The Home and the world

 Rabindranath Tagore(7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) :-

Rabindranath Tagore sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.

 In translation his poetry was viewed as spiritual and mercurial; his seemingly mesmeric personality, flowing hair, and other-worldly dress earned him a prophet-like reputation in the West. His "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside Bengal. Tagore introduced new prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali literature, thereby freeing it from traditional models based on classical Sanskrit. He was highly influential in introducing the best of Indian culture to the West and vice versa, and he is generally regarded as the outstanding creative artist of modern India. A Pirali Brahmin from Calcutta, Tagore wrote poetry as an eight-year-old. At age sixteen, he released his first substantial poems under the pseudonym Bhanusi?ha , which were seized upon by literary authorities as long-lost classics. He graduated to his first short stories and dramas and the aegis of his birth name—by 1877. As a humanist, universalist internationalist, and strident anti nationalist he denounced the Raj and advocated independence from Britain. Asan exponent of the Bengal Renaissance, he advanced a vast canon that comprised paintings, sketches and doodles, hundreds of texts, and some two thousand songs; his legacy endures also in the institution he founded, Visva Bharati University Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed or panned for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: the Republic of India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla. The composer of Sri Lanka's national anthem: Sri Lanka Matha was a student of Tagore, and the song is inspired by Tagore's style.

The novel, The Home and the World, by Rabindranath Tagore, was published in 1916 and is a metaphor for the Indian caste system in the early twentieth century. The Home and the World

The three significant characters are Nikhil, his wife Bimala, and Sandip.

Nikhil comes from a family which has both wealth and tradition. Because of his social status, he could have married a woman that has both beauty and standing. However, unlike his family, Nikhil is a man without vanity and he falls in love, and marries, Bimala who is described as having neither wealth nor beauty. When he encourages Bimala to have a life outside of the palace she joins the Swadeshi movement and meets Sandip. While Nikhil sees the relationship between Bimala and Sandip develop he doesn’t do anything to prevent it. When he realizes that Bimala has stolen from him, he forgives her. When a Swadeshi riot erupts Sandip disappears while Nikhil tries to calm things down.

Bimala, Nikhil’s wife, is a quiet woman who loves her husband very much. She is happy with the traditional life she leads. However, Nikhil feels that she needs to embrace the outer world and encourages her to join the Swadeshi movement. When she attends a rally she meets and becomes infatuated with Sandip who she invites to live with them. Sandip gets her to steal from her husband. But, when Nikhil forgives her for what she has done, she realizes that it is her husband, not Sandip, who truly loves her.

Sandip is a member of the Swadeshi movement and moves into Nikhil and Bamala’s home and makes it his headquarters. He and Bamala are attracted to one another but Sandip is a selfish man who gets her to steal from her husband. Bamala becomes a fervent follower of the Swadeshi movement due to her attraction to Sandip. However, when a Swadeshi riot breaks out, Sandip flees.

NIKHIL :-

Nikhil is a good man who prides himself on being generous and thoughtful. He is unusual in that, given the tradition and wealth of his family, he could have married a woman with both beauty and social status. However, he marries Bimala, who is not a beauty. Nikhil’s love for Bimala and marriage to her, show that he is no lover of vanity. His needs are simple.

Nikhil’s insight is not a product of his education. He embraces a contemplative life and lives according to the dictates of his own conscience. However, Nikhil’s insistence on putting thoughtfulness and kindness over rushing into brash action puts him at odds with naïve idealists who fall under the sway of Sandip’s rhetoric. Though his moral code puts him at odds with rioters and results in tragic consequences, there is reason to suspect he is at peace with the outcome.

BIMALA :-

Bimala progresses through the novel from a humble maiden who enjoys being devoted to her husband, to a capricious, unhappy woman who allows an infatuation with Sandip to bring disaster into her life. Her humble beginnings account for her relative lack of education. However, during the happy times when she wants nothing but Nikhil, she is not presented as being ignorant.

The character of Nikhil is presented without  substantial change. Bimala is the household goddess and the queen in the happy limited world of home. She is supremely blissful and joyful in her domestic world. In fact, her husband, Nikhil is absolutely modern in his views and tastes. He brings in Miss Gilby to teach Bimala and to be her companion. He did not mind the consequent criticism at home and outside for the sake of Bimala. Bimala is humble enough to admit that although she is his queen and has her seat by his side, her real joy is in taking her place at his feet. Nikhil’s greatness is in not giving Bimala any opportunity for worshipping him. Bimalais happy that she had been educated and introduced to the modern age.

Nikhil is sympathetic towards the Bara Rani. The Bara Rani is somewhat jealous. When Nikhil brings modern garments for Bimala, the Bara Rani shows wrath on Bimala. Nikhil knows all these matters. He requests Bimala to forgive the Bara Rani. Nikhil is sensitive more to the widow’s lot of the Bara Rani than to the defects in her character. Nikhil plays an important role during the new era of ‘Swadeshi’ in Bengal. The main object of the Nationalist movement is to encourage indigenous industries. Nikhil tries to teach Bimala political economy. He also tries to teach people the need of thrift. He starts a small bank. He has a long list of charities. But Sandip’s fleecing Nikhil on the pretext of ‘Swadeshi’ work annoys Bimala. It is strange that Nikhil and Sandip differ in their views. Nikhil is not in any way against ‘Swadeshi’. He is willing to serve his motherland. He reserves his worship for the Right, which was far nobler than any country. One day Sandip with his followers comes to the neighbourhood of Nikhil to propagate his ideas, aims and objectives of ‘Swadeshi’. There are shouts of ‘Bandemataram’. They thrill Bimala. She finds that the light in Sandip’s eyes do not shine true. She feels that Sandip is imposing on Nikhil’s friendship and taking advantage of him. Sandip’s bearing is not that of one sincerely devoted to a cause. Sandip is foppish. But Sandip’s speech seems wonderful to Bimala. He seems to her like a messenger from the Gods to the mortal men and women. Suddenly, she fees that she is no longer the Raja’s lady but the sole representative of Bengal’s womanhood and that Sandip is the Champion of Bengal. She says to herself that his language had caught fire from her eyes. A beginning of sudden change in her character is noticeable here.

CONCLUSION

Tagore’s The Home and the World is a novel with political background and it is about the partition of Bengal in 1905. Yet, it is a fictional work consisting of characters that have individuality of their own. The translation of the novel from Bengali into English is approved by Tagore himself.

Digital Humanities

 Digital Humanities:-

Digital humanities is an area of scholarly activity at the intersection of computing or digital technologies and the disciplines of the humanities. It includes the systematic use of digital resources in the humanities, as well as the reflection on their application. DH can be defined as new ways of doing scholarship that involve collaborative, transdisciplinary, and computationally engaged research, teaching, and publishing. It brings digital tools and methods to the study of the humanities with the recognition that the printed word is no longer the main medium for knowledge production and distribution.The digital humanities at Stanford sit at the crossroads of computer science and the humanities. Since the 1980’s, a wide range of computational tools have enabled humanities scholars to conduct research at a scale once thought impossible. Digital humanities foster collaboration and traverse disciplines and methodological orientations, with projects to digitize archival materials for posterity, to map the exchange and transmission of ideas in history, and to study the evolution of common words over the centuries.

At Stanford, current digital humanities projects implement tools such as 3-D mapping, algorithmic literary analysis, advanced visualization techniques, and digitization of textual corpora in non-Latin languages. Researchers experiment and interact with source materials in ways that yield new findings, while also building community and sharing information. Stanford scholars harness new technologies through an array of digital humanities initiatives

The use of information technology to illuminate the human record, and the process of bringing the critical tools of human understanding to bear on information technology. While the scope of Digital Humanity is so daunting it may be paralyzing, the goal is to understand and promote humanity, which in our experience, is amazingly doable. While Digital Humanity provides us with a framework to do science there is no guarantee the tech community will be willing to adapt this model and if so, to assure the models continue to optimize for human growth, rather than say human manipulability.We’re bringing social and data sciences together to bridge the gap between traditional and digital humanity. The only people capable of leading this human-centric movement are those who design and develop these learning systems.  That developers work together to formalize a statement of goals for Digital Humanity.  A meeting in support of Digital Humanity be held in one year. The primary agenda item is to assure the development of Digital Humanity.

In The Big Humanities: Digital Humanities/Digital Laboratories, Richard J. Lane discusses a number of types of “humanistic labs, centres, projects, and products,” but he maintains a striking focus on the possibilities of the digital humanities (DH) lab. For Lane, the digital humanities lab provides an opportunity to bring a Big Science research model to the humanities, which includes a shift to “lab-based” knowledge production [Lane 2017]. Everything is larger: the research teams, the data sets, the duration of projects, the funding — evolution, so to speak, of what we might call a “lab ethos” [Lane 2017]. In addition, the construction of Big Humanities as a topic area correlates closely with a shift in philanthropy in higher education, which is “less concerned about creating in-perpetuity funds than solving a large, intractable problem” [Thorp 2010, 145]. DH funders such as the Mellon Foundation will fund projects for impact, which is viewed as highly interdisciplinary, with high levels of engagement, and market-consciousness [Thorp 2010]. The more scientific the model and technical the discourse, the more likely STEM funding may also be available [Thornham 2017]. For this reason, Big Humanities are in great demand, and labs compete for large-scale funding through the constructive and imagineering nature of their grants. Inevitably, the paradigm of funding shapes the kind of work that is done, and the tools and methods that are used.

we consider what invisible or less visible work becomes illuminated when practitioners understand the DH lab as a space for prioritizing graduate student needs. Graduate student perspectives may be sufficiently overlooked in the debates of “what,” “why,” and “who” is the digital humanities, despite the importance of graduate students to most DH teams reliant upon their labor.

Digital Humanities is not a unified field but an array of convergent practices that explore a universe in which: a) print is no longer the exclusive or the normative medium in which knowledge is produced and/or disseminated; instead, print finds itself absorbed into new, multimedia configurations; and b) digital tools, techniques, and media have altered the production and dissemination of knowledge in the arts, human and social sciences. The Digital Humanities seeks to play an inaugural role with respect to a world in which, no longer the sole producers, stewards, and disseminators of knowledge or culture, universities are called upon to shape natively digital models of scholarly discourse for the newly emergent public spheres of the present era (the www, the blogosphere, digital libraries, etc.), to model excellence and innovation in these domains, and to facilitate the formation of networks of knowledge production, exchange, and dissemination that are, at once, global and local.

Like all media revolutions, the first wave of the digital revolution looked backward as it moved forward. Just as early codices mirrored oratorical practices, print initially mirrored the practices of high medieval manuscript culture, and film mirrored the techniques of theater, the digital first wave replicated the world of scholarly communications that print gradually codified over the course of five centuries: a world where textuality was primary and visuality and sound were secondary (and subordinated to text), even as it vastly accelerated the search and retrieval of documents, enhanced access, and altered mental habits. Now it must shape a future in which the medium‐specific features of digital technologies become its core and in which print is absorbed into new hybrid modes of communication.

The first wave of digital humanities work was quantitative, mobilizing the search and retrieval powers of the database, automating corpus linguistics, stacking hypercards into critical arrays. The second wave is qualitative, interpretive, experiential, emotive, generative in character. It harnesses digital toolkits in the service of the Humanities’ core methodological strengths: attention to complexity, medium specificity, historical context, analytical depth, critique and interpretation. Such a crudely drawn dichotomy does not exclude the emotional, even sublime potentiality of the quantitative any more than it excludes embeddings of quantitative analysis within qualitative frameworks. Rather it imagines new couplings and scalings that are facilitated both by new models of research practice and by the availability of new tools and technologies.

pre independent

1) The poem is written before 120 years (approx.). Can you find any resemblance between the poem and the pandemic time?

“There is no god in that temple”, said the Saint.

The King was enraged;

“No God? Oh Saint, aren’t you speaking like an atheist?

On the throne studded with priceless gems, beams the golden idol,

And yet, you proclaim that’s empty?”

“It’s not empty; It’s rather full of the Royal pride.

You have bestowed yourself, oh King, not the God of this world”,

Remarked the saint.

The King frowned, “2 million golden coins

Were showered on that grand structure that kisses the sky,

I offered it to the Gods after performing all the necessary rituals,

And you dare claim that in such a grand temple,

There is no presence of God”?

The Saint calmly replied, “in the very year in which, twenty million of your subjects were struck by a terrible drought;

The pauperized masses without any food or shelter,

came begging at your door crying for help, only to be turned away,

they were forced to take refuge in forests, caves, camping under roadside foliages, derelict old temples;

and in that very year

when you spent 2 million gold to build that grand temple of your's,

that was the day when God pronounced:

“My eternal home is lit by everlasting lamps,

In the midst of an azure sky,

In my home the foundations are built with the values:

Of Truth, Peace, Compassion and Love.

The poverty stricken puny miser,

Who could not provide shelter to his own homeless subjects,

Does he really fancy of giving me a home?”

That is the day God left that Temple of yours.

And joined the poor beside the roads, under the trees.

Like emptiness of the froth in the vast seas,

Your mundane temple is as hollow.

It’s just a bubble of wealth and pride.’

The enraged King howled,

“oh you sham cretin of a person,

Leave my kingdom this instant’.

The Saint replied calmly,

“The very place where you have exiled the Divine,

Kindly banish the devout too".( Some hints: During the pandemic time temples were closed - people were dying - there was no place in hospitals for Covid patients)

2) Why do you think the King is angry on the Sage?

3) Why do you think the Sage denies to enter in the temple?

4) Can there be any connection between the text of the poem and the verdict of Ayoydhya Ram Mandir?

Marxist, Ecocritical, Feminist and Queer Criticism

 Marxist theory:-

 Marxist theory which is drawn from the economic, social, and political theories of the late 19th century and Karl Marx is the most popular, influential, and controversial theories of literature currently practiced throughout the Western academic world. Marxist theory can be described as an “economic” approach to interpreting literary texts. Marxist theorists often examine literary texts with a critical eye toward their various economic, ideological, and social contexts, suggestions, and assertions. Marxist theorists tend to focus their interpretations on considering how literary texts depict class oppression and strife and social inequality and, in turn, serve to critique elements of capitalistic Western life. Marxist theorists also consider how literary texts subvert and even overturn ordinary forms of social and political order. Marxist theorists give critical thought to how literary texts participate in or resist mass media and other forms of popular, capitalistic culture. They consider how such literary resistances might suggest possibilities for social revolution and, mutually, how the ruling classes might manipulate such for the purpose of social control over the other classes. Marxist theorists often take an interest in how an author’s own class, political positions, and other ideological positions serve to influence his or her writings, considering the ideologies presented within the text as well as the economic and social conditions under which particular texts are composed, published,, sold, and consumed by the public.

Example :-

 Hamlet might not be a strong Marxist example but  its protagonist is a man of privilege and that the play takes place in a fictional version of 16th century Denmark, Hamlet can be interpreted through a number of different Marxist theoretical approaches. 

A critic may also argue that Hamlet’s actions  demonstrate by which an oppressive  ideological regime can be countered and overcome. A Marxist theorist might argue that Claudius killed his brother King Hamlet in order to gain political, social, and economic power, and hence might be viewed as a figure who is corrupted by his desire for social and political power. Hamlet himself steps outside of the standards, rules, and norms established and encouraged by the ruling class that he was once a part of in order to resist its oppressive ideology. Such a critical viewpoint might serve to argue that Hamlet is at least partly about Hamlet’s own sudden separation from and realization of the ideological faults of the political structure he is or was a part of.  Marxist theorist might take interest in the plays focus on characters who belong to the ruling class and the lack of “voice” given to common people in the play. Marxist critique of Hamlet might take special interest in the famous grave digging scene of the play, and point out how Shakespeare positions the gravedigger who is the only common or non-privileged character given a prominent voice within the narrative as a source of wisdom capable of recognizing  truths about existence and the nature of the events that have come to pass within the story that the high-ranking and privileged characters in the play, including Hamlet himself, are unable to realize partly because of their own class positions.  Marxist theorist would probably not argue that Shakespeare was  protoMarxist, he or she might argue that in Hamlet, Shakespeare was anticipating and recognizing ideas concerning class distinctions and attitudes that were further developed by Karl Marx .

Ecocriticism theory :-

Ecology is the study of relationship of plants and animals to each other and to their environment. Eco is a short form of ecology. It means 'connected with the environment.'Criticism means opinions about their faults or bad qualities; a statement showing disapproval or the work or activity of making fair, careful judgements about the good or bad qualities of something, especially literary works etc. So, Ecocriticism is the study of relationship between social or natural environment and literature.  According to Wikipedia, "Ecocriticism is the study of literature and the environment from an interdisciplinary point of view, where literature scholars analyze texts that illustrate environmental concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature."

Ecocriticism is a modern theory that describes relationship between physical environment and literature. It describes the application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature. The aspects of Ecocriticism are rural setting, human nature like feelings,emotions, non-human nature such as darkness, weather, seasons and sense of consciousness towards nature and her elements like the impact of science and technology on modern society. Robert Frost is a prominent American poet in 20 th century. In his 'ThePasture', 'The Ghost House', 'The Road Not Taken', 'Out Out', 'Stopping by Woods on a SnowyEvening',' Mowing' , 'Reluctance', 'The Death of the Hired Man', 'After Apple-Picking', ' AtWoodwarrd's Gardens', 'Mending Wall'  etc., he focuses ecocritical aspects. I have studied some of his poem .

Ecocriticism is the  issue in the present world. Modern society depends on science and technology. They are being scattered from physical and natural environment day by day. giving emphasis on the human sensation and conscience of wilderness that have a great contribution changing environmental scenario reflected in literature.

Example :-

"The Road Not Taken" is a poem by Rober frost and this poem deals with the idea of Ecocroticism.This well-known poem is about making choices, and the choices that shape us. Robert Frost is an American poet who writes simply, but insightfully, about common, ordinary experiences.

Feminist theory :-

Feminism which can be defined as a range of ideologies, political movements and social movements which share a common goal to define,establish, to achieve economic, political, personal and social equality of genders. .Feminism is a belief that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities within the society. Feminism is a vibrant tradition which has contributed to social transformation.

We can say that feminism is a movement aimed at equal rights for women. Virginia Woolf is an English author a novelist and an Eassay writer and a most forward-thinking writer of the 20th century. Her real name is Adeline Virginia Stephen Woolf. Her work contains some techniques such as stream of consciousness and the interior monologue. She was the prominent member of the Bloomsbury group. Virginia Woolf argues about the rights of women before the Second World War and long before the second wave of feminism. Virginia Woolf is called the foremother of the feminist movement. She is called foremother because there are many reasons for it. The first  reason of this is because she has to face all the circumstances in her own life. She used to live in a society where there is no room for girl’s education. Her brothers were allowed to go outside and get education but she was not allowed to go outside for education. Virginia Woolf used her father’s home library for her education. She believed that women should also being able to get education, being able to make their own money and the ability to freely travel on their own.

Example :-

In her most famous book “Three Guineas” we get the idea of her feminism in best and clear cut way. This book is most often read as an opposing war. Virginia Woolf said about this book that “I have already said all I have to say in my book Three Guineas”. Virginia Woolf once wrote that “All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn… for it was she who earned them the right to speak their mind”.

Queer criticism

Queer criticism is used to indicate a specific theoretical perspective. Queer theory, categories of sexuality can not be defined by such simple oppositions as homosexual. And what these categories mean to different individuals will be influenced by how they conceive their own racial and class identities as well. For queer theory, then, our sexuality is socially constructed rather than inborn to the extent that it is based on the way in which sexuality is defined by the culture in which we live.

lesbian studies and gay studies :-

  Gay and lesbian studies is a multi-disciplinary major that will give you a strong body of knowledge in gay and lesbian history and culture. The gay and lesbian community often called the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) community has faced many challenges over the years and still faces many challenges today. You’ll study how this culture has affected and been affected by heterosexual culture, and the conflicts that have arisen between them. You’ll learn about the LGBT population’s concerns with civil rights in the workplace and home, struggles with public policy, and battles over legal issues. Media portrayal of the LGBT community will be discussed, as well as how the media has both harmed and helped their efforts to establish their place in the culture.

Worksheet :- Screening of short film “An Astrologer’s Day” based on R.K.Narayan’s “An Astrologer’s Day”.

 Q-1 How faithful is the movie to the original short story?

Ans I think The original short story is having a more literal idea and thought which they want to put because as we know that it is not an easy task to capture the original short story into video form .all things might not be capture throw video. there might be some fault but we can say it is very useful to know the plot.

Q-2 After watching the movie, have your perception about the short story, characters or situations changed? 

Ans  My Answer is yes that after watching the movie, my perception about the short story is change and the last part of the movie is fearful. from the starting, we were thinking that it is a story about Astrologer who is getting from people by telling about their personal life or by solving their problem but at the end we knew that he has killed the landlord and came to the city. It's a terrible situation where we don't know who are our friends and who are enemies because all are praying for him as a god.

Q-3 Do you feel ‘aesthetic delight’ while watching the movie? If yes, exactly when did it happen? If no, can you explain with reasons? 

Ans - yes, find any aesthetic delight by watching the movie because when that man came to meet that Astrologer at that time he said that he will satisfy with his answer then only he will give money and we know that who has kill landlord that was also interesting part.

Q-4 Does screening of a movie help you in better understanding of the short story?

Ans yes , screening of movies help me in the understanding of the short story.

Q-5 Was there any particular scene or moment in the story that you think was perfect?

Ans yes, I think the ending of the story was perfect but then also i was not satisfied because he did not accept the truth or did not said truth to anyone that was a reason he was not able to sleep peacefully

Q-6 If you are the director, what changes would you like to make in the remaking of the movie based on the short story “An Astrologer’s Day” by R.K.Narayan?

Ans - when that man asks him a question he might tell a true story and after listing the other side of that Astrologer he might have forgiven him and that might be a happy ending.