American Research Journal of English and Literature

EA Gamini Fonseka, BA, MA,Phd, FRSA

This is a literary study of the short story “Professional Mourners” by Alagu Subramaniam (1964). The introduction focuses on the sociological aspect of the practice of hiring professional mourners at funerals in certain parts of Sri Lanka. It is conducted in six sections, in accordance with the trajectory the story follows: 1) Exciting Element in Death; 2) Uncle’s Self-Importance as Master of Ceremonies; 3) Uncle’s Hunt for Mourners; 4) Service in Full Swing; 5) Mission Impossible; and 6) A Cacophony to Mock the Perpetrator. As the narrator is a child, all these sections attempt to establish a child’s perspective of the entire procedure the so-called “Master of Ceremonies” follows in fulfilling the requirement of hiring some mourners at the funeral of his grandmother. So, section 1) captures how a group of adults and children responds to death in the family; section 2) demonstrates how the schoolmaster turns the occasion into an opportunity for slave driving in his assumed capacity as Master of Ceremonies; section 3) narrates how oppressively the schoolmaster treats the professional mourners; section 4) depicts how the professional mourners engage in their duty; section 5) satirises the schoolmaster’s disappointment in front of dissidents of his violation of the professional mourners’ obligation to mourn their mother; section 6) ironically presents the negative impact the mourners’ howling has on the schoolmaster. Thus, the study treats the story as a series of incidents exposing a harmful aspect of class consciousness that promotes slavery to the extent of depriving the victims of their right to satisfy their personal priorities.

Yan Liu1, Xiao Ma1*, Yong Zhong2

Metadiscourse markers are highly multifunctional, and because of their syntactic optionality, they are often overlooked in translation, especially in literary translation where translators’ subjectivity plays an active role. Huashuo (as the story says) is a recurring metadiscourse marker in Chinese classic vernacular fictions, and despite its seeming redundancy, it functions as an important textual connective as well as an interactional marker to engage the readers. This paper focuses on the English translation of huashuo in Chinese vernacular short stories Erpai (Pai’an Jingqi and Erke Pai’an Jingqi). By comparing the functions of huashuo in the source text with those of its translations in the target text, we find that huashuo is often treated in the translated versions in three ways: omission, retention and functional mismatch. Although huashuo in Chinese classic vernacular fictions may not pose a great challenge to translators, the unawareness of its functions will cause misinterpretation and affect the continuity of the narration in the target text. It is suggested that translators should first consciously recognize the functions of huashuo according to the source context before translating and then can ensure an appropriate translation of it.

Arunava Roy

Samuel Johnson, one of the most eclipsed prolific writers with all his dogmatic prejudice, his stoical courage, his profound melancholy, his hatred of sentimental palliatives, his fits of narrowness, his tenderness to all human frailty and his impudent, scholastic intellectuality writes this longest non-dramatic satiric poem ‘London’ in imitation of Juvenal’s 3rd satire , where the poet’s friend Umbricius leaves for Cumae from Rome to keep himself away from the moral vices and social ills of the city. Similarly, in ‘London’, the poet’s friend Thales (apparently alter-ego of poet) leaves London, “the needy villain’s general Home” for Wales (Cambria) to lead a life of seclusion. Disgusted with the growing social, moral and human degeneration, Thales prays to God to let him find a place-- “Where Honesty and sense are no Disgrace; Some pleasing Bank where verdant Osiers play, Some peaceful vale with Nature’s paintings gay” Malice, materialism, accident, conspiracy, violent protests and arson afflict London and vitiate the atmosphere of the city. London has become a place where relentless ruffians have a field day; they mug and inflict injuries on unsuspecting innocent people; unscrupulous lawyers prey upon their clients; house crumbles and a female atheist (Caroline, the wife of George II) Bombards people with her relentless propaganda. The cursed walls of London are infested with vice and personal aggrandisement. Where learning and learned have no place; where there is no beacon light of hope, only frustration; widespread corruption with its masquerades and debauchery has brought down the nation’s morale. 

Mst. Ummay Tohfa1, Md. Abu Bokkor Siddik2, Arjina Akhter3, Md.Kamrul Hasan

This study aims at examining women’s rights and progress of early 20th century and the vision of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain portrayed inBengali feminist utopian story Sultana’s Dream. The story encompasses the women who are modern architects, scientists, engineers and something like that of the Ladyland where men are kept in purdah namely Mardana. Besides, it brings out a utopia far more technologically advanced, efficient and peaceful world than the one we live in the reality. The article also observes the Ladyland under female rule that transforms into a utopian vision of idyllic life where crime is eliminated, agriculture flourishes, science and technology develop and religious practices are practiced through love and truth. Education spreads gradually and the women are able to live without fear and obstacles, which capture them within four walls in the present world based on male domination.

Chu Shiqi

As one of Margaret Mitchell’s most representative works, Gone with the Wind has been paid much attention to and studied by scholars at home and abroad from different perspectives since its publication. As for me, I’d like to study on Feminism in Gone with the Wind to give an analysis of Feminist thought in this work from two aspects: narrative perspective and characterization. It will be of great benefit to promote our understanding of the novel from this angle, thus bringing us much enlightenment and practical significance.

Honghui Yang, Lin Qin

The post-war American society has been extensively explored in numerous American literary works, among which J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Frank McCourt’s Teacher Man are of significance due to their exposure to the “Lost Generation”. Although The Catcher in the Rye is written from the perspective of an alienated student while Teacher Man is from the perspective of a teacher, there are many similarities between the two novels. For example, Holden wishes to be the Catcher in the “rye”, while the protagonist of Teacher Man is the catcher in the “classroom”, who guards the innocence of children. The symbolic space, represented by “rye” in Holden’s heart and “classroom” in McCourt’s life, needs to be analyzed. This paper aims to explore the special space symbolized by the “rye” in The Catcher in the Rye and the “classroom” in Teacher Man, trying to find out what the space actually represents. Is it a utopia, dystopia, or heterotopia?

Salamatu Sani1, Oladimeji Olaniyi2

Studies on security in Nigeria have focused on the prevalence, incidences and responses of the governments in Nigeria to the insecurity situations and very few on the paralinguistics. The images have attracted our attention and that is why this study seeks to examine the images of bandits on newspaper pages and other online platforms. The design of this study is both the qualitative and the quantitative research design method in collecting, describing and analyzing the data. The type of sampling technique adopted for this study is purposive sampling. Ten sampled images and comments on social media and newspapers were analysed using the framework of visual discourse resources. The elements in the framework include: ideational mode, interpersonal mode, textual mode, denotation mode, connotation, style, illustrations amongst others. We find that the images of the bandits are therefore viewed as those of criminality, facelessness, militancy, violence, killers, criminal gang, human right abusers, forest dwellers, teenage criminals and murderers and not as the actual Nigerian Fulani people. This is not to exempt the different nomenclatures which the media has given to the different terrorist groups in Nigeria. We conclude therefore that there appears to be a negative image of the Fulani race amongst Nigerians which informs the character and image of banditry with which these normads are being tagged. 

João Anzanello Carrascoza

The criticism dedicated to the poet from the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso/ Mato Grosso do Sul Manoel de Barros is wide ranging, but in spite of the many approaches to his work, undertaken by the specialists of the literary field, according to us, it is still necessary to investigate, although briefly, the relevance of his discursive strategy, on the basis of the relationships between his poetical universe and the phenomenon of consumption. Thus we approach some characteristics of his stylistics, above all the reiterated exploitation of certain elements of the natural world(specially its emphasis on the “precarious” things and beings) and the linguistic inversions (which defy normative grammar), responsible for the “differentiating mark” of his work, which, in order to impose itself, deliberately moves away from the hegemonic path. In this discussion, we mobilise concepts of literary theory, of the interface between communication and consumption and of the precepts of the French Discourse Analysis.

Honghui Yang, Lin Qin

Faith in God has always been an extensively explored issue in English literary works, and this is particularly evident in Robinson Crusoe and Day. Many scholars hold the view that Robinson Crusoe is a deeply orthodox, unambiguous account of the hero’s spiritual journey toward faith and trust in God. However, few scholars focus on the analysis of religious exclusiveness in Robinson Crusoe, which is a rejection of other nations or cultures.Although the rejection was mentioned by some scholars such as McInelly (2003) from the aspect of colonialism, it was seldom analyzed from a religious point of view. In the eyes of Robinson Crusoe, a Christian, God is the supreme representative of justice and civilization, so he persuades Friday to give up his original belief and adopt correct notions of Christian doctrine. In his opinion, people who believe in Christ are civilized and educated, while others are ignorant and backward, thus cannibals who do not submit should be killed. A similar misfortune befell the“inferior barbaric” Jews, whose sorrowsare shown in Elie Wiesel’s Day, a book that describes the life of Jewish people who survived the Holocaust.As John T. Pawlikowski stated that traditional preaching and teaching in the churches constituted an indispensable seedbed for the success of the Nazi effort (Pawlikowski, 1988), the role religious elements played in the massacre should be figured out.Therefore, this paper aims to explore the role of God in Robinson Crusoe and Day from three aspects, faith in God, the exclusiveness of belief, and doubt of God.

Maria João Cantinho

From a very young age, Walter Benjamin’s influences were anarchism, revolutionary pre-romanticism and messianism. His paradigmatic text “The Life of Students” (1915) is from this phase, as well as other texts that reveal his thinking at the same time. Later, in 1924, Benjamin was confronted with dialectical materialism, based on Luckács’ work, History and Class Consciousness, under the influence of Asja Lascis. These three streaks referred to here (messianism, dialectical materialism and anarchism) constitute, throughout his work, the fabric that would give rise to his most finished thought, namely that which is expressed in his last text, “On the Concept of History”. As we intend to emphasize in this text, the idea of revolution is the most evident line in his last work, taking it as the expression of class struggle and, at the same time, of messianism. Here, we analyse these trends that ran through the philosopher’s thought and texts, during the thirties and until his death, in 1940, in the adverse context of fascism.