Browsing by Subject "New historicism"
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Item Critique of British Aristocratic Values in Waugh’s Vile Bodies(Department of English, 2017) Khanal, NabinThis thesis entitled “Critique of British Aristocratic Values in Waugh’s Vile Bodies” satirizes the British aristocrats of the inter-war period for their hedonistic impulses and indifference towards the society. Waugh’s satirical novel of the emptiness of riches and fame has clear lessons for contemporary culture’s obsession with celebrity where the aristocrats involved in an endless and enervating round of parties, their every move and fashion innovation eagerly followed and swallowed by the public through gossip columns. Examining the so- called periphery of social stratum the thesis seeks every contemporary aristocratic issue via new historicism and finds the protagonist of the novel Adam a perfect representative of a contemporary British aristocratic society. Vile Bodies is an epic satire of English high society after the Great War written with the brittle wit, insinuating intimacy, and skittering attention span of a gossip column. In the very first chapter of the thesis, it is introduction of the topic and its justification. The second chapter is analysis of the text in relation to the context of inter-war period. The third chapter solely illustrates the new historicist reading of the text with sufficient examples and with contextual illustrations. Examining all the elements such as the position of the writer, his contemporary time, characterization, plot, setting and the historic periphery of the text itself, this thesis attempts to justify the topic as well as the thesis statement. The literary theory called new historicism is appropriate to analyze Waugh’s criticism of values of contemporary inter-war British society. Thus, analyzing the historical scenario of contemporary British society, its time and author, the thesis interprets the hedonistic impulses and aristocratic values of young British Aristocrats.Item Critique of Post-Emergency Indian Official History in Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance(Department of English, 2020) Neupane, LaxmiThe research paper analyzes the historical fiction A Fine Balance by Indian Parsi writer, Rohinton Mistry from the perspective of New-Historicism. It revisits the history of Post-colonial India; particularly Post-Emergency mainstream history from the perspective of Mistry’s marginalized literary characters in order to argue that the official history of post-emergency India ignores the socio-political as well as cultural sufferings of the marginalized communities such as Parsi, Chammar and women. It further analyzes and critiques that the mainstream narration of Post-colonial India as a nation of independence, freedom and equality bears irony because of the socio-political exclusions of the marginal communities from the mainstream in the name of caste, race and gender. The caste-based treatment against the characters like Dukhi, Narayan and Ishvar, the religious violence against Muslim character like Ashraf and the patriarchal dominance against the female character’s individual freedom like Dina Dalal fictionally contradict the official post-colonial metanarrative of independence, freedom and equality. In order to strengthen the argument, the researcher borrows the theoretical insights from Foucauldian ‘New Historicism’ and the theoretical concept of ‘Irony’ to show that the mainstream history is ironical to the actuality of the time. The paper exposes the discursive construction of post-emergency Indian official history of the marginal people of the Indian society. The paper concludes with finding that literature through the fictional narrative contributes to offering an alternative view to the actuality of the history.Item Fictionalization of South African Apartheid History in J.M. Coetzee’s Age of Iron(Department of English, 2018) Upadhyaya, Binod PrasadThe research entitled “Fictionalization of South African Apartheid History in John Maxwell Coetzee’s (1940)Age of Iron” (1990) examines how Coetzee’s novel fictionalizes South African Apartheid history during the late 1980s and analyzes the politics of Coetzee behind the narration of South African history.Coetzee’s novel fictionalizes South African Apartheid history as an alternative history. South Africa (1980s) depicts as an age of iron where apartheid holds the country in a tight grip and the media are controlled by the Afrikaner government to keep the people ignorant. MrsCurren, narrator refers to South Africa as the hell on the earth and tells her daughter this story to learn about the contemporary situation of South Africa. The research applies new historicism as a literary theory to examine Coetzee’s novel. It based on John Brannigan’s book of New Historicism and Cultural Materialism in which he argues that new historicism as a mode of literary studies in exploring the relationship between literature and history, and in demonstrating the ideological and political interest operating through literary texts. Furthermore, itdepends on Peter Barren’s book of Beginning Theory: An Introduction of Literary and Cultural Theory in which he argues that new historicism is a method of parallel reading of literary and non-literary text with in its certain context and historical period. In short, by narrating the reality of South African Apartheid history, Coetzee attempts to build the identity of blacks and helps to establish peace as well as harmony between whites, colored and blacks.Item Politics in Poetics: A Critical Reading of Langston Hughes’s Poems(Department of English, 2007) Khatri, Ranjan KumarThe research entitled “Politics in Poetics: A Critical Reading of Langston Hughes’s Poems” explores the political dimension of Hughes’s poems in the light of the Negro Art and the New Historicism. His poems are impregnated with a conscious of revolution, revolt and resistance for a meaningful change and transformation of the society. Like a political slogan, his poems function to awake a consciousness of revolution in the minds of the Black and working class people to fight against the racist and the capitalist world order. They strive for a world that is free of racial and class discrimination. Therefore, Hughes has employed poetry as a dynamic location for staging rebellion against the most repressive features of racism and the most suppressive features of capitalism. However, his rebellion carries a deep political vision, that is, to achieve an equal socio-political rights for every citizen, and thus, to create a world of freedom, liberty, justice and equality.Item Politics of Memory in Julian Barnes‘s The Sense of an Ending(Department of English, 2021) Dhungana, Hari PrasadThis research project explores Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending as a contextual document from the perspective of New Historicism. The narrator, Tony Webster narrates each and every event and related his memories and experiences in non-linear plot memoir. The self-reflexive narration by Tony is questioned by installing and subverting at the same time as which bears no objective presentations. For Tony, history is written by the survivors what they remember in the present. On this light, it is proved that Tony’s memory is imperfect and is not in chronological order. In this way, the choice of documentation is subjective and makes differences between the world of himself and reality which seeks the readers to read his each and every memories critically situated on the context of 1960s Britain. To read this text, new historicism has been used as a methodology, especially the concept of Louis Montrose and Michel Foucault as a tool, this research claims that Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending is a contextual document and an alternative history from the perspective of Tony that reflects the socio-economic and politico-cultural situation of Britain as well as the real scenarios of human relationship, marriage, separation, notion of family and friends after Post World War II, 1960s.Item Questioning the official American history in Solomon Northup‟s twelve years a slave(Department of English, 2019) Tamang, BelieveThis research analyzes the hidden contradictions in the American official history written by the whites and exercised upon the blacks as reflected in Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave. The first person speaker of the narrative rejects all the contradictions and segregations in the officially practiced apartheid policy. This study tries to see the social condition especially racism toward African American slaves in Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years as a Slave. Besides, it also identifies the forms of struggle of African American Slave against the practice of racism as it was officially approved in the then America. Moreover, this study also relates the racism reflected in the narrative with the real social condition of racism toward African American in nineteenth century. While analyzing the questioning practice of the African-American against the officially approved historical practices of the whites, new historical practice of 'thin descriptions' is minutely analyzed.Item Recreation of Subaltern History in Amitav Ghosh's In an Antique Land(Department of English, 2018) Tuladhar, BijayAmitav Ghosh’s In An Antic Land focuses on the history of marginalized people and community of ancient time period. It is complex text which bears the quality of partially history, partially fiction and partially travel writing in which Ghosh trails back to twelfth century and brings the issues on how India came into the contact with Egypt with the story of Ben Yiju, Jewish merchant from Tunisia and his Indian slave Bomma. By trailing to antique past he insight deeply into the cultural and social development of Egypt from religious movements to Operation Desert Storm. Ghosh has not only written the historical novel rather he has evoked the history of marginal people who have been abandoned by mainstream history. Combining keen observations with painstaking historical research, he present the dreams and aspirations of ordinary human beings and the effect of political and historical changes in their lives. With all great qualities of travel writer, Ghosh searches for the hidden history of subaltern in this novel.Item Representation of the 1930s Ireland: A Contextual Reading of Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes(Department of English, 2019) Bhusal, NarayanThisresearch paper explores Frank McCourt'sAngela's Ashesasacontextual document from the perspectiveof New Historicism.It pays a particular attention to theissue ofthemarginalized Irishpeople and the socio-economicand politico- cultural situationof Ireland during1930's.InAngela's Ashes, Frank McCourt portrays the bitter and unforgettable history of Irishespecially Northern Irish in Southern Irelandwith various events and moments that he himself experienced, saw andlistened from other Irish people.The confrontation of Ireland with England before the partition of Ireland and the confrontation between Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland after partition make the innocent Irish peoplevictim, homeless, identityless,andlifeless.So,by applyingnew historicismas a methodology, especially the concept of Louis Montrose, Michel Foucault,Stephen Greenblatt as a tool, this research claims thatAngela'sAshesisa contextual document andan alternative history from the perspective of Frank McCourt that reflects the socio-economical and politico-cultural situation before and after 1930s and repressed voice of marginal people, that is, common Irishpeoplein general and common Northern Irishpeoplein particular.Item Representation of the Early Eighteenth American Society in Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography(Department of English, 2018) K. C., Khim BahadurBenjamin Franklin’s Autobiography is about the personal interests, activities, events and his works that he completed in his different time period and simultaneously these characteristics represent the contemporary American society. He introduces the major hardships and difficulties in the narrative as a personal voice but he becomes a representative to tell about the voice of many American people. His feelings of nationality, economic development, stable political system and good manners are not merely his personal voices rather this was voice of contemporary American citizens. Although, the narrative begins by addressing to his own son, he intends to tell a true history of contemporary American society to his audience. All the descriptions of Franklin in this Autobiography as personal events, they represent the contemporary circumstances of America. Therefore, Franklin’s personal narrative embodies the eighteenth century American society.Item Representation of the Sierra Leonese Civil War in Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone(Department of English, 2021) Bhandari, AnuThis research has explored the issues of "Representation of Sierra Leonese Civil War in Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone". This memoir has depicted the issue of what war is like through the eyes of a child soldier. This memoir has represented the African civil war, where people have been suffering from a miserable life due to the dominance of power holders. On the surface, this memoir appears to be text- driven by the central view of the historical pursuit migrating from the little place for the new historical literary analysis. In-depth, it has explored the suppression of poor people by the people who are in power through war. The researcher has seen it from the lens of New Historicist perspectives using the main concepts of H. Aram Veeser's “New Historicism”, Foucauld's “Power and Knowledge” and “New Historicism”, and Stephen Greenblatt and Catherine Gallagher’s “Practicing New Historicism”. This research explores the Sierra Leonese suppression by power holders because of how much they try to escape from the injustice they get more abused. The Hero: Ishmael Beah is forced to go to war and bound to carry AK-47s the tendency of official history.Item Revisiting 2002 Gujarat Carnage in Githa Hariharan’s Fugitive Histories(Department of English, 2018) Dhodari, PurnaRevisiting 2002 Gujarat Carnage in Githa Hariharan’s Fugitive Histories Abstract:This present research paper focuses on the issues of power politics and the ideology of Hindu ruler in Githa Hariharan’s Fugitive Histories. Beside this, the researcher has tried to find why Mahatma Gandhi has been criticized and compared with Muslim Asad in the novel. In addition to this, he differentiates the official and unofficial narration of the Gujarat pogrom history and attempts to prove the people in the power dominate and subjugate the powerless because of their inherent ideology. Therefore, revealing out the issue of brutality of the state, to provide justice to the victims of the Gujarat Carnage (2002) and to excavate the real history in the text are the main focuses of the study. In order to analyze the text, the new historicist concepts like power, discourse, meta history, anecdote etc. are used in this research. By using new historicists’ ideas, the research establishes an idea that the state, ideology and powerful people play dominant role to make history and sustain in power to reach in power and be dominant in the state. Key words: New historicism, power, ideology, brutality, state and historyItem Unearthing the Historicity in Ian McEwan's Atonement(Department of English, 2017) Joshi, Khagendra RajThis research using the concept of new historicism as conceptualized by Mitchel Foucault and Stephen Grenblatt casts light on how history is discursive and constructed phenomenon throughout the character Briony .This research probes into the unreliable character MrBrionyTallis,who witnesses an event which she knows holds some kind of significance.Yet her limited understanding of adult motives leads her to commit a crime that will change the lives of everyone involved. As she grows older, she begins to understand her actions and the grief that has been caused. Briony has a tendency to lie or, rather, avoid the truth in an attempt to disguise her responsibility for the crime and proceeding events and, more prominently, to satisfy her grieving and somewhat selfish conscience; one could even go so far as to say it is a confession and an impersonal account told to the memories of her deceased sister, Cecilia, and the wrongly accused, Robbie. However, she withdraws her own narration in the course of novel. Briony’s narrative turns to be constructive and fictitious at the end of the novel.