Much work has been done on Indian literature in English based on analyses through the tools of Western critical methods. The ‘Indian classical tradition’ is very rich and consists of perception and insight which serve as a best alternative to the western critical theories; but due to the colonial hangover we fail to appreciate and recognize our age old classical tradition of critical theories.
The Sanskrit criticism with its beginnings in the Vedic period, kept amazingly alive till the 17th century, presents a remarkable picture of continuity notwithstanding its diverse currents. The diversity itself is a part of its spectacular richness, depth and complexity. A body of criticism that offered such vitally important theories as rasa, alamkara, riti, dhvani, vakrokti and auchitya cannot be allowed to become obsolete and antiquarian. With the view to put forth an example of how efficiently a Indian critical theory can analyze and bring out the beauty of poetic expression the present study is an application of Kuntaka’s Vakrokti Siddhānta to the Girish Karnad’s play Naga-mandala.. It focuses directly on the poetic expression at six levels: phonetic, lexical, grammatical, sentential, episodic and compositional as a whole. These six levels as defined by Kuntaka in Vakrotijivitam are- varna vinyāsa- vakratā (phonetic obliquity), pada -purvarddha- vakratā (lexical obliquity), pada-paraddha- vakratā (grammatical obliquity), vakya- vakratā (sentential obliquity), prakarana- vakratā (episodic obliquity) and prabandha- vakratā (compositional obliquity).
Let us first analyze the play from the point of view of phonetic obliquity. In phonetic obliquity, similar or identical phonemes are arranged artistically in order to c...
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...to make an assessment of literature written in English. It is remarkable to note that these theories are more important than their counterparts i.e. the western theories.
Works Cited
1Girish Karnad, Three Plays: Naga-Mandala, Hayavadana, Tughlaq (New
Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000), 45. Hereafter the textual citation will be in the text of the paper.
2 bhinnayorlinga yoryasyam samanadhikaranyatah / kapi sobhabhyudeyatyosa lingavaicitrayavakrata /
sati lingantareyatra strilinga caprayujyate/ sobhanisapattaye yasamannameiva stritipessalam/
visistam yojyate lingamanyasamin samabhavatyapi/ yatravichittaye sanya vacyaucityanusararatah/
(V.J. II, 24-25)
3supa-tin-sambandhais tatha karakasaktibhin / krt-taddhita-samasaisca dyotya laksyakramah kvacit / oa sabdannipatoparargakaladibhih prayuktairabhivyafyamano /
Dhanyaloka. ed. Acarya Visveswara, 271.
The two poems that I have selected for the Analytic Paper are “Blue Light Lounge Sutra For The Performance Poets At Harold Park Hotel” and “Thanks” by Yusef Komunyakaa. The former was read and analyzed as part of a class discussion early on in the quarter while the latter is a piece never analyzed, but closely related to another that was examined for its content and stylistic techniques (“Facing It”, Penguin Anthology, page 441). Though both were written by the same author, there are specific discrepancies in rhythm and wording that create artistic differences that suit the subject of each piece.
7th ed. of the book. D. L. Ashliman, trans. Berlin: n.p., 1857. Print.
Poetry is literature in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive form, style, and imagery. The meaning of a poem can be intensified by deliberate use of the different elements of poetry. In this paper, I will use three poems we have discussed in class to explore how the villanelle form, personnification, and ekphrasis each contribue to deepen the meaning of their respective poems. One poetic structure that exhibits how form contributes to meaning is the villanelle.
words so that the sound of the play complements its expression of emotions and ideas. This essay
Eagleton, Terry. "Literature and the Rise of English" Literature in the Modern World. Dennis Walder, ed. Oxford University Press, N.Y., 1990. 21-27.
May 1991: n. pag. Academic Search Elite. Palni Site Search. Goshen College Good Library. 2 Mar. 2001.
The lyric poems in the ancient times are presented in the first person point of view. Since lyric poetry expresses the personal and emotional feelings of a speaker, Sappho’s poems, Abu Nawar’s verses, Egyptian poems, and Neo-Christian Aztec poems explore the emotions of the speakers as they describe their culture, lifestyle, and tradition. These verses depict the passion, love, and perspectives of the ancient civilizations
It is noteworthy to be stated clearly at the outset of the present paper that literary theories are composed of a mere plethora of highly debatable ideas, concepts and assumptions. They are in other words, strikingly vague, opaque and of a typical flexibility. According to Wellek and Warren (1966, p. 30) }there are then, not only one or two but literally hundreds of independent, diverse, and mutually exclusive conceptions of literature, each of which is in some way right~. That is, the diversity of literary theories and even the contradiction between them sometimes, is something natural.
123, No. 2 -. 3203. The. (May 18, 1956), pp. 896-897. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0036-8075%2819560817%293%3A124%3A3216%3C322%3ATPP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L This site is very reliable.
Throughout ‘To the Welsh Critic Who Doesn’t Find Me Identifiably Indian’, Arundhati Subramaniam argues that the “the business of language”, or the language that one speaks, should not dictate one’s identity. This becomes crucial in her poem as she uses this argument in response to a Welsh Critic, who does not identify her as being Indian. The poem substantiates her perspective of language through various techniques. For instance: Subramaniam reinforces the critic’s cultural assumptions in a defiant tone; she questions him, repeatedly, about language and eventually she challenges him, insisting he should explain to her how he would receive her as “Identifiably Indian”.
... middle of paper ... ... In McLaughlin, 1987. Giles, H.; Smith, P. (1979).
Nayar, Pramod K. Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory: From Structuralism to Eco Criticism. New Delhi: Pearson, 2010. Print.
---. “Structure in Beckett’s theatre.” Yale French Studies. Vol. 46. Yale University Press, 1971. 17-27. JSTOR. 20 Mar. 2004.
There are people bustling, merchants selling, Anglo-Indians watching, and birds flying overhead. How many perspectives are there in this one snippet of life? They are uncountable, and that is the reality. Modernist writers strive to emulate this type of reality into their own work as well. In such novels, there is a tendency to lack a chronological or even logical narrative and there are also frequent breaks in narratives where the perspectives jump from one to another without warning. Because there are many points of view and not all of them are explained, therefore, modernist novels often tend to have narrative perspectives that suddenly shift or cause confusion. This is because modernism has always been an experimental form of literature that lacks a traditional narrative or a set, rigid structure. Therefore, E. M. Forster, author of A Passage to India, uses such techniques to portray the true nature of reality. The conflict between Adela, a young British girl, and Aziz, an Indian doctor, at the Marabar Caves is one that implements multiple modernist ideals and is placed in British-India. In this novel, Forster shows the relations and tension between the British and the Indians through a series of events that were all caused by the confusing effects of modernism. E.M. Forster implements such literary techniques to express the importance or insignificance of a situation and to emphasize an impression of realism and enigma in Chandrapore, India, in which Forster’s novel, A Passage to India, takes place.