INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LEARNING AND TEACHING SKILLS - INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT KOLKATA - ijelts
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1
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL OF
ENGLISH
LEARNING AND
TEACHING SKILLS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT
KOLKATA2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL DIVERSE ISSUE 3
B. MANAGING EDITOR’S NOTE 4
C. DEVELOPING INTERACTIVE READING HABITS AMONG
MANAGEMENT STUDENTS: AN EXPLORATION
SOHINI DATTA 5
D. LANGUAGE AND REPRESATION: EDWARD SAID’S
ORIENTALISM AND ITS RELEVANCE IN TODAY’S WORLD
MAYURAKSHI DEV 11
E. GLOBALISED LEARNING AND CROSS CULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
RIYA BARUI 17
F. FLYING TOWARDS THE NEST; CONSCIOUS RACISM IN DORIS
PILKINGTON’S FOLLOW THE RABBIT-PROOF FENCE
MOUSUMI PAUL 21
G. CHANGING TRENDS IN INDIAN CINEMA: INDIAN CINEMA AND
TTECHNOLOGICAL METAMORPHOSIS
RITTIKA CHAUDHURI 283
INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL DIVERSE
ISSUE
International Journal on English Learning and Teaching Skills is an attempt at creating a research
platform for the pedagogic and instructive improvements in the fields of ELT, Linguistics,
Language Studies and related academic themes.
The Special Diverse Issue of IJELTS is an issue focused on an interdisciplinary discussion on
various themes connected (but not limited) to Linguistics, Representation, Performance and
Language Theory, Learning Skills, Communication, etc. This issue will look into the various
avenues through which the disciplines of ELT and Language Studies have evolved to incorporate
and generate new and multidimensional pedagogies.
The Special Diverse Issue (Summer) Vol. 1.1 is the first of many efforts by IJELTS to bring forth
academic dialogues of superior standards for the benefit of academic enhancements.4
MANAGING EDITOR’S NOTE
I’m a firm believer of the idea that great things never come from settling in our comfort zones.
That is certainly true for the IJELTS Editorial Body, which has spent the better part of a year
working tirelessly to launch the International Journal on English Learning and Teaching Skills,
and to bring forth the Special Diverse Issue as the inaugural venture.
With this Special Diverse Issue, with great pleasure, we are trying to start a process of
encouraging original research and ensuring academic dialogue that benefits the interdisciplinary
approaches to Language Studies and ELT. The Special Diverse Issue is focusing on a variety of
themes and disciplines in order to invite further discussions on pedagogic paradigms.
We are looking forward to the print edition of IJELTS, which will be published in August.
Samapika Das Biswas
Managing Editor,
International Journal on English Learning and Teaching Skills5
ARTICLE I
DEVELOPING INTERACTIVE READING HABITS AMONG
MANAGEMENT STUDENTS: AN EXPLORATION
SOHINI DATTA
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT
Importance of Reading for Academic Achievement
Books are an essential tool of learning, even in this technological age. 'Learning to read and
reading to learn' is not an outworn slogan. The need for developing the reading skill is all the
more urgent because of the ever-increasing amount of reading our students are called upon to do.
The problem is more acute as one goes higher up the education ladder; most reference books in
tertiary institutions are in English.
Reading technical materials involves a complex process of obtaining discipline-specific
information and retaining the same for future use and reference. Reading could be quite a
challenging activity because of the complexity involved. Since reading is a complex process,
Grabe argues that “many researchers attempt to understand and explain the fluent reading
process by analyzing the process into a set of component skills” (1991, p. 379) in reading.
Reading needs better concentration and motivation and especially reading of technical materials
needs critical analysis and evaluative understanding.
In academic contexts, a student has to read and interpret textbooks, research papers and articles
in technical journals, teaching notes, notices, internet resources, technical reports, directories,
encyclopedias, laboratory instruction sheets, safety manuals and regulations and reference
materials. Unless the student reads with a purpose and comprehends the text clearly he or she
may not be efficient in his or her academic activities as well as in his or her chosen profession.
Hence, it is imperative to identify dynamic and productive grasping techniques to improve
reading.
The Aim
The present study aims to improve students’ reading comprehension focusing on analysis and
activities. Comprehension in reading refers to the identification of the central theme, supporting
details and the aspect/s around which the ideas are developed. Comprehension of a technical text6 needs critical and analytical thinking which leads to the effective linking of the factors involved in the reading process. Hedge (2003) states that any reading component of an English language course may include a set of learning goals for • the ability to read a wide range of texts in English. This is the long-range goal most teachers seek to develop through independent readers outside EFL/ESL classroom. • building a knowledge of language which will facilitate reading ability • building schematic knowledge. • the ability to adapt the reading style according to reading purpose (i.e. skimming, scanning) • developing an awareness of the structure of written texts in English • taking a critical stance to the contents of the texts Developing Comprehension The word comprehension means ‘the power of the mind to understand’. It has two parts, namely, reading and interpretation. While reading the given passage, one realizes the content, the attitude of the author to the subject, and peculiar diction through four types of reading such as skimming, scanning, receptivity (subsidiary details) and critical. The ultimate purpose of a comprehension exercise is to test one’s proficiency in the use of language through two skills - reading and writing. The analytical activity of using group work in teaching comprehension allows the two parts of reading and interpretation to be developed simultaneously. The Sample Group The researcher conducted an experiment in a class of Post-graduate Management students who pursue their MBA at Institute of Engineering & Management (IEM), Saltlake, Kolkata, West Bengal. The College is affiliated to West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata. Methodology The conventional approach to comprehension teaching ignores the importance of establishing purpose in respect of reading. A few teachers are using an approach which is rather conventional and unimpressive. The teacher asks the class to turn to a certain page or announces that he/she is going to teach a certain unit. He/she then explains some difficult vocabulary terms. This is
7 followed by silent reading on the part of the class. The teacher then reads part of the text and comments on what he/she feels is difficult for the students. He/she may sometimes ask a few questions, which are usually answered by a few bright students, or if he/she fails to get the necessary response, he/she answers them himself/herself and proceeds to the next sentence or paragraph. A question and answer session follows in which the teacher does the questioning. A selected number of students supply the answers, often by lifting a few sentences straight from the text. The legacy of teaching comprehension exercise through the Conventional Method of Teaching (CMT), by merely reading the given passage and answering the questions appended to it, was dispensed with. This enabled to ensure that the skills of reading and writing were imparted in an enjoyable manner. Abraham (2002) states that an interactive approach “demands that the teachers activate the students’ schema” during the pre-reading phase by helping “students recognize the knowledge that they already have about the topic of a text” (p. 6), i.e. through discussion of titles, subheadings, photographs, identifying text structure, previewing, etc. Such activities are called “pre-reading strategies”. As Orasanu (1986) explicates the notion of “schema” (or background knowledge) which can be thought of as a framework containing slots to be filled by incoming text information. For example, if a reader is presented with a text about going on vacation, he or she would likely have a slot in the vacation schema for packing a suitcase. Text statements about folding clothes or carrying bags could then fill the slot. If a reader did not have a vacation schema with a "suitcase-packing slot," the information about clothes and bags might not be readily understood. (p. 118) The aim of while-reading stage (or interactive process) is to develop students’ ability in tackling texts by developing their linguistic and schematic knowledge. Hedge (2003) argues that although some oppose the interactive activities carried during the while-reading phase, there are only few research studies that show the “effects of intervention and their outcomes”. Moreover, “many students report positively on the usefulness of while-reading activities.” (ibid, p. 210) In this interactive reading, the whole class was involved both in reading and writing. In this context, 60 students from MBA of Institute of Engineering & Management (IEM), Saltlake, Kolkata were exposed to reading. They were organized into 10 groups consisting of 6 in each. The researcher first asked a few signpost questions which helped the students to focus on the
8 essential points in the given short story. The short story is divided into 6 -10 parts. Each group had to analyze certain part of the text assigned to them. After analyzing the short story in parts, the researcher regrouped the students so that they could exchange information with the member of the other groups and build up a complete picture of the information in the short story. The researcher circulated among the groups and helped students to come to grips with the text. He did not tell them the right answer if they had selected the wrong option but challenged them to check against the text. Effectiveness of the Study This method introduced a learner-centered approach through group-tasking. Learner participation becomes indispensable and the learner understands the passage thoroughly. By analyzing the given text students noticed that framing relevant, appropriate and grammatically correct questions is more difficult than answering as in the conventional method. When these two went together there was greater understanding of the matter on hand. Another skill-preparation for group work related to activities or performances that are needed as part of participating in the processes of placement for jobs was introduced to students. Development of communication skills, especially presentation skills, is given special attention in this group work. Simultaneously, the important aspect of fluency of language received greater attention as part of the preparation, and this was enjoyable. Skills Improved The technique used for the present study, on the other hand, motivated the students to actively participate in the activity given. The objective of developing the interactive comprehension skills was partial achieved by the researcher. The experimented analytical activity encouraged the students to interact with text. In this focused activity, students became aware of text construction and their interaction with the text improved their cognitive development. In the language classes, passages from various text books could be used for this task. Through this activity, students could improve listening skill, reading skill, writing skill, framing questions, sentence patterns, functional vocabulary and, above all, a thorough understanding of the passage. This interactive reading would also help the students to prepare for the same type of tasks they would encounter in other subjects like filling
9 in tables, labeling diagrams, preparing to make presentation, and help them learn to use the texts without plagiarizing them. On the whole, the approach used for the study brings the following changes among the students during the reading activity. 1. Distinguishes an active reader from a passive reader who normally reads the passage without understanding its meaning. 2. Brings out a better grasping of the text. 3. Improves all the skills of the language. 4. Helps frame questions to bring out a better idea about the passage. 5. Motivates students to think aloud. 6. Directs students to make predictions on the theme of the passage. 7. Uncovers the text structure. 8. Brings forth clarity in framing questions, sentence patterns and in the use of functional grammar related to writing skills during the generation of questions. 9. Improves the functional vocabulary. 10. Creates a visual representation of the theme of the passage. Conclusion As S. Gika (1985) points out the learner should be motivated so that he (a) wants to read the text he is given (b) wants to work through the text both extensively and intensively and (c) wants to go beyond the text and infer things from it. It is hoped that the techniques which were adopted would provide the motivation. The strategy used in the present study not only improves the level of understanding of writing but also involves a gradual release of responsibility. That is, instead of teachers asking questions and students answering them, this approach gives more responsibility to the students where both questioning and answering are done by the students. This technique plays a pivotal role in developing and honing the skills of reading comprehension and at the same time it is easy for the teachers to identify the students who have difficulty in reading and understanding. On the whole, the elaborate investigation of the subject and a through interaction between the students are made possible and this results in clarity about the subject of the text as well as skills of the language
10
WORKS CITED
1. Abraham, Paul. (2002). Skilled Reading: Top-down, bottom-up. Field Notes, 10 (2);
Retrieved on
2. Nov 1, 2004 from http://www.sabes.org/ resources/ fieldnotes/vol10/fn102.pdf
3. Adams, Marilyn Jager, Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print, MIT
Press, 1990
4. Gika, S. 1984. 'Re-establisling Reading Needs, Techniques' in World Language English 4:
1. pp. 163-179.
5. Grabe, William. (1991). Current developments in second language reading research.
TESOL Quarterly. 25 (3): 375-406.
6. Hedge, Tricia. (2003). Teaching & learning in the language classroom. UK: OUP.
7. Orasanu, Judith (Ed.). (1986). Reading comprehension: From research to practice.
Hillsdale,
8. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
9. Rizvi Ashraf M, Effective Technical Communication, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing
Company Limited, New Delhi, 2005.11
ARTICLE II
LANGUAGE AND REPRESATION: EDWARD SAID’S
ORIENTALISM AND ITS RELEVANCE IN TODAY’S WORLD
MAYURAKSHI DEV
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT
In order to locate the relevance of Edward Said’s Orientalism in today’s society, it becomes
imperative to reinvent the ideas and scopes of the ‘orient’ as represented by Said, and
understand it in the contexts of socio-cultural as well as political contexts of the 20 th and 21st
century.
Edward Said speaks at length on the representation of the non-Western world through the
doctored lenses of ‘oriental’ studies; he establishes the context through the examples of the
Middle East and South Asia. Said puts forth the argument that European efforts at scholarship
and subsequent representation of the east was largely a political doctrine, informed with
imperialist agenda and Eurocentric supremacy1.
Said’s critique of the ‘orientalist’ brand of knowledge system may be reflected in his scathing
attacks on the likes of William Jones and (later) Lane 2 whose scholarship and accounts of the
‘east’ he suggests, were both devoid of subjective knowledge of the demography it represented
as well as were reinforcing the Western positions of superiority dictated by the structures of
colonial power structures. Said asserts in his work that though their projects were of immense
importance and examples of dedicated scholarship, they were motivated by the requirement of
deconstructing the ‘orient’ according to the benefits of west, and thereby representing it as an
example of a necessary Other, removed from the commonplace knowledge and identity of
Europe.
1 Edward W. Said. Orientalism. New York: Vintage, 1979. Print
2 Whose work on Egypt were mostly quotes copied from12 Said also complicates the Islamic question in Orientalism by discussing how Arabs and the Arab identity has been exoticised and made to conform to ideas of the terrible ‘other’ which is distinctly different, and threatening to the West. Said locates the problem of the Islamic question in the writings of the likes of Gibb. Said remarks that the figure of the Arab in the orientalist imagination remains one of terror, as well weakness; with elements of mystery and inscrutability being inherently tied to their identities. In order to situate Said’s contested issues as presented in Orientalism in today’s society, one needs to go back to his critiques of romanticization and exoticisation of the East and the Middle East for benefits of Western superiority. It is required to read Orientalism in the light of Foucauldian notions of power and knowledge, which feeds into the European, and subsequently the American imagination of supremacy. This paper will attempt to negotiate Said’s Orientalism and its relevance in the context of exaggerated romanticisation, exoticisation, and cultural appropriation of eastern Asia and the Middle in western popular culture. It will also look into the Arab question by investigating the long standing tradition of American news media portraying the Arab world as being the national integration of terrorism. Apart from this, the paper will take a look at the ways in which the project of creating a binary between the orient & occident has lead to a celebration of Anglophonic literary tradition in Indian Literature. When situating the popular culture in the within the discourse of Orientalism it is important that one looks at works of mainstream art and cinema when locating identities of enthocentric ‘others’ and stereotypes. Children’s animation movies, adventure movies, graphic novels, music videos, cultural appropriation and rampant misrepresentation of the east and the non-western ‘other’ is an accepted norm of the movie and print industry. Said himself speaks at length on the issue of unfamiliarity between his lived experience as an Arab and those he viewed on television. Said mentions in his interview presented by Sut Jhally that as an adult the story of Alladin fascinated him, as well as made him curious about the disparity between the version Disney presented and how much of it they believed to be true.
13 This brings up the issue of Walt Disney’s treatment of Alladin as an Arab and the inherent exoticization of the Arab identity. In the opening credits to Arabian Nights (1992 version) one can hear the lines: "Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place, where the caravan camels roam, where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face, it's barbaric, but hey, its home"3 What occurs here is a deliberate effort at demonising the “faraway” land or the orient which lies beyond comprehension along with a picture of total anarchy implied in the terms “roam” and the threat of physical harm, even possible decapitation for futile causes with emphasis on “they cut off your ear”. This simple stanza in the Arabian Nights at once reinforces every problem Said figures in his discussion of the orient as the mysterious other. As a place which is inaccessible, unabashedly “barbaric”, and yet “home” to several who live in a constant state of anarchy— signalling cultural and social inferiority. A peculiar similarity may be found in the Indiana Jones franchise, from which the story of the ‘cult of Kaali’4 remains an example of representing Indians as traditionally heathens. The cult of Kaali in the film goes to the extent of showing idol worship in the light of fanatical paganism and brazen mysticism to the point of barbarity—starting from serving animal brains for food to human sacrifice. This not contributes to the construct of the heathen ‘other’ residing in the Indian jungles, but strangely reflects an earlier French author and his take on Kali worship in Around the World in Eighty Days5. These constant efforts at demonising the oriental “other”, remains an active part in popular culture, which occurs at tandem with the system of creating and constructing the exotic. Herge’s Titin 3 Aladdin. Walt Disney, 1992 DVD. 4 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Dir. Steven Spielberg. 1984. 5 Jules Verne. Around the World in Eighty Days. Trans. Bill Bowler. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print.
14 comics saw constant travels into the east which was unfriendly with its references to Russian thugs, fakirs, and mystical with inaccessible monasteries and temples 6. More recently, the trope of the desi exotic Indian woman, complete with her enigmatic sensuality has been a cause for discussion in cultural appropriation. Music videos featuring popular Indian actresses7 in stereotypical ‘oriental’ masks further such complications; along with the selling of the traditional bindi as Halloween costume in USA. What appear as isolated events of creative exaggeration, on close inspection reveal the deep rooted anxieties that the west identifies with the ‘other-ness’ of the east. The relevance of Orientalism lies in the identification of this systematic process of exoticising the non-western world and the common place manner in which these are accepted. The Islam question spoken of by Said also goes back to the stereotyping of the Middle East into a race of terror invoking, anarchist, morally weak individuals is also invoked in his interview. Said corroborates this idea with the growing distrust in America against Islam and coining what they perceive as the “American Jihad” 8. Said elaborates on this context by referring to the idea of news room reporting of Islam where the Arab world along with Islam itself is consistently reduced to the identity of terrorism and owners of oil. In his work Covering Islam9 Said plays with the ideas of ‘covering’ by news as opposed to ‘revelation’ through news, which may be tied up to concepts of Orientalism which too was responsible for misrepresentation and demonization of large sections of the world. 6 Reference is being made to multiple Tintin tales including Tintin in Soviet and Tintin in the Land of the Pharaos 7 Music video by Priyanka Chopra performing Exotic. © 2013 Interscope 8 Edward W, Said. Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World. New York: Pantheon, 1981. Print 9 Mirrorwork: Fifty Years of Indian Writing, 1947–1997, ed. Rushdie and Elizabeth West (New York, 1997), p viii
15 The increased distrust in Islam and growing Islamophobia in the west stems from years of polarised media representation of the Arabs as violent, warring, anarchists, and belonging to a religion and society which necessarily does not identify with western progressive sensibilities. Celebration of Anglophone literature has become the basis of world literature. Rushdie’s comment “prose writing . . . by Indian writers working in English, is proving to be a stronger and more important body of work than most of what has been produced in the 16 ‘official languages’ of India, the so-called ‘vernacular languages’... and, indeed, this new, still burgeoning, ‘Indo-Anglican’ literature represents perhaps the most valuable contribution India has yet made to the world of books.” 10 This statement comes across as Anglicist and frustrated, and upon investigation reveals its roots to be grounded in the nineteenth century debate between the Occidents and Orientalists sparked off by Maculay. The fact that most literature produced in Turkey, Latin America, Nigeria etc. need to be translated into English before being translated into vernaculars points to the long lasting effect of the orientalist project of dismantling the functionality of the vernaculars and reducing them to mere studies mystical innovations of the east. Rushdie’s comment is reflective of the fact that the inherent superiority of the west over the exaggerated, yet incompetent east has been successfully established through the project of obstructing the east or the orient in the identity of the ‘other’, whose literary practises too require mediation through the western languages. The relevance of Orientalism thus does not remain limited to the spatial identities of the Asia and Middle East, but reaches out into individual identities, shaping popular culture, community identities, and even structures of world literature through practices along generations. The ramification of the other-ing of the non-western world has been long lasting and continues to present one half of the world in terms of terror, demonization, mysticism, and even vulnerability. 10
16
WORKS CITED
1. Aldddin. Walt Disney, 1992 DVD.
2. Edward Said On Orientalism. Dir. Sut Jhally. Perf. Edward Said. Youtube. N.p., 28 Oct.
2012. . Accessed 08 Mar. 2016
3. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Dir. Steven Spielberg. 1984
4. Music video by Priyanka Chopra performing Exotic. © 2013 Interscope
5. Said, Edward W. Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See
the Rest of the World. New York: Pantheon, 1981
6. Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage, 1979. Print17
ARTICLE III
GLOBALISED LEARNING AND CROSS CULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
RIYA BARUI
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT
Language is not only meant for communication, but it also plays a crucial role as a marker or
indicator of a speaker's cultural identity. The identity is communicated through a particular
language used during the interaction irrespective of different cultural groups. The multicultural
world today is characterised by an ever growing number of communities resulting in
communication between people with innumerable linguistic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Intercultural communication, also known as “cross cultural communication,” is one of the major
concepts in the international business forum that seeks to identify, understand the communication
disparities across different cultures and communities. Besides, this communication takes place
within the areas of business, military cooperation, science, education, mass media, entertainment
and tourism because of immigration brought about by labour shortage or political conflicts.
At the beginning of the 21st century the world in general, and the developed and the developing
countries in particular is presenting itself in a new outlook. Intercultural communication takes
place when interacting participants represent a different communication system. Differences may
occur at various levels starting from verbal to nonverbal communication, like eye contact,18 gestures, touch, pauses, turn-taking or use of time. They are potential key sources of disputes or conflicts in intercultural communication. At the advent of the neoliberal world order, the subjective reality, and cultural integrity of the individual has come under increasing threat by new intervention of inter cultural communication and information flow. Modern media content is characterised by an unstoppable series of popular and mass culture oriented programming and has monopolized alternative views and discussions from the consciousness of the mass audience. Cross cultural communications generally exist on two levels: inter-business communications and business-to-business communications. Companies are often confronted by the misunderstandings that occur amongst the hired employees whose professional behaviors are inherently shaped by their cultural roots. A recent article found in Financial Times entitled “Cross-Cultural Conversations” describes this inter-business conflict during company meetings. Here, the author Michiyo Nakamoto explains: “In the western context, even a comment that is not quite to the point is contributing to the discussion. In contrast, Japanese people are less comfortable thinking out loud and feel that if they are going to speak up in a meeting they need to say something significant.” Intercultural communication can help in getting rid of the stereotype of different cultures and understand as well as accept the other culture. We cannot communicate objectively if we have negative perceptions towards other cultures. Without the interference of stereotypes in our communication, people will get many benefits in business sector; as a result the defence system of a country will become stronger and the exchanging of knowledge within students becomes greater. In a workplace, for instance we cannot work happily with each other if we are stereotyping others. Stereotype also will bring towards the discrimination. We cannot work in a cooperative way if we discriminate others in work place. Students will inculcate conscious racism if they do not communicate interculturally to achieve a goal in a program in terms of huge unity.
19 Intercultural communication helps us understand, engulf and accept the other cultures. This will alleviate the anxiety and uncertainty that we have for other cultures. Uncertainty helps us to reduce the “misunderstanding, miscommunication, and misattribution” which will create an imbalance in the social uniformity and aggravate the conflicts. While our uncertainty gets reduced, our knowledge about others’ culture will be expanded and we will get more information. Harmony will take place while we come to know about the other cultures. All of this will unleash a more positive outlook towards life since we accept other culture in a positive way. Once we understand the shared knowledge, we become ready to accept the way they behave and act. In today’s world of global business, the ability to communicate effectively and multi-culturally cannot be underestimated. Being a communication expert with a background in behavioral and cultural science, we need to know how to effectively manage multi-cultural expectations. Inter cultural communication in business world plays a crucial role in successfully establishing the product or service in a different area of the globe. With the effective communication, the product or service is appropriately tailored to the cultural norms and protocols; as a result of that expected result in the use or purchase of the product gets increased. Lack of proper communication may offend, confuse or send a misunderstood message which causes a broken relationship with investors or employees. Albeit many of the communication issues remain intact, the nature of diaspora is changing rapidly in the post 21st century. At the heart of it, multilingual and intercultural communication across time and space plays a major role. In the era of globalization, the applied linguists has contributed a much understanding of diaspora. This article discusses some of the major issues of inter cultural communication in the area of global business, diaspora and et al. It also underlines the importance of the dynamic multilingualism in everyday communication.
20
WORKS CITED
1. Intercultural Communication: An Advanced Resource Book for Students, 2004, Book by
Adrian Holliday, John Kullman, and Martin Hyde.
2. Theorizing About Intercultural Communication, September 2004, Book by William B.
Gudykunst
3. Intercultural communication : a reader, 1972, Book by Larry A. Samovar
4. Understanding Intercultural Communication, 1981, Larry A. Samovar, Richard E.
Porter, Nemi C. Jain
5. Diaspora: Multilingual and intercultural.
[accessed Jun 08 2018].21
ARTICLE IV
FLYING TOWARDS THE NEST; CONSCIOUS RACISM IN DORIS
PILKINGTON’S FOLLOW THE RABBIT-PROOF FENCE
MOUSUMI PAUL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT
New literatures in English emerging from the colonized continent of Australia are replete with
Post-colonial musings on problems of “lost homeland” and “identity” and in such a context, the
role of historical fiction as a mode of self-discovery is developing into a writer’s tool for creation
of “a focal point of cultural consciousness and social change”. Such an act is undeniably a
symbolic “writing back” to the hegemonic centre and is latent with a myriad of complexities in
an increasingly multicultural world. The colonized continent of Australia practices
multiculturalism in the sense that it has demographic conditions for ethnic and cultural diversity,
though in reality, it is just the opposite leading to a number of writers like Sally Morgan, Kim
Scott and Doris Pilkington writing about the multicultural past. Thus Doris Pilkington in her
FOLLOW THE RABBIT-PROOF FENCE (1996) tells a true story concerning her mother and
two other “mixed-race” aboriginal girls who were taken away forcefully from their native land
Jigalong to the Moore River Native Settlement (far north of Western Australia). From the late in22 nineteenth century to the late 1960s, about 70 years State Govt. started removing the mixed-race Aboriginal indigenous children from their families often by force. It became the controversial issue of “Stolen Generation” (it became a hot topic because it deals with the separation of the children from their parents—an emotional business). Most of the children were usually between two and four and in some cases they were removed just after their birth, “Every mother of a Part-Aboriginal child was aware that their offspring could be taken away from them at any time and they were powerless to stop the abductors. That is why many women preferred to give birth in the bush rather than in a hospital where they believed their babies would be taken from them soon after birth”. (Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence 40-41). The architect of “the removal policy” in Western Australia was the chief protector (A.O. Neville) of Aborigines. He called his scheme “the breeding out of colour” a process called “miscegenation”. Neville focused his removal effort on so-called “mixed-blood” children because their numbers were evidently growing. It is notable that the apparent simplicity of Pilkington’s text is indeed deceptive inasmuch as she self-consciously and paradoxically brings about an “intertext” of Post-colonial studies and impregnates the “hypertext” FOLLOW THE RABBIT-PROOF FENCE with her own meanings conductive to the Post-colonial scenario. Hence the focus of the project proposal is to discover the excruciating condition of the neglected and marginalized Australian aborigines by their ruling-class masters or White peoples who came to establish their colonies and simultaneously wanted to civilize the “Mardu People” (indigenous people). Phillip Morrissey expands the notion that Aboriginal stories give Indigenous people a strong sense of their own history , “The psychological and physical brutality which attended the expansion of European interests in Australia into 20th century is being documented in increasing detail and thoroughness in contemporary histories”. ( Morrissey 11) The concept of post-colonial hegemony finds an echo in this text when A.O. Neville, the chief protector of aborigines wanted to present their own interest as the “common interest”. He calls his scheme “the breeding out of colour”, a process of “miscegenation”. His policy encouraged
23 the marriage of “half-caste” or “quarter-caste” girls to European men. He wanted to turn ‘Black” into “White” over two or three generations. The popularized concept of Hybridity by Homi K. Bhabha is aptly applicable in true sense, for when Molly, the mother of Garimara was born then she was considered as the first “half-caste” child of the entire Jigalong, their native land. By keeping the half-castes children in the Moore River Native Settlement the ruling class wanted to constantly expanding to include an “other”, thus enabling the re-negotiation of boundaries and cultural identities. The process of cultural hybridity gives rise to something different, something new and unrecognizable, a new area of negotiation of meaning and representation. In the Moore River Native Settlement the three girls feel isolated and scared for they are under strict observation which immediately recalls another crucial concept namely the concept of Panopticon, adopted and developed by Foucault. It is the awareness of some clandestine surveillance that makes the prisoners maintain perfect discipline within the prison. But what is tellingly important about Foucault’s concept of the Panopticon is that Foucault tried to extend it from the confines of prison to other institutional buildings and in a broad sense to the “entire society”. Molly does not like the place where they are kept under furtive vigilance. She is convinced that this place is a “marbu country” where “flesh eating” people are living. The language which Foucault uses – “everyone locked up in the cage” (196) has resemblance with Eliot’s lines in “The Waste Land”. The colonial power tries to recast the native as one of themselves, but contrariwise tries to reiterate the irreducible difference of the other. From this point of view “mimicry” comes to play a vital role in this text of Pilkington. The halh-castes children used to mock their protector A.O.Neville as “devil” which indicates their hatred for the White Colonizer and mimicry becomes an “active resistance” which reflects a “distorted image” of the masters. Central among all interests seem the writer’s intention at revealing and reshaping her own identity in an ambiguously fashioned multicultural world. “Multi” cultures never can exist side by side as Siamese twins but always create hegemonic formation with parasitic intention. Literature should function to enhance cultural understanding and encourage a multicultural society. Now-a-days literature is moving towards presenting a multiculturalists perspective
24 which is composed of the creative interplay of three important and complementary insights namely the cultural embeddedness of human beings, the inescapability of cultural plularity and the plural and the multicultural constitution of each culture. From this perspective Doris Pilkington’s text helps one realize that every culture needs other cultures to understand itself better, expand its intellectual and moral horizon, stretch its imagination, and finally save it from narcissism to guard it against the obvious temptation to absolutize itself. Follow The Rabbit-Proof Fence reflects the Post-colonial culture which is nothing but the historical phenomenon of Colonialism. The three aboriginal girls are the living example of various post-colonial theoretical concepts such as transportation, slavery, displacement, emigration, and finally racial and cultural discrimination. Even more importantly the claim that they might exist independently without Britisher’s subjugation and colonization which allowed them (the Aboriginals) to come into a precise formation is to assert a point of considerable controversy and debate. Inside the Moore River Native Settlement the three aboriginal girls with other companions feel psychological asphyxiation by the rigid rules imposed upon them causing internal and external disturbance as well. Gayatri Spivak’s “Can the Subaltern Speak?” finds a revelation by the excruciating and devastating condition of those “stolen” girls in Moore River Native Settlement. Spivak questions whether any possibility exists for any recovery of a subaltern voice. Although she expresses her considerable solace and empathy for the project undertaken in contemporary scenario to give a voice to the subaltern but she raises grave doubts about the theoretical legitimacy. The Mardu people in Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence are like subaltern and they are taught to speak with the language of their ruling fathers. Edward Said termed the “permission to speak” by going behind the terms of reference of “elite” history to incorporate the perspective of those who are never taken into account (the suppressed ruled, colonized people). Recognizing and praising the endorsement of the heterogeneity of the colonial subject, Spivak is concerned intensely to articulate what she observes as the difficulties, problems and contradictions involved in constructing a “prominent speaking power and position” for the subaltern.
25
Nobody can categorize of the Australian aboriginal that has a distinct effective voice clearly and
unproblematically audible above the present multiple reverberations of its inevitable
heterogeneity. According to Bhabha the Colonizer in the South Australia controls even the
imagination and the aspirations of the colonized because of their supreme authority but ironically
enough such powerful authority simultaneously creates colonial ambivalence.
The aboriginal people become decidedly “unfree” so far as their mental freedom is concerned
and even to some extent physical too. In spite of the unwillingness the aboriginal girls remain
captivated as domestic animals by their masters (British colonizers). The idea of freedom from
the stolen three girls is in fact ignoring the plight into which globalization has made people
disadvantaged by class, ethnicity, tyranny .The stereotypical Aborigines within Australian society
and culture are also criticized in the essay of Marcia Langton :
All Aborigines are dirty, drunk and useless, and they are going to die
Out anyway, say some white people without hesitation and qualification.
Three girls felt themselves as “Other”; the other with the capital “O” has been called the grande
autre by Lacan, the great Other, in whose gaze the subject gains identity. In Post-colonial theory
it can refers to the colonized others who are marginalized by Imperial discourse, identified by
their difference from the centre and perhaps crucially become the focus of anticipated mastery by
the imperial ego.
“The girls had never seen so many white men in the one place before” but still “the city was for
them a noisy and unfriendly place”. They never knew that their every single gesture, movement
will be minutely observed by the guards immediately reminding the furtive vigilance of the “Big
Brother” of George Orwell’s novel 1984 .
Molly was convinced that the place is a “marbu country”, means a place where “flesh eating”
spirits live. In addition their supervisor frightened them that if they try to flee then they will be
caught and punished severely.
At the very beginning of the book Doris Pilkington writes “The task of reconstructing the trek
home from the settlement has been both an exhausting and an interesting experience” (Follow
the Rabbit-Proof Fence xi). The first three chapters provide the readers with historical ambience26
of early Western Australian Indigenous experience and their contact with the white Europeans
who came for ruling and dominating the entire locally united Indigenous people. Next the author
gives a sharp and vivid insight of how the Nyungar people of Southern Australian realm
responded emphatically to the arrival of the Europeans and how gradually the Settlers started
displacing the Indigenous Aboriginal from Swan river area :
It was the destruction of their traditional society and the
dispossession of their lands.
The controversial and crucial issue of “stolen generation” get reflected when Molly, Daisy and
Gracie were forced to abandon their heritage and taught to be culturally “White”, they were
being treated badly by their colonial rulers. They suffered from every day-to-day life needs and
requirements:
Instead of residential school, the Aboriginal children were
placed in an over-crowed dormitory. The inmate, not
students, slept on cyclone beds with government-issue
blankets. There were no sheets or pillow slips except on special
occasions when there was an inspection by prominent officials.
Then they were removed as soon as the visitors left the settlements
and stored away until the next visit. (72).s
What is tellingly important for the three female protagonists of this book is the question of
“national identity” and the “sense of belonging” both to a place and to the people around. The
“stolen generation” narrative suggests:
Stories of the separation of Aboriginal children which had previously
been told in various ways by some Aboriginal people and largely in
local or community setting, increasingly became a more homogenous27
stolen generations narrative that was produced and circulated in
regional and national forums. (Attwood 195)
The “sense of belonging” and quest for identity are conspicuous ideas that have attracted readers’
imagination and interest all over the world. This particular text of Pilkington is replete with the
indelible and indomitable spirit of the Australian aboriginals represented by the three girls.
Simultaneously it represents the aboriginal cultures and a spontaneous and deliberate technique
within the aboriginal literary productions.
WORKS CITED
1. Attwood, Bain. “Learning about the Truth: The Spoken Generations Narrative”.
Telling Stories: Indigenous History and Memory in Australia and New Zealand. eds. Bain
Attwood and Fiona Magowan. Crown Nest, NSW. Allen and Unwin, 2001. 183-212.
2. Bennett, Bruce. “Perceptions of Australia, 1965-1988”. The Penguin New Literary
History of Australia. Ed. Laurie Hergenhan, Ringwood; Panguin Books 1988. 433-453.
3. Langton, Marcia. “Aboriginal Art and Film: The Politics of Representation”. Ed. Michele
Grossman. Victoria: Melbourne. UP 2003. 109-124.
4. Morrissey, Philip. “Restoring a Future to a Past”. Aboriginal Culture Today.
ed. Anna Rutherford. Sydney. 1988, 10-15.
5. Pilkington, Doris. Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence. St. Lucai: U of Queensland P.
1996.28
ARTICLE V
CHANGING TRENDS IN INDIAN CINEMA: INDIAN CINEMA
AND TTECHNOLOGICAL METAMORPHOSIS
RITTIKA CHAUDHURI
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT
Introduction
On July 07, 1896 Lumiere Brothers screened their short films at Watson Hotel of Bombay
leaving the audiences awestruck, an episode that created history in terms of growth and
development of motion pictures across the globe.
Raja Harishchandra marks the inauguration of the Journey of Indian Cinema in 1913. The
soundless age was subjugated by the mythological drama, and moviemakers narrated countless
lore of their childhood by means of motion pictures as a medium of expression. Initially the film
fraternity failed to get the support of the public, as there was no social consent to film viewing.
Gradually with the advent of technology it became feasible for the film-maker to make talkies. In
the year 1931, Alam Ara directed by Ardeshir Irani became the first talkie of Indian cinema
which was screened in Bombay. The struggle to produce color cinema continued till 1937 when
the Alam Ara director made the effort of producing the first colored movie in India also Kisan
Kanya (Peasant Girl). Besides that, the modern Film production went on to gain more
recognition with the help of the newly invented methods and techniques. From fiction to realism,
to humor to action, it has followed a long trail. Now that the technology has advanced to its peak,29 creating a masterpiece is not a difficult task keeping the cost of filmmaking maximum. We now get to see big budget films competing with Hollywood movies that clearly depict the rise of the Indian Film industry. The subject matter of the films show miscellaneous thoughts of the new class and availability of new forums like, online release, YouTube and Facebook have become the most promising and a profitable venture. This global-friendly village now gives access to International Audiences to watch Indian Classics. In this era of cutthroat competition, Indian films are growing and its trend is getting set every year, which absolutely makes it eligible to give a tough challenge to any internationally renowned movie. This paper tries to focus on impact of digital technology in Indian contemporary cinema and how Indian Film Industry is rising from the ashes, setting its trend globally and taking itself to the next level. Changing Trends in Indian cinema Indian film industry is the world’s leading and the most talked about film industry in the whole world. This industry has an outstandingly affluent past of producing an array of movies, showcasing different spheres of Indian life. There has been a shifting trend in the representation of Indian films through the years. The way movies were made in the 1950s is completely different from the way it is done in the twenty first century. Rules are meant to be broken and Trends are meant to be set. The entertainment industry has perceived extensive changes in the last two decades, which are taking place in the production and media houses trying to sustain for development, innovation, and growth etc. It all started with the first Indian motion picture Raja Harischandra, produced and released in 1913, directed by Dada Saheb Phalke, just about a year after the world's first motion picture was released. Those were the days of silent movies where there were movements but no dialogues or sound. Indian film industry is the produces the maximum number of movies every year from the different regions of India. Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra, South India, releases more than 15000 movies every year. Indian cinema has gained itself on being the flag-bearer of sole entertainment industry for nearly a century, in a country where allied entertainment forms like music or the fashion industry are submissive to the glamour that cinema and its stars fetch. From glam dolls ,to fashion, creating ineradicable images, business, politics and sports, travel destinations and colloquialisms, violence and sexuality, hero-worshipping and icon-making, Indian cinema had and continues to provide templates and set trends. In a country like India, Sex is still considered a taboo, which is now productively and sagaciously being portrayed in various vernacular movies. Films like Lipstick under my Burkha, Dev D, Rajkahini, and Parched have come up with the idea of highlighting the reality of the society breaking the taboo. Nowadays the massive open discussions on sex over the social media have helped in molding the thoughts and opinions of countless Indians.
30 In earlier days, people preferred commercial production over art films. Nowadays, the entire situation is just the reverse. People are more interested to see the real story and not the same old fairytale. Movies with lesser-known casts, like Mukkebaaz, Secret Superstar, Newton, Shahid did exceptionally well in box office, thus breaking the stereotype. The question arises why such changes are taking place. The reason is, flaunting critical reviews on internet is now a major thing to do. Taking on commercial movies and speaking about its turn-offs gives pleasure to many internet bloggers. At the same bringing out the best part of a lesser-known movie gives a much-added brownie point. People are now more interested to know about the reality, access to which is granted by the Technology. Bollywood previously was all about the Khans and the Kapoors, whereas now a movie with just a good story and acting skills is enough to grab the Indian eyeballs. Currently the stories of Indian cinemas are much more practical and realistic paving an unbreakable way for the new- comers to prove themselves. New directors are coming up with lot of out of the box ideas and thoughts. Anurag Kashyap and Q are emerging as the idiosyncratic talents of the twenty first century. New talents are now being selected from social media sites. If you have talent, display it via your YouTube channel. If you can act well, any director might just get hold of your video and cast you in his next venture. Music is definitely the most pivotal section of an Indian movie. Be it commercial or art, music plays an impeccable role in every movie. Amit Trivedi’s Emotional Attyachar, Udtaa Punjab, Kehke Lunga, created sensation in the mind of the listeners. Movie songs are now saturated with English Lyrics, which makes them only one of its kind. Some songs are made up of hasty and weird lyrics, stressing more on the situation of the story, completely ignoring the rhythm and tune part. Songs that demeans women are also a part of the movie industry. Keeping aside the audio, the videos of the songs are of more inferior qualities. Steamy dance moves of girls, some random raps and too much alcohol are now the theme of moreover every Indian song. Having a look at Honey Singh’s talent, we can easily state that Indian music is in Danger. However existence of musicians like Armaan Malik, Arijit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, saves the vulnerable Indian Movie songs from the verge of extinction. We now have plenty number of applications which can tune a song or create a song for you. Internet has opened the door to the net world. We can now listen to world-wide music and can create our own piece. We get to hear various Hindi songs, which are being copied from the West. Technology has acted as a boon to many of the movie as well as music directors. In earlier days, skin show was never acknowledged and was treated as a disrespectful subject. Being bold was a big no to all the then leading heroines of Indian Cinema. As the days are passing we can witness the bold and daring stunts performed by today’s female-actors. The movie Parched reveals the struggles of women, exposing the harsh truth of the society. Movies like Padman, Toilet- ek prem Katha took film industry to a different level, proving nothing is impossible. Menstruation is also regarded as one of the most less talked about topic in Indian. Padman breaks the wall and creates history in the era of Indian Cinema. People started posing
31 with Sanitary Napkins and posted those pictures on social media, paving the best marketing platform for the movie. Thus, Social media is everywhere giving every movie a chance to reach its audiences. Autobiographies are the hottest subjects of the current film industry. From M.S. Dhoni to Dangal, films have done exceptionally well showing the real stories all around the world. Raazi by Meghna Gulzar is also one of a kind, depicting the tough lives of spies fighting hard to save- guard their countries. Linking Pakistan in Indian movies always adds an extra brownie point. Be it The Ghazi Attack or Raazi, the theme itself is a winner. These movies make us think about the story, which again makes us do a little research work. The research ends when on YouTube you get to see the real story of Sehmat and thus resting your curiosity. Apart from stories and music, location also plays a vital part in creating a masterpiece. Through internet, we get to know about some of the best places where we can shoot movies or songs. However, location sometimes betrays making a movie flop. Dilwale grabbed a lot of attention due to the stunning location of the song Gerua, but still failed to do well at the box office. Whereas movies like Gangs of Wasseypur, Dear Zindagi, Badlapur, which were shot in local areas, bagged quite a number of applauses. However, it would be wrong to completely write only about the modern movies, which focus on the eminent political, social and cultural issues of our countries. However, Indian movies are a mix of diverse stories, themes and culture catering to the needs of the Indian audiences. Thus, we can now agree to Technology playing a fundamental role in the rebirth of Indian Cinema. In conclusion, the changing prototype in movies is a result of the alarming growth of technology followed by the altering mindsets of the viewers as well as the proposal to attract international audiences, who have a different outlook than the ones for whom movies were made in the 1950s.
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