism is one of the major themes of the novel, 1984. It presents the type of government where even the head of the government is unknown to the public. This theme serves as a warning to the people because such regime unleashes propaganda to make people believe in the lies presented by the government. Throughout the novel, there is no proof of Big Brother’s existence in Oceania. The Party exercises complete control not only on the sexual lives of their citizens such as Julia’s and Winston Smith but also on their thoughts, feelings and even writing a diary. The overall monitoring and surveillance of the people through telescreens and subversion of history through the Ministry of Truth are some of the common casualties of such regimes. The third casualty of the totalitarianism is the truth through language. This happens in the shape of mottos such as “War is Peace.”

4) What do you understand about the term 'Orwellian'?

The term was named after British author Eric Blair known by his pen name George Orwell. Because his most famous work, the novel "1984," depicts an oppressive society under a totalitarian government, "Orwellian" is often used simply to mean authoritarian. But using the term in this way not only fails to fully convey Orwell's message, it actually risks doing precisely what he tried to warn against.n his essay, "Politics and the English Language," he described techniques like using pretentious words to project authority, or making atrocities sound acceptable by burying them in euphemisms and convoluted sentence structures. But even more mundane abuses of language can affect the way we think about things. The words you see and hear in everyday advertising have been crafted to appeal to you and affect your behavior, as have the soundbites and talking points of political campaigns which rarely present the most nuanced perspective on the issues. And the way that we use ready-made phrases and responses gleaned from media reports or copied from the Internet makes it easy to get away with not thinking too deeply or questioning your assumptions.

THANK YOU...

The Great Gatsby

 Hello Friends!

                               Today i'm going to write about the novel 'The Great Gatsby' task given by our Professor Dr. Dilip Barad sir...

1) How did the film capture the Jazz Age - the Roaring Twenties of the America in 1920s? 

In Fitzgerald's most popular novel, The Great Gatsby, jazz appears as constant background music. In the contemporary phenomenon of “Gatsby parties”—festivities intended to capture the air of the titular Jay Gatsby's famously lavish, bacchanalian parties—jazz is de rigueur to evoke the 1920s.08-May-2019

2) How did the film help in understanding the characters of the novel?

The film give a very proper idea about every character. It's help us to usestand every character very properly. For example character of jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a rags to riches story; he is a millionaire having risen from a humble background. A son of unsuccessful small farmers, Gatsby could not remain satisfied with his fate. His desire for more took him on a path he had not reckoned for himself. It was his poverty that he could not win Daisy.

3) How did the film help in understanding the symbolic significance of 'The Valley of Ashes', 'The Eyes of Dr. T J Eckleberg' and 'The Green Light'?

The Green Light

Situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. Because Gatsby’s quest for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream, the green light also symbolizes that more generalized ideal. In Chapter 9, Nick compares the green light to how America, rising out of the ocean, must have looked to early settlers of the new nation.

The Valley of Asheh 

The valley of ashes between West Egg and New York City consists of a long stretch of desolate land created by the dumping of industrial ashes. It represents the moral and social decay that results from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth, as the rich indulge themselves with regard for nothing but their own pleasure. The valley of ashes also symbolizes the plight of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result.

The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg

The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a pair of fading, bespectacled eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes. They may represent God staring down upon and judging American society as a moral wasteland, though the novel never makes this point explicitly. Instead, throughout the novel, Fitzgerald suggests that symbols only have meaning because characters instill them with meaning. The connection between the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg and God exists only in George Wilson’s grief-stricken mind. This lack of concrete significance contributes to the unsettling nature of the image. Thus, the eyes also come to represent the essential meaninglessness of the world and the arbitrariness of the mental process by which people invest objects with meaning. Nick explores these ideas in Chapter 8, when he imagines Gatsby’s final thoughts as a depressed consideration of the emptiness of symbols and dreams.

4) How did the film capture the theme of racism and sexism?

5) Watch the video on Nick Carraway and discuss him as a narrator.

Nick Carraway’s role in The Great Gatsby is more than just that of a narrator. He is the narrator of the well orchestrated Gatsby Drama but also an active character. He participates  actively in its events and action.  A wise and cultured young gentleman, Nick is also conscientious. He lends company to the readers throughout the novel, judging the events as they happen from his own unique perspective. His conscience and sense of morality differentiate him from the others.

Nick stands alone in the crowd. He feels somewhat lonely but much better than the filthily rich around him. He is a young man from Minnesota and a graduate from Yale who fought in the World War I. Then, he came to New York to indulge himself in bond business. He is generally quite reserved and honest. Nick is a confidant to Jay Gatsby, the central and most mysterious character of the novel who is full of troubling secrets. Being a friend of Gatsby, Nick gets a chance to peep into his soul and understand his love. Jay Gatsby is one of the newly rich living at Long Island and it does not take Nick very long to get to be friends with him. The important status in the novel that Nick enjoys is because of his closeness to Gatsby. However, He has got a more serious temperament as compared to Jay Gatsby.

Thank you...

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Archetypal Criticism

Archetypal Criticism 

Here given task by Dilip Barad sir , So the link is given below:

Que.:-1)What is Archetypal Criticism? What does the archetypal critic do?

Ans.:-

             According to Jung,

                                                        https://youtu.be/BtutfLo0d4w

In the literary criticism denotes the recurrent narrative designs, Pattern of action and emotion and also theme and images. We can saw in Literature that mostly used archetypes character by writer. In English literature included christian mythology, story of ghost, religion and ritual life. According to me that Archetypes character mostly focusing on the myth and rituals. Archetype is a common means that anything create bias on similar structure to established different way.  For ex., Sea & River,  Garden & Forest

We can saw this type of common structure among different waving or non-waving way is called Archetypes. This type similarity also we find in poem, novel and shot story. Another example is that We can saw in films, hero fight for family,  for virtue and also his beloved, So we can find same plot structure in film and TV serial. So my point is that archetype criticism is that criticize and focusing on common archetype.

Que.:-2)What is Frye trying prove by giving an analogy of ' Physics to Nature' and 'Criticism to Literature'?

Ans.:-

Northrop Fry gives archetypal criticism to connecting with cycle of nature. He also season connected with mood of human being. For Ex.,

A) Spring ( Comedy):-

                                  Here Fry connected  Spring with comedy because Spring and comedy both are symbols of something became new, birth, development, revival and resurrection and also symbolize dark to light, dry to greenness...etc.

B) Summer( Romance):-

                                                
                                        Here talked about season of England not Indian. So Summer season denotes romance because generally we can saw people marriage in summer time. Another things is that culminations to triumph both these term. All are symbolize romance through Summer season.

C) Autumn ( Tragedy):-

                                        Autumn season denotes tragedy and It is symbol of dying life. We can saw in autumn all leaves of tree fallen down and also tree became lifeless. Similarly hero fallen down and protagonist became tragic hero.

D) Winter ( Satire&Irony):-

                                        Winter is season of darkness. We can saw in winter season is very coldest and days are also shorter and night are longer. Satire reflects the darkness of literature, It is disillusioned and mocking from of literature.

Fry also said that students of literature never learnt special subject of Physic but When they learnt about nature at that time by enlarge studying about Physic. When we asked to students of literature that What do you study? , Mostly they said that about age, Writer and Literature but they don't know that certainly they study about criticism of literature. We all are  also studying another subject through literature like as, Physic, Economic,Sociology,History...etc.

Que.:-3)Share your views of Criticism as an organised body of knowledge. Mention relation of literature with history and philosophy.

Ans.:-
                                         When we study literature, We don't study only literature but also we connected with another subjects like as, History and Philosophy. Why we included this subject in literature ? because of  We develop historical sense and philosophical sense. When I think way of philosophical, So that my idea became progressive and logical and mind was sharpen through logical arguments. Historical sense has deep thought and pastness. Fry also talked that without thinking  to go on conclusion, It is not right way. We always look on the framework of history which the based on evidence.

Que.:-4)Briefly explain inductive method with illustration of Shakespeare's Hamlet's Grave Digger's scene.

Ans.:-
                                            Inductive method was mostly used by writer. In this method specifies a journey from specific to general. In the grave digging scene in Hamlet is a specifics scene. We made the general conclusion  like, grave digger scene is centrifugal which moves us away from center. Another thing is that We find lots of conversation between digger and Hamlet. So that the grave digger is significance of general, so they are not worried about death body.     

Que.:-5)Briefly explain deductive method with reference to an analogy to Music, Painting, rhythm and pattern. Give examples of the outcome of deductive method.

Ans.:-
                                         Deductive method also opposite to Inductive method.In this method also significance from general to specific. For example, There is support of music and art to literature, so some are keeps and moving with time like as, music and some art present in static way like as Drawing. There are music is upon rhythm and Painting is on the pattern, But we can't use particular manner in literature. When we read literature during that time we need both way rhythm and pattern. Another things is that we found rhythm in nature, but Fry  talked that If we didn't respect and care of nature then nature never give respect human being.

Que.:-6)Refer to the Indian seasonal grid (below). If you can, please read small Gujarati or Hindi or English poem from the archetypal approach and apply Indian seasonal grid in the interpretation.

Ans.:- 

India has gifted various seasonable grid by nature. In Our literature poet also write upon season and nature. So here I am going to present short stanza of the poem. In this following English  poem represented briefly about four season.

સોનાવરણી સીમ બની

મેહુલિયે કીધી મ્હેર રે ભાઈ મોસમ આવી મહેનતની...

નદીઓના જળને લોકોમાં લહેર રે 

ભાઈ મોસમ આવી મહેનતની...

 લીલો કંચન બાજરો ને 

ઉજળો દૂધ કપાસ રે 

જુવાર લો તો લૂમેઝૂમે હૈયામાં ઉલ્લાસ રે U

ઉપર ઊજળા આભમાં કુંજડીઓના કિલ્લોલ રે 

વાતા મીઠા વાયરા ને લેતા મોલ હિલોળ રે 

લિ'યો પછેડી દાતરડાં આજ સીમ કરે છે સાદ રે 

રંગે સંગે કામ કરીએ થાય મલક આબાદ રે 

રળનારો તે માનવી ને દેનારો ભગવાન 

સોનાવરણી સીમ બની ભાઈ મેહુલિયે કીધી મ્હેર રે...

Here in this poem Poet Nathalal describes the happiness of farmer bacause season of harvest is comimg. Farm are full with grains and farmers are ready to harvest with great enthusiasm . Thus, the season of harvesting is presented in this poem.

Waiting For Godot

Waiting For Godot 

With reference of an online film screening conduced online on 8th June 2021, this blog contains the  worksheet and follow up of the play "Waiting for Godot" discussed in the class. Samuel Beckett was a modern playwright and was associated with the "Theatre of the Absurd". This play is originally written in French with the title En Attendant Godot.

                      Nothing happens, Nobody comes, Nobody goes, it's awful!"

The movie "Waiting for Godot" is directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. In this 2001 movie, Barry McGovern and Johnny Murphy played Vladimir and Estragon, whereas Lucky and Pozzo were performed by Alan Standford and Stephan Brennan, respectively.This blog studies some of the interesting discussions from Bucket’s  play “Waiting for Godot”.

Existentialism is a philosophical movement which embraces life with its full meaninglessness and absurdities. Above statement by Soren Kierkegaard who is considered as the first Existentialist prompts the same idea that Life is not a problem, but the problem is in our thinking that we see life as a problem. Life is a journey which can be experienced by living and experiencing every phase of life with full enthusiasm.

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.   (Soren Kierkegaard)

After the dreadful realities of the Second World War people started seeing life which is full of emptiness, where nothing to do, nothing to embrace, nothing to live and nothing to experience. As a response to that there is a rise of Existentialism which emphasizes more on Individual Freedom and Choice. It urges human beings to pursue their own choice and create one's individual, unique world in this irrational universe.

Nothing happens, Nobody comes, Nobody goes, it's awful!"

The play can be read through various perspectives ranging from Theological point of view to Political Reading, Existential angst to Divine Perspective, similarities with Hindu philosophy to criticism on Christianity.

1) What connection do you see in the setting (A country road, A tree, Evening) of the play and these paintings?

The setting of the play is inspired by two paintings by Caspar David Friedrich. The title of this painting is 'longing', here longing means deep desire for something. Waiting is connected with longing. In the painting two person see towards sunrise and sunset, it stand for bright hope and despair and in the play we find similar things.

One of the major difference between these two scenes is about the intention of the author. David Casper is fascinated towards Romanticism that's why his imagination ends in this painting by romanticizing nature with its sensitivity. While Beckett's purpose is totally contradictory. Who wants to show the meaninglessness of life through this barren tree.

2) The tree is the only important ‘thing’ in the setting. What is the importance of trees in both acts? Why does Beckett grow a few leaves in Act II on the barren tree - The tree has four or five leaves - ?

ESTRAGON: What is it? 

VLADIMIR: I don't know. A willow. 

ESTRAGON: Where are the leaves? 

VLADIMIR: It must be dead. 

ESTRAGON: No more weeping. 

VLADIMIR: Or perhaps it's not the season. 

ESTRAGON: Looks to me more like a bush. 

VLADIMIR: A shrub. 

ESTRAGON: A bush.

If we see the Theological reference of the Tree then it can be said that it is a burning bush where our two major characters are waiting for God to come and give them salvation. Every day they wait for a character named Godot, but he never comes till the moon rises and only his message comes that he surely came tomorrow. So, Flourishment of leaves on the tree on the second day show a kind of hope that today he might come.

3) In both Acts, evening falls into night and moon rises. How would you like to interpret this ‘coming of night and moon’ when actually they are waiting for Godot?

 Both the act we find that when night comes its reflection of there life how are absurd  they are waiting for something is not come so finally the night is reflection of there lost or something that they want to achieve but then not achieve or then not get success, And when the moon rises it reflects that there is one hope that The Dark night will be end with this beautiful moon and there life darkness is also and just like night will end and morning comes so the moon is reflection of hope in Dark night.

4) The director feels the setting with some debris. Can you read any meaning in the contours of debris in the setting of the play?

The director used debris in the setting. So, it can be the influence of the World war-2 in the material world. Therefore, we can say that the meaninglessness of material world that keep on destroying, nothing is permanent in the life.These settings  designed to detect image quality problems that may be caused by dirt, dust, or debris on the scanner read head.

5) The play begins with the dialogue “Nothing to be done”. How does the theme of ‘nothingness’ recurs in the play?

"Waiting for Godot' does not tell a story; it explores a static situation. "Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful." On a country road by a tree two tramps, Vladimir and Estragon are waiting." (Esslin)

"Nothing to be done" reflects the Existentialism. This theory shows that the life is meaningless, whatever you do it has no ultimate meaning. this play starts with this idea of nothingness. Vladimir and Estragon waiting for Godot without knowing that he will come or not, is he exist or not, who is he? unclear theme shows the nothingness of the play.Vladimir and Estragon both are doing nothing as such which is significant in life.  And Nothingness becomes the theme of the play. ' Nothingness'  is the central idea of the play.

6) Do you agree: “The play (Waiting for Godot), we agreed, was a positive play, not negative, not pessimistic. As I saw it, with my blood and skin and eyes, the philosophy is: 'No matter what— atom bombs, hydrogen bombs, anything—life goes on. You can kill yourself, but you can't kill life." (E.G. Marshall who played Vladimir in the original Broadway production 1950s)?

Yes just because its representation of absurdity and philosophy an existentialism, that's why display is not negative or Pessimistic just because it's a reflection of hope that at the end of the life there is good thing happened up till and of the last breath we have to wait for something which give us success peace honour or some kind of social important anything which we are waiting for. play waiting for Godot is positive play in the sense of life is goes on we can not stop or kill the time. If we commit suicide or stop our breath it doesn't matter for life. We kill ourselves not the life, it must go on. So, we can say that life is meaningless though we have to live life, this lesson make us positive.

7) How are the props like hat and boots used in the play? What is the symbolic significance of these props?

Samuel Beckett used many symbols in this play in which Hat and Boot are interesting symbols. We can say that hat represented the intellectual, mental ability and thinking and boot represent lower and physical appearance.Hat represent the intellectuality , when boot represent the some physical or outside world Dzire, when Hat represent mentally or thinking philosophical touch that person who remember history and then facing so much problem just because he know the things which happened or what next come that's why so in that way we can interpret at that hat represent intellectuality and boots represent outside world Desire.

8) Do you think that the obedience of Lucky is extremely irritating and nauseatic? Even when the master Pozzo is blind, he obediently hands the whip in his hand. Do you think that such a capacity for slavishness is unbelievable?

Lucky is more knowledgeable and intelligent than his master. He is also seen as a spiritual side of life. But still he didn't even make a single step to set him free, which sometimes became irritating. So, Mentally Lucky is totally blind towards his master. He can be seen as like blind follower of his master without any rational thinking that what damage his master is doing in his independent life. 

Even in Act 2 his Master became blind, but still he is fully obedient and honest with his master. This can be analyzed more appropriately if we see psychologically. Lucky's mind is trained in such a way that now he can't even think against his master. So, Rope became a very interesting symbol around which he is tied by his Master which didn't allow him to pursue his freedom.

9) Who according to you is Godot? God? An object of desire? Death? Goal? Success? Or  . . .

Godot is an object of desire. Desire is an endless vicious chain that ultimately leads us nowhere. If we observe a toddler playing with toys, we come to know that as soon as it looks at the better toy than it carries, it will leave that toy and will crave, run and cry for the better toy. This desire perhaps comes from the binary comparison that is hardwired in our mind. For grown ups, this desire is perhaps money, material wealth, luxuries, physical fulfilment, emotional acceptance, public recognition and fame, and what not. . . Goals and success are also sprouted from desire. Passion is also nothing but desire. Desire can be compared as fire also, which never gets extinguished.

10) “The subject of the play is not Godot but ‘Waiting’” (Esslin, A Search for the Self). Do you agree? How can you justify your answer?

Yes I think the play like this can be better understandable if it wil be read first than viewed. Reading of the play helps to understand the things in the better way. The play has small dialogue but each and every word has its own importance. In movie you can't find time to think deeply upon it. So reading will be better before viewing the play.

11) Do you think that plays like this can better be ‘read’ than ‘viewed’ as it requires a lot of thinking on the part of readers, while viewing, the torrent of dialogues does not give ample time and space to ‘think’? Or is it that the audio-visuals help in better understanding of the play?

According to me the reading and viewing both can be beneficial and required of the play. Because if you only watch the movie then it can be bore. Because it has the continous dialogues and less action. For the understanding of the deeper philosophy one has to read the play. Only reading also makes you boring because you will not be able to imagine Vladimir and Estragon and their useless action. We have to done both the things in the class which enriched our understanding of the play.For many, reading a play is more preferable than to watch it. But, plays are actually performed in the mind of the playwright. Then it gets penned on the paper. So basically its a matter of performance. Theatrical performance makes the written play more lively and meaningful. So far as Waiting for Godot is concerned.

12) Which of the following sequence you liked the most:

Vladimir – Estragon killing time in questions and conversations while waiting

Vladimir and Estragon: The Hat and the Boot

Pozzo – Lucky episode in both acts

Conversion of Vladimir with the boy

The part which I like the most in the movie is the conversation between Vladimir and the boy at the end of both acts. Because it gives a complete exposure to the character of Vladimir who asked a number of questions to the boy regarding Godot and how Godot treats him and he also tries to know the behavioral and humanistic patterns of Invisible Godot. Which shows Vladimir's quest to search about Godot.

13) Did you feel the effect of existential crisis or meaninglessness of human existence in the irrational and indifference Universe during screening of the movie? Where and when exactly that feeling was felt, if ever it was?

yes, we feel the effect of Existetial crisis or meaninglessness of human existence in the irrational and indifference Universe when Vladimir asked to the boy about Godot and he asked that Godot will come today or not? That time boy replied that Godot will come tomorrow but Godot never come throughout the play so we can find the meaningless waiting for Godot. And other meaninglessness we find in the character of Lucky that when his master go blind though he doing slavery like sheeple. Hemce, we can say that life is meaningless for Lucky because they even don't think about freedom.

14) Vladimir and Estragon talks about ‘hanging’ themselves and commit suicide, but they do not do so. How do you read this idea of suicide in Existentialism?

We can find the suicide is an art in existentialism. We watched one of the video it talks about the philosophical suicide but in the play Vladimir is a strong believer of Christianity and suicide is the sin in Christianity and we also can say that Estragon and Vladimir avoid suicide because they have hope for Godot.In existentialism suicide is best art ever done. After happens everything, there is a need of national thinking, that is suicide. It is a favourite solution when feeling of absurdity came in life. Vladimir and Estragon ' s Waiting is significant of their steadfast hope and faith. They thought about suicide but not commit , because of hope of salvation that Godot will come.

15) Can we do any political reading of the play if we see European nations represented by the 'names' of the characters (Vladimir - Russia; Estragon - France; Pozzo - Italy and Lucky - England)? What interpretation can be inferred from the play written just after World War II? Which country stands for 'Godot'?

Waiting for Godot is written after the second world war. So, War effects can be clearly noticed here. Some characters also represent some countries on the basis that we can do Political reading of play.

16) So far as Pozzo and Lucky [master and slave] are concerned, we have to remember that Beckett was a disciple of Joyce and that Joyce hated England. Beckett meant Pozzo to be England, and Lucky to be Ireland." (Bert Lahr who played Estragon in a Broadway production). Does this reading make any sense? Why? How? What?

The more the things change, the more it remains similar. There seems to have been no change in Act I and Act II of the play. Even the conversation between Vladimir and the Boy sounds almost similar. But there is one major change. In Act I, in reply to Boy;s question, Vladimir says: 

"BOY: What am I to tell Mr. Godot, Sir?

VLADIMIR: Tell him . . . (he hesitates) . . . tell him you saw us. (Pause.) You did see us, didn't you?

17) The more the things change, the more it remains similar. There seems to have no change in Act I and Act II of the play. Even the conversation between Vladimir and the Boy sounds almost similar. But there is one major change. In Act I, in reply to Boy;s question, Vladimir says:

The play followed the notion that the  more the things change, the more it remains similar. Both acts are almost similar in their waiting, settings, in their conversation and in the thematic concern.

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Assignment :- 4: indian Literary Theory and Criticism

Paper :- 109 Assignment 

Topic :- Indian Literary Theory and Criticism

Name :- Chandani Pandya 

Paper :- Literary Theory & Criticism and Indian Asthetics.

Roll no. :- 06

Enrollment no. :- 3069206420200014

Email ID. :- pandyachandani11@gmail.Com

Batch :- 2020-2022 (MA. Sem:-2) 

Submitted to :- S.B.Gardi Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University.

The Western tradition of literary theory and criticism essentially derives from the Greeks, and there is a sense in which Plato, Aristotle, and Longinus mark out positions and debates that are still being played out today. At a moment when we are questioning the sufficiency of such Western critical methods to make sense of the plethora of literatures produced by the world’s cultures, it may be useful to remind ourselves that other equally ancient classical critical traditions exist. There is an unbroken line of literary theory and criticism in Indian culture that goes back at least as far as the Western tradition. Indian criticism constitutes an important and largely untapped resource for literary theorists, as the Indian tradition in important respects assigns a more central role to literature than the Greek tradition does.

While explicit literary theory in India can be traced as far back as the fourth century b.c.e., placing Indian critical theory at the same time as Aristotle and Plato, there is much discussion of poetic and literary practice in the Vedas, which developed over the period 1500 BCE-500 BCE. In India, literary theory and criticism was never isolated simply as an area of philosophy; the practice and appreciation of literature was deeply woven into religion and daily life. While Plato argued in The Republic that the social role of the poet was not beneficial, Ayurveda, the science of Indian medicine, believed that a perfectly structured couplet by its rhythms could literally clean the air and heal the sick. We know this perfect couplet today as the mantra, literally “verse.” Sanskrit poetry has to be in the precise meter of the sloka, comparable to the heroic couplet, to be able to speak to the hearer. The Vedic Aryans therefore worshipped Vach, the goddess of speech or holy word (De Bary et al. 5-6). Like the Greeks, Indian critics developed a formalistic system of rules of grammar and structure that were meant to shape literary works, but great emphasis was also laid on the meaning and essence of words. This became the literary- critical tenet of rasadhvani. In contrast to Plato’s desire to expel poets and poetry from his republic, poetry in India was meant to lead individuals to live their lives according to religious and didactic purposes, creating not just an Aristotelian “purgation of emotions” and liberation for an individual but a wider, political liberation for all of society. Society would then be freed from bad ama, or “ill will” and “feelings that generate bad karma,” causing individuals to live in greater harmony with each other. This essay outlines the various systems that aimed at creating and defining this liberatory purpose in literature through either form or content.

The three major critical texts that form the basis of Sanskrit critical theory are Bharata’s Natyasastra (second century C.E.), Anandavardhana’s Dhvanyaloka, which was the foundation of the dhvani school of criticism, and Bhartrhari’s theory of rasa in the Satakas, the last two dating to about c.E. 800. We shall discuss these works in the order in which the three genres—poetry, drama, and literary criticism—developed. Interestingly, these works asked questions that sound surprisingly contemporary. For example, a major question concerned whether “authority” rested with the poet or with the critic, that is, in the text or in the interpretation. In his major critical treatise, Dhvanyaloka, Anandavardhana concluded that “in the infinite world of literature, the poet is the creator, and the world changes itself so as to conform to the standard of his pleasure” (Sarma 6). According to Anandavardhana, kavirao (“poet”) is equated with Prajapati (“Creator”). The poet creates the world the reader sees or experiences. Thus, Anandavardhana also jostled with the issue of the role of the poet, his social responsibility, and whether social problems are an appropriate subject for literature. For Anandavardhana, “life imitated art”; hence the role of the poet is not just that of the “unacknowledged legislator of the world”—as P. B. Shelley stated (Shelley’s Critical Prose, ed. Bruce R. McElderry, Jr., 1967, 36)—not just that of someone who speaks for the world, but that of someone who shapes social values and morality. The idea of sahrdaya (“proper critic”), “one who is in sympathy with the poet’s heart,” is a concept that Western critics from I. A . Richards through F. R. Leavis to Stanley Fish have struggled with. In the Indian tradition, a critic is the sympathetic interpreter of the poet’s works.

But why interpretation? Why does a community that reads the works of its own writers need interpretation? How does the reader read, and what is the role of criticism? Indian philosophers and priests attempted to answer these questions in terms of the didactic purpose of literature as liberation. As we shall see, rasadhvani approximated closely to the Indian view of life, detachment from emotions that would cause bad karma, purgation of harmful emotions, and the subsequent road to moksha, “liberation.” Twentieth-century critics such as K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar and Kuppuswami Sastriar (both South Indians, the latter being the major Tamil interpreter of Sanskrit literary criticism) have brought about a revival of the rasadhvani schools of criticism. Similarly, Bengali writers such as Rabindranath Tagore were greatly influenced by the didactic purpose of literature that rasadhvani critics advocated.

To understand how these critical theories developed, we need to look briefly at the development of Indian literature. The Rig Veda is considered the earliest extant poem in the Indo-European language family and is dated anywhere between 2500 b .c .e . and 600 B.C.E. It does, however, make reference to kavya, “stanzaic forms,” or poetry, that existed before the Rig Veda itself. The word gatha, referring to Zoroastrian religious verses that are sung, also occurs frequently in the Rig Veda. Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana, is considered the first poet, but as we shall see, Valmiki is also considered the first exponent of poetic form. The period between 600-500 B.C.E. and c.E. 200 is labeled the epic period by Sarvepelli Radhakrishnan (the first president of the postcolonial Republic of India and the most prolific scholar of Indian philosophy and critical theory) because it saw the development of the great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (Radhakrishnan and Moore xviii). According to Radhakrishnan, the Bhagavad Gita, which is a part of the Mahabharata, ranks as the most authoritative text in Indian philosophical literature because it is considered to have been divinely revealed and because it apparently was noted down as it was revealed and therefore was not merely transmitted orally. In the Gita, Krishna and Arjuna philosophize about the role of the poet. The responsibility of maintaining order in the world is on the shoulders of the poet-sage, such as Janaka, for ordinary mortals tend to imitate the role model as portrayed by Janaka. Thus it is the poets who set the standards for the world to follow.

The period of Indian philosophy that spans more than a millennium from the early Christian centuries until the seventeenth century C.E. is considered the sutra period, or the period of treatises upon the religious and literary texts. It was this period that saw the rise of the many schools of literary criticism and interpretation. Radhakrishnan calls this the scholastic period of Indian philosophy, and it was in this period that interpretation became important. Sanskrit is the language in which the Vedas are written, and because the Vedas are the basis of the all-Indian Hindu tradition, all of India’s religious, philosophical, literary, and critical literature was written in Sanskrit. Sanskrit served as a lingua franca across regional boundaries but predominantly for the learned, upper classes and the Brahmins, who made up the priestly class. The Brahmins then interpreted the religious, literary, and critical texts for local individuals by using the indigenous languages.

While Sanskrit remained the language of religion in the south, local versions of the religious literature began to emerge in order to meet the needs of the South Indian people, who spoke predominantly Tamil or Telugu. It was not until the breakup of the Brahminical tradition in about the seventh century c.E. (Embree 228-29) that literary religious hymns emerged in Tamil. The Indian- English writer R. K. Narayan’s version of the Ramayana is based on the Tamil version by the poet Kamban in the eleventh century. Tamil literary criticism remained rooted in the classical Sanskrit critical tenets, however, as is evidenced by the continuance (even in the 1900s) of Dhvanyaloka criticism by Kuppuswami Sastri in Madras.

Bibliography

Aristotle, Poetics (trans. S. H. Butcher, 1894, 4th ed., 1911, reprint, 1961); Sures Chandra Banerji, A Companion to Sanskrit Literature (1971); Bhartrhari, The Satakas (ed. and trans. J. M. Kennedy, n.d.); S. N. Dasgupta, “The Theory of Rasa” (Raghavan and Nagendra); S. K. De, Sanskrit Poetics (1960); William Theodore de Bary et aL, eds., Sources of Indian Tradition, vol. 1 (1958, rev. Ainslie T. Embree, 1988); Edward C. Dimock, ed., The Literatures of India: An Introduction (1974); R. C. Dwivedi, Principles of Literary Criticism in Sanskrit (1969); Ainslie T. Embree, The Hindu Tradition (1966); K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar, Indian Writing in English (1962, 2d ed., 1973); Feroza Jussawalla, Family Quarrels: Towards a Criticism of Indian Writing in English (1985); P. V. Kane, History of Sanskrit Poetics (1971); Hari Ram Mishra, The Theory of Rasa in Sanskrit Drama (1964); R. K. Narayan, The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (1972); S. Radhakrishnan and Charles Moore, eds., A Source Book in Indian Philosophy (1957); V. Raghavan and Nagendra, An Introduction to Indian Poetics (1970); A. Sankaran, Some Aspects of Literary Criticism in Sanskrit or the Theories of Rasa and Dhvani (1926); D. S. Sarma, Literary Criticism in Sanskrit and English (1950); Mukunda Madhava Sharma, The Dhvani Theory in Sanskrit Poetics (1968); Lee Siegel, Laughing Matters: Comic Tradition in India (1987); Moriz Winternitz, History of Indian Literature (trans. Subhadratha Jha, 3 vols., 1967).

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Assignment :- 5: What is the Theatre of the Absurd?

Paper :- 110 (A) Assignment 

Topic :- What is the Theatre of the Absurd?

Name :- Chandani Pandya 

Paper :- History of English Literature 

Roll no. :- 06

Enrollment no. :- 3069206420200014

Email ID. :- pandyachandani11@gmail.Com

Batch :- 2020-2022 (MA. Sem:-2) 

Submitted to :- S.B.Gardi Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University.

Introduction

           Samuel Beckett is a renowned Irish dramatist and novelist. “Waiting for Godot” is his well-known play. The play is one of the classic works of theatre of absurd. His some of famous works are “Murphy”, “Molloy”, “The Unnamable”, “Endgame”, “How it is”, “Waiting for Godot” etc. He won Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969. "Waiting for Godot" is a play that captures this feeling and view of the world, and characterizes it with archetypes that symbolize humanity and its behavior when faced with this knowledge. According to the play, a human being's life is totally dependent on chance, and, by extension, time is meaningless. Beckett also deals with nothingness in Waiting for Godot it shows some deep meaning in life in different way. His pen name was Andrew Belis. This paper provides a brief overview of Theatre of absurd. The play Theatre of absurd lack a logical and conventional structure which is the representation of absurd predicament.

The term was coined by the Critic Martin Esslin, who made it the title of his 1962 book on the subject. This type of play first become popular during the 1950s & 60s. Which presented on the stage the philosophy articulated by French philosopher Albert Camus in his essay the myth of Sisyphus. In which he defines the human condition as basically meaningless. “Theater of Absurd” is a term or particular movement started in late 1950s.

•      Martin Esslin’s “Theatre of Absurd”

•      Albert Camu’s “Myth of Sysiphus”

World is without meaning & life is without purpose. Associated with Existentialism. Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Tom Stoppard, Friedrich Durrenmatt, Harold Pinter etc who was use Existentialism. Let’s we discuss about Theater of Absurd. First we know what is Absurd?

·        What is Absurd?

“The condition of state in which human exist in a meaningless irrational universe where in people live have no purposes or meaning.”

 “Theatre of Absurd” = “Expression in art of the meaninglessness of human existence.”

Albert Camus’s Myth of Sisyphus it is also deals with Absurdity. Myth of Sisyphus defied the god and put death in chains so that no human needed to die. When god decide on his punishment for all eternity. He would have push a rock up a mountain upon reaching the top the rock would roll down again.

“what is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying.”

Albert Camus, Myth of Sisyphus

Samuel Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’ belongs to the tradition of the Theatre of Absurd. It is unconventional in not depicting any dramatic conflicts. In the play, practically nothing happened, no development is to be found, there is no beginning and no end. The entire action boils down in an absurd setting of a country side road with two tramps Vladimir and Estragon who simply idle away their time waiting for Godot about whom they have only vague ideas. (Hussain)In fact this play comes under “Theater of Absurd”. It is a kind of tragic comedy and unlikable truth about life and world is described here. There are only five characters in this play. They are Vladimir, Estragon, Pozzo, Lucky and a boy. The effect of existentialism can be found very much here. The play itself is a symbol of hopelessness and nothingness. In “Theater of Absurd”, there is no plot, no story, no beginning and no end. In short, it challenges the tradition of well maid play. This play has same ‘nothing’. The language is simple and vague.

The Theatre of the Absurd shows the world as an incomprehensible place. The spectators see the happenings on the stage entirely from the outside. Without ever understanding the full meaning of these strange patterns of events as newly arrived visitors might watch life in a country of which they have not yet mastered the language. (Esslin)

Characteristics of the “Theatre of Absurd”

ü Broad comedy

ü Menacing and tragic effect

ü Alienation effect

ü Hopelessness in characters

ü Fragmentations

ü Parody of the concept of ‘well maid play’

ü Unconventional writing

ü Irrationality

ü At some extent similar to the characteristics of Postmodernism.

Ø Main features of the Theatre of the Absurd in Waiting for Godot

· Meaningless of Life:

Theatre of the Absurd presented the life as meaningless and one that could simply end in casual slaughter. This was reflected in the society of the time. It was because of the following reasons:

ü Mechanical nature of Man of the Life

ü Alien worlds

ü Time

ü Isolation

A play is expected to entertain the audience with logically built, witty dialogue. But in this play, like any other absurd play, the dialogue seems to have degenerated into meaningless babble. ‘Nothing to be done’ is the words that are repeated frequently. The dialogues the characters exchange are meaningless banalities.

· Lack of the Plot

Absurd plays have lack of the plot. There is the great deal of the repetition in action and language

Ex. It lacks the traditional standards of drama, no causal chain of effects and events, no Aristotle’s structure of drama.

·  Non Conventional Story:

Theatre of the absurd have not the conventional story which can convince the readers or viewers. Ex. In this play Estragon & Vladimir always waiting for the man namely Godot who never come.

· Contradiction and repetition of the dialogues

For example Vladimir yells to Estragon: “Come on . . . return the ball can’t you, once in a way?” Vladimir’s complaint is descriptive of much of the dialogue in the remainder of the play; it is very much like two people playing a game with one another and one is unable to keep the ball in play. One more Ex.,

We’re waiting for Godot (pg-51)

Boy: I don’t know sir:

Repetition of the objects.

In the play props like hat and boot also symbolizes something in the play. While in first we see Hat and Boots use as props in the play. Both props are means for their time pass. They changing hat passing their boring time. But in deeper connotation Boots is a symbol of lower order of thinking or related with body only and Hat it symbolize higher  thinking and mind  that Vladimir is doing.

· Devaluation of The Language:

The absurd dramatist felt that conventional language had failed man and it was inadequate means of communication. The uselessness of language was used by the characters constantly; they speak in clichés, overused, tired expressions. They use language to feel the emptiness between them, to conceal the fact that they have 'nothing' to talk about to each other.

Ex. Lucky’s speech in Act-1 (quaquaquaquaqua)

·  Cyclical Structure:

In fact, everything is structured by this revenge motive. But in Waiting for Godot, where there is no motivated action, the sense of nothingness play the pivotal role in determining the every aspect of the play. Absurd play has a repetitive cyclical structure.

ü Similar setting- Debris

ü Timing- day to moon rise

ü Actions- hat Swapping scene

ü Similar Acts structure

ü Same acts ending

· Element of Existentialism:

Ø Absurd theatre questions the existence of man.

Absurdist believes in the godless world. (World war-2)

Ø Human existence has no meaning and purpose.

“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for”                                   

Waiting for Godot” is an existentialist play because it has clear tints of existentialism in it. Vladimir represents the portion of humanity who trusts in religion and spiritual beliefs to guide them, and that Estragon represents the more ideal existentialist portion of humanity who chooses to stop waiting and construct the meaning of life based on experience in the tangible and physical world around them. The following is an example of dialogue which supports this concept:

Vladimir: Let’s wait and see what he says.

Estragon: Who?

Vladimir:  Godot.

Estragon: Good idea.

Vladimir: Let’s wait till we know exactly how we stand.

Estragon: On the other hand it might be better to strike the iron before it freezes. (Beckett)

                                                                                               

· Cut off from religion:

Society of that time was cut off from religion. It was presented in absurd play. Ex. In this play Vladimir& Estragon talks about the thieves that were crucified with Christ just for passing time. The tree is symbol of Christianity.

Christian myth described in the dialogues between the boy and Vladimir. The boy, who looks after the goats is not beaten but, his brother who looks after Mr. Godot’s ships is beaten.

Christian ideas, it is also related with many biblical elements and symbols. At the beginning of the play, Vladimir asks Estragon, have he read the Bible or not. Throughout the play, biblical, Christian elements are very much presented with the symbols.

‘’ Religion enables us to ignore nothingness and to get with the jobs of life’’’(john Updike)

· Absurd Ending:

Absurd play has unexplained ending Hope, religion, nothingness, forgetfulness, purposelessness' of man, ending is not Conclusion. Another example is at the end of both acts, they talks about going but no one goes:

Ø “ESTRAGON: Well, shall we go?

VLADIMIR: Yes, let's go.

(They do not move).”

Ø (End of second act)

“VLADIMIR: Well? Shall we go?

ESTRAGON: Yes, let's go.

(They do not move).”

In short every aspect of the play structure, theme, setting, character, dialogue or some other behavioral silent activities is motivated by one thing that is nothingness now clear that Absurdity or we can say Nothingness tells us something and gives us deep meaning about life and it also shows the reality of life and it is clearly shown in this play with the help of these five characters.