Literary Druid
A Peer-Reviewed International Journal of English Language and Literature
Volume- 7, Issue- 1, January-2025
1. Impact of Trauma in Memory and Cultural Narratives Found in
Select Kazuo Ishiguro’s Novels
K. Muthulakshmi, Ph.D. Research Scholar, PG & Research Department of English, Sri Meenakshi Government Arts College for Women, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Dr. Arul Selvi Mariya, Assistant Professor of English, Sri Meenakshi Government Arts College for Women, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Abstract
Trauma texts employ techniques to express the emotional stress in a creative work. Trauma plays a significant role in the process of narration because every human undergoes emotional locks in life. When a story is narrated within a structure of intertextuality, or as a repetition of traumatic experience, it reveals more plots to the story. Therefore, memory plays a vital role in narration and it is the best way to create suspense. The select novels of Kazuo Ishiguro are taken to make further analysis of the impact of trauma found in his works. Now, Marxism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism, New Historicism, and Psychoanalytical Criticism have contributed to the development of trauma studies. In real life, memory acts as supreme in the characters of Ishiguro. The entire trauma created within a human mind is due to the impact of confusion in characters, childhood trauma, sexual abuse, discrimination, public brutality and domestic violence. It leads to violent behaviour in an individual. Psychosis is also created by trauma because of the experience of war, betrayal and other catastrophic events. The helplessness to balance emotions leads the way to the projection of trauma in a narrative. Nevertheless, trauma gets its reaction from the individual and his experience and is different from one to another. A writer needs to handle it carefully. Kazuo Ishiguro uses trauma and its outcomes as his narrative base to develop his story presenting the tyranny of individuals and alienated emotions. He takes note of issues such as identity crises, gender problems, tattered relationships, historical changes and global problems as his structure in creating his novels. He makes every reader express compassion for his characters and creates awareness among the reader. He dedicates his promise to writing for different nationalities and generations and wins international acclaim. This paper presents the traumatic concepts being analyzed in the select novels of Ishiguro.
Keywords: Trauma, Alienation, Migrants, Culture, Narrative Structure, Kazuo Ishiguro.
2. Women’s Independence as a Source from Within
Dr. M. Rajeshwari, Lecturer in English, SVVN PU and Degree College, Neraluru, Bangalore.
Abstract
This article traces the empowerment of women through self-study and inner independence. It argues that right empowerment comes from internal strength and explains the substantiation of social change. The paper highlights that self-reliance and self-appraisal play key roles in a woman's quest to achieve independence. By studying the life story of the renowned British author J.K. Rowling and in comparison to the lead women characters of the Tamil film “Magalir Mattum” (2017), the article explores the complex nature of women's empowerment. The paper studies Rowling's legacy from personal and financial hardships to reaching a literary reputation as an example of self-assurance. Her life is followed by despair, a failed marriage and the challenges of single motherhood. Rowling empowers her with writing and channels her sorrow into innovative expression. Similarly, the film “Magalir Mattum” depicts the aspirations of three women who have been subdued by marriage and social prospects. As they embark on reconnection and self-discovery in their life, the characters reclaim their identities and autonomy towards empowerment. The movie tackles the troubles endured by women including gender discrimination, social stress and the suppression of oppression of women in terms of marriage. Both illustrate that empowerment is not always something bestowed but a substitute that evolved from inside and requires courage to break off the imposed constraints that hinder their lives. The article concludes by affirming that women's independence is founded on self-reliance and internal affirmation. It can be achieved by the pursuit of one's passions, dreams and self-reliance. This paper opens up a sound argument on the need for self-reliance in real and fictional women to accomplish empowerment and independence.
Keywords: J. K. Rowling, Magalir Mattum, Self-determination, Comparative Study.
3. Research and Issues Related to through Restoration of the Gospel in Japan: Joseph Hardy Niijima & Goro Takahashi’s lives and Relationship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Dr. Ryo Takahashi, Ph.D. (Education), Ph.D. (Bioethics, Sustainability & Global Health)
Health Sciences, University of Hokkaido, Hokkaido, Japan.
Abstract
This paper introduces Joseph Hardy Niijima & Goro Takahashi are well-known scholars of Bible studies and translators of various scriptures. They had considered helping to understand the Bible, doctrines, and history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well. The papers use apt literature reviews from online and offline media sources and use qualitative research methodology to get results. The paper establishes that all people on this earth, despite of any intellectual or religious background, have the same opportunities to obtain the doctrines of salvation through family historical research and temple ordinances from their ancestors.
Keywords: Research, Issues, Gospel, Japan, Joseph Hardy Niijima & Goro Takahashi, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
4. Role of National Education Policy (NEP - 2020) for Language Standardization of Linguistic Minorities in India
Sheeba Hassan, Department of Linguistics, University of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
Nusrat Jan, Department of Linguistics, University of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
Abstract
It has been established that the inclusion of the mother tongue plays a very important role for the children of minority groups in terms of cognitive and academic excellence. Conversely, due to their non-dominant status, minority languages are hardly used in the educational system, administration, media or courts. A lot of work has been done for the identification of the linguistic rights of minority languages. Benedikter says that Education should help the student to develop the necessary skills such as linguistic competence for partaking and involvement in the administrative process of nation building. So, use of language in education and administration should be attuned with each other. If the language of education acts as a counterpoise to the language of administration, it may create tensions which may frustrate the entire planning. A guideline in the light of the National Education Policy (2020) has replaced the 34-year-old policy of education in 1986. However, the absence of comprehensively agreed linguistic rights of the people, apart from the political and social dilemmas is used as an excuse for the failure of most state governments to recognize and respect linguistic rights of the minorities. The present study is an attempt to analyze the linguistic rights of minority groups vis-a-vis the Indian Constitution and the newly framed National Education Policy (2020). The study aims to find the place and role of minority languages in educational and socio-cultural settings. The study will explain the purpose of standardization of minority languages namely the Gojri language and the challenges related to standardization of minority languages which are being subjugated at every front by the dominant languages.
Keywords: Linguistic Rights, Linguistic Minorities, National Educational Policy, Language Planning, Indian Constitution.
5. Exploring the Intersection of Spirituality and Morality in Frank Ostaseki's The Happiest Man On Earth: The Beautiful Life of An Auschwitz Survivor
V. Jibin Monish, PhD Research Scholar, Department of English,
Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Dr. M. Kannadhasan, Assistant Professor, Department of English,
Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Abstract
This paper examines the intersection of spirituality and morality in Frank Ostaseki's “The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor" and the usage of New Historicism. Ostaseki, a Zen Buddhist teacher and hospice co-founder, displays back on the stories of death, suffering, and compassion, as he considers how those non-public themes are related to the extra global ancient and cultural trajectory within the context of the twentieth and 21st centuries. The embody of Eastern spirituality in the West coupled with the passage of the conventional spiritual moralities of Western lifestyle and the medicalization of dying are formative historical forces underpinning the ethical and non-secular reflections Ostaseki posits. Ostaseki's juxtaposition of Buddhist teachings with personal reflections on mindfulness, compassion, and interconnectedness creates a break far away from the traditional Western ideas surrounding morality and struggling, supplying instead a greater person and compassionate lens on several life's adversities. From a New Historicism framework, this work demonstrates how Ostaseki's writing reflects upon and engages with, substantial ancient adjustments; commonly the global acceptance of mindfulness and the medicalized translation of death into a medical, secularized method. Overall, this paper illustrates how religious practices and moral buildings shift in reaction to ancient cultural moments, and in lots of approaches displays how spirituality and morality are understood and practised.
Keywords: Frank Ostaseki, Eddie Jaku, Holocaust, Nostalgia, New Historicism, Spirituality, Morality, Buddhism.