Department of English

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India at the end of the British Raj: Autobiographical perceptions of Nirad C Chaudhuri
(University of Dhaka, 2016-09-20) Chowdhury, Asma
The decades before the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 are specifically significant in the history of the subcontinent as this period shaped the future political, cultural and economic course of the region the legacy of which we are still in presence. The period though has been analyzed from historical, political, sociological and purely literary and cultural viewpoints; there is still need to further reconstruct and understand this vibrating time, in a more comprehensive manner, through other approaches. In the present Thesis an attempt has been made to apprehend some of the complex interactions of the sociopolitical and cultural elements which led to the partition, with its accompanying devastations, through the analysis of an autobiographical book written by Nirad C. Chaudhuri – Thy Hand Great Anarch! India: 1921-52. I used neo-historicism as my Research Methodology here in pursuing my research work. The span of my work covered the social life in Calcutta, Bengal Renaissance and Indian Nationalism, political movements like the Bengali resistance movements and other crises, literature and culture of Bengal, and the human devastation at the aftermath of the partition. In the present Thesis, in each of these areas, a background along with observations of other major authors has been given. It followed the perceptions of Nirad C. Chaudhuri on those issues. In the third section of each chapter I have communicated my own reflections on the perceptions of Chaudhuri. Though the general notion about Nirad C. Chaudhuri lies in depicting his deep antagonistic feeling about his own race Bengalee and also Bengal but analyzing his autobiography we sense in him a deep feeling for his motherland East Bengal. He never liked the disorganized, relatively self-centered, and unclean way of life of the Calcutta based people. He has equally appreciated many things of the Bengali life like their habit of reading books and also their trying to elevate the library culture. About literary areas Chaudhuri was little conservative and he thought that the peak of the Bengali literature has been reached by writers like Rabindranath Tagore and Sharatchandra Chattopadhyay. Chaudhuri never appreciated the importance of Modernism in Bengali literature. In fact he considered it as a symbol of decadence. Chaudhuri could not support the spirit of Indian Nationalism and hence he could not see eye to eye with Gandhi also because he believed that the change of the Master would not only make everything ok rather the inefficient administrators would make things worse. He was also correct in his evaluation of the time because in the aftermath of the Partition we see the serious crises of humanity during the migration and displacement of the Hindus and the Muslims. Actually the western educated political leaders became enriched in their human values and longed for the liberty of their land at the end of the colonial rule. But to tell the truth no proper plan no systematic approach were undertaken till then by them. We perceive it immediately in the events that occurred after the Partition. According to him a large part of the responsibility for these catastrophy lie with the narrow minded and mostly communal political leaders of the subcontinent. However, Chaudhuri equally blames the British Rulers in India for committing criminal activities and inciting atrocities in their own interest of power and exploitation. He is by heart a liberal democrat in the tradition of European Renaissance and thus he is undoubtedly a fan of British tradition and culture which, in fact, is a torch bearer of liberal democracy in their own country. But, at the same time, Chaudhuri points out their double standard in the context of the colonies like India. To conclude we can say that Nirad C. Chaudhuri is a controversial writer particularly among the people of the subcontinent, and in most cases he is blindly thought to side with the British people and ideas. However, a deeper reading of his autobiography may reveal a sensitive person with nostalgic emotion and also a person who speaks what he feels with strong conviction. Through his humanistic but sometimes conservative approach he has observed his time and he has specially focused on India during 1921-1952. Many people may disagree with his perceptions, but those are undoubtedly invaluable elements in reconstructing the inner dynamics of that time and society.
Various editions and versions of T. S. Eliot's murder in the cathedral
(University of Dhaka, 2017-05-11) Munzur-i-Mowla, Quazi Md.
T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral is a disturbing play. First, one hears or reads beautiful poetry in it, but poetry, however beautiful, does not make a verse play all by itself. To make things worse, there are long prose passages in it, not once, but twice. Secondly, there isn't much of a drama in it. Thomas returns home from self-exile, knowing well that he is in danger; he is killed in no time; his followers mourn his death, his killers defend themselves. There is nothing more in the play. Lastly, it was commissioned for performance at a religious festival. It had to have a religious appeal, and it had it, in abundance. And yet it is an admirable work of art, admired by both the religiously-minded and those who are not so, and popular on the stage too. The enigma of Murder in the Cathedral remains, I think, yet to be resolved. Thomas was killed (1170). Joan of Arc was burnt to death (1431). Mahatma Gandhi was murdered (1948). They were all deeply religious. They wanted to do good to mankind. And yet each had to die, at the hand of others. Are such men and women destined to die like this? 'O God that madest this beautiful earth, when will it be ready to accept thy saints? How long, O Lord, how long?' (Shaw, George Bernard, Saint Joan). This is the question at the heart of Murder in the Cathedral too, though not spelt out at length. The ground where 'a saint has dwelt', or died as a martyr, is 'holy ground, and the sanctity shall not depart from it' ever. If I am not mistaken, The Bangladesh Observer had termed the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman a 'historic necessity'. [Maybe the newspaper had no choice but to say so in view of the change in power, then usurped by the killers.] How very close this argument is to the argument of the Knights! The Knights speak highly of Thomas, and yet claim that they were left with no choice but to kill him. History, we know, repeats itself; but does thought repeat itself too? Are murderers the same all over and at all times? Murder in the Cathedral, if seen in the perspective of the fate of good men and women and the thought of those who find it necessary to kill them, turns into a deeply moving human document, going far beyond any religious belief or thought. This may be one reason why it is so unforgettable.
Angst and Anxieties: Historical and Psychological Parallels in Chinua Achebe’s Trilogy
(University of Dhaka, 2019-07-17) Hossain, Md. Elham
African Literatures in English begin with Chinua Achebe for his seminal handling of the historical and psychological realities of the Africans in his English writing. A genuine effort that Achebe has made for liberating Nigerian history and mind from all kinds of illusions and prejudices of the European colonizers has given him a permanent status among the world famous writers. He has discovered a new way of looking at the history and psychology of his people with an anthropological and ethnographic quest into the social, political, cultural, ideological, pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial realities of Nigeria and, above all, Africa. Achebe’s investigation demonstrates that all kinds of problems of the life of the Africans arose from the moment when they lost their initiative and identity to the colonizers. The co-existence of differing cultures and values was an inescapable reality in African societies. With the advent of the colonizers, this reality turned into angst and anxieties for the locals, because they became both unhappy for the colonial enslavement and interested in embracing the values of Western civilization in which they had been initiated. Angst and anxieties that emerge out of this ambivalent situation have become one of the major themes of African literatures. As a historically conscious writer, Achebe has used this theme in his trilogy with a view to portraying the realities of pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Nigeria. This work aims at probing into the angst and anxieties of the relationship between the natives and the colonizers from historical and psychological perspectives. It is a thematic assessment of mainly Achebe’s trilogy in theoretical backdrop. But, for the fortification of arguments, I have focused on two more of his novels, essays, interviews, short stories and poems.
Plurality Redefined: The Emergence of The New Woman in Mukherjee, Divakaruni and Lahiri
(University of Dhaka, 2019-10-06) Shameem, Musarrat
Diasporic studies is not only limited to the physical movements of a group of people from one place to another; rather, they are more effectively viewed as the analysis of the relation among individuals and communities within a specific spatial-geographical formation. A feminist approach to diasporic studies attempts to configure issues of gender, race, class, and nation, among other identitarian markers, with a view to mapping the identity construction of women based on inequity and differences. Many subsets of ideas are linked to diasporic feminist studies among which postcolonial feminism, postmodern feminism, and transnational feminism deal with questions of plurality, difference, and empowerment. Some South Asian female writers in the United States of America delineate how the questions of gender, race, and nationality converge to solidify the individuality of fictional South Asian female diasporic characters in the USA. Bharati Mukherjee, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, and Jhumpa Lahiri are some of those writers who write about the complex positioning of women from a particular historic-cultural background in diasporic space with regard to their involvement with native communities, and how this involvement is shaped by significant inside and outside cultural, political, and racial aspects. Theorists like Julia Kristeva, Judith Butler, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Avtar Brah, Linda Nicholson, Jane Flax, Inderpal Grewal, and many others have interpreted the complex subject positions of women in relation to new global realities arising from migrations and transnationalism. These epistemological interpretations complement the fictional writings with a discursive framework. Thus, both diasporic writings and films depict how the identity formation of women in the diaspora is refashioned by a conflict between tradition and modernity. The destabilized identity of women, originating from their cultural sensibilities, and as a result of exposure to disconcerting lived experiences, has become a consistent theme of diasporic fictions by women writers. In this dissertation, I study the identity formation of fictional South Asian women characters through the lens of postcolonial, postmodern, and diasporic feminism. Postcolonial feminism focuses on the particular issues involving women from disempowered, marginal positions whereas postmodern feminism emphasizes the plurality and differences among women. Diasporic feminism synthesizes the former issues furthering them with discussions on intersectionality and transnationalism. Whereas intersectionality shows the impossibility of reducing one’s identity to a single definition, transnationalism deciphers how diasporic condition enables one to simultaneously belong to multiple geographical and psychological spaces. Border crossing and interstitial existence occupy the transnational study of fictional migrant women. In the dissertation, I read the characters as resilient and buoyant in spite of having to face puzzling choices and poignant negotiations. These characters are sometimes devastated and broken because of being exposed to conflicting situations that make them choose between the known and the unknown, between tradition and modernity. However, they somehow devise a strategy to overcome their situations and emerge as new women who are capable of taking responsibilities for the choices they make.
Looking at Chinua Achebe’s things fall apart as tribal people’s response to colonial invasion
(University of Dhaka, 2019-10-20) Jahan, Israt
The aim of this dissertation is to focus on the Igbo tribe’s social structure before and after colonialism – the ideas, the places and people who constitute the context of colonialism as narrated by Chinua Achebe. We find a lot of works about colonialism in different parts of the world. But, exploring tribal people’s response to colonial invasion in Things Fall Apart will be a new one contributing to the field of research on Achebe. The changes that occur as a result of colonial rule with their various impacts on the particular people’s politics, culture and social system comes under scrutiny. In the Introduction, a general discussion on tribe, tribalism and a historical account of Igbo culture will be placed. In the second chapter, there will be a general discussion on Igbo life-style and their encounter with colonialism as presented in Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart. The third chapter presents a comparative study of Achebe’s and some other writers’ writings on colonialism and the reasons behind his dealing with the issue in a different way. Finally, in the concluding chapter, there will be a general discussion on how Achebe wrote a profound critique of colonization while constructing hints for changes to come.
Problems of Practis Classrooms at the University of Dhaka ractising the Speaking Skill: A Study of English lassrooms at the University of Dhaka Study of English
(University of Dhaka, 2019-12-30) Chowdhury, Sabrina Ahmed
The speaking skill is always considered among the teachers as a difficult skill to practise in the classroom. This study was conducted on tertiary level students at the University of Dhaka. Here, the English language course is a part of the BA Honours curriculum in most of the Faculties and Institutes. The course was introduced in 1998 to make the students more proficient in English and develop their skill for their academic life and future career. However, the teachers are confronted with a number of problems that hinder successful speaking practice in the classroom. This qualitative research is an attempt to find out the classroom situation. It accumulates both the students’ and the teachers’ points of view. The study also explores the classrooms where the teaching and learning is taking place. Data have been collected from four departments from four different Faculties and Institutes. The findings show that lack of logistic support, large classes, students’ own anxiety, mixed proficiency level of students and lack of training of the teachers make it a real challenge for successfully practising this skill in the classroom. Finally, the study provides suggestions for the successful teaching-learning of this skill in the English language classes at the University of Dhaka.
Revisiting the Subaltern in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things
(University of Dhaka, 2021-08-19) Al-Quaderi, Golam Gaus
Arundhati Roy is one of the “most followed writers” in contemporary India whose debut novel The God of Small Things (1997) earned her not only the Booker Prize but also the reputation of the biggest selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. She waited twenty years to publish her second novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017). Both novels involve silencing of the marginalized other in a society that is conscious of its class, caste, and gender privileges. They are the three big things in Roy’s maiden novel that need the healing touch of small things such as love and hope. On the surface, Velutha, in The God of Small Things (Henceforth, TGST), is the most obvious candidate for the titular “god of small of things” who dared to transgress the moral codes and social space of the upper caste, and was forcibly silenced for his transgression. His lover Ammu, despite her class status, received a similar fate of silencing for her gender role in a patriarchy. Roy’s concerns for the small things, the subaltern groups, are evident in her innumerable political pamphlets, journalistic essays as well as in her two novels. Subalternity as a concept in the sub-continental context was popularized by the India-based Marxist historians who extended the original application of Gramsci and wrote under the label, The Subaltern Studies Collective (1980-1992), to address subordination of class, caste, age, gender, or any other office. Roy in her fiction and non-fiction both speak for the subalterns and speak of the subalterns. Her efforts have been to create awareness to empower the marginalized groups. However, big in praxis, Roy refrains from any theoretical label or underpinning. I shall argue that Roy challenged class consciousness without fully subscribing to Marxist ideology, she defended gender rights without aligning herself with mainstream feminism, and she protested against the caste-system without tagging herself as an abolitionist. I shall go a step further in claiming that the unique system of caste in India does not allow Roy to fully subscribe to any pre-ordered theoretical model to analyze subalternity. Of the three big things (class, caste and gender) elaborated in my dissertation, caste for me is the greatest concern that Roy unpacks in TGST. The aim of this dissertation is to use various postcolonial lenses to offer a close reading of Roy’s first novel to understand the causes of subalternity in contemporary India. The dissertation also questions Roy’s choice of genre. Both her fiction and non-fiction are replete with her concerns for human rights and minority issues. I shall try to understand why she needed the fictive garb to represent some factual violations of human rights. In so doing, I shall focus on the complementary role played by Roy’s fiction and non-fiction in projecting her artistic arm.
Addressing Pupils with Specific Learning Disabilities in the Curriculum: An Exploratory Study into the Inclusive Practice in Mainstream Schools with Special Reference to Dyslexic Learners in Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) Context
(©University of Dhaka, 2022-04-20) Arju, Sayma
This study aims to explore the language learning experiences of students with language-based learning disabilities (LBLD) in the mainstream English version schools of Bangladesh. In higher-level studies, the ability of reading, writing, and speaking is highly valued because information is typically gained by reading; evidence of knowledge acquisition is provided in writing whereas social communication is largely dependent on speaking. Therefore, if students have difficulties with these essential academic skills, studying and lifelong learning can be hard and time-consuming. A number of studies have investigated the problems of learners with LBLDs in academic situations (e.g. Schneider & Crombie, 2003; Sparks & Ganschow, 1991), and there is a substantial amount of literature describing special teaching methods facilitating language learning for these learners (e.g. Nijakowska, 2010; Schneider & Crombie, 2003). But the majority of existing research fails to capture the students’ voice and their experiences. Besides, in Bangladesh, very few studies have been done on the language learning problems of learners with LBLD. Furthermore, we still know relatively little about the language learning experience of dyslexic learners studying in Bangladeshi mainstream schools following content language integrated learning (CLIL) principles. The term CLIL is used here to refer to teaching contexts in which a foreign language (in these cases, English) is the medium for the teaching and learning of non-language subjects. The present study tries to gain an insight into three relevant aspects of this experience. It examines the participants’ experiences concerning the attitude of the school and language teachers towards their learning disability; it investigates how these experiences shape the students’ feelings about language lessons and their attitude towards language learning and it also explores the implementation of inclusion in mainstream schools for learners with LBLDs. Inclusion encourages the schools to review their structures, approaches to teaching, student grouping and promote schools to meet the diverse needs of all students. The research study used an exploratory mixed methodology and the participants included learners from secondary schools, teachers and parents as their primary caregivers. Purposive sampling was used to identify participants. The sample consisted of students that were studying in thirty schools of 4 major cities in Bangladesh. For the study, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and as research tools, questionnaires for survey and interactive interviews were used. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics whereas data gathered from interviews were analyzed through the use of thematic analysis. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Themes emerged that were central to the students’ experiences as the students of English version mainstream schools wereunder the themes like a) language learning experience especially the challenges (regarding 4 skills) of students with LBLD at CLIL mainstream schools and the emotional responses to these difficulties; b) difficulties in attending lectures; c) labeling as having LBLD; d) self-assessment through observation and comparing themselves to others; e) victim of violence, bullying, and abuse; f) remedial/intervention classes; g) examination anxiety; g) school authority and teachers’ behavior both to them and to the parents. The findings revealed that the participants experienced a range of difficulties in their learning process. The most common areas of the English language which they found challenging were fluent reading and comprehension, spelling and comprehensive writing and fluent speaking. These difficulties are frequently accompanied by emotional factors, such as low self-esteem, lack of motivation or high level of exam anxiety, etc. Data also showed that the emotional responses did not relate directly to the difficulties in learning, but were the reaction to the way the teachers addressed these difficulties through their pedagogical decisions. However, the central theme that emerged from the students’ perceptions of their English teachers was the lack of understanding which consequently was reflected in the important pedagogical decisions and attitude of the teachers. The study recommends the needs of early diagnosis of LBLD and appropriate intervention reflecting the learners’ problem areas; careful attention for improving mother tongue; specialized training for teachers to get their full participation when assisting learners with special needs. As this study explores the experiences of students with language-based learning disabilities and their self-awareness as learners, it provides numerous opportunities for future research related to the topic and findings. The findings from this study may also provide context and insights into both secondary and post-secondary institutions and parents or families of students with disabilities as well as the students themselves.
Bernard Shaw: His View of Religion in his Plays
(©University of Dhaka, 2022-08-25) Ferdous, Mafruha
Prior to the advent of science and philosophy in late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, religion took a new shape in the mind of creative people like George Bernard Shaw. His extensive reading capacity and profound knowledge about his contemporary world allowed him to ponder over existing theological practices and made him take a different view about them. Shaw expressed his dissatisfaction with existing institutional religious practices that affected and reflected his time in his works. He was very vocal and at the same time ambivalent in the presentation of his thoughts. He was a self-proclaimed atheist and at the same time expressed his deep concern about religion with conviction. Shaw’s religiosity was neither connected to any particular theological practices; nor did he profess any religion. Focusing on the intellectual world, he felt that religion should be given a shape which would fit the modern mind. With this mission in view, he decided to depend on promoting the freedom of consciousness that it could ultimately lead to a world free from the superstitious, malpractices of religion. As Christopher Hollis observes in his essay “…there is clearly an end of all thought and of all argument. For there is an end of standards. It is to Mr. Shaw’s credit that he is one of the few men who has made a real attempt to set Free Thought free. He fell into a world in which the fashionable and daring thing was to challenge accepted belief after accepted belief” (1982, 157). In this dissertation I examine the Shavian world view and his plays, prefaces and letters that highlight his deep concern about religion. Besides discussing Shaw’s extraordinary concept about religion, I show that Shaw’s religious views never remained the same. Rather, with the passage of time he encountered different situation that helped him develop his ideas about religion continuously. His development of thought ultimately led humanity towards a new concept of religion which he felt would be more convenient and beneficial.
A study of Shakespeare's soliloquies in his major tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth
(©University of Dhaka, 2023-01-11) Alam, Mohitul
A socio-psycholinguistic study of the Interaction between attitudes and motivation of undergraduates and their proficiency in EFL
(©University of Dhaka, 2023-01-11) Maniruzzamanm, Md.
Coleridge's Symbolism The Voyage From the Dome to the Castle
(©University of Dhaka, 2023-01-11) Al-Khader, Mutasem Tawfiq Qasem
Shakespeare in nineteenth - century Bengali dramatic literature: an analytical survey
(©University of Dhaka, 2023-01-11) Ahsan, Nazmul
Stages in the Development of Colonialism A Study of The Tempest, Robinson Crusoe and Heart of Darkness
(©University of Dhaka, 2023-01-11) Chowdhury, Sharmin