Browsing by Subject "Literary history"
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Item Adultery and dispersed family relationship in John Updike's Rabbit Redux(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2008-12) Pathak, Rem KantaThis thesis observes Rabbit Redux as a novel of manner which shows the reality of middle class contemporary American people about marriage, love, sex, morality, American values, etc. in the changing American society of 1970s. The main character Rabbit's wife Janice experiments with freedom by having an affair with a used car salesman Charlie. Rabbit learns about this at a bar where the television repeatedly shows Apollo 11 blasting off to the moon. Updike thus reveals the emptiness in the life of his chief character at the very moment that America is ready to explore a new world in space. Updike's purpose is ultimately to subvert the authority of all sociological and psychological interpretations of family and marriage by showing the self contradictory nature of outer forces and inner motives of the characters. The family is not only the source of security and mutual affection but if it goes out of the track and family relationships are dispersed, it becomes as a prison. So, this novel exists in the human realms of family rather than the intellectual realms of cold doctrinaire. People in this postmodern world are essentially living in alienation and fragmentation. It shows that there is a lack of binding force. So, they are torn apart. However, they never lament for their solitary and disintegrated lives. Updike's characters are guided by internal motives. They do not follow the established and rational way of life. They defy the natural law and conventions. For instance, Rabbit, the Central character has nothing to live for except food and sexual fantasy. He wonders around from wife to friends to old mistress. Janice, Rabbit's mistress represents postmodernist woman who blur the borderline of family bond fulfilling her desire.Item Affirmation of Futility of Existence of Life in Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2008-06) Bista, Bhim BahadurEdward Albee's drama "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" shows the existence of human life in the modern society. Human life is the futile, there is no meaning of human life; all the human beings struggle for their betterment of life, but everything goes in vain and they get nothing, no value of life. Martha and George characters in this play seek their identity. They want their own child for their scene future but unfortunately they don't have. So, to fulfill the desire of own child they create an imaginary son. Any parents desire for their own issue which provides them satisfaction, in this drama also the main characters desire for their own issue to run their dynasty forever, so they are seeking their identity in this modern world.Item Association of Myth and Nature in Kalidasa's The Meghadootam(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2009-01) Paneru, KamalaThis research study basically analyzes the mythological elements which are associated with natural description in Kalidasa’s The Meghdootam. Kalidasa has employed several Hindu myths relating them with the description of natural places and objects. This study attempts to show how the natural description is linked with mythological ideas for the establishment of an associative relationship of myth and nature. Apart from this, it also brings forth a detailed account of some Hindu myths which are employed in the poem for the reinforcement of the mythological vision that can offer harmony and balance to society.Item Blending of Genres as a Postcolonial Project: Reading Amitav Ghosh’s In An Antique Land(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2008-12) Adhikari, KeshabThe present dissertation on In An Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh attempts to show blending of many genres such as travelogue, fiction, fact, autobiography, ethnography in a single book in the postcolonial era. Ghosh, here, shows the twelfth century master slave relation and twentieth century of his own autobiography. To create Indian slave Bomma's tale, he interweaves his own into it. Covering the time span of 800 years of Egyptians and Indians, Ghosh seamlessly weaves together history and fiction to highlight the traits of both. Mixing conversation and research, imagination and scholarship, the book is also charged, eccentric history of the special relationship between two countries, Egypt and India.Item Critiquing the Utopia of the norm: reading Fyodor Dostoevsky's the Idiot(Department of English, 2008) Subash, KafleThis research makes a study of interweaving issues of disability—instances of epilepsy and derision in the major characters, and the subjugation of Myshkin in Russian Aristocratic class, in particular–in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novelThe Idiot. Together with investigating the ways in which Myshkin and Nastasya Filippovna are represented in this Russian text written at the high time of Russian aristocracy, principal focus has been to bring into light the Russian aristocratic culture that subjugates peoples who slightly disagree with the then social values. In particular, my attempt has been to scrutinizeThe Idiotthat emerges as a ruthless commentary over Russian aristocratic culture. Whereas Dostoevsky chronicles the marginalized ‘abnormal’ voices on literary disability studies, the novel comes to put the characteristic features of Russian aristocracy in the pretext of so called disabled people’s degradation. This research follows the latest contributions on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s work. Dostoevsky delves in the life of Myshkin and Nastasya Fillippovna to expose the sufferings and contingencies in that they had to carryout solely because of their so-called physical and psychological abnormality.Item De-Mythifying Myths: A Study of Munna Bhai MBBS and Lageraho Munna Bhai(Department of English, 2008) Parajuli, SureshProducer Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Munna Bhai MBBS (2003) and Lageraho Munna Bhai (2006) are the films which demythify the traditional myths of Indian history. Contracting the myth is a historical process. After the arrival of cultural studies in 1960s in the field of critical theory starts a new genre. Popular culture tries to rethink the canonicity of well established traditional myth through the media and other popular genre. In the film Munna Bhai MBBS (2003) there is the demythification of the 'white coat' myth of the doctor. It reveals the lacks in the notion of traditional doctor and tries to redefine it. Similarly, Lagerho Munna Bhai (2006) deconstructs the general concept about Gandhism. It ironises the traditional Gandhism and presents Mahatma Gandhi as a pop icon. In both films the revolt of Munna against the traditionality establishes a new notion and myth about doctor and Gandhism.Item Deepa Mehta’s Water: A Critique on Hindu Widow System(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2009-01) Gyawaly, IndiraThe present research in Deepa Mehta's Film Water aims to study the plight of Hindu widows in India. Widows are compelled to adopt the widow system as the system is regarded as a tradition of the society. The eight year old protagonist Chuyia is sent to a bidhuwa ashram in Benaras because of her widowhood. The exploitation of child in the grip of patriarchal culture of widowhood, and the denial of Chuyia to accept her widowhood is presented in the film. Kalyani, the second young widow in the ashram, revolts against such inhuman culture and decides to get married. But her decision is not accepted by the society. She is forced to act as a 'prostitute' in the house of bourgeois. Chuyia is also sexually exploited by bourgeois. Kalyani ends her miserable life of widowhood through her suicide by drowning into the sea. And the traumatised Chuyia is given under the care of Gandhi.Item Desire for Independent Female Selves in Nadine Gordimer's None To Accompany Me(Department of English, 2008) Sapkota, Dipak PrasadThe thesis entitled “Desire of Independent Female Selves in Nadine Gordimer'sNone to Accompany Me”explores women characters the transformationof female characters into their own independent selves. The novel revolves around post apartheid South Africa which has become an inspiration to realize their independent identity.Vera, the protagonist of the novel, gets trapped between her personal needsand political commitments. With transformation of South Africa because of the abolition of apartheid system she prefers political needs to her personal and familial ties. It is her estrangement toward her life and concept of free sexuality that lead her take political preference as her own independent existence. Similarly, Sibongile Maquma, a freedom fighter of apartheid movement, faces domestic strains when she getsa position in the board of anti-apartheid movement. Yet,she resists the patriarchal thought that women should take familial needs as their utmost responsibilities.She makes a political prominence at the cost of her sound marital relationship.Gordimer at first places them amid post apartheid South Africa and the she depicts them taking their journey into an independent state with awareness of their selves and self-sacrifice.They live life of their own selves abandoning the undue definition of women given by patriarchal thought.Item Dispersal of Power-relationship in V. S. Naipaul’s Guerillas(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2008-08) Verma, Pustak KumarThe present dissertation makes an intensive study of V.S. Naipaul's Guerillas. It tries to show how the foucauldian concept of discourse had affected on the actions of the natives in their struggle against the domination of the former British colonial agents in Caribbean island which results in the dispersal of power-relationship among the people. The events of the novel, Guerillas move around the effect of Black Power Movement. The novel has become such a document which is presented as a mirror of post-colonial Trinidadian community with inter-racial and intra-racial conflicts among the people. Blacks are discarded by the colonial rulers where Jimmy, the black power leader faces trauma for the blacks' racial identity. Then, they start the struggle against the British colonials but they can not achieve success due to inorganicity among them. On the other hand, the colonial workers are too found in dilemma. Even, the white ladies are found in supporting the Black Power Movement which consequently results in inorganicity and multiplicity of power. Thus, it portrays the working of horizontal and marginality of power among the people in post-colonial Trinidadian community.Item Ecological Consciousness Regarding Human-Animal Relationship in Randall Jarrell's The Animal Family(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2008-09) Mishra, DeepakJarrell's views towards world's organism rest on the positive, as well as the negative aspects of human beings in relation to animals. Humans as the creatures of higher line and animals as the creatures of lower line is a thinking of human chauvinism. So, Jarrell tries his best to breakdown this view of human in order to bring a relation of balance between humans and animals. He puts forward his attention on friendliness, togetherness, connectedness, interdependence, and peace and harmony between and among the human and animal characters of the novel. Taming animals for the betterment of both human and animal can be seen from a good eye, but taming the animals only for humans' benefit cannot be acceptable. Jarrell has this view towards human and animal implicit within him as an ecological consciousness.Item Excremental Vision: A Comparative Study of Armah’s The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born and Soyinka’s The Interpreters(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2009-02) Prasai, Prem PrasadAbstract To read Armah’s The Beatyful Ones Are Not Yet Born and Soyinka’s The Interpreters is to decode the meaning of excremental vision Armah and Soyinka exploit by using excremental language, especially images of shit and feces, not only to reverse past colonial representations but also to express postcolonial disillusionment and to satirize the failures of colonial development and the corruptions of neocolonial politics. In Armah’s excremental vision, shit and its corporeal familiars like phlegm, drool, vomit, sweat, piss, and blood emerge as an index of moral and political outrage in a new Ghana bedeviled by greed and bureaucratic corruption. Similarly, in The Interpreters, a story of intellectuals in decolonized Nigeria, Soyinka uses excremental language to present political and corporate misdeeds in terms of unhealthy digestion. His characters like Sekoni and Sogoe are disillusioned because of their project killed by the forces of corruption.Item Gothic Terror in Poe’s Short Stories(2009-11) Dura, Buddhi BahadurThe present dissertation focuses on Gothic terror of Poe’s short stories. Poe has come to be viewed as one of the most important American authors in Gothic tradition. Poe's stature as a major figure in world literature is primarily based on his highly acclaimed short stories, poems, and critical theories, which established an influential rationale for the short form in both poetry and fiction. Regarded in literary histories and handbooks as the architect of the modern short story, Edgar Allan Poe was the master craftsman of spine-chilling horror. His setting is greatly influential in Gothic novels. It not only evokes the atmosphere of horror and dread, but also portrays the deterioration of its world. The decaying, ruined scenery implies that at one time there was a thriving world. At one time the abbey, castle, or landscape was something treasured and appreciated.Item Male Politics in Normal Mailer's An American Dream(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2009-04) Poudel, Ganesh PrasadThis dissertation discusses the treatment of women characters in Norman Mailer‘s novel An American Dream. The so-called Dream of Jefferson‘s ―Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness‖, become mere dreams for American women. Long history of patriarchal domination in society and its created certain truth upon women is the one and only one bar for the emancipation of the women and their prosperity. Male politics to subordinate women is the hindrance for women‘s ‗American Dream‘. So to crumble down the male politics of subordination is indispensable to attain the dream. Until and unless bias nature of social system is not altered, women are not able to dream the ―American dream Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness.‖ So, the novel An American Dream is true to females only by rupturing bias social construct of patriarchal domination and subordination in the existing society. So, Mailer raises the problem and hence female should go a head to encounter the male politics through there own strong notion of women‘s politics to overcome thatItem Perception of Fairy Tale in The Alchemist(Faculty of English, 2011) Khadka, RenuThis thesis explores the issue of perception of fairytale in The Alchemist. It is a fable about a shepherd boy named Santiago from Spain. It is the story of his courage to follow his dream, and the twists and turns he has to face in the course of his pursuit. The refreshing aspect of Santiago’s journey is that although he is guided and influenced by a mystical king and the alchemist, it is through his own self-reflection that he begins to understand the meaning of life. The wisdom he gains comes not from finding his treasure, but from the path he takes in seeking his destiny. Santiago’s message is that by following our dreams and seeking our destiny, we can find ultimate meaning and happiness. In this way, Paulo Coelho has embedded the ingredients of a fairytale in this beautiful enchanted novel. By giving a moral message to the readers, The Alchemist imparts wisdom as found in children’s fairytales. This thesis has tried to find out how Coelho tends to give the perception of a fairytale in The Alchemist that seems to give a positive lesson to its readers. Since theoretical support plays a major role in the completion of a research, this thesis draws on the concept of fairytale and especially the theory of Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale. By following the structural pattern of a traditional fairy tale, Coelho creates psychological intensity to overcome depression and isolation through dream like use of elements. Ingredients of a fairy tale can be found in the novel. Coelho’s strategy for revealing the truth to Santiago is a significant aspect for the novel.Item Politics of empathy in to kill a Mockingbird(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2008-12) Bam, Yashodahis research has tried to explore Politics of Empathy in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird where racism becomes the main cause of social disintegration and racial hatred. So, this research work studies the roots of social hatred, defining Racism and Empathy. At the surface level, the novel attempts to show whites’ empathy for blacks through the characterization of Atticus Finch, a white lawyer, deferring Tom Robinson’s case who is falsely alleged of raping a white woman but the politics behind this projection is to represent white as moral, humanitarian, generous, and helpful towards blacks strengthening the agreed image of whites during racism and apartheid.Item Quest for Emancipation in Alice Walker's The Color Purple(Faculty of English, 2009) Khatri, MadhavThe Color Purple by Alice Walker includes a vivid depiction of many of the African American issues: rape, incest, family disintegration and reunion. In this work, Walker employs both real and fictitious elements to imply justice and liberty of the African American women. The purpose of this research paper is to present an account of some issues of African-Americans during the prevalence of racism in America from black feminist perspective. The way the black women chose to resist the white androcentrists to own their right is the major line of this research paper. To identify the status of the whole black race and to explore how language and female bondage help to direct the liberation movement of the African-Americans and to celebrate their freedom. The vitality of Southern black Vernacular and homosexuality are the two delimitations of this research paper. It attempts to reveal that language and homosexuality bring the minority women's liberation. It is because language is one of the most essential aspects of culture apart from being solely a medium of expression. Thus the protection of language is the protection of culture and protection of culture helps to protect the identity resulting the respect in their dignity. Likewise, the African-American women's preference to homosexuality, for instance, the biological relationship between Celie and Shug Avery, has contributed them to remain independent. The bondage between them provides Celie with an easy access to get reunited with her relatives in The Color Purple.Item Item Subordination in English and Maithili: A Contrastive Study(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2009-05) Mahato, DinanathThe main objective of this thesis is to present the analysis of English and Maithili subordination. The analysis of English and Maithili subordination is fully based on the primary and secondary data. With the help of secondary data collected from A Reference Grammar of Mathili (1990), University Grammar (1973), and also by using his own intuition the researcher sets the rules of Maithili Subordination, then tests those rules by collecting the written data from Maithili speakers of Dhanusha district. By making the contrastive analysis of English and Maithili subordination, it also predicts the errors that Maithili speakers are likely to commit while learning English and Maithili subordination. It also calculates the errors actually committed by 60 Maithili speaking students of grade IX and X of Dhanusha district through Errors analysis. Finally, it points out the correlation between the predictions of errors and the actual occurrences of error. The sample population for this study consists of 60 Maithili speaking students of Grade IX and X of Dhanusha District from six different schools. In this work, both primary and secondary sources are used for the collection of the data. The primary tool for analyzing the errors of Maithili speaking students is a written text which consists of two items. After collecting the data, the responses of the students are marked systematically and errors committed by them and tabulated. The tables consist of total errors and average errors presented item wise, class-wise are erroneous sentences. The researcher claims that this study is perfectly satisfactory and complete. Because of limited time and research, there may be some limitations and shortcomings in the study.Item To Have and Have Not : Experiencing an Existential Problem(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2008-12) Aryal, ShovakantaThe present research foregrounds the study of existential struggle of the characters in the economically depressed era of the 1930s. This research exposes Harry Morgan's heroism and stoicism in the then collapsing world. The fragmented, disharmonious and alien world caters frustration, anxiety and loneliness to people. To fight against those evil forces, Harry Morgan chooses to go against the authority of the society. He struggled against those who have the abounding amount of wealth without labour. Like Harry Morgan, Richard Gordon's mission was to establish socialism by awakening the common people. This research shows the struggle, patience, tolerance and effort of an individual in a fragmented society.Item Voice of Empowerment in Beyond the Frontiers: Women's Stories from Nepal(Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 2008-08) Aryal, PabitraBeyond the Frontiers: Women's Stories from Nepal (2006) is the first anthology of women's stories from Nepal ever to appear in English. Major women characters in the stories reflect the women's condition in patriarchal society who are victimized due to the male violence, domination and oppression. These stories show the women's pains, sufferings, pangs and problem in Nepal or in Hindu culture and society which are same throughout the world. The women speakers in the stories, who are given the marginal and subordinated status, have raised their voice against patriarchy that challenged the traditional role of women in patriarchal society. Their strong sense of revolt against patriarchy has been expressed through their intense feelings, thoughts, speech as well as in their different activities. They are resisting against patriarchy with multiple responses which has silenced women through ages. As their resistance, somewhere they remain silent and sometimes they are seen being violent and rebellious towards male. These stories echoed the suppressed and silenced voice of women. Through their writings these women writers have raised their voice for women's empowerment.