Effects of the liberation war of Bangladesh and the post-liberation trauma of the freedom-fighters
Amrin Khanom Mifta, Department of English, American International University Bangladesh

Abstract: The study demonstrates the effects of the war on the freedom-fighters, their daily-life traumatic experience during the battle, post liberation life and their perspective of independence and victory that is brought by them. Men and women who participated directly or indirectly, into the liberation war of Bangladesh showed their courage, confidence, patriotism as well as faced torture, death and betrayal. People who watched and experienced the brutality of the battlefield are left with both pride and trauma in themselves. But the question is after bringing the victory, if they’re receiving the opportunities, honor and the basic rights. The paper explores the deadly and brutal experiences of women who have survived the battle with the grievous memories and visions of those days which have turned into nightmare. The research was conducted through case studies where 8 female participants were inquired to bring the results in light. All of the participants were interviewed personally and their responses were analyzed individually. Through this analysis, the study tried to highlight their struggles and contribution into the birth of Bangladesh.

 

Alienation, Biophilia, and the Land Ethic: A Postcolonial Ecocritical Study of the Thirdspace in Ben Okri’s The Famished Road
Rifa Tasnia & Jannatul Fardous, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)

Abstract: This paper aims to analyze the thirdspace in Ben Okri’s The Famished Road (1991) from a postcolonial ecocritical perspective. This paper is qualitative in nature, using the typology of exploratory research with the research method of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). During the conflict between the imagined space and the lived space, alienation, biophilia, and the land ethic emerge in what Edward Soja calls “the Thirdspace”. The thirdspace constantly challenges and negotiates power relationships as it “never stands alone, totally separate from its precedents, or given absolute precedence on its own” (Soja, 1996). The thirdspace is the space of an-Other way of thinking in The Famished Road where the protagonist, Azaro struggles to reconcile the mortal realm in an impoverished ghetto of an African city and the spiritual realm, the world of the spirits and boundless nature. Many works have been done on the novel from the postcolonial landscape but a research gap is found as no paper attempted to work on postcolonial ecocritical approach through Soja’s thirdspace, Wilson’s biophilia hypothesis and Leopold’s land ethic. This paper attempts to use postcolonial ecocriticism from a different light to understand if Azaro’s imagined space (full of nature images) is the result of the biophilia hypothesis as well as the land ethic in the novel. It will also explore how his lived space creates alienation as it cannot fulfill his wishes to be connected to nature because of decolonization. In conclusion, the conflict of the thirdspace in Azaro is that nature only exists vividly in the imagined space, clashing with his lived space since it cannot return the yearning of being connected to nature. Keywords: Thirdspace, Alienation, Biophilia, the Land Ethic, Postcolonial Ecocriticism.

 

Differing Representation of Female Passion in Greek and Indian Classics: A Study of Agamemnon, Medea and Sakuntala
Amitav and Samia, Chittagong Independent University

Abstract: Greek and Indian classics reveal a comparative representation of women in their social and familial expectations, and relationship with and allegiance to their men. This is remarkably evident in the portrayal of women protagonists in these classics, particularly in the rage of vengeance against their husbands as well as the passion for forgiveness towards them. Aeschylus’ Agamemnon (458 BC) and Euripides’ Medea (431 BC) manifest how husbands’ heinous actions perpetrated on their wives and children seethe in women – Clytemnestra and Medea, respectively – and prompt them towards varying strategies of inflicting vengeance. On the other hand, in Kalidasa’s Sakuntala (4th century CE), women, almost in identical circumstances, remain disinclined to the act of vengeance and predisposed to forgiveness lending a satisfactory end to the play. This begs an exploration of why and how women differ in attitudes and drives differ from geographical differences of the West and the East. This paper aims to explore, in these three classical plays Agamemnon, Medea and Sakuntala, the differing female ethos, attitudes and backlashes against their husbands’ masculinity, cruelty and impassivity towards their female counterparts. It concludes that these are the geographical differences, cultural factors and social expectations that generate differing reactions in women to almost the same contexts.

 

The Rite to Adulthood in Salinger’s Holden and Tagore’s Phatik
Sanjida Tasnim, Department of English, Dhaka University

Abstract: This paper discusses how conflicts at interpersonal relationships during puberty (boyoshondhi ) shape identities of youths across cultures. This paper focuses in particular on the central characters of Holden Caulfield in Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1951) and Phatik Chakrabarti in Rabindranath Tagore’s “Chhuti” (1892-93), which were written in respectively American and Bengali contexts. The conflicts that these characters constantly and begrudgingly experience arise from the clash between innocence and experience, expectation versus reality, and selfhood versus others. The theoretical lenses of Kierkegaard and Lacan will be used to analyze these multidimensional aspects of the characters. A critical analysis shows that these vulnerable youths seek to anchor themselves in their collapsing worlds, only to be tormented to the point of collapsing themselves.

 

Investigating the CALP* of Bangladeshi English language learners: A study on the first year ESOL* students
Akibur Rahman Khan, IML, Dhaka University

Abstract: The study intended to find out the current state of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) of Bangladeshi ESOL students. For the evaluation of the subject matter, the researcher followed the mixed methodology of study and aimed to find out the answers to three research questions. First-year ESOL students of the University of Dhaka were the population of this study. To estimate the current state of CALP, the researcher conducted a language proficiency test of the participants through the Woodcock-Johnson (WJ) language proficiency test of CALP. Moreover, the researcher interviewed two teachers of the participating students with a set of semi-structured interview questions to explore the issues related to students’ CALP levels. Finally, the researcher formulated the findings of the study by constructive analysis of the collected data. Furthermore, the researcher also outlined several recommendations on the ways of improving the current CALP level of the Bangladeshi students along with an extensive future research direction on the same subject matter.

 

Happiness, Belonging, and Generation Gap: A Close Reading of The Namesake
Banid Akhter & Shahtaj Ara Ananya, Department of English, East Delta University

Abstract: Any text having its roots within a diasporic setting, be it personal or situational, is expected to project some key elements that make the contrapuntal characters distinct from each other. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (2003) deals with such a prerogative ramification resulting from the generation gap which is depicted through a chain of gradual-but-evident and discernable surfeit of consequences. This study places its concern at this very juncture of time and place where the variables of happiness interplay within the context of belonging and generation. Through close reading, the variables of authentic happiness (Seligman, 2003), which are pleasure, engagement, and meaning, had been explored using the content analysis framework of White and Marsh (2006). Through manifest content analysis displays these variables as dominant and Gogol’s reactions to the surroundings dexterously reflect the chemistry of such correlatives, Ashoke and Ashima’s wobbly psychological states redirect to their sense of belonging (Baumeister and Leary, 1995) as discovered after latent content analysis. This investigation concludes claiming that the problematic issues rising from the generation gap as recorded by Lahiri have their origins in two different purviews where Gogol suffers from a lack of engagement and meaning and his parents go through another crisis resulting from their struggles to connect emotionally with the society.

 

Conflict and Crisis in Khaled Husseini's The Kite Runner
Tasnova Tabassum, East West University

Abstract: Khaled Husseini's The Kite Runner is a phenomenal novel that shows the bitter face of society and its inhabitants. The author has talked about many significant social issues, for instance, class discrimination, sexual revenge, endangerment of minority rights, and many more that are still relevant to this date. Moreover, he also sheds light on the inner turmoil of characters and how it affects their life choices. This research has been conducted to explain these issues from the perspective of Marx's conflict theory and Freud's internal conflict theory, providing a sociological and psychological reading of the novel. It will try to explain the internal struggle of the id, ego, and superego of the central characters and how it creates a domino effect that results in bigger societal problems. Furthermore, it will attempt to propose potential solutions to curb such issues. As conflict is a vast area in literature, this research will open the door for future researchers to explore and analyze the novel's characters and setting from different perspectives, focusing on more such conflicts.

 

Addressing Conflict through Graffiti in the Politics of Bangladesh
Saima Jannat Rahamony, Eastern University

Abstract: Conflicts have always been called to attention through arts. Taken for example, the revolutionary painting ‘Guernica' by Pablo Picasso was illustrated as an anti-war concept, which was commissioned in response to the inhuman bombing of the city Guernica by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Likewise, graffiti, a visual art form usually made on walls, manifests varied aspects of conflicts, most prominently against state policies. Since it is made on walls within public view, it is not permanent. But it is used as an instrument of silent protest mainly by non-elites to bring a permanent change. My research question was to find out the roles of the graffiti in the cultural aspects of Bangladesh. To find the answers, I have interviewed two painters from two generations – a graffiti artist on liberation war and a young painter from my generation. While analyzing their responses, this paper shows graffiti images from different movements to portray how graffiti has always been an inherent part in the politics of Bangladesh. However, my paper also shows that the faces of the conflict which the graffiti expresses are changing with time. Graffiti back in 1971 manifested conflicts for achieving liberation while, at present, graffiti expresses protests against social injustices. This paper also shows that graffiti has always been a mode of student movements in Bangladesh. My concluding remark is youths should be allowed spaces to address conflicts through graffiti as long as it initiates scopes for positive changes.

 

Trauma and Its Manifestations in Dattani's Final Solutions
Khandakar Makjum Wahid and Md. Shams Arifin Sourav, Department of English, Jahangirnagar University

Abstract Trauma is a prevalent aspect of everyone's life, particularly, in a postcolonial setting. Trauma usually involves an extreme, even catastrophic sense of shock. And it can be traced both from an individual as well as collectively from society. Understanding trauma and its manifestations within a particular cultural setting help to understand the characters of a literary text. The purpose of this study is to locate trauma and its manifestations in Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions. Dattani's play portrays a hostile relationship between the Hindus and Muslims within an lndian setting. In this cultural setting, communal violence is very common and this acts as the foundation of the play. But in order to understand the psychology behind the events and the characters, we must analyze and understand the manifestation of trauma. In this study, trauma will be analyzed through the personal trauma model proposed by Cathy Caruth (i996) as well as the collective trauma theory of Kia Erikson (1991). Trauma, according to Caruth, is recurrent, eternal, and indescribable. She calls personal trauma repetitive since it keeps coming up in the character's flashbacks. Furthermore, she thinks that because it leaves a person stranded at a particular place, personal trauma is eternal. Erikson, on the other hand, thinks that community is destroyed by collective trauma. According to him, merciless colonization, military conflict, natural disasters, a lack of rights, tougher socio-political situations, and natural disasters are only a few of the causes that contribute to collective trauma. The study will, therefore, analyze Final Solution by tracing and understanding both personal trauma and collective trauma and their different manifestations.

 

The Inner Conflict of the Self and the Precariousness of Morality in Crime and Punishment
Syeda Fatema Rahman, North South University

Abstract: “Doestoevsky…asserts that people’s wills and their deeper unconscious desires are far more important in shaping actions, accounting for wars and such human behavior as lying and cheating,” Peter Childs writes in Modernism. It should also be noted that Fyodor Dostoevsky was writing before Sigmund Freud; yet Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (1866) portrays the complex conflict of the self through the mind of the protagonist, Raskolnikov. His very consciousness is polarized. His conscious mind propels him to think he has a choice in actions such as murder and confession; but his unconscious mind is one step ahead of him to ensure its will is executed, which effectually leaves him with no choice. This paper explores such issues and illuminates them through Freudian ideas such as repression and the dream work. Moreover, Raskolnikov’s indecision and procrastination often echoes that of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which conveys the continuity of the idea of inner conflict in literature throughout history. Additionally, another key context is that nihilism can be traced to 19^th century Russia and, thus, it permeates the moral problems posed by Crime and Punishment. The authority of a universal, irrefutable morality that weaves together the very fabric of civilization is questioned through the reasoning of a mind tormented by a theory that underscores how men like Napoleon were celebrated as ‘benefactors of mankind’ despite breaking the law. Assaulted by nihilism, the essence of morality could crumble and, consequentially, human existence could crumble into a state of anarchy. Thus, to escape the dangerous abyss such a precarious morality could plunge humanity into, Dostoevsky resorts to the comfort of conscience; as conveyed by the sudden resurrection of Raskolnikov’s spirit. From the social construct of ‘madness’ to the irrationality of the ‘letter of the law,’ Dostoevsky raises fundamental questions about the ‘unquestionable.’ Through a close reading of Crime and Punishment, this paper finds that the given resolution to such questions, and to the inner conflict of Raskolnikov’s mind, hides an ambiguity behind the apparent definiteness of the epilogue. This paper also argues that the novel conveys how the inner mind prevails over reason and rationality. Ultimately, the novel comes remarkably close to touching, and thereby illuminating, that which is intangible and fathomless – the human mind.

 

Ethnic Language Death in Bangladesh
Mohammad Adil, Premier University, Chattogram

Abstract: Among the 6,000 languages spoken today, experts suggest only 10% stand a chance to live in the long run, and more than 50% are already on the verge of extinction. Similarly, there are around 39 languages people speak in Bangladesh. Apart from a few, most are critically endangered, while some are already dead. A language dies when no one says it anymore or when people migrate to another language. This paper examines the state of our vulnerable ethnic languages, why they cannot compete with the powerful language spoken by the majority, why we should be concerned about these endangered languages, and what we have done to revitalize them. The study followed a qualitative research methodology, and primary data were collected from twenty ethnic language users. The data collection tools have been questionnaire submission. The study has tried to identify the reasons for the death of ethnic language and recommend some solutions to preserve the language.

 

Depiction of Gender Diversity in 21st Century Literature
Kazi Sirajam Munira, Department of English, Ranada Prasad Shaha University

Abstract: The aim of this article is to examine the portrayal of gender diversity in the context of 21st century literature. More specifically, this paper discusses the portrayal of heterogeneous gender identities in literature, particularly between the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries. The concept of gender diversity is a popular but controversial issue. By analyzing the ways in which different gender communities were represented and are represented in various literary works, it becomes clear that different genres portray each gender following a different concept. Since the feminist movement, the belief that sex and gender define the role of a person in society that has been dismantled. From the perspective of a feminist and a classicist, this write-up tends to recombine the information found while studying the literary works of the pre-feminist and post-feminist movements, attempting to produce a well-supported argument on the delineation of diverse gender communities. From Little Women by Louisa May Alcott in the 19th Century, Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin in the 20th Century and the Heart Stopper by Alice Oseman in the 21st Century and some other books have been used as references in this article to refer to the feminist, LGBTQ+ and other gender communities. From the discussion, I want to state that the portrayal of different gender identities is giving voice Through literature. Literature is not defined by sex or gender; it is a reflection of a culture and community. So, every gender ought to be treated with respect and subtlety.

 

Projection of Gender Roles in Fiction and Reality: A Study on Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and Saul Bellow’s Seize the Day
Mehenaz Sultana Tisha, Department of English, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology,

Abstract: Gender is often mistaken as a biological phenomenon rather than social among most individuals. It is considered an idea that is hereditary or an occurrence that is out of control. For that reason, human beings attempt to impose specific roles based on a person’s sexual category over other humans as soon as they are born. In the novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini renders an impression of Afghan culture and its strict social expectations through the story of a boy growing up to be a man with unresolved inner conflicts. Similarly, in the drama, Seize the Day, Saul Bellow paints a lifelike image of a man struggling to meet exhausting expectations solely for his gender identity. This paper aims to focus on several occurrences of imposed gender roles in the works and examine how those events eventually affect the characters’ persona, behaviour, and decisions. It also inspects the effects of gender expectations and gender role conflicts through a psychological lens and attempts to come to a conclusion on the acceptability of such a socio-cultural supposition.

 

A brief study of Black Psychology about Double Consciousness of African Americans in The Bluest Eye and “The Mask”
Sumaiya Meem & Udoy Mehbub, Department of English, Stamford University

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyze how the concept of identity crisis, struggle of racism and gender construction all are portrayed in Toni Morrison's first ground breaking novel, The Bluest Eye and how these are interrelated with the illusionary fascination regarding white beauty standards. The article will scrutinize the expedition of Morrison’s Afro-American protagonist's struggle of alter ego between blackness and whiteness. It will also investigate the deep-rooted conflict between white and black in the hierarchical relationship of superior and inferior through the perspective of Maya Angelou’s well celebrated poem “The Mask”. Both The Bluest Eye and “The Mask” will be under investigation about the construction of black-self; an encounter the white economic, social, cultural domination.

As both the writings try to endeavor the psychic struggle of black females, the article will further concentrate to excavate the black feminine construction.

 

Trauma and the trope of splitting embedding in Bilkis, protagonist of the film Guerilla and the agony of Mariam and Laila in A Thousand Splendid Suns
Sanjida Kawsar, Department of English, University of Chittagong

Abstract: War is the penultimate process of brutality where two or more nations or two or more parties of a country fight for their rights and civilians suffer the consequences carry the legacy of trauma which isn’t cured even after a huge generational progress. War escorts traumatic experiences like grief, violence, mental disorder, PTSD, psychological imbalance etc. The way umbilical cord carries the elements from mother to child, the trauma is passed to the next generation. War leads a tranquil, peaceful, and genial spirited society into a scattered, anarchical society and no one can bridge the mental breach. This paper manifests how women had been traumatized in the time of war and after the war. This exhibits Guerilla, a Bangladeshi movie based on the events of The Liberation War of 1971 directed by Nasiruddin Yousuf Bacchu which is an adaptation of the novel Nishiddho Loban, by Syed Shamsul Huq and A Thosand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini where Afganistan’s brutal civil war is shown in an expressive manner. Guerilla reveals how a woman named Bilkis Banu goes through a tremendous cerebral change after losing her husband in Operation Searchlight and chooses the path of outcry and how she uses her trauma as a weapon against the Pakistani army. A Thousand Splendid Suns shows how lives of two women metaphorically changes after the Taliban invasion in the civil war and how trauma catalyses them. Therefore, this paper aims at showing the traumatic struggle of these women caused by war and their way of adapting with the trauma.

 

 

Faux Representations: A Study of the Politics of Language Surrounding Trans and Gender Diverse Communities in Bangladesh
Amreeta Lethe Chowdhury, Department of English and Humanities, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB)

Abstract: “Trans,” “Hijra,” “Third gender” — throughout the years, a miscellany of labels have been used (often without the input or approval of those concerned) to describe the groups occupying the most visible section of the queer community in Bangladesh. From casual speech to media, and from corporate publicity stunts to legislation, the very language used to supposedly “include” and “empower” these communities of gender diverse people betrays the blatant misuse, misunderstanding, and misrepresentation of their plight, often to opportunist and self-centred ends. This paper attempts to analyse a variety of relevant examples and uncover the fundamental conflict existing between gender diversity in Bangladesh and the language used to capitalise on, legitimise, or vilify it. Close examination will further reveal how this issue not only encompasses the politics of language, but also class relations, colonial history, and the effects of globalization on the modern queer movement in Bangladesh (as well as on those who oppose it).