THE PUPIL OF LITERATURE

THE BIAS  What do you do to be taken seriously? How do you tackle conscious bias or even more difficult- the subconscious bias? Today, when the virtual world is enmeshed with the real-the social media platforms decide, largely, your presence or relevance with likes, comments, retweets, views, upvotes and what not! To be heard in microcosm is as vital as to be heard in the macrocosm. The freedom of speech and expression is dear to us and so is healthy validation.  Before settling with the dictum of ' not very likeable', one looks for ways to get past rejections. Not more than 200 years ago and very present even today(Catherine Nicols' essay for Jezebel in 2015), to get published and be on the sacred reading list, a few women authors deviated from the conventional wisdom of- patience, faith, playing by the rules or standing one's own ground.  George Lewes, the partner of Mary Anne Evans, who went by George Eliot ( the Victorian novelist who immortalised her place in the l

Rolling down the window, I see a graveyard of broken dreams. The flaming bookshelf, Combats manifold ice-cold desires.  The tempestuous mind  Murmurs the mutilated spectre, “Rise! Rise! Rise!” The love-sick heart mourns, Congealed in senseless cold. I quiver, Burning in boiling sweat. Do I dare? Not yet dissolved in aflamed desire.  Five summers have passed  In joyless dimmed lonely rooms.  The winds yet again lift the drowsy spirits  Once tameless and swift!  Ashes fly from an unextinguished hearth The light mocks the dark, To survive the joy unravished.  Wake up to the world’s delight Why shrink, my heart?  Why despair over the departed? Nothing walks with aimless feet.  Let not pining visions dim Rekindle forbidden hopes  Complete the dance The floor is waiting to be swept. 

P aula Richman, William H Danforth professor of South Asian Religions at Oberlin, Ohio, specialises in the study of Ramayana and Tamil. In her lecture ' Crossing Boundaries- Narratives and Persons Who Travel' at Delhi-based South Asian University, she spoke on stories travelling across borders over the centuries.    Speaking of the journey of a story or text across borders, she cited how Ramayana has taken "different forms, where stories are not only translated but retold, with each poet retelling it in a local context." She said various cultures have emphasised different "morals" from it.  Richman's 1991 book, ' Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia ', had to face criticism from Hindu activists for including inappropriate interpretations of the holy text. An essay by historian AK Ramanujan titled, ' Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five examples and three thoughts on translations ', which detailed several interpret

THE LITERARY CANON: AN OVERVIEW Defining canon? The word  canon comes from the Greek word Kanon, meaning a measuring rod or standard. Now, the literary works that have achieved the status of classics, i.e of lasting quality and timeless worth are clubbed under the literary canon.  Oh! What's classics?  Classics are an outstanding example of timeless worth and lasting quality. It was first used by the 2nd-century Roman writer Aulus Gellius. It is said that Aulus in the miscellany Noctes Atticae place writers as classics scriptor , non preletarius ( " A distinguished, not a commonplace writer"). Now, this kind of classification began with the Greeks! The ranking of their cultural works appeared with the word canon. A canon could be a body of work representing high culture: be it literature, music or philosophy. Now, in literature, if you ask, we have influential works from every continent. Continent, you say! Well, some classics precede the coinage of the word 'con

1. Published in March 1722, Daniel Defoe wrote The Journal of the Plague Year . It chronicles an individual's account of the 1665 bubonic plague later called the Great Plague of London.  2. The Journal of the Plague year was published under the initials H.F. It is speculated that the account is based on the journal of Defoe's uncle Henry Foe. 3. Octasyllable is a line with 8 syllables. Its first appearance can be traced to the 10th-century French legend of an old saint titled Vie de Saint Leger .  4. Octasyllabic couplet consists of two lines of the same rhyme and meter. It may be iambic or trochaic teterameter lines. ( PAPER 2, Q7,2004 ) 5. Il Penseroso or The Serious Man was first seen in the quarto of verses published in the 1645-46 called  The Poems of Mr. John Milton , both in English and Latin.  6. Il Penseroso was written in couplets of  iambic tetrameter like L' Allegro , its companion piece. The poem invokes the goddess Melancholy . 7. On His Blindness also

INTRODUCTION While studying literature calls for reading, understanding, and reflection. It also requires memorizing a few facts to ace exams, viva, and interviews.  1. Piers finally appears as Jesus in Langland's Piers the Plowman . ( PAPER 2, Q1,2004 )           2. It was decided that each Canterbury Pilgrim will tell in all 4 stories. ( PAPER 2, Q2,2004 )           3.  Shakespeare wrote the long narrative poem ' Venus and Adonis '. ( PAPER 2, Q3,2004 )           4. The total number of poems in Shakespeare's Sonnet is 154 . ( P2,Q4,2004 )           5. Christopher Marlowe (26 Feb 1564-30 May 1593)is also known as Kit Marlowe. He is the predecessor of Shakespeare and one of the most famous Elizabethan playwrights.           6. Michael Drayton ( 1563- 23 Dec 1631 ) was an English poet of the Elizabethan era. He was the first to bring the term Ode for a lyrical poem.           7. Philip Sydney (1554-1586) belonged to the Elizabethan era. He is best remembered for hi

UMBERTO ECO- A STUDY  Umberto Eco ( 1932-2016) was an Italian novelist, literary critic, philosopher, semiotician, and university professor. He is best known for his 1980 internationally acclaimed historical murder mystery novel, The Name of the Rose.   The work combines semiotics, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory.         NOVELIST  THE NAME OF THE ROSE (1980) Debut novel Setting: Italian monastery, in the year 1327 Protagonist: Francisian friar William of Baskerville Narrator: Adso of Melk It was translated into English by William Weaver in 1983 including Foucault's Pendulum       2. FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM (1988) The pendulum of the title refers to an actual pendulum designed by French Physicist Leon Foucault to show earth's rotation. The satirical novel has reference to ' conspiracy theory'. Characters: Three vanity press employees ( Belbo, Diotallevi, and Casaubon) The three invent their own 'conspiracy theory', The Plan and become in