The IUP Journal of English Studies 

Form and Content: A Study in Development

-- R K Mishra

This paper mainly takes four schools of criticism into account to make clear the concept of ‘form’ and ‘content’. No doubt it has been debated too much from Plato onwards. Formalists (New Critics included) put premium on diction. In fact, they exclusively hold that the ‘form’ dictates ‘content’ and as such ‘content’ is at the mercy of ‘form’. They examine especially poetry and its constitutive components; for instance, meter, rhyme scheme, rhythm, figures, syntax, motifs, styles, and conventions, etc. Genre Critics or Chicago Critics, unlike New Critics, consider all genres and its sub-genres. They hold ‘form’, ‘shaping or constructive principle’. To them the relation of ‘form’ and ‘content’ is in the manner of cause and effect. The cause is ‘content’ and effect is ‘form’. They are inseparable. Marxist concept of ‘form’ is by and large based on man’s relation to his society and the history of the society. This school altogether opposes all kinds of literary formalisms. This school seeks to observe cheerful dialectical relationship of ‘form’ and ‘content’. However, in the long run they prefer to lay stress on ‘content’. The psychoanalytic approach mainly takes interest in the revelation of ‘latent content’. They divide ‘content’ into ‘manifest content’ and ‘latent content’. This school doesn’t take much interest in style, form or technique. It simply analyzes a work of art in the light of writer’s psychology. In effect, separability of any sort cannot be justified because in absence of any of them, an artistic whole is altogether impossible.

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Originators of (Post) Structuralism: A Search for New Truth

--Arup Kanti Konar

The theoretical approaches, invented by the practitioners of any academic discipline, determine the status of knowledge of that discipline. These approaches are not static, but rather dynamic, and their dynamism is positively influenced by the further developments in the status of knowledge. Hence, the process is not unidirectional, but rather dialectical. (Post) structuralism is such a theoretical approach, which has ubiquitous applicability in the sense that it is applicable not only to the linguistic world, but also to the ecological world and social world ceteris paribus. But its true origin, which is controversial, is a case of curious neglect. The subtle search for new truth does not ignore the thoroughly forgotten past, and so it is worth digging into the past again to disclose the faults and misjudgments of our forerunners to arrive at a “new truth” against the “established truth” by the principle of “informed ignorance” coined by the German cardinal, mathematician, experimental scientist and influential philosopher Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464 AD) in his On Learned Ignorance (1440).

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Contemporary Critical Theory and English Studies in India

-- Simon G Bernabas

The advent of contemporary literary theory in the Indian academy has had its positive impact. However, its entry caused differences of opinions among academics. These disputes enable us to understand the pedagogical implications of theory for the Indian classroom. This paper is a modest attempt at listing those useful implications of theory.

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

English in Technical Communication: A Study on Its Linguistic Features

-- David Wilson

The effect of linguistic globalization is much felt in the language use in the domain of electronic devices for communication. The devices used for communication are English-friendly. English as an instrument of knowledge and prestige entered almost all the countries in the world. National seminars, international seminars, conferences, and workshops are being organized in English all over the world. In countries like India, where multilingual scholars interact every day, English plays a vital role of being contact language and link language. As communication is part and parcel of human life, it is also enriched by technological development. There are a number of devices being used to enhance the mode of human communication. It is being realized that English is predominantly used in all these technological devices. Internet, e-mail and Short Message Service (SMS) have become common and normal modes of communication. Computer, mobile phone and digital multimedia all have become part of everyday communication. The present generation finds it easy and convenient to communicate through these media resulting in a change in the traditional mode of communication. Among the various devices used in technical communication, it is the mobile phone that has become quite common and ordinary. Its affordability multiplies the number of users day by day. Many of its users feel uncomfortable if they do not hear their mobile ring tone even for a few minutes. Multiple versions of technologically advanced phones have come into use in the market. As mobile phone has become common and widely used in everyday communication, it is necessary to analyze the role of language used in this device and the impact of this device on language. In this paper, the author has limited his study to the texts of SMS in mobile phones and made a critical analysis of the linguistic features of English from the collected data at phonological, lexical and syntactical levels.

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Black Mobility and the Construction of the Self: Mary Seacole’s The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands

-- Pramod K Nayar

This essay examines the formation of subjectivity in the black British writer, Mary Seacole. Her travel memoir, the immediate text for this study, exhibits, the essay argues, not a passive black subjectivity, but an agential one. This subjectivity is constructed through three modes. The first mode is the act of travel. Mobility, I argue, offers the black an agential role, and therefore contributes to the making of her identity. In the second mode, Seacole constructs an entrepreneurial self where, as a business woman, she overcomes obstacles. Finally, in the latter half of the memoir, Seacole describes her services as a nurse on the Crimean war front. In this section, narrating her experiences and documenting testimonials by those she treated, Seacole, in contrast with the early identities, constructs the Selfless Self where her service to society gives her an identity. I conclude by proposing that it is necessary to examine alternate modes of subjectivity that blacks and other oppressed races managed to construct through travel and labor in the nineteenth century.

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Relevance of Life Force in the Plays of G B Shaw: Candida and Pygmalion

-- Neelam and A S Rao

George Bernard Shaw was the distinguished dramatist of twentieth century England who propounded the theory and concept of Life Force. He considers that the instincts and wills of female are more determined than male. This is the reason that almost in all his plays women are influenced and commanded by Life Force. Shaw’s plays Candida and Pygmalion are no exception in this regard. In both of these plays the heroines are intellectually daring, independent in spirit, morally courageous and clear-headed. In the play Candida, the heroine (Candida) does not let herself get bullied into ‘choosing’ between her husband and her poetic lover. She takes the situation under her control and chooses to live with the weaker of the two (husband). Life Force enables her to take right decision. In Pygmalion also Life Force is the chief instinct behind the actions of its heroine (Eliza Doolittle). Life Force makes her think independently, helps her turn into a lady of manners and choose a perfect person to marry. So, it is noticed that the concept of Life Force is very relevant in the plays of G B Shaw. It is with the help of this concept that Shaw tries to give equal rights and equal status to women, and make them the driving force in society.

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Protest and Acquiescence: A Study of the Selected Poems of Brajendra Brahma, Bishnujyoti Kachary and Surath Narzary

-- Pradip Kumar Patra

The author makes an attempt to bring Bodo literature from margin to center. Protest and acquiescence are the recurrent themes in Indian literatures. The idea of being an Indian is steeped in heterogeneity which has been our way of life right from the ancient time. The paper does not just focus on Bodo literature; it also shows the various influences which contribute to its making. Search for identity, enlightenment, memory, history and democratic spirit form the central focus of contemporary Bodo literature. Influenced both by Indian and Western poets, Bodo poets, at present, deal with the complex political and social issues. Although Bodo poetry is yet to reach a maturity, the energy with which the poets write shows that they are committed to uphold vision and values.

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Historical Drama: Are History and Literature in Conflict?

-- Kapil Chaudaha

Drama owes history a great deal. Across the world, dramatists have extensively drawn upon historical themes. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is an ideal example of historical drama. Indian dramatists, too, have adopted this genre and produced fine literary pieces. Girish Karnad, Mohan Rakesh, and Jayashankar Prasad are the most eminent names in this area, who have exploited as well as explored historical sources to present their worldviews and acquaint the world with Indian history. However, some of their works have given way to serious controversy. They have been criticized for misrepresenting the past. Critics argue that these dramatists trespass the limits set by historical records and thus confuse facts with fiction. In response, dramatists use the authority of artistic license to justify themselves. Moreover, what is taken for the historical truth is itself doubtful for there are different versions of the same truth. Hence, the dramatist refines history through his/her own conscience and creates a new meaning that may not be consistent with the prevailing notions of the past, but has an artistic pleasure and is based on a deep understanding of human nature. I intend to analyze in my paper how dramatic demystification problematizes the accepted forms of historical truths. The subject matter will be discussed with special reference to Mohan Rakesh’s Ashadh Ka Ek Din (A Day in Early Autumn), a dramatic account of the life of well-known Indian poet Kalidasa.

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.