Tryst With Destiny by Jawaharlal Nehru-Notes

 The historic "A Tryst with Destiny" speech by Jawaharlal Nehru, which he gave on the eve of India's independence on August 14, 1947, is a significant work of history. Nehru starts by considering the difficult road that brought about this momentous occasion. He pays homage to the tenacity and resolve of the Indian people while acknowledging the hardships and sacrifices made by innumerable individuals who battled for their country's independence. Nehru highlights that this marks not just the end of British colonial control but also the start of a new age in which India gained independence and self-governance.

The speech then shifts to Nehru's outlook for India's future. He states his goals for the recently independent country, emphasising harmony, development, and the moral obligations of its people and authorities. He calls for a group effort to create an equitable and inclusive society and imagines an India free from poverty, ignorance, illness, and inequity. Nehru emphasises the significance of scientific and industrial advancement as the cornerstones of economic prosperity, arguing favouring a well-rounded strategy that combines modernity with traditional values.

The main focus of Nehru's lecture is the ethical aspect of governance. He emphasises that leaders have a moral need to act honourably and compassionately and that India's absolute service is to its millions of suffering inhabitants. Nehru's call to action is directed not only at the government but also at every Indian, imploring them to make a committed and selfless contribution to the advancement of their country. This demand for moral leadership and public duty reflects Nehru's dedication to building a just and equitable society.

Nehru emphasises the interdependence of nations by situating India's freedom within a larger global framework. He expected India to contribute significantly to the worldwide promotion of harmony and collaboration. Nehru's goal transcends national bounds; he views India's liberation as a component of a broader movement for world peace and the welfare of all people. This internationalist viewpoint emphasises the significance of worldwide solidarity and respect for one another.

There is a moving call to action at the end of the speech. Nehru reminds the people of India that creating a thriving country is what the future demands of them. He stresses that everyone must contribute to the country's development and exhorts Indians to commit their lives to serving both humanity and India. This conclusion reaffirms solidarity, accountability, and the goal of a brighter future.

In conclusion, "A Tryst with Destiny" is a visionary roadmap for the future, a profound affirmation of India's recently gained independence, and a memorial to the sacrifices made in the past. Nehru's stirring and inspirational speech encapsulates a momentous occasion and establishes the foundation for India's independent history. The speech serves as a timeless reminder of the obligations, goals, and values accompanying freedom.

Marxist Criticism

 Marxist Literary Criticism

Marxism is a materialist philosophy that tries to interpret the world based on the concrete, natural world around us and our society. It is opposed to idealist philosophy, which conceptualizes a spiritual world elsewhere that influences and controls the material world. In one sense, it put people's thoughts into reverse gear as it deviated from the philosophies that came before it. Karl Marx has commented on Marxism's revolutionary nature, "The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it." It is true that while other philosophies tried to understand the world, Marxism wanted to change it.

Classical Marxism: Basic Principles

According to Marxism, society progresses through the struggle between opposing forces. It is this struggle between opposing classes that results in social transformation. History progresses through this class struggle. Class struggle originates from the exploitation of one class by another throughout history. During the feudal period, the tension was between the feudal lords and the peasants, and in the Industrial Age, the struggle was between the capitalist class (the bourgeoisie) and the industrial working class (the proletariat). Classes have common interests. In a capitalist system, the proletariat always conflicts with the capitalist class. According to Marx, this confrontation will finally replace the system with socialism.

Another important concept used by Marx was the dialectic, which was initially developed by the 18th-century German philosopher Hegel. Hegel was an idealist philosopher who used this term to refer to the emergence of new ideas by confronting opposing ideas. He believed that the world is governed by thought and that material existence expresses immaterial spiritual essence. However, Marx used the same concept to interpret the progress of the material world. According to him, Hegel put the world upside down by giving primacy to ideas, whereas Marx attempted to reverse it. So, Marx's dialectic is known as dialectical materialism. Marx argued that all mental( ideological) systems are products of actual social and economic existence. For example, the legal system reflects the interests of the dominant class in particular historical periods rather than the manifestation of divine reason. Marxist dialectic can be understood as the science of the general and abstract laws of development of nature, society and thoughts. It considers the universe as an integral whole in which things are interdependent rather than a mixture of things isolated from each other. All things contain internal dialectical contradictions, which are the world's primary cause of motion, change and development. Dialectical materialism was an effective tool for Marxists, revealing the secrets behind the social processes and their future development course. One of the fundamental concepts of classical Marxist thought is the concept of base and superstructure, which refers to the relationship between the material means of production and the cultural world of art and ideas. It is a symbolic concept that employs the structure of a building to explain this relationship. The foundation or the base stands for the socio-economic relations and the mode of production, and the superstructure stands for art, law, politics, religion and, above all, ideology. It refers to the idea that culture is governed by historical conditions and the relations of dominance and subordination prevalent in a particular society. Morality, religion, art and philosophy are seen as echoes of real-life processes. In Marx's words, they are "phantoms formed in men's brains." From this point of view, all cultural products are directly related to the economic base in a given society.

Take the case of the novels of Mulk Raj Anand, which address the life of the untouchables, coolies and ordinary workers struggling for their rights and self-esteem. They can be traced back to the class conflict prevalent in Indian society.

Socialist Realism

Socialist RealRealismk was shaped as the official aesthetic principle of the new communist society. It was mainly informed by 19th-century aesthetics and revolutionary politics. Raymond Williams identifies three principles as the founding principles of Socialist realRealismey: Partinost or commitment to the working-class cause of the party, Narodnost of popularity and Klassovost or writer's commitment to the class interests. The idea of Partinost is based on Vladimir Lenin's essay, Party Organisation and Party Literature (1905), reiterating the writer's commitment to the party's aim to liberate the working class from exploitation. Narodnost refers to the popular simplicity of the work of art.

In Paris Manuscripts, Marx refers to the alienation that originates from the separation of the mental and manual in the capitalist society. Earlier, under feudalism, the workers engaged in cottage industries produced various items on their own, and all activities related to the production happened at the same place under the supervision of the same people. However, under capitalism, the workers lost control over their products; they were engaged in producing various parts and were alienated from their work.

Klassovost refers to the writer's commitment to the interests of the working class. It is not related to the explicit allegiance of a writer to a particular class but the writer's inherent ability to portray the social transformation. For example, Balzac, a supporter of the Bourbon dynasty, provides a more penetrating account of French society than all the historians. Though Tolstoy, the Russian novelist, was an aristocrat by birth and had no affiliation to the revolutionary movements in Russia, Lenin called Tolstoy the "mirror of the Russian revolution" as he was successful in revealing the transformation in Russian society that led to the revolution through his novels.

Further developments in Marxist Aesthetics

Marxist criticism flourished outside the official line in various European countries. Russian Formalism emerged as a new perspective informed by Marxism in the 1920s. It was disbanded by the Communist Party as it did not conform to the official theoretical perspective of the party. The prominent members of this group were Victor Shklovsky, Boris Tomashevsky and Boris Eichenbaum, who published their ideas originally in Russian.

In Germany, the Frankfurt School of Marxist aesthetics was founded in 1923 as a political research institute attached to the University of Frankfurt. Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse were some of the essential figures attached to this school. They tried to combine aspects of Formalism with the theories of Marx and Freud. They produced studies on mass culture and communication for the first time and their role in social reproduction and domination. The Frankfurt School also generated one of the first models of critical cultural studies that analyzes the processes of artistic production and political economy, the politics of cultural texts, and audience reception and use of cultural artefacts.

Bertolt Brecht developed the concept of Epic Theatre, which dismantled the traditional naturalistic theatre and produced a new kind of theatre, altering the functional relations between stage and audience, text and producer, and producer and actor. Bourgeois theatre is based on illusionism. The audience is the passive consumer. The play needs to stimulate them to think constructively. According to Brecht, this is based on the assumption that the world is fixed, given and unchangeable, and art must provide escapist entertainment. Brecht's famous contribution is the alienation effect. The technique alienates the spectators from the performance and prevents them from emotionally identifying with the play. It presents the familiar experience in an unfamiliar light, forcing the audience to question the attitudes considered natural and unchanging. He employed techniques like back projection, song choreography cutting and disrupting the action rather than blending it smoothly.

The French Marxist thinker Louis Althusser further developed the Marxist approach by introducing various concepts, such as overdetermination and ideology.

Overdetermination is an effect that arises from various causes rather than a single factor. This concept undercuts simplistic notions of one-to-one correspondence between base and superstructure. Ideology is another term modified by Althusser. He states, "Ideology is a system of representations endowed with an existence and a historical role at the heart of a given society." It obscures social reality by naturalizing beliefs and promoting values supporting them. Civil society spreads ideology through the law, textbooks, religious rituals, and norms, and people imbibe them even without their knowledge. Ideology is instituted by the state through two apparatuses, Repressive State Apparatuses (RSA) and Ideological State Apparatuses (ISA). The RSA includes law courts, prison, police, army, etc, and the ISA includes political parties, schools, media, churches, family, art, etc. Althusser imported structuralism to Marxism. In his view, society is a structural whole that consists of relatively autonomous levels: legal, political and cultural, whose mode of articulation is only determined by the economy.

The founder of the Italian Communist Party, Antonio Gramsci, was a politician, political theorist, linguist and philosopher. Known as an original thinker among Marxist scholars, Gramsci introduced the concepts like Hegemony and the Subaltern. Hegemony is the domination of a particular section of society by the powerful classes. Most often, it works through consent rather than by power. It is the moral and intellectual leadership of the upper class in a particular society. The term subaltern was initially used by Gramsci as a collective description for various and exploited groups who lack class consciousness. But now, it is being used to represent all marginalized sections like Dalits, women, minorities, etc.

An influential figure among the New Left was Raymond Williams. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature significantly contribute to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts. Williams was interested in the relationship between language, literature and society. He coined the critical method, Cultural Materialism, which has four characteristics, Historical context, Theoretical method, Political /commitment and Textual analysis. Cultural materialism gives us different perspectives based on what we suppress or reveal in reading from the past.

Feminist Criticism- Notes

 1. New Feminism

New Feminism is a modern approach that addresses the shortcomings of earlier feminist waves. It emphasises intersectionality, inclusivity, and a global perspective, recognising the diverse experiences of women across different backgrounds.

The key concepts include

1. Intersectionality: This concept, introduced by Kimberlé Crenshaw, highlights how various social identities (such as race, gender, and class) intersect, creating unique modes of discrimination and privilege.

2. Inclusivity: New Feminism strives to be diverse and inclusive, welcoming voices from all backgrounds, including those of marginalised communities.

3. Global Perspective: Unlike earlier waves, New Feminism acknowledges and incorporates feminist struggles worldwide, recognising the varied cultural contexts.

Important Figures of the movement

Kimberlé Crenshaw: Introduced the concept of intersectionality, foundational to New Feminism.

Bell Hooks: Emphasizes the importance of considering race and class within feminist discourse.

Angela Davis: Advocates for a broader, more inclusive approach to feminism, addressing intersections of race, class, and gender.

Examples

#MeToo Movement: This global movement against sexual harassment and assault underscores New Feminism’s focus on real-world issues affecting diverse women.

Black Lives Matter (BLM): BLM exemplifies intersectionality by highlighting how racial injustice and gender oppression are interconnected.

2. Post-Feminism

Post-feminism represents a complex and sometimes controversial framework. It does not signify the end of feminism but rather a shift in how feminist ideas are perceived and practised in a post-modern context.

Key Concepts include:

1. Empowerment through Choice: Post-feminism emphasises individual empowerment and the freedom to make personal choices, critiquing earlier feminist approaches as overly prescriptive.

2. Critique of Victimhood: Shifts from viewing women primarily as victims of patriarchy to recognising their agency and capacity for self-determination.

3. Media and Consumer Culture: Deeply intertwined with media representations and consumer culture, where feminist ideals are often co-opted and commodified.

Important Figures

Angela McRobbie: Critiques how media and consumer culture shape post-feminist identities and discourses.

Rosalind Gill: Analyses post-feminist media culture, exploring how feminist ideas are reconfigured in popular culture.

Sarah Banet-Weiser: Examines the commercialisation of feminist ideals and how empowerment is marketed to women.

Examples

"Girl Power": Popularized by the Spice Girls in the 1990s, this slogan encapsulates Post-Feminism’s focus on individual strength and empowerment despite criticisms of superficiality.

Fashion and Beauty Industries: Campaigns like Dove’s "Real Beauty" promote empowerment through consumption, illustrating Post-Feminism’s engagement with consumer culture.

3. Indian Feminism

Indian feminism is a rich and multifaceted movement that reflects the country's diverse social, cultural, and political landscape. It addresses unique challenges and issues women in India have faced since colonial times. 

Historical Context

Indian feminism has evolved through various stages, influenced by colonial history, independence movements, and contemporary social changes. It seeks to address gender inequalities deeply rooted in Indian society while recognising the intersections of caste, religion, and class.

The Key Concepts include:

1. Intersectionality: Indian feminism emphasises the importance of understanding gender oppression through caste, class, and religion lenses.

2. Decolonization: The movement aims to decolonise feminist thought and practice, challenging Western-centric feminist frameworks.

3. Grassroots Activism: Indian feminism has a strong tradition of grassroots activism, with movements often emerging from rural and marginalised communities.

Important Figures

Savitribai Phule: A pioneer in women's education and social reform, Phule established the first school for girls in India and worked tirelessly against caste-based discrimination.

Tarabai Shinde: An early feminist writer, Shinde is known for her work "Stri Purush Tulana" (A Comparison Between Women and Men), critiquing gender and caste oppression.

Kamala Das: A prominent poet and writer, Das explored themes of female sexuality and identity, challenging societal norms and expectations.

4. Contemporary Indian Feminism

Contemporary Indian feminism addresses a broad range of issues, from gender-based violence and sexual harassment to representation in politics and media. It incorporates traditional and modern elements, reflecting India's dynamic social fabric.

Key Concepts include:

1. Empowerment through Education: Education is crucial for women's empowerment and societal change.

2. Legal Reforms: Advocacy for legal reforms to protect women's rights, including laws against domestic violence, sexual harassment, and dowry.

3. Media Representation: Contemporary feminists work towards better representation of women in media and challenge stereotypical portrayals.

Important Figures

Arundhati Roy: An author and activist, Roy's work highlights the intersections of gender, caste, and environmental issues.

Vandana Shiva: An eco-feminist and environmental activist, Shiva focuses on the link between gender and environmental justice.

Flavia Agnes: A lawyer and women's rights activist, Agnes has advocated for legal reforms to protect women's rights, particularly in domestic violence and family law cases.

Examples

#MeToo Movement in India: The global #MeToo movement had a significant impact in India, with many women coming forward to share their experiences of sexual harassment and assault.

Gulabi Gang: A vigilante group of women in Uttar Pradesh fighting against domestic violence, corruption, and social injustice, exemplifying grassroots activism.

4. Écriture Féminine

Écriture Féminine (feminine writing) is a theory that emphasises the unique ways women express themselves through writing, challenging traditional, patriarchal structures of language and literature.

Key Concepts include:

1. Language and Identity: Écriture Féminine posits that women's writing inherently differs from men's, reflecting their unique experiences and identities.

2. Subversion of Patriarchy: It seeks to subvert patriarchal norms in literature by creating a new, female-centric mode of expression.

3. Fluidity and Openness: The theory celebrates fluidity, openness, and the body, often characterised by a poetic and nonlinear style.

Important Figures

Hélène Cixous: A pioneer of Écriture Féminine, Cixous's essay "The Laugh of the Medusa" is foundational. It advocates for women to reclaim their voices and bodies through writing.

Luce Irigaray: A philosopher and linguist, Irigaray's work explores the relationship between language, gender, and the body, emphasising the need for a distinct female language.

Julia Kristeva: Although more broadly a psychoanalytic theorist, Kristeva's ideas on semiotics and the maternal body contribute to understanding Écriture Féminine.

Examples

Hélène Cixous's "The Laugh of the Medusa" is a seminal essay that calls on women to write about their bodies and experiences, breaking free from patriarchal constraints.

Marguerite Duras's "The Lover": This novel exemplifies Écriture Féminine through its lyrical, fragmented narrative and focus on female desire.

5. Gynocriticism

Gynocriticism is a feminist literary criticism approach that focuses on women writers and their literary traditions, aiming to establish a female literary canon.

Key Concepts include:

1. Recovery of Women's Literature: Gynocriticism seeks to rediscover and reevaluate literature written by women, which is often overlooked or marginalised.

2. Female Literary Tradition: It aims to establish a distinct female literary tradition, recognising the unique themes, styles, and experiences of women writers.

3. Biological, Linguistic, Psychoanalytic, and Cultural Models: Gynocriticism analyses women's writing through various lenses to understand how gender influences literary production.

Important Figures

Elaine Showalter: A key figure in gynocriticism, Showalter's work "A Literature of Their Own" is foundational. It categorises women's literature into different historical phases.

Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar's collaborative work, "The Madwoman in the Attic," explores the complex relationship between female writers and the literary canon dominated by men.

Annis Pratt: Known for her work on women's literary traditions and psychological development in literature, Pratt's contributions are significant to gynocriticism.

Examples

Elaine Showalter's "A Literature of Their Own" traces the development of women's literature in England and highlights the unique contributions of women writers.

Gilbert and Gubar's "The Madwoman in the Attic" is an influential work that examines the portrayal of women in 19th-century literature, focusing on themes of madness and confinement.

6. Male Gaze

Male Gaze is a concept in feminist theory that describes the way visual arts and literature depict the world and women from a masculine, heterosexual perspective, objectifying women.

Key Concepts include:

1. Objectification of Women: The Male Gaze reduces women to objects of male pleasure and spectatorship.

2. Power Dynamics: It highlights the power imbalance in visual and narrative representations, where men are the active viewers and women are passive subjects.

3. Impact on Society: The concept explores how such representations influence societal attitudes towards women and perpetuate gender inequality.

Important Figures

Laura Mulvey: A British feminist film theorist, Mulvey's essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" is foundational, introducing the concept of the Male Gaze in film studies.

John Berger: Although not exclusively a feminist theorist, Berger's work "Ways of Seeing" discusses how traditional art objectifies women, contributing to understanding the Male Gaze.

Mary Ann Doane: A film theorist who explores the implications of the Male Gaze and how female spectatorship can subvert traditional viewing dynamics.

Examples

Laura Mulvey's "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema": This essay analyses how classical Hollywood cinema perpetuates the Male Gaze and objectifies female characters.

John Berger's "Ways of Seeing": Berger's analysis of how women are portrayed in European paintings reveals the pervasive nature of the Male Gaze in art history.

7. Phallocentrism

Phallocentrism refers to privileging the male perspective and experience in cultural, social, and linguistic structures. It is the idea that societal norms and values revolve around the male point of view, marginalising women and other genders.

Key Concepts include:

1. Centrality of the Male Experience: Phallocentrism posits that male experiences and perspectives are treated as the norm or universal standard.

2. Marginalization of Women: This concept highlights how women and their experiences are often considered secondary or peripheral in a phallocentric society.

3. Critique of Symbolism: Phallocentrism critiques the symbolic order that associates power and authority with masculinity.

Important Figures

Jacques Lacan: Although not a feminist theorist, Lacan's psychoanalytic theories, particularly the concept of the "phallus" as a symbol of power, are central to discussions of Phallocentrism.

Hélène Cixous: A key figure in feminist theory, Cixous critiques phallocentric structures in literature and advocates for Écriture Féminine.

Luce Irigaray: Her work challenges phallocentric language and logic, promoting a more inclusive and egalitarian approach to gender and discourse.

Examples

Freudian Psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud's theories often centre on the male experience, with concepts like "penis envy" reflecting a phallocentric perspective.

Traditional Literature: Many classic literary works focus on male protagonists and perspectives, often marginalising or stereotyping female characters.

8. Phallogocentrism

Phallogocentrism is a term coined by Jacques Derrida, combining "Phallocentrism" (male-centeredness) and "logocentrism" (focus on logic and reason). It critiques how Western philosophy and culture prioritise male-dominated, logical, and linguistic structures.

Key Concepts include:

1. Combination of Phallocentrism and Logocentrism: Phallogocentrism addresses the intertwined nature of male dominance and the privileging of reason and language in Western thought.

2. Critique of Binary Oppositions: It challenges binary oppositions (male/female, reason/emotion) that reinforce hierarchical structures.

3. Deconstruction: Derrida's method of deconstruction reveals and critiques the underlying phallogocentric assumptions in texts and cultural practices.

Important Figures

Jacques Derrida: The founder of deconstruction, Derrida's work on Phallogocentrism explores how language and philosophy perpetuate male dominance.

Judith Butler: A gender theorist whose work on performativity critiques phallogocentric assumptions in constructing gender identities.

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: A postcolonial theorist who critiques phallogocentric and logocentric biases in Western literature and philosophy.

Examples

Western Philosophy: Philosophers like Plato and Descartes emphasise reason and logic, often side-lining other forms of knowledge and reinforcing male-centric viewpoints.

Linguistic Structures: Language often reflects and reinforces phallogocentric assumptions, such as the generic use of "he" to refer to people in general.

9. Elaine Showalter's "Towards a Feminist Poetics"

Elaine Showalter's essay "Towards a Feminist Poetics" is foundational in feminist literary criticism. It introduces key concepts and frameworks for analysing literature from a feminist perspective, mainly focusing on the development of a distinct female literary tradition.

"Towards a Feminist Poetics" outlines the need for a feminist approach to literary criticism that acknowledges and values women's experiences and contributions to literature. Showalter distinguishes between two modes of feminist critique: the feminist critique and gynocriticism.

Key Concepts include:

1. Feminist Critique: Analyzes literature written by men, examining how women are represented and critiquing patriarchal biases in texts.

2. Gynocriticism: This field focuses on literature written by women, exploring their experiences, themes, and literary traditions to develop a female-centered literary history.

3. Phases of Women's Writing: Showalter identifies three historical phases of women's writing: The Feminine phase, the Feminist phase, and the Female phase.

Important Figures

Elaine Showalter: A leading figure in feminist literary criticism, Showalter's work on gynocriticism and the phases of women's writing has significantly influenced the field.

Virginia Woolf: An influential modernist writer, Woolf's work on women's writing and the concept of the "androgynous mind" is discussed in Showalter's framework.

Simone de Beauvoir: Her seminal work, "The Second Sex", is pivotal in feminist theory and is referenced by Showalter in her analysis of women's roles and identities.

Examples

Phases of Women's Writing: Showalter categorises women's literature into three stages:

Feminine Phase (1840-1880): Women writers imitated dominant male traditions and internalised patriarchal values.

Feminist Phase (1880-1920): Women began to protest and advocate for their rights, producing literature that challenged patriarchal norms.

Female Phase (1920-present): Women writers seek to establish a female literary tradition, exploring their own experiences and identities independently of male influence.

Key Concepts include:

1. Feminist Critique

Analysing Male-Centric Literature: The feminist critique focuses on how men portray women in literature, uncovering biases and stereotypes.

2. Critiquing Patriarchal Structures: This mode of analysis examines how literary works reinforce or challenge patriarchal ideologies.

3. Representation of Women: This section examines the roles, characteristics, and narratives assigned to female characters, critiquing their often secondary or objectified status.

4. Recovery of Women's Literature: Gynocriticism aims to rediscover and re-evaluate the works of women writers that have been overlooked or marginalised in literary history.

5. Developing a Female Literary Tradition: It establishes a distinct tradition of women's writing, identifying common themes, styles, and experiences.

6. Biological, Linguistic, Psychoanalytic, and Cultural Models: Showalter suggests using various models to understand how women's literature is influenced by their biological experiences, linguistic practices, psychological development, and cultural contexts.

Phases of Women's Writing

Feminine Phase: Women writers during this period conformed to male literary standards, often writing under male pseudonyms or adopting male styles.

Feminist Phase: This phase is characterised by women's active struggle for equality and rights, reflected in their literature's themes and narratives.

Female Phase: Women writers explore their identities and experiences in the contemporary phase, creating a unique literary voice free from male influence.

Examples

Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" is a seminal work in feminist literary criticism. It advocates for women's space and autonomy in the literary world.

Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre": An example of the Feminine Phase, where Brontë's writing both conforms to and subtly critiques patriarchal norms.

Simone de Beauvoir's "The Second Sex": Although a philosophical text, it profoundly influences feminist literary theory by exploring the construction of women as "Other."

Helene Cixous, Ecriture Feminine and Laugh of Medusa

 Helene Cixous, born in 1937, is a French feminist. She, along with Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva and various other feminists, are part of what is called "French Feminism," not of their fact of being born in France, but by them being sharing the ideas of feminism propagated by feminists in France in the 1960s, who have been highly influenced by the works of Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan, Michel Foucault and many others. Theories of post-structuralism and psychoanalysis highly influenced them all. These French feminists like Cixous both used and critiqued the ideas of such theories to question and challenge the male hegemony.

The ideas of Derrida were used to critique the notion of binaries and the very nature of language, meaning, and the way language plays a heavy role in the subordination of women; a majority of the concepts and ideas are prejudiced against women and are socially and culturally constructed by male hegemony to keep women under a perpetual state of subordination.

All these French feminists put great emphasis on women's physiology and how this can help and guide women's writing so that it can set itself free from the constraints of patriarchal prejudices. Cixous seminal work was titled The Laugh of Medusa and Sorties, published in 1975. Cixous coins the concept of écriture feminine, translated as feminine writing in English. In this work, The Laugh of Medusa, Cixous uses psychoanalysis, inspired by the work of Lacan, as mentioned above, to interpret Greek mythology in a manner that challenges patriarchal hegemony. This work is written in the form of poetry. Cixous intend to break the structural norms of logic and argumentation set by patriarchy and instead prefers a poetic medium that is more imaginative and isn't bound by the limits of prosaic logic. In this, we witness the rebels of Cixous against the boundaries set on women by patriarchy.

Through this work, Cixous urges women to write extensively, as this platform can change history and oppose the male hegemony that has suppressed them and kept them away from such art. Cixous want women to write uniquely, using a pro-female language that celebrates womanhood, their body and sexuality, which have been repressed over the centuries. Cixous uses the Greek myth of the monster Medusa, who is depicted as a fierce, ugly woman, full of rage and has snakes instead of hairs on her head, to argue that patriarchal man has distorted this narrative of Medusa to depict a woman who has desires as dangerous and ugly, contrary to the beautiful, loyal and virgin princess that they adore.

Cixous critiques this very notion where women are either portrayed as monsters like Medusa or as an "unexplored abyss", an idea proposed by Freud where he insinuates women as beings who are negative of what men stand for. They are shown as lacking beings (lacking penis), and the mystery of their nature can't be explored or understood.

This is what Cixous wants women to be: to be rebellious, which defies all boundaries and structures that patriarchy wants to restrain women from. Cixous uses the metaphor of the laugh of Medusa as a tool to reject the very idea of truth, binaries that are deeply ingrained in Western patriarchal thoughts as she says, "You only have to look at the Medusa straight on to see her. And she's not deadly. She's beautiful, and she's laughing".

As explained above, this laugh is the laugh of a rebellious woman against male tyranny in any form whatsoever. For Cixous, the goal of this feminine writing, which she wants women to write with full vigour and freedom, is to "smash everything, to shatter the framework of institutions, to blow up the law, to break up the 'truth' and that too in a way as manifested in the demystified version of Medusa with laughter.

Cixous's writing primarily focuses on the female body and its parts. She writes, "Woman must write herself, and put herself into the text—as into the world and history—by her movement." She further reiterates her point by saying to women, "Write yourself. Your body must be heard."

Is There an Indian Way of Thinking by A.K. Ramanujan---Notes

 In the essay's first section, A.K. Ramanujan uses the Stanislavskian approach and asks a few questions, emphasising different words in each question. The first question is, ‘Is’ there an Indian way of thinking? Here, ‘is’ is given emphasis. The answer he provides is there was an Indian way of thinking, but now there isn’t any. The thinking was there with pundits, the vaidyas, and the old texts. However, he also states that, on the contrary, India never changes according to modern contexts. Indians are naturally traditional and still think in terms of the Vedas.

In the second question, Is there ‘an Indian way of thinking? Emphasis is given to ‘an’. The answer is there is no single way of thinking in India. There are different ways. There are a few traditions, such as ancient and modern thinking, rural and urban thinking, classical and folk thinking, etc. So, under the apparent diversity, there is unity. Nehru calls this ‘unity in diversity’.

In the third question, Is there an ‘Indian’ way of thinking? The emphasis is given to the word Indian. Ramanujan answers that what we see in India is nothing special to India. India is a confluence of different cultures and traditions. Many new cultures came here; we received them and made them our own. There were a lot of borrowings in Indian culture. So, there is no Indian way of thinking.

In the fourth question, Is there an Indian way of ‘thinking’? The emphasis is on the word thinking. Ramanujan's answer is that Indians don’t think at all. Real thinking is materialistic and rational in the West. He explains that Indians have no philosophy, positive science, or psychology but only religion. In India, matter is subordinated to spirit and rational thought to feeling and intuition.

Thus, in the 1st part of his essay, Ramanujan states how India is perceived differently at different stages by different people and from various perspectives.

Instance from Personal Life

In the second part of the essay, Ramanujan uses a frame from his personal life about his father to show the inconsistency in Indian thinking. He states that his father’s clothes and lifestyle also represent his inner lifestyle. He was a South Indian Brahmin who wore dhotis and white turbans. But over his dhoti, he used to wear Western jackets and even Western shoes instead of Indian sandals. He wore his shoes to the university but took them off while entering the inner quarters of his house. This personal anecdote is a striking example of the contradictions that characterize Indian thinking and behaviour.

His father was a mathematician, astronomer, Sanskrit scholar, and expert astrologer. He was visited by English mathematicians, American scholars, local astrologers, and orthodox pundits. He talked religiously about the Bhagavad Gita but with the same tongue used to talk about Bertrand Russell and Ingersoll, the modern philosophers. Ramanujan describes that such contradictions are at the heart of the Indian way of thinking. It is both exclusive and inclusive.

Inconsistency in Indian Thinking

In the next part of his essay, Ramanujan points out that both English and modern Indians have been dismayed and angered by this kind of inconsistency. They agree on the Indian trait of hypocrisy. Indians do not mean what they say and say different things at different times. He uses the concept of ‘Karma’ to explain this hypocrisy. Sheryl Daniel found that Indians used Karma and Thalavidhi (handwriting) to describe the events around them. Karma implies the self’s past determines the present. It is an iron chain of cause and effect. But Thalavidhi is one’s fate inscribed arbitrarily at birth on one’s forehead. It has no relation to one’s prior actions. Some thinkers believe that it happens because Indians have not developed a notion of ‘data’ of objective facts. It is all about subjective facts in India. Henry Kissinger and Sudhir Kakar also allude to this view.

Zimmer praises Indians for not spending much time on objectivity, distinguishing self from non-self, interior from exterior, etc. Naipaul calls this as a ‘defect of vision’. Another proof of inconsistency is the ability to distinguish self and non-self. Ramanujan gives an instance from Manusmriti and Kantian philosophy. Manusmriti lacks universality. ‘Man shall not kill’ is a universal law. But Manusmriti suggests different punishments based on caste and jati. A Kshatriya and Vaisya can escape punishment by paying a fine, while a sudra shall suffer corporal punishment.

Context-Free and Context-Sensitive Cultures

In the next part of the essay, Ramanujan discusses context-free and context-sensitive cultures. In Indian culture, context sensitivity is the preferred structure. Baudhayana enumerates the context-sensitive nature of Indians. He explains that the Brahmins of the North and those of the South are different and have aberrant practices. In the north, the southern ways would be wrong, and vice versa. For Indians, each addition is a subtraction from any universal law.

The author states that he doesn’t know any Indian texts that discuss values like Plato's works. In Plato’s Symposium, he discusses finding beauty in every object and not concentrating on only one. He says no Indian texts came without a context until the 19th century. The work will tell the reader about the benefits they will get after reading the text. In other ways, they contextualise it. He gives the example of ‘Nadisastra’, which offers anyone their personal history.

In India, texts may be dateless and anonymous but have explicit contexts. The Ramayana and Mahabharata open with episodes that tell us why and under what circumstances they were composed. Every story is encased inside a meta-story. Within the text, one tale is a context for another. 

Even in space and time, the universal contexts in India are not uniform or neutral but have properties that affect those who dwell in them. In India, it is believed that the soil in a village, which produces crops for the people, affects their character. The houses here have mood and character. It could change the fortune and moods of the dwellers. Time, too, has been separated in India. Certain hours of the day, days of the week, etc, are auspicious or inauspicious (rahu kala). Specific units of time (yugas) breed certain disorders—Eg, Kali yuga.

Arts in India even depend on time and obey time’s changing moods and properties. For instance, the ragas of both north and south Indian classical music have their prescribed appropriate times for recitation. Thus, all things, even so-called non-material ones like space and time or caste, affect other things because all things are ‘substantial’ (dhatu).

Ramanujan exhorts that contrary to the notion that Indians are spiritual, they are material-minded. They are materialists, believers in substance. There is a constant flow of substance from context to object, non-self to self.

Contradictions

In the last part of the essay, Ramanujan states that all societies have context-sensitive behaviour and rules. However, the dominant ideal in every culture is to be context-free. Protestant Christianity believes in both the universal and the unique and insists that any member is equal to and like any group member. Yet, counter-movements tend to be geared towards context-sensitive situations in predominantly context-free societies. In traditional cultures like India, where context-sensitivity rules, the dream is to be free of context. So ‘rasa’ in aesthetics, ‘moksha’ in the aims of life, ‘sannyasa’ in the life stages, ‘photo’ in semantics and ‘bhakti’ in religion define themselves against a background of contextuality.

The author points out that kama, artha, and dharma are relational in their values and are tied to place, time, personal character, and social role. Moksha is the release from all relations. If brahmacharya is preparation for a fully relational life, grahasthasrama is a full realisation of it. Vanaprastha loosens the bonds, and sannyasa cremates all one’s past and present relations. The last of the great Hindu anti-contextual notions, bhakti, differs from the above, denying the need for context.

In conclusion, Ramanujan makes a couple of observations about modernisation. One might see modernisation in India as a movement from the context-sensitive to the context-free in all realms. It is an erosion of contexts in principle. Print replaced palm-leaf manuscripts, making possible open and equal access to knowledge irrespective of caste. The Indian constitution made the contexts of birth, region, sex and creed irrelevant, overthrowing Manusmriti. But every context-free situation in India becomes a context in itself.

Rasa theory

 Rasa Theory

The theory of Rasa was formulated by Bharata. It was enriched by Anandavardhana and Abinavagupta.  It constitutes the central tradition in Indian aesthetics.

The American philosopher and psychologist, John Dewey held that there is no word in English which unambiguously signify ‘artistic’ and ‘aesthetic’. Artistic refers primarily to the act of production and Aesthetic to that of perception and enjoyment. In the Indian context, ‘Rasa’ is a term which designates both these processes and also the objective embodiment of the first which causes the second. 

The term ‘Rasa’ means: Sap, juice, water, liquor, milk, nectar, poison, mercury, taste, savor, prime or finest part of anything, flavour, relish, love, desire, beauty etc. It also means the alcoholic soma juice and the meta-physical absolute- the Brahman. In the vedic period, Rasa meant water, cow’s milk, mercury, soma-juice etc. Later flavour, taste and tasting were associated with the word. In the Upanishadic age, the age of intellectual sophistication, Rasa became the essence, the essence of everything, the essence of universe itself. In dramaturgy and in poetics, the word acquired the special meaning of that unique experience we have when we read a poem or witness a play. 

The Indian aesthetic thinking is primarily audience or reader oriented and the centre of much discussion is the response of the readers. The word Rasa denotes, apart from the reader’s aesthetic experience, the creative experience of the poet and the essence of the totality of the qualities which make a poem what it is. Bharata has employed the metaphor of seed-tree-fruit to synthesize all the elements in the poetic process. The term Rasa emphasizes the continuity of the poetic act from the birth of the seed—experience in the poet through its objectification in the body of a poem to the consummation in the reader’s enjoyment. 

Every human being is born with a set of inherited instinctual propensities. His thoughts, actions, and experiences constantly generate impressions which reach his subconscious mind. These impressions are called Samskaras. They are organised around emotions. Emotions can be divided into ‘Sthayibhava’----permanent emotions, because they always remain embedded in human organism and character. There are 9 basic emotions---delight, sorrow, anger, fear, disgust, surprise, trust, courage and love.

There are innumerable transient feelings and moods which accompany the basic emotions. Anxiety, exultation, bashfulness, languor etc are examples. 33 such feelings are recognized. They do not attain the intensity of the basic emotions nor do they last long. They are called vyabhicarins, which rise with well-defined emotions and subside with them. 

The Vibhavas are the characters and situations which determine and define the feeling to be evoked in the reader. To use Eliot’s phrase they are the “Objective Correlatives”. The ancient mariner, his shipmates, the albatross, the sea, the moon, the slimy things in the sea, etc. They are the vibhavas.

The special mode in which the poetic characters exist and are apprehended is indicated by the term alaukika, non-ordinary. In life our reactions to persons and objects can be described in terms of attraction, repulsion, or indifference. Our responses are governed by positive or negative interests. The theory of Rasa strikes a middle path and attempts a reconciliation of opposed points of view. The Indian theory makes a clear distinction between the ordinary life-emotion and the emotional content of aesthetic experience. An emotion is a disturbance, an agitation in the consciousness which tends to result in action. 

In poetic experience, the emotional states are not simply undergone or suffered; they are perceived and tasted. The Sanskrit words which describe this process are carvana which means masticating and rasana which means tasting. These words refer to the reader’s imaginative reconstruction of the meanings and the identity of the poem and to his active enjoyment of the emotions even while they reverberate in his heart.

A detached contemplative attitude is an enemy to the emotional disturbances of the heart. In poetic experience, when we “distance” the emotions, ie; when we apprehend them as having a non-ordinary relation to us, they do not disappear; on the contrary, they gain in clarity and become relishable. The liberative function of poetry, partly, is an outcome of this nature of poetic experience. It helps us free ourselves from being a slave to emotions which are generally chaotic, blind and powerful.

The conventions and stylization play an important role in ancient Indian Literature. The Indian writers and critics recognized the line of demarcation between art and life. Stylization is an essential aspect of art. In Indian art, we do not find realistic or naturalistic movements. Realism and even naturalism have their legitimate places in the realm of art. But in the west, these two movements seem to have reached a blind alley. In drama and even in the novel we find a reaction against them ( eg; Brecht, Ionesco, the anti-novel).

The discussion on the paradox of tragic delights arises from certain fallacious assumptions about the nature and function of poetry. The readers are caught in what may be called the naturalistic fallacy, ie; the belief that the function of poetry is to incite real life emotions in the reader. Among the Indian theorists also there were some who considered that rasas like ‘karuna’, the pathetic, evokes sorrow in the mind of the reader. The Central tradition however considers that the feelings evoked in poetic experience are ‘alaukika’, non-ordinary and therefore there is no question of sorrow. 

Drama always gives delight to the spectator, never sorrow. Bharatamuni devised music and dance to remove such personal feelings as may arise in the minds of untrained and uncultivated spectators. As poetry, tragedy does not give us any delight which is qualitatively different from that given by other genres. For practical criticism the division of literature into tragedy, comedy, lyric etc; is necessary and can be made on the basis of the content and the manner of treatment. In aesthetic experience, there is a sense of ‘visranti’ rest or composure. The apparent evocation of sorrow and other feelings is only a coloration (anuranjana), or resonance of the non-ordinary feelings embodied in the poem.

The Indian theorists do not share the belief of many that romantic poetry is subjective in the sense that the poet sings about his personal experiences. The fact is that all poetry is objective in the sense that the poet has to objectify feelings in terms of images, characters, action etc. The poet’s own experiences can be the subject matter of his poetry; but unless he renders them concrete by creating appropriate correlatives they will remain merely documents from his autobiography. To objectify an experience the poet has to detach it from the subject,ie; himself; and once he objectifies it through appropriate correlatives the experience becomes universal. The personal experience of the poet becomes the transpersonal experience potentially accessible to all mankind. This twin process of objectification and universalization is comprehended by the term ‘sadharanikarana’, transpersonalization. This doctrine implies the elevation of the consciousness of the poet and the reader from the plane of their private everyday world to the plane of collective human experience where poetry is created and enjoyed. 

Indian aestheticians, generally, are of the opinion that poets should not handle contemporary themes, because it is very difficult and full of risks for the poet to keep his theme aloof from his immediate interests. The doctrine of sadharanikarana does not necessarily compel the poet to abandon personal and contemporary subject matter. It only insists on the necessity to detach himself from the experience so that he can make the feelings inherent in the poem, and place them in a proper perspective with a view to investing them with values.

A person is said to possess real individuality (svalaksanya) only when he is contemporary with us (vartamana); only when he is animated by casual efficiency (arthakriya), ie; the power to produce effects in our practical life. A character in literature has no such power; it has the special alaukika status as a configuration of meanings. It does not raise the question of reality or unreality.

Aesthetic experience consists of direct perception (Saksatkara) which requires that the mind must be concentrated (ekagra) and free from all obstacles (vighna). The concept of sadharanikarana does not imply that we deindividualize and departicularize the characters and their feelings. Rasa is manifested by poetic language. The Sanskrit word used is abhivyakti; the word has the connotation of manifestation in individualized form. The basic feelings may be grouped under a limited number of names, but the permutations and combinations of these feelings and their manifestations are infinite and hence the infinite variety in literature. 

It is also necessary to guard against the danger of making the concepts of detachment and transpersonalization rigid and petrified, robbing art of all its warm human emotional interest. Though the feelings are evoked in the framework of transpersonalization yet they retain all their human qualities.

Another important quality of aesthetic experience is stressed in the concept of the Santa Rasa. Santa connotes tranquillity, repose, serenity, the peace that passeth understanding. In India, there were dogmatists who put a narrow interpretation on the concept and asserted that since ‘Santa’ indicates the cessation of all conflicts and activities and since such a state cannot be represented on the stage, it cannot be admitted in dramatic and poetic theory. The Central Tradition does not agree with this narrow interpretation. There is no work in world literature which can rival the Mahabharata in the diversity and intensity of conflicts and tensions portrayed. In spite of this Anandhavardhana considered that the dominant rasa of the epic is the santa. The Central Tradition upholds this ‘Rasa’ and even declares that the ‘santa’ is the great basic rasa (Maharasa). All feelings in aesthetic experience merge out of the santa and are in the end submerged in it. 

All rasas are relished in a state of perfect tranquillity born out of the withdrawal of our ego from our practical interests. There is a sense of repose in consciousness (samvidvisranti) when we are immersed in the aesthetic object to the exclusion of everything else. When our desire is directed to things not in consciousness the mind is agitated. Pain is only another name for the disturbance in consciousness caused by such desires, worries etc. But in the state of Santa, the maharasa, the consciousness is devoid of such agitations caused by egoistic desires.

In ordinary experience, we find either emotional conflicts and the resulting tensions or passive relaxation. But in rasa there is a unique union of the two opposites, tension and tranquillity. The content of a poem, which is man’s social experience pregnant with contradictions, evokes reverberations of feelings in the reader’s heart. The poetic experience unites the tension born out of conflicting emotions with repose resulting from the transpersonalized attitude.

Elaine Showalter and The Literature of Their Own-Notes

 Elaine Showalter and The Literature of Their Own

Born in 1949, Elaine Showalter is a highly influential American feminist critic. She coined the term gynocriticism, a powerful tool in feminist studies today. Gynocriticism is a literary framework that empowers female authors by critiquing their work without using the terminologies developed by male critics and authors, which often disadvantage women writers. Showalter's work is a beacon of inspiration, showing us how to empower female authors and reshape the literary landscape.

Female Literary Canon

Through gynocriticism, Showalter aims to establish a female literary canon by studying and bringing to light various women writers who have been overlooked under the dominance of the Western canon, which primarily features male writers. Showalter believes that the female canon already exists, and it is our task to unearth these remarkable works by female writers to comprehend their value and contribution to literature. Showalter's extensive research on various female writers of the Victorian period is a testament to this. However, Showalter acknowledges that women's writing, like any other writing from an oppressed class, is more imitative in its initial phases, heavily drawing from the ideas and values of the dominant culture or group.

Phase of Imitation

Showalter refers to the imitation phase in female writing as the 'feminine' phase in her work 'A Literature of Their Own' (1977). This work, highly esteemed in feminist circles, solidifies her position as one of the most influential feminists of our times. The feminine phase loosely encompasses the works of writers like Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, and George Eliot, as well as all those Victorian writers who showcased their unique characteristics despite the constraints of a male-dominated field. Their resilience and determination to be heard is truly admirable.

Phase of Protest

The second phase is called the phase of protest or the feminist phase. As Showalter argues, this is where we see women writing more rebellious, trying to protest the male authority and all the values and standards associated with this mentality, a sort of fight for freedom and autonomy. This could be used to refer to after the Victorian age is over. The female writers who emerged in the modernist movement could suit this phase.

Phase of Self-realisation

The third phase is called the female phase, or the phase of self-realisation and self-discovery. In her own words, this stage is "turning inward, freed from some of the dependency of opposition, a search for identity." Showalter also refers to this age or phase as a "new stage of self-awareness." The feminist critics emerging in the post-modern era, like Showalter herself, fall under this last and the most crucial stage in this evolutionary phase of feminist criticism and literature. The female writers of this phase were neither imitating the eminent male writers and their style nor were just focused on opposing the male authority to gain political and individual freedom, but were trying to celebrate the very nature and essence of what constitutes the female self, their body and sexuality and in a way genuinely coming close to their life. Like Woolf, Showalter also emphasises the importance of having a female literary tradition by studying the works of female writers that have been neglected in the study of literary history. Showalter's idea of gynocriticism comes under heavy criticism from radical feminists like the feminists and others who argued that this entire notion of canon formation is a patriarchal concept where everything is characterised and put in hierarchies and structures. Feminists should reject this notion entirely as this is what patriarchy wants- to segregate the work of female authors and characterise it as inferior as it doesn't fit their male-oriented definition of sound instead of accepting and celebrating its differences.