The Department of English at MKBU recently organized a National Seminar on ‘The Research Prospects in English Studies’. The Seminar commenced with a keynote address by Avishek Parui from IIT Madras, who set the tone for the day's proceedings. Two plenary sessions followed, which were conducted by Dr. Atanu Bhattacharya from CUG-Gandhinagar and Dr. Balaji Ranganathan from CUG-Gandhinagar, which shed light on ‘Research prospects in English Studies: The Technology Turn’ and ‘Problems of Postcolonial Studies in Chinese Literature’, respectively.
As a participant in this Seminar, I had the opportunity to present my research paper on ‘Adaptation Study: Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger from Novel to Text’ in the presence of Chairperson Dr. M.B. Gaijan and Dr. Bhavesh Parmar.
Here is my presentation
Here is a Video recording of the Presentation
Moreover, since the Seminar was organized by our Department, I also worked as a member of the #ICT_Team. Along with my teammate Emisha Ravani, I managed and conducted the online parallel session, which was planned for presenters from outside of Gujarat, using #Streamyard, which was streamed live. Together, we operated two devices - a laptop and a digital board - to ensure a seamless session. Although it was a challenging task, we successfully managed to handle everything throughout the session. This Seminar provided us with an opportunity to not only enhance our research and presentation skills but also improve our management, ICT, and organizational skills. We learned not only what to do but also what not to do.
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations, typically set on the Indian Subcontinent.
Recently, Salman Rushdie was attacked in New York on 12 August 2022, based on a fatwa issued on Feb. 12, 1989 for his work ‘The Satanic Verses’ (1988). Read the new in detail CLICK HERE
Novel:
Midnight’s Children is a Second novel of Salman Rushdie. Midnight's Children sold over one million copies in the UK alone and won the Booker Prize and James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1981. It was awarded the "Booker of Bookers" Prize and the best all-time prize winners in 1993 and 2008 to celebrate the Booker Prize 25th and 40th anniversary. In 2003 the novel appeared at number 100 on the BBC's The Big Read poll which determined the UK's "best-loved novels" of all time.
The novel basically is from Kashmir in 1917 to Bombay 1977, it brings us through the ending of British rule, the birth of a nation, the Partition of India and Pakistan, later the war of independence of Bangladesh, and finally, the Emergency under the government of Indira Gandhi.
Amidst the torrents of history emerges the main character Saleem Sinai. The film begins with his grandfather Dr. Aziz (Rajat Kapoor) in Kashmir, examining his patient and future wife Naseem (Shabana Azmi) through a perforated sheet. Then comes the next generation of Saleem’s parents Amina (Shahana Goshwami) and her husband Ahmed Sinai (Ronit Roy), moving to Bombay, giving birth to a baby boy at the stroke of midnight, the dawn of India’s independence on August 14, 1947. But baby Saleem is a changeling with another baby born at the same time, Shiva, by the hands of Mary (Seema Biswas) the nurse.
Narrative technique in Midnight’s Children
S. Rushdie’s Midnight's Children uses a unique and innovative style of narration which is completely different from traditional narrative techniques and makes his work challenging for readers. We find fragmentation and non- linearity in the narration. It uses varied elements like first person narration, oriental and western texts, magic realism.
William Walsh rightly praised Rushdie's technique,
"combining the elements of magic and Fantasy, the grimmest realism, extravagant force, multi- mirrored analogy, and a potent symbolic structure, Salman Rushdie has captured the astonishing energy of the novel unprecedented in scope, manner and achievement in the hundred and fifty- years old tradition of the India novel in English"
Author Salman Rushdie asserts his authority in condensing 533 pages into 148 minutes of screen time, offering us a concise rendition of an epic story spanning four generations.
“It was an exercise in discovering the essence of the book,” Rushdie said in an interview on CBC radio.
Firstly let us discuss the change in narration in adaptation. In film the narrator is directly speaking to viewers while the Novel has a traditional India (eastern) way of telling story, narrator Saleem tells his story to Padma as the reader eavesdrops, Similar to Nat and Sutra Dhar i.e, India Oral Narratological method.
In classic texts it is not necessary what is told but how it is told is important and Rushdie in his novel has brought a new set of literary terms. He broke grammatical rules and brought a significant relation between prose and cinema. Midnight's Children is rich in allusions to Indian history, literature, and mythology. Casting his unreliable first-person narrator, Saleem Sinai, in the mold of the traditional Indian story-teller.
Midnight’s Children open up as box- in- box stories, story within story the metaphor for this can be used are Russian Dolls and a Chinese box.
Narrative devices used in this novel are similar to the story method in Panchatantra, kathasarit sagar etc warriors stories. There is always a story and within stories are told or narrated to the listener as Saleem is telling stories to Padma and readers are provided with a variety of stories.
As in Panchatantra, there are the stories of animals (Fables) to teach the princes of the King Sudarshan or Amarshakti’s three sons named Bahushakti, Ugrashakti and Shakti.
Vishnu Sharma (Brahmin) knew that these three cannot be taught in conventional means so through stories of animals he gave them morals lessons and we got various stories. This story is frame within the frame.
Singhasen battisi where the 32 dolls on the sinhasan of Vikramaditya tells 32 stories to king Bhoj.In the frame story, the 11th century king Bhoj discovers the throne of the legendary ancient king Vikramaditya (also known as Bikramjit). The throne has 32 statues, who are actually apsaras that had been turned into stone due to a curse. Each of the apsaras tells Bhoja a story about the life and adventures of Vikramaditya, in order to convince him that he is not deserving of Vikramaditya's throne.
Similarly, we find a variety of Indian stories which are frame in frame, a conversation between narrator and listeners and readers get a variety of stories. E.g.- Alif Laila – Arabian Nights, Baital Pachisi, Kathasaritsagara, Shahrazad, and Shahryar. Adding to it also our epics Ramayana and Mahabharata and not forgetting Girish Karnard’s Hayavadana.
Western Postmodernist Devices
Eastern narratological devices
Unreliable narrator
Sutradhar- Nati
Social Realism
Magical realism/ Fantasy
Historical events
Counter Historiography
Framed narration
Framed Story telling
Mythical technique- for the sake of universalization
Parodic treatment
Rushdie adopts the device of Magic realism in Midnight's children. characteristics of this new style were identified as the mingling of the realistic and fantastic, natural and supernatural, skillful time shifts, use of dreams, myths, fantasy and fairy tales. While reading Midnight's Children we find that the whole novel is a perfect combination of reality and imagination between the real and the unreal. There are many places in Midnight's Children where Rushdie used the device of magic realism for the framework of the novel. When we go through the novel, we find that Saleem Sinai, the protagonist, has the gift of having an incredible sense of smell which allows him to determine other's thoughts and emotions. With a sneeze, he could call a conference of all the midnight’s children and call off the conference also. Rushdie's use of magic realism and his exuberant prose, which features extensive use of symbolism and hyperbole, led many critics to compare his style with that of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Rushdie also added a pinch of Bollywood, Bombay cinema. Melodramatic elements like changing of children in the hospital, real- parents, and step-parents' behavior over truth. Also, the alter- egos of Saleem and Shiva come up as Heroes and villains in the story.
We find the use of Hindi and Urdu in the English novel which can be considered as a chutnification of language. The words like 'ekdum', 'angrez', 'nasbandi', 'dhoban', 'firangee', 'rakshasas', 'garam masala', 'baba', 'badmash', 'goondas', 'sarpanch', 'paan', 'khichari', 'gur' etc. are used in flawless English. Also expressions and phrases such as 'baap-re-baap', 'hai-hai', 'sab kuch', 'chi-chi', pyar kiyadarna kya', 'ooper-niche', 'bhai-bhai', 'nimbu-pani' etc.
The narrative style used by Rushdie makes it a unique, wonderful, and mind-blowing novel.
Characters in the novel and in the movie.
Midnight’s children is a heavy book of more than 600 pages and it is difficult to bring such a magnificent book into the film of two and a half hours. As we discussed in the style of narration has a variety of stories in it, like a Russian doll it opens into a new story. So to bring such a large and fragmented tale into a movie is a difficult task. It is possible if a web series is prepared on it the OTT platform according to today’s trend then perhaps the director can conclude and have the essence of the whole novel Midnight’s Children.
We find a whole Wikipedia page on the list of characters in Midnight’s children. CLICK HERE to visit it.
The film adaptation has taken very few important main characters from the novel which has completely changed its narrative. The important character in the Novel Padma who is the listener of narrator Saleem is not adapted or excluded in the film.
Character in the movie are:
Saleem Sinai
Parvati
Shiva
Ghani
Naseem
Young Naseem
Mary
William Methwold
Wee Willie Winkie
Aadam Aziz
Jamila
Zulfikar
Emerald
Amina
Joseph D'Costa
Ahmed Sinai
Picture Singh
Alia
Nadir Khan
Indira Gandhi
Hardy
Governor
Laurel
Field Marshal
Astrologer
Rajesh Khera
Salman Rushdie, the narrator
The original book consists of more than 89 characters and in the film, only 26 characters are included. If we watch a movie without any previous reading about the text and historical background it becomes difficult for us to understand the movie or storyline. As a Novel, film adaptation also seems to be fragmented. We realize that the novel has told a variety of stories that can not be bound in a limited time.
In the movie, some small parts are symbolically talked about. The novel has a glimpse of Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati (Rustom Pavri)’s case, Commander Sabarmati, and Laila Sabarmati’s case, which brings out the idea of a mother’s extramarital effect. And to bring this idea to the novel Rushdie used the poster of Mother India movie.
There are many such things or events from the novel told symbolically or excluded. We can understand the difficulty to bring so many stories into one movie but still somehow Rushdie's Film adaptation has tried to bring the essence of the novel. But definitely, we don't get the whole idea of a novel through movies. While watching Pride and Prejudice film adaptation 98% of the novel’s storyline and plot idea can be known but it's not the case with this Novel and Movie, so if one is interested in it he/ she must read the novel.
Hello everyone! This blog is our assignment task and in this blog I am answering some question from the Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein - The Modern Prometheus (1818)
Que.-1 Why was Victor not able to accept his dream experiment and its result?
Frankenstein believes that by creating the Monster, he can discover the secrets of “life and death,” create a “new species,” and learn how to “renew life.” He is motivated to attempt these things by ambition. He wants to achieve something great, even if it comes at great cost. Frankenstein might be desperate to “renew life” because he was still grieving for his mother. One stormy night, after months of labor, Victor completes his creation. But when he brings it to life, its awful appearance horrifies him. He rushes to the next room and tries to sleep, but he is troubled by nightmares about Elizabeth and his mother’s corpse. He wakes to discover the monster looming over his bed with a grotesque smile and rushes out of the house. He spends the night pacing in his courtyard. The next morning, he goes walking in the town of Ingolstadt, avoiding a return to his now-haunted apartment. The two years of Victor’s labour resulted in an ugly, hideous, giant 8 feet tall and equally broad creature. The first appearance of the creature frightened Victor, Victor when started an experiment he was with an ambition and he wanted to achieve his dream but after the creature was ready it got a life the social human inside the Victor woke-up. He started realizing that the society won't accept such a giant creature along with its hideous look. Society might run away or get afraid of it.
Along with, Victor must not have realized that creature is like a newborn child, a complete clean stale. As a child, they didn't know how to talk, read, stand, sit and walk. He also didn't know any of them. Creature was innocent, kind and humble like an infant but Victor felt that he might be monstrous mentally same as his physical appearance. Thinking of the society and society’s reaction he abandoned the creature and could not accept his dream experiment.
Que.-2 What made the creature a monster? The monster is Victor Frankenstein’s creation, assembled from old body parts and strange chemicals, animated by a mysterious spark. He enters life eight feet tall and enormously strong but with the mind of a newborn. Abandoned by his creator and confused, he tries to integrate himself into society, only to be shunned universally. Looking in the mirror, he realizes his physical grotesqueness, an aspect of his persona that blinds society to his initially gentle, kind nature. The monster faces rejection and fear from his creator and society. The monster is the worst kind of scientific experiment gone awry. He does acquire humane characteristics, even compassion for his "adopted" family, the De Lacey's. The creature also begins to learn about himself and gains general knowledge through the books he reads and the conversations he hears from the De Lacey's. As depicted by Shelley, the monster is a sensitive, emotional creature whose only aim is to share his life with another sentient being like himself. From the beginning, the monster is rejected by everyone he meets. He realizes from the moment of his "birth" that even his own creator cannot stand the sight of him. The monster is a vegetarian. While speaking to Frankenstein, he tells him, "My food is not that of man; I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment...The picture I present to you is peaceful and human. "At the time the novel was written, argued that practicing vegetarianism was the morally right thing to do. The monster was equal to all human beings but yet he was not accepted by society only because of his look. And this again and again rejection also by his own creator frustrated the creature and the fire of revenge glowed inside him. Also when he demanded for a female mate, Victor destroyed it before giving life to the female mate. This made the creature angry that why should I (creature) spend his life in solitude and Victor enjoys his life. And in this anger he killed victor’s wife on wedding night. Seeking revenge on his creator, he kills Victor’s younger brother.
After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster’s solitude, the monster murders Victor’s best friend and then his new wife. We can see in the Novel that at the end Victor is in the same position like a creature alone with no partner and living life moving in the jungles in search of a creature.
Que.- 3 Who is suffering from Deformity in the novel? What kind of deformity and disability is there? Who decides what deformity is? The creation characterizes his physical appearance as a deformity because by the time this particular story is told in the larger scheme of the novel, he already has a firm grasp of language and comprehends conceptually aesthetic standards of corporeal beauty. As such, when the creation sees his reflection in the pool of water, he has an epiphany; he realizes he does not look even remotely similar to anyone else around him. Thus, such an observation on the part of the creation foreshadows the manner in which he is and will be received by others, as something instead of someone, thereby bestowing on him a nonhuman presence. A distinction like this further implies that he is more of a creation than a male human being, and as a result, he is considered inferior and misshapen. The creation seems to be an object of disgust and horror to all of those with whom he comes into contact, he develops a consciousness that he is ugly and it is this low esteem in regard to his appearance that becomes a disability. According to the novel, as mentioned above, the physical deformity is shown in the character of the creature. But if we look at the things and sympathize with the creature we realize that the real deformity is in the mind of society. The mental deformity is perceived when we see the behavior of society towards creature only because of his physical appearance, no one tries to talk to him or tried to understand him or know him everyone started beating/ lynching him whenever they saw him in such a manner that creature started living in jungles. Their behavior towards the creature was only because of his looks. By the acceptance of the creature blind old man justifies that the creature was surely abandoned by everyone because of his looks. Through this we can easily say that in spite of the creature suffering from the deformity or disability the real deformity in the minds of society is judging people on their outer looks instead of inner beauty. As it is said- ‘never judge a book by its cover.’
What deformity is is decided by the majority of the same type of people. For example if there is an area where the people are without nose and ears and if a person enters there with nose and ears then that person becomes a deformed one for the people of that area. In the case of the creature, the society found the creature to be deformed as it was giant in comparison to them and had a lot of scars on its face which the society didn't have.
Que.-4 Can appearance overpower reality? Appearance vs Reality is one of the most common themes used in literature to this day and has been explored in many ways. Phaedrus once stated, “Things are not always as they seem; the first appearance deceives many.” Appearances can deceive people because humans are so prejudiced against people that do not look, talk, walk, or act like them. Appearances and reality are two very distinct things, with one being a blindfold to one’s judgment and the other being a wake up call. In Novel Victor, a scientist; The monster, Victor’s creation; and Justine Moritz, who is accused of murder; all appear to be something they are not. Victor, Justine, and the creature are all examples of the struggle between appearances and reality.
Victor is scientist and his ambition shows the love for life and creature we love the character but creature get alive he abandon him and we see his negative side reality comes to us, same happens with the creature in the novel, he is always judged on his looks and no one accepts him despite he was kind, innocent and humble everyone judged him to be wild and monstrous sur to his looks. Also the character of Justine, she is accused for the murder of the William as belonging of William was found with her bur the reality was something else. This is how the appearance deceived the reality of these characters. Talking in context to appearance overpowering reality is seen in the character of the creature. The reality of monster was kind, innocent and humble he was like a child but the discrimination of society and human towards him, abandon by his own creator saddened him, he was disturbed by the behavior of society only based on his looks. After getting beaten by the DeLacey family he got frustrated and decided to take revenge for making his appearance hideous from his creator. Till that creature realized that he is ugly so one one is accepting him and thinking of him being a monster. The creature thought- if they are thinking me to be a monster then now I'll be a monster. And in power of being the monster he takes the revenge from his creator as mentioned in answer 2. Here we see that yes, appearance can overpower reality. And the example from the novel is the creature.
Que.-5 Who is the real villain in Frankenstein? At first glance, the monster in Frankenstein is a symbol of evil, whose only desire is to ruin lives. He has been called A creature that wreaks havoc by destroying innocent lives often without remorse. The Monster is Frankenstein’s antagonist. He prevents Frankenstein’s goal both by what he does and what he is. Frankenstein’s ambition is to achieve something great, but the Monster’s terrifying appearance forces Frankenstein to recognize that not only has he not achieved something great, he may have done something terrible. Once the Monster starts killing everyone Frankenstein loves, Frankenstein can’t help but acknowledge that his creation has the potential for evil. After being thwarted in his desire to create something good, Frankenstein’s ambition requires him to destroy the Monster, but again the Monster thwarts him. Another possible antagonist is Frankenstein himself. Frankenstein directly thwarts the Monster’s goal of human connection by refusing to sympathize with the Monster himself and refusing to create a companion for him. The Monster initially sees Frankenstein as a father figure, but Frankenstein denies him a familial relationship. But after the novel is looked at on different levels, one becomes aware that the creature wasn't responsible for his actions, and was just a victim of circumstance. The real villain of Frankenstein isn't the creature, but rather his creator, Victor. As a romantic novel Victor is responsible, because he abandoned his creation. As an archetype novel, Victor is the villain, because he was trying to play god .When Victor created the creature, he didn't take responsibility for it. He abandoned it, and left it to fend for itself. It is unfair to bring something into the world, and then not teach it how to survive. The creature was miserable, and just wanted a friend or someone to talk to. Here if we see Victor as an antagonist then we should not miss that Victor is representing the human society in the Novel especially after the creation of the creature.
After the creature got alive the main thought what Victor got was keeping the society in the center he didn’t see his own dream coming true but thought as a normal human that creature won't be accepted by the society. So here we can say that Victor is a villain ultimately the society is the real villain.
[word count- 2073] Thank you for the visit. I hope this answers would have been helpful to you. Any queries or suggestions please write in comment box.
