Languages & Literature

An Indian Philosophical Reading of Iris Murdoch’s Novels
Iris Murdoch, a well-known novelist cum philosopher, has mostly been a major part of Western scholarly research. Though many Indian scholars have studied her works, it has mainly been through the Western philosophical lens. This thesis, on the other hand, attempts to make an interesting contribution to Iris Murdoch’s studies, drawing on some fascinating sources, like the original commentaries from the archives.

The work aims to inspire the interested and the most receptive audience. The archival element makes the work more novel and original in nature. Also, the interdisciplinary nature of the work attracts readers interested in philosophical and theological approaches to literature. The work will also focus on the complexities of power identity, morality, and ethics and their perception among the Indian audience. The work also intends to convey the intellectual, cultural, and philosophical influences of Murdoch’s work in an Indian context.

The emphasis will be on how Murdoch’s works are interpreted by readers, particularly, in India. These interpretations will, in turn, be compared with readings in other parts of the world. This work will help the readers gain a better understanding of the complex themes present in Murdoch’s novels. It has national relevance as the work tries to bring a confluence of Eastern and Western philosophical concepts.

Comparative Poetics: Sanskrit and English
Speech, the most used medium of communication, is delivered in countless languages. But now, when even new languages are formed and used the oldest tongue of India, Sanskrit has taken a backseat. Sanskrit is known as the Deva Bhasha or the language of Gods. It has rich poetics, grammar, and literature. In the modern age, even in India, we read, analyse, and form opinions on literature based on Western theories. These same Western theories which are recently formed owe their origin to Sanskrit theories dating back from the 2nd to 11th centuries. Through this research, the Sanskrit literary theory of Dhvani and its various kinds are used to analyse English poetry. This research has national relevance as it magnifies the richness of Sanskrit which has paled into insignificance in this era.

The Neo-Vedantic ‘Self’ in Romantic Poetry: (Wordsworth’s ‘The Prelude’)
In this ‘post-human’ world, the idea of a cohesive, integrated Self has become problematic and challenging. It has an impact on the way humans perceive themselves and the world they inhabit. In my thesis, I strive to prove that the idea of a disunified, fragmentary Self is the outcome and natural progression of the essentialist, rational Self of the Western Enlightenment. However, Eastern indigenous cultures do not believe in the inherent dichotomy between the Self and the world, a predominant Western construct. Neo-Vedanta talks of the Self, moving towards gradual unity and Transcendence from duality. This is echoed in Romantic poetry and my thesis brings in a conjunction between these two world-views. In today’s fragmented world, the concept of the spiritual Self as a true centre of unity will go towards healing this world.

An Eclectic Approach to a Conceptual Framework for Workplace Communicative Competence
In an age of tectonic shifts in communication due to rising social media, AI, and Machine Learning, technical proficiency, and high-end business degrees are not sufficient. Communicative Competence raises people from a state of complacency to creative storytellers, innovators, explorers, and those who bring business to a company. In the field of Applied Linguistics, my research work identifies the need for an eclectic framework of ‘Communicative Competence’ to cater to the all-inclusive communicative needs of the Indian workplace. This empirical study strives to develop a comprehensive linguistic testing kit to test communicative competence in communication-intensive sectors in the Indian workplace. The research work aims to provide an eclectic framework based on the pioneers in linguistics. The contribution of the study will have both an academic and social impact as the proposed eclectic communicative competence framework will assess the various indicators of communicative competence among employees and also enable them to identify and apply appropriately all components of communicative competence in any given speech act.

Study of Climate Crisis and its Impact on Human Life in the Select Novels of Amitav Ghosh
Environmental concern is one of the most debated areas of study in recent times as many prominent writers and critics have voiced their concerns about it and on it. Climate Change novel (Cli-fi) is one of the offshoot fields of ecocritical study. It has attempted to highlight the drastic effects of climatic change and its impact on human life. It offers a scientific approach to understanding the crisis that might befall life in the future. The research aims to understand the aspects of Climate Change Fiction in the writings of Amitav Ghosh and to analyse its impact on readers and their response to the crisis. The research seeks to create awareness among the young generation to be conscious of the environmental crisis and will help them understand that the crisis brought forth by climate change is not a hoax or just a random theory to be debated upon.

Cognitive Poetics Study of A K Ramanujan
A cognitive poetics study of A K Ramanujan’s poems originally written in English, will systematically account for the cognitive domains of Ramanujan’s conceptual universe probably, was constructed, and by which it probably would be most consciously and conscientiously read. In doing so, the study aims to both reveal and enlist the power of Ramanujan’s poetry to think about thinking while also systematically leading the reader-scholar toward their Indian experience, culture, and context by relying on their available text corpus. Thus, a cognitive poetics study that combines the insights of the contemporary sciences and humanities, can actively enhance the lives of socially committed and personally satisfied readers who hold the potential to become responsible writers. Therefore, a cognitive poetics pursuit is no less than a contribution to a life well lived.

Trauma Studies in Kashmir Literature in English
The research aims to study the trauma of Kashmiris as portrayed in literature. The study looks forward to exploring how the collective national trauma as well as intergenerational trauma can be addressed from the Trauma Studies perspective to get an all-inclusive academic understanding of real human experience. The topic is widely discussed in the literary/academic fields under various subcategories.

A Study of the Testimonies on Exile and Memory in Palestinian Literature
This research aims to study various facets of traumatic memory and exilic narrativity based on the memoirs written after the Palestinian exodus. It tries to analyse how the exiles responded.

Space, Place, and Species in Emerging Indigenous Ecologies: A Study of Narratives Based on River Teesta
To continue living in a world marked by a deepening ecological crisis, we must seek various models of sustainable solutions. Though many narratives from around the world such as folklore, oral narratives, witness narratives, documentaries and films have been analysed from a range of ecological perspectives, narratives from the hills of North East India, have not yet been analysed from an eco-cultural perspective. Therefore, this research attempts to examine a range of selected narratives from the hills of North East India, specifically based on River Teesta, identifying it as an ecocultural keystone specific to the geographical location of Teesta, which is theorised in this work as a lifeplace, a concept in bioregionalism. This study focuses mainly on how the narratives collected and analysed constitute a site of affective engagement obtaining among space, place, and species in a lifeplace.

Social Narratives and Indian Poetry in English
This Research will help fellow researchers to understand the concepts of Narratology, Narrative discourse, and socio-narratology to an extent. Narrative poems are not very common. These poems will make the reader experience the world of the Novel through verses. It will also motivate poem lovers to read Jayanta Mahapatra and his contemporaries. The readers will start reading a poem not like a set of stanzas or couplets but like a story. Looking at the narrative techniques in a poem will take the reader from a world of rhymes and rhythms to a world of narration. The readers will have a dual experience. They will enjoy the rhythm of a poem, relate themselves to the poet or the character in the poem, and stylistically analyze a poem.

Indian Picturebooks in English and Material Engagement Theory
Indian picturebooks in English are a recent phenomenon that has immense potential in scaffolding a child’s development in all spheres. The research attempts to look at how the multimodal and material aspects of the picturebook enable the child reader to understand the world around and oneself through material engagement and play with the picturebook. By contextualising the work to the Indian environment, the work tries to look at how the nation’s social, cultural and economic situations influence the content of the picturebooks, which in turn moulds the identity of the child reader.