Browsing by Author "Kaiissar, Jahin"

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An ecocritical reading of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale and Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide
(BRAC University, 2023-05) Nawar, Ariana; Kaiissar, Jahin
This thesis explores an ecocritical and ecofeminist reading of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide. The study examines how the two novels intersect with feminist and ecological concerns, highlighting how gender and environmental issues are interconnected. By using an ecofeminist lens, this thesis aims to analyze how the authors represent gendered power structures in their narratives, and how those structures are connected to environmental exploitation. Atwood's novel portrays a dystopian world where women are subjugated and their reproductive rights are controlled by the powerful male elite. In contrast, Ghosh's novel depicts the lives of humans and non-humans in the ecologically fragile Sundarbans region. The thesis explores how the novels represent the struggles of women and marginalized communities to assert their agency and resist patriarchal and environmental oppression. The study examines how the characters' experiences and interactions with their environment reflect the interconnectedness between gender and ecology. Through an ecocritical lens, this thesis argues that both authors offer a critique of patriarchal capitalism, which exploits both women and nature for profit, and proposes alternative ways of thinking about the human-nature relationship that prioritizes ecological sustainability.
Colonial impact in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels
(BRAC University, 2023-12) Zannat, Fatema Tul; Kaiissar, Jahin
Using postcolonial theory as an analytical framework, this thesis examines the colonial impact that is portrayed in two important pieces of eighteenth-century literature, Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. The study explores how these well-known books reflect and challenge the dominant colonial ideals in the authors’ day. The first part of the study looks at how power dynamics and relationships are portrayed in Robinson Crusoe, breaking down the system of authority that develops between Crusoe and the native characters, particularly Friday. The thesis also analyzes how Crusoe’s behaviors and attitudes reflect the colonial views using a postcolonial perspective. The thesis then turns to Gulliver’s Travels and analyzes the satirical devices used by Swift to criticize different facets of colonization. It reveals the complex ways Swift exposes the cruel impacts of colonial ambition on both the “colonized” and “colonizer” by utilizing the postcolonial theory. Throughout Gulliver’s interactions with other nations, Swift’s criticism of imperialistic aspirations, cultural relativism, and the random nature of conflicts over colonies is dissected. Moreover, this thesis explores how the writers’ views on colonialism were shaped by the historical setting, which was characterized by chaos in politics, colonial expansion, and economic changes. The analysis additionally looks at how the novels represent the shifting moral standards, hopes for the economy, and views on other cultures in British society over the eighteenth century. By offering an in-depth investigation of how Defoe and Swift used their stories to confront and question the dominant colonial ideas of their times, this thesis develops the study of the colonial influence in literature
Experience as an intern feature writer at The Business Standard
(BRAC University, 2025-02) Meem, Sanjeeda Afroz; Kaiissar, Jahin
Exploring the world of media & journalism at Channel i
(BRAC University, 2023-05) Sharier, MD. Sadik; Kaiissar, Jahin
Hair tied back
(BRAC University, 2023-05) Mahjabin, Chowdhury Suraia; Kaiissar, Jahin
Hair Tied Back is a story inspired by Octavia E. Butler’s “The Book of Martha,” a short story about a protagonist who converses with God to come up with a new method of encouraging humans to find joy, hope and determination to continue living. Along with Madeline Miller’s Circe, the downfall of a goddess obsessing over humans and patriarchal validation who experiences her banishment as a journey to selfhood, and the writing style of Fyodor Dostoevsky. The protagonist of Hair Tied Back daydreams as a form of coping mechanism manifested from social anxiety and hyper awareness of the lives around her. The aim of this story is to convey how the world is perceived through female consciousness as well as the cultural superiority established in the minds of Gen Z and the constant flow of content through various forms of media that consciously and subconsciously controls our ways of thinking in this postmodern world. This novella depicts what the world looks like through the eyes of a lower middle class young woman who suffers from her reality and she finds it struggling to function as a social individual. She is troubled by the injustices and lack of representation women have been facing from the community and media since childhood. The protagonist is someone who wants to fight for women, and alongside women but cannot see past her prejudices. As the protagonist adopts a moulded identity whose mind is parallelly aware of the gender dimension, it explores the ideas of existentialism, absurdism and feminist theory. These ideologies are intertwined with two isolated antithetical females on a journey of acceptance. Hera, the Goddess of motherhood, fertility and femininity has been portrayed as the fanatical wife of Zeus, Hercules’s nemesis, patron of suicidal yet glorious quests for heroes to die in the name of the Goddess. Never has a story been popular with her name written in humane descriptions. Her name has always been associated with men, their stories and as a burden they had to overcome. This novella paints Hera in a positive light by portraying her in a journey of growth from toxic femininity which encourages her to find her own path to selfhood.
In between: why can’t it be both
(2025-06) Homayra, Fairuj; Kaiissar, Jahin
This novella delves into the psychological landscape of the protagonist, Luna, a young teenage girl navigating the blurred boundaries between memory, imagination, and reality after moving into a haunted house. Through encounters with spectral figures – Lily, Arthur, and the Seer – Luna confronts unresolved trauma, existentialism, and the concepts of Fate and Free will. The narrative unfolds in a fragmented, introspective style characteristic of psychological fiction and postmodern literature, blending elements of magical realism and gothic undertones. As Luna delves deeper into the architecture of the house and explores her mind, the story unfolds how grief, guilt, and the desire to be understood shape the human consciousness. Ultimately, the novella is not just about the ghostly occurrence, but also about the ghosts we create within ourselves to survive. It portrays the journey towards self-acceptance in a world that has trouble comprehending individual variations as abnormalities, and it challenges the conventional notions of sanity, memory, truth, and the boundaries between reality and perception.
Internship experience as a newsroom editor at SA Television
(BRAC University, 2024-12) Ahmed, Tanvir; Kaiissar, Jahin
This report reflects my three-month-long internship experience as a newsroom editor at SA Television. The report is divided into four chapters. Each chapter offers an account of a different aspect of my experience. The first chapter is an introduction and will also provide a brief history of my internship organization as well as explore the diverse roles in the newsroom. Chapter two will discuss various technical terms as well as various theories that I found relevant during my internship experience. Chapter three will be focusing on my accomplishments as a news room editor while chapter four will talk about the various challenges I had to face during my internship period.
Internship experience at Dhaka Tribune: gaining valuable insights into the world of journalism
(BRAC University, 2023-05) Roy, Ayon; Kaiissar, Jahin
Intersecting feminism: gender, identity, and liberation in their eyes were watching God and The God of Small Things
(BRAC University, 2023-12) Tabassum, Ahana; Kaiissar, Jahin
Women are not given their due social rights from time immemorial. To investigate the deplorable condition of women, two novels of different social contexts, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, are used in this thesis. The thesis explores feminism and black feminism, considering the themes of society and class discrimination, gender disparity, and the importance of financial security in both novels. Both authors focus on the rules and regulations of society that marginalize women and lower-class people. In the novel, The God of Small Things,the protagonist Ammu understands that women’s voices are always suppressed and are meant to depend on their male family members. Therefore, Ammu tries to take control of her own life. Unfortunately, she has to bear the consequences of breaking the age-old rules of society. Similarly, in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God,Janie also tries to find her independent voice by denying the typical roles set for women by society. She has to journey long to become a strong, independent woman. In addition, the study also examines the reasons behind men’s controlling behavior towards women. From the urge to prove their superiority, men dominate women and snatch their basic rights. To break this chain of injustice, women must struggle a lot. Eventually, during this journey, they are ostracized by the patriarchal society and fail to achieve their long-cherished freedom.
Jean Rhys`s Wide Sargasso Sea as a “Writing Back” Of Charlotte Brontë`s Jane Eyre
(Brac University, 2024-02) Tahmid, Aahnaf; Kaiissar, Jahin
A number of authors from countries which were previously colonised, came up with the intention of responding to the European canonical texts through their own writings in the postcolonial era. This thesis will analyse the postcolonial reinterpretation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre by Jean Rhys in "subversion," "rewriting," and "displacement" employed by Rhys to challenge Brontë's colonial discourse presented in her writing. Ashcroft's theory from Theory and Practice in Post-colonial Literatures analysis between two works, demonstrating the manifestation of "writing back" in postcolonial literature will be conducted in this paper. Upon careful works, it will be evident that Rhys has effectively altered Brontë's work by undermining its fundamental components, namely the characters and themes.
Memes as a form of digital communication and cultural commentary
(BRAC University, 2025-01) Bhandari, Bidhya; Kaiissar, Jahin
Memes and social media memes have become a key form of communication in the digital age, transcending the barriers of geography or culture to be used as agents of cultural commentary, social commentary, and humor. This study analyzes memes as a unique language medium and method of storytelling that is indicative of social values, trends, and issues while influencing public opinions. Based on popular memes that are circulated across social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, especially during holidays, this study will determine how memes describe culture and tradition. It also tackles problems such as misinformation and cultural insensitivity. It uses a mix-method and data is collected through Google form and interviews, additionally, it also analyzes memes. This research seeks to explore memes' powerful nature as a type of digital communication that both influences and mirrors discourse in a connected world. The research concludes that memes are dynamic, interactive digital objects that are transforming the norms of communication and cultural expression. Since they are everywhere on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, they influence public opinion and create global conversations.
My experience as an intern at Dhaka Tribune
(BRAC University, 2023-05) Tanin, Fairooz Newer; Kaiissar, Jahin
I did my internship under Zafar Sobhan, the founding and chief editor of Dhaka Tribune, and later I was also assigned to the op-ed team. I had to cover all of the roundtable discussions for Dhaka Tribune alongside other senior reporters. I had to take notes during important events, and then the senior reporter would compare them. He was in charge of writing the cover article for each event, which would be published the following day. My other responsibilities included writing and translating articles.
Nonconformity emerging through literature: a comparative analysis of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and The Bell Jar
(BRAC University, 2024-06) Jahan, Israt; Kaiissar, Jahin
In literature, modernism is mostly associated with themes such as disillusionment, exile, individuality, loss of religion, secularism, political and social critique, rejecting and questioning tradition, and so forth. People of the late 19th and 20th centuries were encouraged to think and behave freely through literature. It introduced a mindset that defied and questioned customs, regulations, and other socially acceptable actions. Nonetheless, the essential ideas of modernism are thought to be consciousness and individualism. Beyond the expectations or needs of society, modern literary texts reveal the inner self of an individual. One must delve deeply into the background, context, and unique perspectives of everything to comprehend how this occurred via literature. It is stated that an author cannot produce great literature if their environment does not impact their writings. Hence, to acknowledge the influence of surroundings and the non-conformist approach to those, this paper aims to analyze two of the greatest modernist novels - A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man by James Joyce and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Therefore, the paper aims to analyze the two main characters of the mentioned novels and the context, connecting with the authors and contemporary society to understand how non-conformity emerged in literature, the influence of contemporary societies, and the consequences of conveying such non-conformity. Related theories to the research area are psychoanalytic theory, feminist criticism, and biographical criticism.
Racism and class discrimination in Richard Wright’s Black Boy and Native Son
(BRAC University, 2023-09) Mukta, Maliha Islam; Kaiissar, Jahin
In most of his writings, Richard Write addresses issues such as racism, discrimination, and oppression. Black Boy and Native Son are two of his canonical books that focus on the plight of black Americans in the face of racism and class discrimination. In Black Boy, Wright’s real-life experience from childhood to adulthood is presented. In this autobiographical narrative, he discusses how he faced racism throughout his life. Wright’s novel Native Son is about Bigger Thomas, a young black man whose accumulated rage explodes in violent ways, leading him to his downfall. In these two books, Wright exposes the hypocrisy of whites, portrays the effects of deterministic social realities on black people, and shows how racism and class discrimination works in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. This thesis aims to analyze Black Boy and Native Son through the lens of postcolonial and Marxist theories.
Report on the Internship Program at NEWS24
(BRAC University, 2023-09) Sharmin, Sanjida; Kaiissar, Jahin
Societal expectations for women in Paradise Lost and The Rape of The Lock
(BRAC University, 2023-12) Audrika, Suneha Safayet; Kaiissar, Jahin
In John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Alexander Pope’s The Rape of The Lock, Eve and Belinda are depicted as innocent women who fall into the hands of objectification. Belinda's getting ready in her toilet is similar to the scene of Eve seeing her reflection in Eden's pool, because here Eve and Belinda both admire their physical or outer beauty. Besides, their beauty is always admired by the people around them. Therefore, in both epics, physical appearance is given so much importance that a woman's character, chastity, and aims depend on physical beauty. In the epic Paradise Lost, the character Eve is the first woman, and she is frequently depicted as the archetypal female character whose actions ultimately lead to the downfall of humankind. Over that, Eve is beautifully accessorized and created only to serve Adam. On the other hand, in The Rape of The Lock, Belinda beautifies herself for maintaining social class, impressing good marriage proposals, fancying her privacy, and saving herself from all the cruel manipulations of society. Eve and Belinda's portrayals reveal social expectations or gender dynamics manifested during the time periods in which the epics were written. Though Eve and Belinda are two different characters from two different worlds and situations, their representation reflects many similarities. These similarities include their innocence, unwise behavior, objectification, and inferiority. Society also thinks of them as sources of temptation
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in news media
(BRAC University, 2023-05) Sharmeen, Mehnaz; Kaiissar, Jahin
News media, often known as the news industry, distributes news to the public or a specialized population. News media can be divided into three categories – broadcast, print, and digital. Social media is a type of digital media that enables people to share content, thoughts, and expressions by building and maintaining online groups and networks. News media, including social media, covers a wide range of topics that are pertinent to the world today. This thesis will examine the most relevant ideas and responses from many different articles, journals, and research papers to identify how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is covered in different forms of news media. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been described as one of the world’s most intractable and enduring conflicts. As a result, there has been numerous news coverage of the conflict. This thesis will explore the different forms of media in modern society, the roles they play, the way they present the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the influence they exert on the general public. It will do so by employing media framing and agenda-setting theories.
The reflection of racism on black identity formation: an comparative analysis between The Bluest Eye and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
(BRAC University, 3/8/2025) Hossain, Moumi; Kaiissar, Jahin
This paper will explore the struggle of the protagonists from The Bluest Eye and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings against racism, focusing on how a racially biased society harms their development. Both protagonists, Pecola and Maya, are the young Black women whose lives revolve around internalized racism. A child’s development is significantly influenced by their psyche, yet in a racially prejudiced society, the intense discrimination faced by Black children can severely damage their psyche, leading them to lose their sense of self. Hence, they suffer from an identity crisis. However, there is a way to reclaim identity, and that is decolonization. Therefore, the paper will examine the views of Frantz Fanon on Black identity formation, specifically in relation to The Bluest Eye and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In The Bluest Eye, the devastating nature of racism results in the downfall of Pecola and her Breedlove family, but Maya from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings frees herself from the cage created by the White mainstream society. Once she knows how the racial entrapment works, she does not allow herself to be in the cage. She flies away like a free bird. She liberates herself from all oppression. By juxtaposing these two protagonists, this paper would like to draw attention to the process of identity formation.
The role of the mass media in the fight against police brutality: a case study of the #EndSARS protest in Nigeria
(BRAC University, 2025-01) Olanrewaju, Suleiman Muftau; Kaiissar, Jahin
Public concern over police brutality in Nigeria has increased before and during the 2020 #EndSARS protests, making it crucial for this study to investigate the role of the mass media in addressing police brutality during these protests. Using a mixed-method approach, it integrates quantitative analysis of print, broadcast, and social media with qualitative interviews to investigate how media coverage shapes public perception and influences the protest narrative. While previous research has examined the media's role in social movements and activism, this study emphasizes the significant contributions of the mass media during the #EndSARS protests. Agenda-setting theory was employed as the study's theoretical framework to understand the dimensions and the narrative used by the media in framing police brutality as a central concern. The study’s findings reveal the crucial role of the mass media, particularly the effectiveness of social media in mobilization, documentation, public awareness, and its watchdog role during the #EndSARS protests. Moreover, it highlights significant challenges, which include harassment, censorship, and journalist intimidation, limiting traditional media effectiveness. In conclusion, with its surveillance and advocacy function, the media served as a transformative force during the protests.
The Struggle of Memory against Forgetting in Lois Lowry’s The Giver, Yoko Ogawa’s The Memory Police, and Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant
(BRAC University, 2021-09) Kaiissar, Jahin; Azim, Firdous
Since memory studies is a continuously expanding and contentious interdisciplinary field, scholarly interest in it has grown considerably in recent times, especially within the humanities. Situated in memory studies, this dissertation examines the interplay between memory and power, between forgetting and individual/collective memory, and between remembering and resistance in three selected novels: Lois Lowry’s The Giver, Yoko Ogawa’s The Memory Police, and Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant. Maurice Halbwachs and Jan Assmann’s theories on collective memory, Paul Connerton and Aleida Assmann’s concept of repressive erasure/forgetting, and Michel Foucault’s ideas on power and resistance form a vital background for this dissertation. Each of the novels under discussion unforgettably portrays fictive worlds where memory, or rather its almost total eradication, is used as a means of controlling and manipulating citizens. In their memory-deprived worlds, the major characters within each novel strive to remember their past against the collective, repressive forgetting imposed on them by people in power. By tracing the essential themes through a critical analysis of the novels, this dissertation aims to provide a focused insight into the questions of how collective forgetting is imposed, how imposed forgetting affects individual and collective memories, and how remembering is a way of resisting those in power.