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In
all teaching contexts, the requirement of the three components—men,
materials and methods—is duly recognized, but the `men'
usually considered are the teachers and rarely the learners.
A major paradigm shift in the educational theory and practice
has been the crucial position accorded to the learner: the
teacher ought to teach, not what (s)he knows, but what the
learner needs. This has led to radical changes in the selection
of teaching materials, and the methods—especially, in
programs of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Even in general
contexts of learning Reading and Writing too, focus should
be on the proper strategies.
Times
may change, climes may alter, but the position of women in
the predominantly patriarchal society continues to weigh against
women. One may turn ultra-patriotic and fiercely nationalistic
in the postcolonial era, but the contribution of certain "alien"
civil servants of the British Raj to the discovery of some
rich cultural resources and forgotten writers can hardly be
overlooked. CP Brown in Andhra Pradesh and John Beames in
Orissa are some of the illustrious literary savants.
In
the first paper, "Bilingual Second Language Learning
Strategies in Eritrea with Reference to Reading, Writing and
Vocabulary", Tecle Ghebremuse, making use of strategy
inventories, examines some issues such as memory, meta-cognitive
and affective learning, but feels that they do not address
mental and physical operations. The researcher examines the
bivariate correlations between several strategies and the
students' scores in sophomore examinations. The findings,
though based on empirical research conducted in Eritrea, will
surely help the teachers and material developers in India
as well.
The
analogous cultural matrix, in its distorted formulation, is
increasingly evident in the works of women writers, all over.
The plight of women locked in the cage of matrimony and desperately
trying to flee from it and the anguish of being a woman have
been voiced—sometimes raucously, sometimes softly—by
sensitive writers, as discussed in two papers offered. Neena
Arora, in her paper, "The Theme of Marital Discord in
Nayantara Sahgal's Storm in Chandigarh and Doris Lessing's
The Grass is Singing", examines the persisting
problem, though the writers belong to different countries—India
and Britain—and varied sociopolitical backdrops. They
look at the problem from a feminist perspective, but conclude
that militant approach can be disastrous to their selves,
the family and even the society at large. They argue for harmonious
and fulfilling relationships through mutual respect, understanding
and communication between the sexes. Pradip Kumar Patra, in
his paper, "Women in Gendered Enclosure: Canadian and
Indian Experience in the Poems of Claire Harris and Eunice
de Souza", examines the pained awareness of the difference
implicit in the sex and incorporating it into their texts.
As
most will be too willing to admit, the colonial hegemony India
went through for about two centuries under the British resulted
in considerable cultural and resource damage, but the occasional
positive contributions of a few civil servants cannot be ignored.
The services of William Jones, who competently translated
Kalidasa's Abhignana Sakunthalam, to the revival of
Sanskrit, of Caldwell and Brown to Telugu and of John Beams
to Oriya should be gratefully acknowledged. It is proper therefore
that the Alpha Foundation should set up CP Brown Academy as
tribute to Brown for the yeoman services rendered by him to
Telugu language and literature. The academy proposes to make
nuggets of Telugu writing, like Vemana's, accessible to Telugu
people, who cannot read Telugu script, but are anxious to
re-root into their native culture. It is also proposed to
encourage quality writing through instituting awards, including
an award, equivalent to Jnan Peeth award, for lifetime achievement
of a Telugu writer. It is in this context that we offer Sachidananda
Mohanty's paper, "Colonial Administration, Language Politics
and Regional Formation: John Beames and the Making of Modern
Orissa", which, drawing on rich archival material from
the Bengal Asiatic Society, demonstrates the salutary service
of John Beames to the emergence of modern Oriya literature
in varied genres.
The
impact of place and environment on literary artefacts has
been receiving increasing attention, of late. K Srilatha,
in her paper, "Dwelling in Place: An Eco-Critical Reading
of Sangam Poetry", attempts to read Classical Sangam
poetry, translated by A K Ramanujan, as an ecological text
with a distinct sense of place. Using the insights of deep
ecology—dwelling place and reinhabitation—the author
shows that Sangam poetry is the earliest literature of place,
revolving around, tinai.
Globalization
has its inevitable cultural fallout. It usually results in
multiculturalism and transculturalism, with both positive
and negative upshots: hybridization, fragmentation, assimilation,
problems of adjustment and alienation. G A Ghanashyam and
Devashree Chakravarthy, in their paper, "Grounding of
Transcultural Imagination in Rushdie's The Ground Beneath
Her Feet", examine the depiction of such hybridization
and assimilation by Rushdie through the characters of Ormes,
Vina and Rai in his novel.
Advertising
plays a powerful role in the world of today. The discourse
of advertisement employs several rhetorical devices and enticing
visuals to reach the consumer. K Kanthimathi, in the paper,
"Globalizing and Localizing the Language of Ads: A Study
of Advertising in Tamil Media", argues that advertising
techniques are often crucial for the success of a product;
making effective use of language of the region, like Tamil,
they have a wider outreach. Such studies widen the reach of
literary studies and ensure optimum relevance to the increasingly
commercial world of today.
Viswanatha
Satyanarayana, doyen of Telugu literature, is better known
as a novelist and an erudite classical poet. But he also wrote
some exquisitely chiseled and skillfully narrated short stories,
which are comparable to the best in world literature. S S
Prabhakar Rao, in the paper, "Poignant Vignettes of Cultural
Matrix: Short Stories of Viswanatha Satyanarayana", discusses
the significant contribution of Viswanatha to the genre of
short story in Telugu, bringing out the sensitivity and the
expansiveness of author's inclusive response to the Telugu
society of his time.
The
catholicity of literary interests and the variegated engagements
of S S Prabhakar Rao, author of The Golden Bouquet,
have been brought out by P G Nirmala in the book review. The
review focuses on the critical evaluations of writers, studies
in the problems of translations, English Language Teaching,
Telugu studies, a threefold exploration in a travelogue, translation
of poems and short stories of some distinguished Telugu writers.
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S S Prabhakar Rao
Consulting
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