Support from all sort of support including the technical one from the center uh uh the school center for the school of studies um gender culture and media West Bengal State University India that is also houses d l Society South Asia our first session is going to be a very special session with our
Invited uh keynote speaker Professor elizabeta Marino from Rome and the session will be chaired by Professor Ahmed aanan who is Professor Department of English in independent University Bangladesh Daka so over to Professor asan Zaman he incidentally he is one of the core members of Doris lesing Society
South Asia one of the key members from Bangladesh so over to sersa uh thank you and welcome everyone to the second day of the webinar titled the Quest for home women in the world not a fe joury organized by Society South Asia North Africa and also the center for gender culture and
Media WB University uh WB State University barasa um well those of us who were present yesterday we witnessed kind of a lively evening it was wonderful that is our students our colleagues friends from different parts of the world uh putting in their efforts best efforts I would
Say and made it a wonderful evening so it was more than 3 hours but none of us got exhausted tired even after a long days work so today I hope it’s going to be another enrolling session enrolling day as we have participants once again from across
The world and the first session is going to be elaba Marino and is good morning to right your smile tells it is the beginning of the day yes um so um I will not introduce El now I would do that later because I’m waiting for others to join so I would rather
Request elaba to begin his prer and hope others will join and we’ll be able to have interaction later so if it is all right perfect perfect thank you so much thank you very much and I am extremely happy and honored to be here and I really want
To thank the organizers my good friend budha for this very kind and appreciated invitation so thank you thank you thank you so um without further Ado I will start delivery my paper which is on the subject of otherness in a story that I selected because it is connected with
Italy and a very important icon for Italian people and Italian immigrants as well the figure of the black Madonna so um in the preface to our 1964 collection of African stories Daris lesin underlined the significance she attributed to short story writing and the pleasure she derived from crafting in such narratives she further
Reinforced her commitment to this literary Pursuit by affirming that even if the only home for our stories were a private drawer due to the limited marketing opportunities she would persist in writing them notably within the same preface she also placed a strong emphasis on one particular story The Black madon
First published in Winter Tales 3 in 1957 as she declared in fact and I quote I am addicted to the black Madonna which is full of the bile that in fact I feel for the White Society in southern rodesia as I knew and hated it end quote this short story not only
Exemplifies one of the writer recurring themes namely racism and the fight against the scorge of haate but also elucidates her belief that the inability to embrace otherness and acknowledge the interconnectedness among fellow creatures lies at the heart of cultural social ethnic and gender imbalances and I quote what while the
Cruelties of the white men towards the black men are among the heaviest counts in the indictment Against Humanity color Prejudice is not our original fault but only one aspect of the atrophy of the imagination that prevents us from seeing ourselves in every creature that breathes Under the Sun end
Quote through a close reading of the black Madonna my paper sets out to explore the way lesing tackles the theme of otherness and debunks mids of superiority whether rooted in race or gender the African context proves highly meaningful for these analysis since beside being profoundly impacted by multifaceted
Inequalities it quote gives you the knowledge that man is a small creature among creatures in a large landscape as the writer herself noticed in the above mentioned preface in the black Madonna like in most of our African stories lesing consciously adopts a writing style she herself views as masculine being
Straight broad Direct cor conversely a feminine kind of writing is intense careful self-conscious and mannered these are the two forks of a wrote according to the author in so doing as Claire Hansen has pointed out he deliberately quotes attempts to enter the field of male discourse male history
And male power and quote in order to expose Challenge and subvert male power dynamics set in fictional Zambia which mirrors Southern rodesia the plot revolves around the evolving relationship between the Italian Mikel a former prisoner of war and Captain stalker a British officer assigned to oversee m M’s
Work given his diverse skills in Brick Lane and painting Mikel has been entrusted with building a simulated German Village in a remote area which is quite a bizarre Pursuit its spectacular destruction would serve as entertainment for the board white upper class while aiming at offering some glimpse into the reality
Of war and I quote headlines in the newspaper were not enough and in order to bring it all home to us they planned to destroy a village by shell fire before our very eyes so um in this very strange attempt um the very meaning of war the very significance and the Very tragedy
Of War is mocked and uh somehow deflated by uh the white people who are bored who don’t leave the war because they are far away but they want to experience the thrill of it and so they they stage this kind of fake destruction Zambia is depicted as quote rough sunburnt verile
Positive a positive country where Arts supposedly cannot flourish given the intimate connection between creativity and broader social values such as Liberty fraternity and the rest so in Zambia art cannot exist this masculine culturally starved land is inhabited by law abiding military men their seemingly insignificant wives who are doubly
Alienated from African life as Haider al- muari has observed due to their narrow-minded British identification and gender and a vast nameless majority of Africans which in the text they are called of African laborers they have no name they have no faith they’re just hands that work and work and work
Through that incessant toil the latter group ensures the lasure of the white minority at the outset of the narrative Captain stalker perfectly embodies the stereotypical British colonist in Africa he is blonde and quote stiff and shiny in his laund khaki this idea of cleanliness as against the dirt dirt of
The place his cold Dy are quote small and blue and angry and quote his mouth is narrow his large hands resemble bristle covered Stakes end quote readers gather that the grand blonde officer the way is called in the narrative is a disciplined man this is the way this is the objective that Doris
Lesing uses at the beginning of the story despite the double life El leads jealous of his wife whom he treats like a possession in truth he’s afraid of her and I quote she was a scornful creature gay and hard who laughed at him incapable of real affection unable to establish a genuine connection
Between equals Captain stalker can only indulge in extramarital sexual affairs with abuse native women who are forced to please him given their subaltern position Nadia is his favorite Bush wife his meaningless and worthless World epitomized by the stimulated Village and its anticipated destruction is ultimately undermined by
Mikel Joseph dma has argued that mikel’s function in the story is to provide emotional salvation to Captain stalker through the use of christological imagery in fact Mikela is allegedly endowed by Ling with a redem power is like a savior for Captain stalker it could be added that Mikel is
The name of the Archangel who leads the army of God a detail suggesting the character’s symbolic role in Waging War against futility and Prejudice indeed as the narrative proceeds he forces Captain stalker to adopt fresh perspectives albe it only for a short period but he does that and
He forces him to contemplate different points of view mik holds a linal position and seems to have access to multiple worlds he is both white and therefore belonging to a privileged minority and a prisoner of war an interne released after melini’s surrender but still prevented from returning home by the ongoing
Conflict so he has access to both worlds and being it said incidentally Italians especially Italians from the south of Italy were perceived even in America as uh Africans they were not considered fully white they didn’t display the correct shade of white on their body and face he is also an artist who employs
His paintings to Foster new ideas of communion solidarity and equality the transgressive frescos which decorate the church Church in the prisoners Camp feature an I quot quote swarthy peasants Gathering grapes from the Vintage beautiful Italian girls dancing plump dark eyed children and amid crowded scenes of Italian life
Appeared the Virgin and the child smiling and beneficent happy to move familiarly among the people so this is another strategy that Ling uses to undermine hierarchies because the Virgin and the child they move among normal people They are not above they are together with people they are as if they were normal
People when he is commanded to build the bogus Village he refuses to exploit African helpers with whom on the contrary he sings and dances and dances harmonizing and this is the verb used by the author with them and this is something that gives an attack of NAIA to Captain stalker because mik he’s
White and yet he mingles with the black people he dances with them he eats with them drinks with them and this eating and drinking this bread and wine that are mentioned in the text somehow are reminiscent of the Holy Communion of the Last Supper of an idea of solidarity and
Brotherhood among people which knows no borders Nik visibly enjoys life and he is not concerned with appearances and therefore is completely different from the captain he is indifferent to the way he stereotypically addressed and depicted in the text lesing um explores all the stereotypical representations of Italian people um Italians were called
Bloody W stands for without papers without passport especially in the American cont text Italians are called bloody cafir fattish Olive skinned Little Men Little Italians this idea of little and belittling Italian people is recurring as a stereotype in the text Mikel is not in the least intimidated by the officer who finds him
In this uh position he is in rolled up trouser an uncolored shirt unshaven mildly drunk with a bottle of wine standing beside him on the earth so the description of the captain clashes against the description of Mikel who is absolutely the opposite the reversal of the captain when mikel’s loyalty is
Tested and quite humorously the prompt construction of the fake Village is regarded as unquestionable evidence of loyalty Michela replies that he is not interested in defeating the Germans but is interested in the end of the war so he doesn’t site with anybody he only wants the war to end which will allow
Him this end of the war will allow him to return to his mother country and reunite with his beled wife so Mel looks at the essentials of life is not first he wants to live and be happy and enjoy the small pleasures of life with his wife and Children as the narrative unfolds Captain stalker is increasingly enthralled by his quote Savage speaking and longs to prolong what he defines as a holiday from himself a Liberation from the castrating constraints of his shallow life so somehow the contact with Michela is refreshing from the captain he begins to think differently outside the
Box he is even caught by some high ranking officer by while shamelessly singing and dancing with Mikel something that he had never done in his life his previous pristine appearance thoroughly spoiled and I quote the captain’s shirt was open down the front and there were stains on it and he doesn’t care because
He lives happily and it’s very interesting that when Mikel finishes his work and his construction of the bogus Village um Captain stalker asks for three more days three more days with him and this three days somehow are reminiscent of Christ Resurrection after the death um nonetheless the image of the black
Madonna The ancestral mother surrounded by black angels and black saints that Nik pains on the walls of the simulated Church in the phony Village proves too much for him so this Blackness and this female icon of power is too much for the captain who still can’t uh overcome all the Lines let’s delve a little bit more into the image of the black madona as ADV Jun has highlighted American authors of Italian descent have often drawn on vernacular Traditions they have Blended Catholicism with old and new mythologies as a vehicle for self-exploration and artistic affirmation remarkably enough Italian American artists and
Intellectuals have not been drawn towards the sorrowful silent Meek and selfless image of the matter dolosa emulated by so many domestic angel appeased in their unary position quite the opposite they seem to have deliberately elected as their Collective and individual protective icon an ancient potent and enigmatic female figure whose curious and puzzling
Color seems to correspond to the dark complexion of the newcomers from Sicily or Calabria who exhibited on their faces a different kind of white than those of the dominant Anglo-Saxon culture in the words of Fred gardy and therefore resisted assimilation or as one may be tempted to Define it Annihilation into the Melting
Pot something similar may be detected in Ling’s short story the powerful black Madonna defies every hierarchy subverts every stereotypical perception The Narrative ends in a cresendo of Anguish and pain it is decided that the captain’s unaccountable behavior is the result of some strange and obscure illness and therefore is promptly hospitalized and
Placed under the close observation by a nurse the captain succeeds in escaping to save Mikel who is about to get killed during the air raid since he refuses to leave the black Madonna and everything she emblematically stands for Mikel is rescued but the painting which he manages to break off the
Wall is emblematically symbolically despoiled in the very last pages of the story Mikel visits Captain stalker who is still in hospital and gives him another painting of the black Madonna as a present as a Memento of the old good times they shared call it the officer my
Friend so this black Madonna this new black Madonna that he paints is a token of friendship and is the emblem of this powerful bond that they established in this remote place uh which was not tainted apparently at least by hierarchies by stereotypes by racial um biases and um asymmetric relationships Ling’s conclusion however
Is rather bitter incapable of fully embracing difference Captain um stalker stares in dread and disgust at the black figure who Smiles at him from the canvas with at least this is how he perceives the female figure in the painting half innocence half malice this image serves as a reminder
Of his exploitative relationship with his Bush wives relationships he intends to resume as soon as he is discharge so um she is this this Madonna is on the one hand Innocent but on the one hand he reads in her eyes malice because this malice mirrors his own malice his own uh exploitative
Attitude so by refusing that meaningful gift by treating Mikela with contempt and repulsion a lesson signifies the impossibility of bridging divides of overcoming the invisible barriers that still affect modern day Africa leaving aside the Africa of the 1950s or the 1960s yet the very last sentence which betrays a more maternal
Inclusive emotional side in the captain probably the outcome of the fruitful grafting with a culture different from his own suggests some hope thus showing the potential for positive change or growth despite previous barriers and I would like to conclude with a very last sentence of the short story and I
Quote he turned his face to the wall and wept but silently not a sound escaped him for the fear the nurses might hear but these tears are extremely meaningful this tears signify a female side in this verile masculine shallow world and the possibility of a positive change thank you very
Much thank you very much for the wonderful presentation it was really has listening to you you know the way you tried to you know Place black madona in in in the in the perspective of listening studies that was really you know something special thank you very
Much elizab you so um well I didn’t introduce elizabetha because there were fewer participants at the beginning but I think it’s time I introduced her uh she is as a professor in in the University of Rome uh T Vata right yes yes yes that’s right uh and she has authored four
Monographs a volume on the figure of Tam in British American literature which is published in 2000 and an introduction to British banglades liter that’s wonderful bangl yeah well I look forward to reading it so it was published in 2005 and then I study on the relationship between marish shell and Italy published in
2011 and an analysis of the Romantic dramas on a mythological subject published in 2016 uh Elizabeth published the first Italian translation of Po of Maria majority learn in 2006 she edited coedited 12 Collective essays collection of essays and a special Forum of Journal of transnational American studies in
2012 she also coedited a special issue of De General General post Colonial literary and General Studies and that’s a recent publication it appeared in 2022 and and she has just translated the novel entitled Park water by elen good she has published extensively on the English romantic writers especially Mary shell
And P shell Indian diasporic literature Trav literature and Italian American literature and she has been teaching both English and American literature for over 20 years and she is the ch chair of the international resear Network Global Network of Liber arts and a member of the Str Committee of the international resar Network
Challenging precarity a Global Network so I don’t think it’s enough but since I should stop there um well I know that there is no Q&A for this special but if someone wants to just say a few words I think RNA has raised her hand and also I’d like to say something
If possible yeah all right so maybe we can spend five minutes is that okay yes perfect okay yes Dr anise all right okay thank you um well uh Elizabeth that was really wonderful so I have actually some comments to make if you don’t mind I have a question so
Um the first thing that you said something that really triggered like really you know triggered my uh curiosity um I worked in the United States of America with someone whose name Isis korian she’s Italian and she wrote A ha like a dissertation on how American women you know are perceived in
The American imaginary okay and actually you know what I found really interesting that you mentioned this is that um like the way the American public at that time during the 19th century early 20th century with the with the big waves of migration the perceptions were actually
More than um more than complex what I meant by this is that they were not only seen as subhuman African version do you know what I mean and I think part of the reason you know I’m saying this is that I think and you may tell me I think you
Are the expert in this is that um part like Amer like Italian people in America were perceived as you know this kind of subhuman which touches on the africanist but at the same time in that kind of subhumanity there’s a lot of you know intricate richness you know like they
Like like for example they think of uh Italian people they say for instance you know uh Mafia or they say pasta or you know all of those you know associations bathing you know so what can you uh uh tell us about this and my question um uh
Uh is the following so I really loved your focus on the black Madonna and you know uh if you want to be racist people use a discourse including religion right and I think by choosing the black Madonna as black skinned we are I think unsettling you know this kind of
Hierarchy of preferences like white over black blah blah blah so with this kind of symbolism uh in a very sh ring way how can we explain you know um this with the Lessing style which is masculine and you said that you know like by choosing the masculine voice in The Narrative in
A way it does inform and confirm at the same time bridge this with the fact that the black Madonna as a symbol does in a way detract or unsettle this line of you know hierarchies you know white blackah thank you thank you very much for this wonderful question I think that this is
A strategy that the author uses she appropriates the masculine voice in order to unsettle it through the use of this image this powerful female image of the black Madonna H the black Madonna is an extremely powerful uh icon also because uh um she is reminiscent of a time before history she’s
Prehistorical in the sense that she is uh she was and she is before the time men began recording history so uh she she she is the most um powerful image and um for this very reason also Italian Americans when they traveled when they immigrated use this image of the black madona as a
Self-empowering tool because I mean there is a whole tradition of bleaching black madonas I don’t know whether you’re aware of that um this has been something that has fascinated me for decades the fact that male uh hierarchies considered the black madonas as a mistake or as something that had occurred because of
The weather because of the ashes from the candles so black madonas were actually uh whitewashed okay but by men obviously by men whereas um they were reminiscent of a much more powerful symbolism they were connected with The Cult of the soil of the earth of this generative Cult of uh the mother
Figure with matriarchy and uh that’s the reason why um by appropriating the male voice he then subers it d l subers it through the use of the black Madonna so I thought that it was some kind of touch of Genius on the part of the writer thank you so
Much eleth I was so insightful thank you thank you did you want to say anything um thank you elizabeta for this wonderful talk I’m not surprised that’s you you know you’ve said something that summarizes the whole Spirit of this conference but also that summarizes what
Lesing um the way Ling wanted us to see the world you’ve mentioned the image of the Virgin being to together with people not above yeah okay that’s exactly the title of our conference taken from who inspired Dar lesing in the world not of it this is very beautiful and thank you for
Underlining this thank you elizabetha thank you thank you um all right so uh I think we can finish here and uh elizabetha has set the stone of today’s proceedings and we look forward to another exciting day uh so that I hand it over to shti to you once
Again thank you sir thank you Professor asan for sharing it so wonderfully thank you Professor Elizabeth Maro that was a splendid paper we are waiting to you know read more from you and more on Lessing also maybe um however we have to go on um to the next session which is
The third business session of this webinar and uh it is we have we call it Lessing through the many lenses of theories it is to be shared by a dear friend um Dr hanen bomi faculty of social sciences and Humanities un Unity of Tunis Tunisia we heard Professor
Bui’s fantastic paper last evening and today she is going to chair a session which will have three uh young professors presenting their takes on different aspects of Lessing through different theoretical apparatus thank you and over to Professor hanen um sorry Professor Bui and u the the speakers are there they have
Joined okay thank you STI very much good good afternoon everyone it’s a great pleasure both to participate in the panel of course with our guest and also to welcome you to this business session three uh titled Lessing through the many lenses of theories and here we have um
Participants who are going to examine lessons work in relation to history re writing Maternity in and out of homes and uh uh last but not least uh offer us some Eco feminist experiences and reading so I’m wondering if we have H Dr Shandra M with us good evening ma’am yeah hello so uh
Um the Dr Shand masan she’s an assistant professor in English from B University karaja Assam India um just a minute okay so yes it is yeah so uh she has been working in the department of English band University for the last 12 years she has published a number of articles
In reputed journals her areas of interest uh comparative literature translation studies and Indian writings in English presently she she has invol uh she has involved herself in dealing with research oriented on memory studies disability studies film studies uh Echo criticism uh Echo poetry NE historicism
And Trauma studies and um she is with us to present uh her paper titled the dialectics of historization and dehis a study of Doris Ling’s novel the grass is singing so uh over to you good luck yes sir thank you ma’am uh good afternoon ma’am uh respected chair person uh respected
Dignitaries uh in this platform STI ma’am and my dear fellow participants so uh the title of my paper is as m’am has already read out the dialectics of historicization and dehistoricization a study of Doris Ling’s novel the grass is singing The discourse of history is the most Most Fascinating part of any text
Doris Ling as a writer contributes a great deal in projecting history as one of the most dominating paradigms in the novel history in the novel appears sometimes as a factual reality and at other times as a cognitive identity the novel revolves around the figure of Mary tarner the protagonist in fact the first
Chapter of the novel as it reads a quote from the novel but even she since she was dead was no longer problem unquote the novel Chronicles The Saga of our parents and family with an abstract note on transmission and change this shows that her existence was no
Less than a problem for society and the community as well the then Society in South rudia gets foregrounded with the belief that I quote white civilization which will never never admit that a white person and most particularly a white woman can have a human relationship whether for good or for
Evil with a black person unquote the character of Mary Turner symbolizes a binary between loneliness and alation poverty and grievance and confusion and complexity my paper takes Doris Ling’s novel The grasses singing as a point of reference to analyze and examine the different events and episodes of abuse
That a young women encounters throughout her life and living this study emphasizes the psychological harms that a female passes through because of social Prejudice and Injustice it also aims to showcase the horrific personal experiences of a girl and her dilemma and distress it further insist on to highlight the varied connotations of the
Usage of the tra history particularly about imbalance discrimination and assault new historicism as a literary Theory started ifies the commodification of history and the altered one indeed it manifest its synthetic power to show the dialectic notion of historicization and dehistoricization green blood coined the term new historicism for the first time
Further he and gager write the notion of authenticity seemed and continues to seem misplaced for new historicism is not a coherent Clos need School in which one might be enrolled or from which one might be expelled the term has been applied to an extraordinary ass assortment of critical
Practices moreover green blood and John Branan explain new historicism that is concerned with the past again that past that serves as a momentum for the present political construction further my paper also refers to the uh definition of the term taken from from Oxford English Dictionary that defines it as a form of
Cultural analysis which examines how a cultural product interacts with and participates in its historical context especially concerning the power relations operating within the Society of its time further my paper also refers to Walter Scott who emphasizes a different alternative where he talks about the ways and the habits
Of the characters that also embody history Ling places a special emphasis on time and refers to the absolute necessity of the past to frame the present Ling’s historization of the text and dehistoricization of the contextual idea shows her as a psychologically Advanced and accorded figure lesing
Rightly says I quot from the novel for Mary the word home spoken nostalgically meant England although both her parents were South Africans and had never been to England land it is from this store that her father squandered his salary in drink and finally she becomes a
Wandering n native which is sent to who is sent to boarding school and her life has changed later she becomes a pleasant and a comfortable women in South Africa she seems to hate her childhood lesing writes she had the undistinguished dead level appearance of South African white democracy further MH Abram writes new
Historicist conceive of a literary text as situated within the institutions social practices and discourses that constitute the overall culture of a particular time and place and with which the literary text interacts as both a product and the producer of cultural energies and quotes unquote she seems
Mary Turner in the novel seems to be shy immune strong impersonal and conscious of our mind and thoughts as the novel read and so it had gone by day after day week after week year after year South Africa is a wonderful place for the unmarried white women
Unquote yes the later part of our life shows her changed self here she appears to be a hollow and emptied character even at the slightest provocation of kiss and sex she was not capable of recreating herself her favish and unsettled procla Mission proces her to meet uh dick Turner whom she later
Marries the hard brown African swell and the aring blue sky make him claustrophobic in at the periphery of time Doris Ling and the historical novel Philip sang writes Southern rhia prided itself on maintaining its regul englishness he further writes in her fictional rendition of rhia lesen captures his peculiar brand of
Englishness Mary’s concept of home and store signify yes ma’am signify her preoccupation both with English Legacy and African ideology Mary had a strange experience after she married dick it was not out of love but out of necessity to be secured in society after some time she feels caged and went out into the
Dark outside the house her raise against him and her anger was terrible to him in an in she seems to become viciously revengefully angry against him against the Matan against everyone she sees her future as a tired stoicism she becomes self- exhausted and that was the beginning of
An inner dis disintegration within her at a later period of Time Mary shows her discontent with the working people even as the novel reads they were suen and angry listening to her with inattention simply waiting for her to finish moreover the sensation of being boss over perhaps 80 black workers gave her
New confidence it was a good feeling keeping them under her will making them do as she wanted Ling writes she hated their sullenness their avered eyes when they spoke to her their veiled insolence and she hated more than anything with a violent physical repulsion the heavy
Smell that came from them a hot SAR animal smell in this regard I would like to quote rehard kelik who writes historical time if the concept has a meaning is bound up with social and political actions with concretely acting and suffering human beings and their institutions and organizations unquote the native who is
Addressed as the mission Boy by dick becomes a constant reality in the life of maritana Lessing writes it was impossible for marit Tarana to trust him out of her mind like something unclean his presence in her life seems to be powerful and commanding as well she watches him covertly and feels his
Presence overtly lesing introduces Moses as a native whose unconditional care for her well welfare made her think about their unnamed relationship she inwardly asked herself would they allow Moses to strengthen that new human relationship between them the presence of the black man and circles her with curiosity and
Strangeness her every sense seems to be alert Moses horny fit broad muscular back dark resentful look and big hand with the lighter Palm make her both cautious and withdrawn her first ever interrogation with Moses presents her as an annoyed Furious angry violent and historic women Matt hickling writes that
New historicist Scholars think Champion women children people of color non-christians and other previously marginalized groups as essential components of the larger historical narrative in this regard lesing exclaims what has happened what was that the formal pattern of black and white mistress and servant had been broken by the personal
Relation there was hatred irrationality and immobility between the two later it develops into a more matur and soft attachment her attitude of dignity gets lost in the sense of gentle mortification lesing remarks he put out his hands reluctantly low to touch her the sacent white women his abstract
Existence becomes a panorama of concrete sustainance the usual anger of Mary at Moses stone and her fascination with it marks The Duality in her character she become obsessed with the thought of the Africans as as we read in the novel I quote it was a nightmare the powerful
Black man always in the house with her unquote freak remarks the Africans told stories but we were not allowed to mix with them the only contact I had with blacks was that I had with servants unquote in a similar manner in her forward lesing says and here I still am
Trying to get out from the middle of the novel under that monstrous Legacy trying to get free Mary tor’s dislike of the country refers to the impact of the colonial setup her hatred for blacks and natives procured her Colonial Self her disin uh disin Reformation of of herself CS to
Her reversal of intention and recognition of Truth she tries to recreate a new history by composing to have a balanced psychological mindset the novel mainly deals with the binary between love and hatred good and evil individual and social and economic and political aspects it attempts to situate the diverse sequence of relationships
And their sustainability The Narrative of the novel situates Mary’s childhood and adulthood experiences she aims to explore the varied range of white colonialism that to in South Africa uh though she tries to distance herself from the standardized customary beliefs of the colonial whites but magically she gets associated with
African natives like Moses her hatred towards the black natives represents the total life of humanity as a great historical process the text opens with Maddie who desires to upgrade herself professional Ally and never thinks of making a family she seems to have achieved success in her professional career she seems to be
An unconventional woman who always inclines herself to listen to the ecoo of her mind her conjugal life was not a healthy one the novel articulates Mary’s desire to become a mother and dicks eventual rejection of it her association with Moses discovers a new discourse in the novel Mary tries to recognize
Different domains of personal and professional attitudes and social and racial divisions and disorders her depiction of our growing up and motherly love and fatherly insolence creates an overall space for a newer creation the structural psychology of the no sociology of the novels rest on the aspects of historical convention and
Congruence the plot deals with issues like individuality alienation relationship goals conjugality dissatisfaction and grievance the the character of tarner unveils a particular liation between home and identity life and longings affection and Detachment growth and maturity marriage and Discord and many more the novel underscores ideas uh on social disparity and familial
Encounter further history remains in its disruptive form throughout the novel it dwells with truth existence acceptance and inclusiveness thank you ma’am with this include thank you very much Dr Shandra masan uh for sharing your thoughts uh you challenged us with history but you I think that you brought many uh her
Stories many uh women’s stories through your voice and reading of Lessing and the heroins in the text so thank you very much for your generosity uh Dr STI shall we move on to the next next presenter or how about the commands or the question should we leave them to the Q&A
Later I think hanen this is what you should do we should move to the next panelist okay sure so um our next uh panelist is Dr leny Thomas kaker yes yes ma’am okay uh she’s an assistant professor in English in St gregoria College Kerala India I hope that I have pronounced that
Correctly so uh Dr kuraka is an assistant professor and um Affiliated to the University of Kerala India her doctoral research was in the area of childhood studies she has majored in both philosophy and English language and literature her research interests lie in childhood gothic fiction and gender study studies she has published papers
In the compass research and criticism and um she uh has a chapter yes she go through the chapter titled pedophobic audiences mapping the presence of the child in horror Cinema uh edited by Baker uh Lu for and Pama tat uh her the paper is titled uh maternal obligation the well-being of
The home the fifth child as an ethical political experiment so to you uh Dr ly yes thank you Dr Bari uh I thank the uh organizers for uh giving me this opportunity to present a paper my paper is titled maternal obligation and the well-being of the home the fifth child is an ethico
Political experiment this uh paper is still work in progress I’ve uh uh compiled a a lot of my observations regarding the book and um uh I invite suggestions and um um further uh ideas further research uh from the um participants so the fifth child poses an anthropological riddle at the heart of
Its narrative can a protohuman being be born to a human being and if so how will they cope with each other and others this is a scarely veiled ethico political challenge as well the problem of integrating the other into cultured Society blessing stale presents an evolutionistic thought problem what if
An individual belonging to an extinct protohuman race gets born through normal biological process and how will family and Society cope with it how can one accommodate a biolog ically born aity one who is particularly preed as the narrative declares to be violent and untameable uh the fifth child is a novel
Which is in many ways strange one of the strange Works in Doris Lings over uh because um it has many characteristics which we can find in a monst novel uh so to speak a Gothic novel and most specifically the the monster Noel uh which is a popular
Genre and um Harriet in I’ll just Su of the story line Harriet in lesing novel is a mother who must come to terms with her fifth Offspring Ben who she and the limitedly omnition narrative voice believes to be an activistic throwback the novel is set in 1970s Britain David and Harriet the
Model couple embarked on an oldfashioned reproductive project to birth numerous children at least six at first and then go on to aim at 8 and house them in a Victorian Mansion far and safe from the turbulent and Progressive society around them a series of unplanned pregnancies follow in steady succession the lats
Have both admirers and critics until the fifth child is conceived and until the fifth child is conceived all goes according to this plan Ben destroys the very fabric of the ideal family and his parents idealistic project there are no more children after Ben in a naturalistic style reminition of Thomas
Hardy the character’s ambition is overturned by the vagaries of nature of evolution of genetics har eventually comes to consider birth a challenge to Destiny owing to the frightening uncertainty of what or whom one is giving birth to Ben does not belong he’s unable to integrate into the family who
Uh he has primitive instincts and appearance and he’s unable to follow familial or social codes of behavior and conform he is institutionalized for a brief period in brutal conditions but is timely rescued by his mother who is guilt striken by his flight this marks the point in the narrative in which
Harriet makes a definitive Choice choosing Ben over the rest of the family moral obligation over domestic happiness Harriet ostracizes in this action herself along with Ben this is the brief plot summary of the of the novel and about the origin of the novel Lessing remarked in one of her
Interviews that the fuel for that book was frustration and rage the total intransigence of our helplessness in the face of Terror and horror and the background was the Soviet Afghan War uh and she uh again said in another of another one of her interviews that the
Energy for that book came from my anger about Afghanistan um it was a blocked Fury that translated in itself into that book so uh nevertheless um um despite all this realistic background the novel belongs firmly in the genre of the gothic the ambiguous nature of the
Monster who is unknowable for what it is the Monster uh as Ben the dark and spacious Victorian house the Primal sexual drive stimulated by the ancient bedroom and the Noel’s fascination with dichotomies and contrast all situate the novel within the confines of Gothic realism it was indeed inspired by a real
Life complaint by a mother uh who had written a letter to Ling and she complained in her letter that um her fourth child resembled the devil and extr terrest extraterrestrial and dangerous so um the uh I’m looking at the um uh the Thematic uh structure of
The U of the novel and I found that there is a theme of anachronism running throughout the novel which is in connection to the theme of primitivity an overarching theme of anacronismo for instance when the couple David and Harriet are introduced the narrator remarks that the common element
That set them apart from the rest and which attracted both to each other was their attitude to sex they were old-fashioned Believers in the institution of marriage and family and the idea that children symbolize procreative abundance and happiness they were against the pill having insufficient means to support such a
Dream they depended on their parents for financial and physical support the uh this is again a subversion of the nuclear domestic ideal of the 20th century the theme of outdated and modern value systems peoples and species coexisting in the same environment is further exemplified in the later description of violent disrespectful
Youth terrifying the streets and even the tradition bound low at home with their presence so we have uh the theme of primitivity which coexists with modernity and uh this is um and the family who had uh which had tried to uh isolate itself from the environment from the modern environment is suddenly
Unable to do that because their son itself Ben himself brings in The Gangs from outside so the again um to exemplify the theme of primitivity the old bedroom in the new house the couple acquire over mortgage appears privy to past lust as well when the couple have unplant SE in
The bedroom there is no electricity yet in the house having been newly bought the room trans transforms to a cave that houses Primal desires which are uncontrolled unpredictable and subject to Nature the narrator says I quote now the room was quite dark it looked vast
Like a black cave that had no end a branch scraped across a wall somewhere close there was a smell of cold rainy Earth and sex end quote even David transforms to someone Harriet cannot recognize he lets out again I quote loud Reckless unscrupulous laugh uncharacteristic of him when he smiled
The smile includes her but on his own terms his eyes gleamed with thoughts she could not guess at she felt she did not know him David she said quickly to break the spell but his arm tightened around her and he gripped her upper arm with a hand
She had not believed could be so strong insistent the grip said be quiet so this uh this transformation is suggestive of David David is able to become the Primal male in the cave of Primal desire while Harriet remains rooted to culture the world of civilized values and principles
So to to the end of the novel there is this dichotomy between David and Harriet uh and this is uh uh this difference helps or allows Harriet to take the stand between her family and her values she um it allows David to repudiate Ben as a hostile stranger and
Harriet to embrace Ben as her son so in the scene of the institutionalization David is completely non challeng while Harriet is moved by guilt and she has to go and rescue him from her from his misery the mother and child are locked in a struggle for survival During the
Period of gestation her struggle is solitary David is unable to reach her emotionally because she was as though possessed and had gone right away from him I quote gone right right away from him in this battle with the fetus which he could not share her pains were sharp
And incessant she started to take multiple tranquilizers to quiet down the fetus get I quote aite from the ceaseless battering and striving when Harriet speaks of her femon old fetus as I quote the being crouching in her womb or the Savage thing inside her the feral language evokes the discourse of
Degenerative Prius primitivism that sets the tone of the plot then at Birth he’s described as a primitive looking uh child he does not look like a human baby at all uh he’s likened to a troll or a goblin uh uh and uh he’s Advanced for his age in strength and development is
Aggressive and unable to be cuddled I quote never not once did he subside into a loving moment he resisted he strove he fought he has raw primitive instinct things using his bare hands to strangle animals and birds to strangle his brother to even eat a piece of raw
Meat from the fridge as he crouched on the dining table so as the Noel progresses his uh the uh the primitivity that Ben displays uh is uh increasing is emphatic so there is no doubt at the end that this is not a subjective perspective of Harriet it is clear to
Everyone that he is an atavistic throwback uh and this is despite uh lesing claiming that she has never written um she has written um unrealistic she hasn’t written unrealistic novels this is uh uh according to her a very evolutionarily possible Noel because uh this idea of uh multiple genes passing down across
Generations and suddenly a Proto human being becoming born is a possib scientific possibility and this is the possibility that the text addresses and I find that there is a political Dimension to this this uh this fact because at the same time while the mother is having this
Struggle with her child the 1970s uh Britain is facing a struggle with u uh with progress with uh with gangs with with young um uh with youth terrorizing the streets so this um uh struggle outside this conflict outside or violence outside is uh compared to the violence that is going on within the
Home and uh like all the gothic novels the doctors the medical field is unable to explain the phenomenon and uh like that in this novel also doctors and even nurses they cannot sympathize with Harriet share or confirm or suspicions he’s described by them as a real little
Tuffy a healthy boy a real little wrestler hyperactive child and um on showing her doctor her breasts which were bruised black around the nipples from Ben aggressive sucking the doctor remarks naughty baby and uh this is uh uh this Harriet finds very remarkable and she stor between the impulses to be
Free of him as well as to take care of him so this ambiguous response to the child is seen in Harriet at multiple points in the narrative Harriet um feels concern for him rushing to save him from danger while wishing she had been too late she takes care of him when he is
Ill despite the physical toll it takes on her because as she remarks in frustration uh to the doctor after all I don’t want to kill the nasty brute she catches him in time when he nearly Falls over his court at 9 months she saves him from falling from the window sill and
Installs bars on all the windows to prevent future mishaps and so on but after all these things she regrets she was just in time to see it and prevent his death Harriet feels like a criminal condemned as in primitive societies for having given birth to a freak she
Complains to David uh I quote but we are supposed to be civilized the family except Harriet discussed the possibility of finding an institution for Ben who had become dangerous uh he was locked in watched incessantly so that he did not hurt the other children pet animals or even himself
Harriet emphatically tells David that he is our child to which he replies no and then adds well he certainly isn’t mine unable to endure the guilt any longer Harriet set out alone to rescue Ben from the institution in which she had been housed under torturous and horrific conditions he’s unconscious naked and in
A straight jacket lying in a room covered with feces and urine when Harriet rescue him cleans him her heart ached I quote as it would for one of her own real children so this uh this conflict that the mother faces uh by uh including one of her sons uh and being ostracized from
The family because of that is a very peculiar uh maternal condition uh in the in the Noel the father is able to remove himself from the birth from the child from the Monstrous um Offspring so to speak but Harriet feels uh guilty and she uh uh she feels rooted in
Culture she feels rooted in culture just she feels rooted in culture uh so that she’s unable to make a decision to um you know uh abandon him and take care of the family so this contrast between um maternal obligation and the well-being so these are two
Opposing ideas in the fifth child and uh uh uh and we can see the the child Ben as a metaphor for all socially um um um disintegrable groups or um classes in society thank you thank you very much Dr ly for highlighting the maternal and the
Monstrous and probably the word is Us in the text and uh in the reaction to the to this child special child so thank you very much for your ideas and what you have shared with the audience um so our third presenter for this session is um Mrs
Vasanti uh who is a lecturer in English at sgk government degree College uh Andra prit India uh Mrs venti is working um in prish India she has acquired her postgraduation in English literature for University of madas in 2011 she has 14 years of teaching from VAR degree engineering colleges she has edited two
Books and has written some research papers um organized three webinars one international two national her area of Interest our Eco feminism ecocriticism feminism so she’s presenting a paper that is tited EO feminist Shades in d Ling novel The cleft so moving from uh uh the maternal and the struggle of a mother
Into other forms of struggling uh or the struggling in Mother Nature so over to you uh Mrs Venti can you hear me Mrs venti I audible ma’am yeah okay yes Namaste ma’am Namaste and good evening to one and all first of all I would like to extend
My sheer gratitude to all the respected organizers for selecting my paper to be presented in this event really I take this opportunity as an honor to share my ideas taking one of the works of the key figure of this day Miss Doris May lesing born in Iran brought up in rhia and
Settling in London lesing herself is a mongrelization of all cultures and Heritage all these Impressions can be witnessed in all her works creating great impact on the minds of the readers she was awarded the Nobel Prize for her outstanding contribution in literature in the Year 2007 today my paper Eco
Feminist Shades in Doris Ling the Clift Stitches the thin threads of Eco feminism on the fabric of the Fant novel The Clift slightly embroided with the theme of best for home women are in the world not of it as well the world has given birth to many luminaries who with their literary
Skills create Miracles with their pens which could never be imagined they revert to present some peculiar and spurious ideas through their unique style of thinking Doris ling a noble laurate of 2007 and the same year of the birth of the novel de Clift is one among those who stood as evidence for this
Renown for this in this work this female writer extorts the origin of human species in a peculiar way deconstructing the known notion that women is born out of man being a woman she proceeds through this novel giving due credit to the female gender portraying this that
They are the Primal human stock for the creation of human species on Earth this point mat us to explore this work from the perspective of Eco feminism as a literary Theory foregrounds only on women and nature and its related features the paper examines how Doris Ling has projected the traits
Of EOP feminism without actually being an eof feminist further this novel beautifully shows the bonding of Nature and women and I quote the words of Susan Griffin The Roaring inside her when they face a male storm when the first Monster entry came into their life now discussing on eof feminism we can see
That it is one of the nent literary thoughts gaining attention these days besides giving feminine attributes to Nature and probing into the close connection relationship between women and nature this theory developed as what is to be called as eof feminism or ecological feminism coined by French feminist franoise D oone in
1974 this Theory views nature and women at the same standpoint and Advocates equality of gender and respect for nature and women and their Mutual cooperation well the gist of a novel in a nutshell runs like this The Story begins with a narration of by a Roman Senator during the time of Emperor Nero
And also intertwined by another narration from one of the cliffs namely May the narrator narrates the story of human Genesis taken from the pieces of documents and oral histories passed down through the ages he narrates that in the beginning Humanity was composed solely of females called CFS who reproduced
Asexually they lived by the sea and they are partially aquatic they called themselves as CS named after after their habitate CLI which they be sac and they resemble the female genitalia they get impregnated by the moon wind and give birth to female babies but at one point
Of time a Clift gives birth to a male and the entire tribe of cliffs gets terrified while witnessing the difference in physical feature and calls it as a monster from there on more male babies are born which they call as squats due to the resemblance of the
Genitalia and decides to throw them on onto The Killing rock as a prey to the Eagles assuming that they are deformed babies but paradoxically the Eagles take the baby to the other side of the rock into a valley where they cirle by a door and then every time a baby squat is born
And thrown onto the killing Rock The Eagle swoop down and take the babies to the suling door thereby making the so-called squat tribe to emerge and Thrive as a community one day a Clift is caught and mass raped and killed by the squats and after this instent whether it
Ill or Bell the visits and compilation of squats and C evolves transforming the situation from asexual reproduction to sexual meeting of the cliffs with squats with this the entire community of humans come into Evolution and all the natural social biological proceeds emerged thereof such as taking care of children
Forming communities playing the roles of father mother Etc the story ends up with the characters namely pres Morana and horsa representing the fous male and male Community respectively bringing us back to the real world from a world of CA based on the above discussions and theories of e feminism the KE novel is
Passed this scrutiny tries to analyze the incidents occurring in the novel just opposing it with the E feminist Grist Ling being influenced by Virginia WF seminal work a room of one own where wolf says that I quote a woman must have a money and a room of her own if she is
To write fiction hopefully lesing is an Evidence of this idea through her fiction the Clift and imaginably just inspired by a scientific article lesing was able to project a unique and indomitable theory of human Genesis elevating herself to be seen as a Grand Dame in the English litera World by the
Very introduction of the clips and assigning their physical biological and habitual features as feminine lesing inherently gives freedom and liberty to women depending on nature for all their B iCal rituals like reproduction menstrual cycle Etc in the novel the lines of Lessing I quote it was remarked
That the basic and Primal human stop was probably female and that males came along later as a kind of cosmic afterthought they lack the solidity of women who seem to have endowed with the ways of the world men in comparison are unstable and erratic I unquote inquisitively lesing poses the question
To the readers I quote is nature trying something out unquote Ling imagines and invites us to a purely feminine world where women live in communion with nature free from worries and oppression they depend on nature for their biological activities in fact nature takes care of them they are lazy free
And independent residing on the rock near the sea as in an article the multiple meanings of Clift Endor reling an L bre remarks I quote although the Clift can be viewed as follows of female tribes world it is Sol cystic self-confined Utopia is bound to Fall to Pieces as the fragmented self-reflexive
Storytelling reveals unquote one day the Clift gave birth to a male baby which they called as Monster appaled by its features Ling in the words of Ling I quote the tubes and lumps they throw the baby on the killing rock where they thought would be dored by the Eagles but
The Eagles took the male babies to the nearby Valley where the babies are suckled by a door thereby acting as a guardian and saviors of the males e feministic speaking the savior of the squads and the hatred of the cliffs the eagle stands as a symbol showing the preliminary operation of
Males sorry of operation of the females by the males I quote something like a War developed between the Eagles and the first females who could not possibly win not only were they unused to fighting or even unused to physical activity unquote the operation is defined is in a very
Strong sense as War as the Eagles are generally symbolized as the symbol of masculinity the beginning of the early stages of operation here can be cited from these incidents from the lines in the novel I quote on the other hand those Eagles the persecutors of the first females became their savior of the
First males unquote Dr zenin Erin has mentioned in an article the patriarchical implications in Clift by Doris Ling has cited what bman has said Eagle is known as the king of birds she further adds that according to George E Milos among Scholars it has become a common practice to associate the eagle
Intimately with Zeus and to consider the king of birds as an Inseparable companion and attribute to the father of Gods and Men well as the Clift stood as the symbol of motherhood for the females the eagle was the father of the males I quote the lines from the novel we are
The eagle the eagle the children of the eagle he is our father he hates our enemies he fights for us against the cliffs unquote after the mass Rap by the squats on a cliff this unusual tendency of giving birth asexually however comes to an end and after when some of the
Cliffs were grabbed and raped in the lines of Ling put their tubes into into them unquote The Cliffs Lo their power to give birth without them thus the strenuous journey of the cliffs begins as cited from The Book of Genesis by medin Stone in her book when God was a
Women I quote I will greatly multiply your child your in childbearing in pain you shall bring forth children yet your desire shall be of her husband and he shall rule over you I unquote Lessing attributed biological freedom for women and their productivity without the intervention and cooperation of the m
Expresses a psychological insight in her interest in communism projecting social justice to all especially to the people of Africa stand as a metaphorical representation of women being the first generation of mankind but whatever be the case but the squats can do anything but they don’t possess the power of giving birth like
The Cs in the beginning the cliffs gets pregnant by the winds but after the culation process has begun between the squats and the cliffs the the tendency of the wind to is changed into noise frightening the boys and destroying their shelter in the lines of the novel
I quote the noise was in fact a wind coming from what must have been the East one so strong so irresistible that they all believed at first in all kinds of Supernatural intervention the wind is moaned and shriek it sobed and it screamed it was the noise something none
Of the people had ever imagined I unquote the truth that operation on women is never brought to light and goes without notice can be understood through the murder and a pandemonium of r on on a CLI which was not recorded in history and in fact goes unnoticed but on the
Other hand the killing of monster first born to them by the Clift which they haven’t committed voluntarily have adequate records shows the this incident shows the deliberate suppression of the females by the males the lines from the novel told by the Roman narrator I quote
Here is the war chant of the very first men kill the cliffs kill them kill them they are our enemies Kill Them All I unquote the above quotation shows the aggressiveness of the male on females further the clips were used only to appease their sexual hunger the demands
Of their Mess by the quats through though this novel has two narrators the Roman as well as men we get a common coincidence theme the namely the theme of Eco feminism the domination and operation of the females by the males from both of their narration as Zin to
Indicate the power of males as quoted the lines from John ruskin’s book title sesme and L the Man’s power is active Progressive defensive he is imminently the doer Creator Discoverer the defender but the women’s power is not for rule not for battle and her intellect is not for intervention or creation but for
Sweet ordering Arrangement and decision I unquote as indicated by the above quotation the man in the novel gets more interest and enthusiasm to explore more islands and diners without bothering about the cliffs the children their homes or taking care of their problems they used the cliffs to S their hunger
Both physically and sexually as a post Bellum novel it even projects the ideas of racial conflicts when look through the lens of racism and racial discrimination in this context the clips can be viewed as blacks and squats as white as well the geographical Clift is metaphorically be Tak as mother Africa
Where the native blacks live in harmony and are nurtured in the LA of African nature just as the clips are nurtured by Moon winds sea and even the red flows of the blossoming in the Clift the emergence of the squads born out of them and developing into a community and in
Turn grabbing the freedom and exploitation of the cliffs just be a witness of the colonization and exploitation of the Native Africans by the white race showcasing the theme of quest for home throughout the novel we can s a string of racial discrimination behind each and every incidents the
Shift of the Cs from their habitat to the valley and smelly caves where males live also shows how the native innocent black women are exploited and oppressed and are made to live under the domination of male patriarchy of not only the whites but also the blacks in
Her thesis reflections of e feminism in Doris Ling left Cobra bisil mentions that I quote Ling has always had a serious engagement with political protest both through her works and literal participation since her youth supported the oppressed and harassed groups like women the black third world countries once colonized communities and
Nature thus by the end of the novel marona and horsa emerged representing the tribes of Cs and squats respectively although the beginning of the novel content with the fact that females were the first on Earth and males were born out of them at the end everything is tossed and gets reversed placing the
Females again as a subordinate of man undergoing their oppression and patriarchy the novel explains the known truth though women voice independently and boast themselves on freedom Liberty but one point of time somehow or the other they fall as prey in the hands of men and retreated again to experience
The same cycle of reproduction oppression exploitation in this patriarchical and male centered society as said by Simon I quote one is not born but rather becomes a woman I unquote the epigraph of the novel has Robert Graves quotes I quote man dos women ease these lines undoubtedly shows that though men
Are born out of women or made secondary always dos the same thing of oppressing dominating and exploiting women and it is always the status of women to undergo such oppression even if all forms of freedom is given to them for which the of EOP feminism fights for though nature
Tries to find something out for the liberation of women their status always gets ended up exploited and dependent in the hands of men and make it obvious and inevitable as yoq in her article analysis of Eco feminism and its influence on lessings the CFT rightly points out I quote when she produces
This novel Lessing consciousness of e feminism has been matured so we can see her hope for human beings to establish harmonious relationship between nature and human beings men and women unquote Eco feminism expects neither the beautiful names given to women nor the appreciation or Adoration of the delicate characteristic features from
Men but expect equal Harmony and unpressed attitude towards them lesing finally portrays this harmony in the final lines of the novel through the thoughts of horsa lying on the lap of maruna I quote tell her about the wonderful place I found yes I will she
Will want to see it too I’m sure of it she will understand yes she will come with me we will go together I unquote let’s hope that the thoughts of horsa shall come true and places maruna in a more happier World generally at the end of one that is the beginning of the
Other thus with the explosion of the Clift at the end of the novel all the oppression and male domination be exploded and destroyed creating a new world where both the genders shall live in happy Harmony along with nature thank you once again for giving me this fabulous opportunity to connect with you
And present my ideas through this conference thank you thank you very much for you Mrs presenti and thank you for this interesting panel with plenty of themes inspirational talks uh I’m sure that you have covered a number of important and interesting points uh uh indeed they
Were raised by Dr Dr Shanda Dr Lany and Mrs venti um I’m sure that you would be pleased to answer them to answer the questions uh and before this uh could you join me in showing our appreciation to the speakers in the usual thank you thank
You thank you so much ma’am thank you so much for giving me this wonderful opportunity to share my ideas and present a beautiful novel before you in this uh memor believe in thank you so much uh could I ask Lancia a question I had one in
Mind yes ma’am yes it’s just a uh confirmation that I was seeking uh you did mention that um about um the sources of fifth child that is inspiration uh particularly referred to the the Russian war and the Aban War could you just let me know the the interviews which were involved in which
She stated if if it is ready in hand else you can just let me know I’m just curious yes it is from Doris leson uh conversations uh it is edited by Inger Soul ear G Soul yeah I know that one okay so maybe I just maybe I missed that
Part somewhere um yeah I I I have I’m acquainted with that so yes uh I think said that he had a question for the first Speaker which is why I was rushing him to ask my questions also so maybe uh we should let him ask the
Question wherever am is I can’t see him on the professor he’s there yeah so he said that he had a question on the person who did in the first paper presented the first paper so as Sir muted yeah you’re muted no I I didn’t have any question I think it was
An sorry sorry sorry yeah so please go first can you hear me yes yes great okay so uh yeah um the reason why I’ve been looking back and forth between you know the abstracts listening to you very carefully can you hear me well all of you just so to make
Sure because I have question great okay so um the whole session is entitled Lessing through the many lenses of theory so generally speaking um what what is ill expected is that to read a novel theoretical perspective in an attempt um and speak in is that we are
Trying to always um make the novel uh look very limited because in in a very influential paper by Eve s kovski she wrote a paper entitled the paranoid reading and she talked about um how critics and Scholars for a specific period of time were completely blinded by those theories and what they happen
Enslave the novels into these theories okay so let you know that some of the papers in this panel did not fall into into that trap so the thing is I have a I have I have a few questions for the first paper in fact by Dr Shaden uh about history the notion of
History um I found it very very intriguing and great job okay the only thing I couldn’t understand if you could help me you know maybe I couldn’t understand it so I think the notion of history is problematic um and and um and for many of us especially who teach theory is
That history touches upon you know the dialectics of Hegel Marx you know and for me speaking when we speak of gor Ling most of the time we speak of her in post Colonial you know settings so when you mentioned for instance you know new historicism I find it a
Bit maybe it’s on me I could would you explain more what you mean by looking at lesting and understanding of History within a post Colonial setting from a new historical perspective by St greenl because let me tell you something Stephen green Blood by the way towards
The end actually you know of the 90s early 2000s he has questioned himself he like he has questioned his own theory of new historicism because new historicism does not question new hierarchies they rather question you know um this Blind Faith in history and how we can read any
Work of heart in life of History so what he did with Shakespeare for instance in the in invisible bullets he tries to show how the play by William Shakespeare informs history and how history informs the text okay so I don’t see quite so how you spoke about new historicism that
Has been absolutely grown obsolete by the way now by himself in relation to Doris lesing understanding of history from a postcolonial perspective would you please tell me more about that thank thank you right now your mic please myself off sorry I was just saying if there are more questions to the
Speaker uh we could take all of them and then she could answer and then we could move to speaker number two and three uh I’m sorry bomi um I mean this is not I’m not trying to what is the word I’m looking for conduct this session at all I just
Thought I can’t hear you by the way you’re muted too you can take Whichever would like to approach yeah my question wasn’t to Chandra was to the other two speakers I mean I so I was I’ll wait for chandraa to answer before we move to the other speakers is that okay bomi you want to say some something
Uh yes sorry am I mic was muted so um I I was wondering if Dr Shandra is with us since Dr an fi she asked her question and probably we can listen to the questions and then we can give them them some minutes to interact with the
Audiences and to answer them so um you have a question Dr ratna not to Chandra I have questions for the other speakers whenever they go ahead go ahead you can ask them or use the chat box okay so my question to Lan I must first thank all the three
Speakers for their presentations and it was very nice to quickly go through Doris Ling’s U as it were because with the C we moved to 2007 uh the golden sorry the grasses singing is 1950 so we went through lesing without engaging with the golden notebook so this must
Really be a first for any seminar anywhere in the world jna you have better records of what’s happening so please tell me if I’m right or wrong uh but my question to Lany was that you know you begin by saying that the fifth child is a Gothic text and I found that
A little troubling because you know I grew up reading this Horror Story by Ira 11 1967 I think or 68 then there was a terrible film as well called Rosemary’s Baby and it’s the kind of story that freezes your insides okay it blows your mind me and then you know when I became
An adolescent my parents took me to see The Omen so first I read Rosemary’s Baby then I saw Omen and this put me off the whole idea of growing up you know recognizing I had a womb because I thought this is really the most dangerous thing ever in the world
Okay so I find it very interesting that you would uh I found the fifth child a troubling book I also thought it was a fantastic book because uh it explores the whole notion of how uh taking for granted within inverted comma as the perfect human baby that will be born out
Of you know fantastic couples or brilliant couples or intelligent couples within the within inverted commas again is something that is extremely arrogant I mean for me that was the most signal statement that the fifth child provided particularly because you know it has a sequel called Ben in the world where we
Are looking at what happens to this child who grows up and this is very different from that other new modern horror horror story called we need to talk about Kevin first a novel uh then a film again terrifying you know it’s these are the kind of stories that we
Should have do not read without parental ad advisory do not read without you know all kinds of support systems at hand so I am just curious that you call this story Gothic because uh if you are registering the pain and the agony that Ben’s mother feels uh lesing is also
Trying to say that motherhood is not how Dr Spock makes it sound motherhood is not this glorious space where you know you give birth to this baby and then everything is roses and uh uh soft down I mean there is pain breastfeeding is terrible carrying a child inside your
Stomach is not fun at all he doesn’t have to be a strange looking child and then you know there’s also this space of autism for instance and a lot of Ben’s uh characteristics a lot of his mannerisms that unplanned violence that inability to you know respond to
Affection for instance and anger uh can so easily be qualified this is a work of fiction that we are looking at and lesing doesn’t say at any point that he’s a protohuman she says could be a throwback and that’s how he is uh the narrative so my question to you
Uh was do you really think that the fifth child is gothic fiction or is working towards gothic fiction uh or is it really a text that’s asking human beings to remember that uh Perfection is an idea that came to us uh and it’s it’s
A it’s a it’s an idea now for the I forget the word but it’s an idea that we need to this whole notion of super humans or super beings is something that we need to engage with far more seriously so is she asking us to look differently with the different colored
Lens of world I mean this is my question to thank you very much you of course ma’am yes I think we can look at it as a cautionary tale I think this is what she has intended in her interviews as well she mentions that um Ben is not to be
Taken as an evil monster or anything he does not fit into the world and that’s what uh that is her side to the representation of Ben but when I say it is a Gothic no what I mean is there are gothic elements in the Noel if we take
Um as the the the Noels that you mentioned Rosemary’s Baby or the omen or any of these works these are come they they come within the genre of horror and the difference is that there is a bit of darkness in the uh way what maternity is portrayed um and
Within the novel and uh the gothic elements primarily would be how the child is a monster right uh he’s portrayed as a monster and um the fact is that he is actually a protohuman he’s mentioned um uh within the text uh that he is a atavistic throwback he’s a Proto human
He belongs to a species that lived many years ago uh before the human species existed and in one of her interviews again I’m quoting from uh I’m speaking from conversations uh he she Doris leing mentions that um this idea of nandal genes getting passed on in our chromosomes and this happening is a
Biological possibility is a scientific possibility so uh there is this scientific premise behind the story and the fact is that the spacious home Victorian home uh and uh the way in which the story unfolds the one thing um uh that is similar to horror horror stories is that the everyone fails to
Recognize the monster even to the end so that aspect is there in Ben only the mother is able to see the Monster nobody else comes up with the statement that yes this is a throwback Ben is not really a child nobody comes up with that kind of statement so towards the end
She’s struggling to make everyone acknowledge this fact and that is one so that is why I called it a Gothic novel there are elements which fit in with the gothic gen but uh we can also see it as a cautionary tale and she La Ling uh
Portrays this um kind of situation as a warning or uh what as you said ideal motherhood ideal uh child ideal family and to to these Concepts that is uh one way to look at the thank you very much thank you very much Dr L you are right I agree with you
I think that this image of the trood mother reveals or enre the monstrosity of the word that is not ready to accept differences so probably this is Lessing idea this her philosophy in invoking this these symbols of TR troubled child or monstrous child children because the word is not ready to welcome differences
And maybe by this encounter between par quotation marks this monstrous child we uh get the chance to see the monstrosity of the word so thank you very much Dr ly um Dr shandria if you can respond to Dr fish’s questions we would be grateful Dr
Sandas I don’t know if she Dr shandre M with us no no idea maybe she’s not she’s failing to connect so could be just go I don’t know if we can have uh one or two questions uh drti or or shall we move on to the next presenter
I uh was there any I’m sorry I kind of got uh lost my connection for a while but I think we have to move on to the next session and there’s a panel discussion in the end so um we have to close thiss session for a while for the
Time being and go on to the next one which um is important it it is a keynote swie which um from Professor uh dalel Sanu uh from um Algeria however Professor Sanu has fallen sick um she’s down with laringitis horse voice cannot be heard at all which is why she has sent the
Paper this evening uh for she was hoping to get better and Professor chandraa chakti who is Professor um barad uh West Bengal State University who is also the director of CCM Center for studies in gender culture and media West Bengal State University um that supports and houses
The ls say she had very kindly uh she was chairing the session and has very kindly agreed to read the paper for us so that although we will not have Professor Sanu with us we are going to hear because she was so very keen to join us
And share her views so and it’s a perspective from yet another McAn uh comparative look between lesing and um Nigerian uh author clite so I think it is going to be over to Professor Chanda chakti from now thank you STI and I’m really very happy to be able to join uh
This uh seminar today um let me uh introduce uh Dr Dal Sno Dr Dal Sno the keynote speaker uh of today is a full professor of the Department of English M Janam University Algeria and a Poes she’s involved in many areas including Arab women writings and world literatures she has already published a
Number of academic papers a series of poems on electronic websites and two books with Lambert publishing she’s currently involved in newly explored areas like liminality electronic discourse digital Humanities and educational technology uh I will read her paper which is titled the intersection of Doris Lings the good terrorist and FIA
Fak’s willow trees don’t whip uh with a subtitle the universality of Womanhood and terrorism on her behalf the president paper seeks to find converences between Lings the good terrorist of 1985 and fak’s willow trees don’t whip of 200 of 200 uh 40 although the two stories are set in
Different eras in geographies the two writers succeeded in fictionalizing modern terrorism in the novels in a way that seems outspoken and courageous while Alice in the good terrorist begins a journey of fighting against fascist imperialism to find self belongingness in doing that NAA in willow trees decides to trace her Father’s Footsteps
To understand why he became a terrorist and gave upon her and she ends up finding herself too when finds her father the two novels at this paper as this paper attempts to argue suffered the common understanding of modern terrorism and Womanhood by deconstructing the very weakness of the
Former and the Very strength of the latter um the next uh subheading reads Lings the good terrorist and fist willow trees don’t whip the story of the politics of Oppression Doris ning is considered in contemporary world literature as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century
In 2007 at the age of 87 she was awarded the Noel R for literature as she was described as the epicist of the female experience who with skepticism fire and Visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny lesing had been writing provocative groundbreaking fiction and autobiography since the
1950s and her 1985 novel The Good terrorist maybe one of the most confrontational of all her Works Doris Lings the good terrorist is a thought provoking and deeply insightful novel that explores the complexities and motivations behind radical activism and terrorism set in 1980s London the novel novel follows Alice meling a dissolution
And discontented young woman who becomes involved with a group of radical activists and terrorists one of the most compelling aspects of this novel is his examination of the radicalization process and the factors that Drive individuals to engage in extreme and violent actions as for the British Jordanian FIA faki she’s an acclaimed
Writer from Jordan who is best known as a novelist although she has written seven short stories plays and critical essays her early novels are more concerned with marginalization and genderization and are deeply rooted in the Arab Muslim women’s diasporic experience in the discussions of her novels Mo and Alami consider the two narratives
To be mainly directed towards diasporic voices in an everlasting search for proper places spaces wherein main characters are ported ostensibly from the standpoint of saalon and marginalized subjects in a novel we trees don’t quit the author articulat memory and identity and explores the way introspection and retrospection feature
The fragmented subject in order to discuss party issues like fundamentalism secularism and existentialism Fus willow trees which was initially titled as the terrorist’s daughter relats the story of Omar Raman who embarks in an epic journey to save the Islamic world but winds up as a terrorist and NAA who sets out to save
Herself but ends up as a dislocated immigrant in darar to reconstruct the story of NAA and our father Bui returns to a sites of memory which are mostly derived from the aftermath of the Cold War and the corollary of the Soviet Union’s Invasion on Jordan and the Arab
World in an interview F features a novel as a right of passage and a narrative initiation and states that physical Journeys from one country and continent to another are intertwined with internal ones The Odyssey humanizes and leads towards compassion for self and others and ultimately forgiveness after the death of her
Mother najua decides to trace the father who abandoned her at the age of three and join the Jihad fighters in Afghanistan in a journey which metaphor forces her into someone who is possibly aware of very complex issues in the world she wants to get to know why her
Father prioritizes his religion over his loved ones najva starts a journey from Pakistan to the center of Taliban training to Afghanistan and eventually to Britain to get answers to her queries in a sense thean ban cized willow trees don’t whip as a build Roman that narrates the sore and arduous shaping of
A young woman who accidentally gets involved with islamist organizations and gets through nasty experiences in the various places she has visited as she uncovers her father’s past on her part blessing does an exceptional job of delving into the psychology of our characters quing their sense of alienation and disenfranchisement as well as their
Fervent belief in the righteousness of their cause through Alice’s perspective the novel explores the seductive Allure of revolutionary ideology and the Allure of being part of a movement that promises to bring about significant social change in addition to its exploration of radicalization the good terrorist also provides a complex and
Nuance portrayal of the group dynamics and the interpersonal relationships within the radical activist cell as Alice becomes increasingly involved with the group she’s drawn into a web of complex interpersonal Dynamics past struggles and conflicting ideologies Lessing skillfully depicts the group’s internal Dynamics illustrating the tensions that arise as the members
Grapple with their shifting motivations and diverging Visions for the future furthermore the good terrorist presents a searing critique of radical activism and terrorism highlighting the ways in which these movements can be self-destructive and ultimately counterproductive in achieving their goals to alysis experiences lesing demonstrates how the group’s idealistic
Vision is undermined by their internal conflicts personal failings and ultimately their misguided and ineffective actions as a whole the good terrorist is a compiling and thought provoking novel that prompts readers to critically examine the motivations behind radical activism and terrorism lessing’s insightful exploration of radicalization group dynamics and the
Complexities of re uary theology provides a profound and multi-layered examination of this crucial And Timely subject the novel’s Timeless themes and incisive characterizations make it a powerful and enduring work that continues to resonate with readers today moving on to the next subsection titled the intersection of Doris Lings the good
Terrorist and pya faki Vries don’t be the intersection of Doris Lings the good terrorist and father fakis willow trees is a powerful commentary on the universality of Womanhood and terrorism both novels provide a glimpse into the lives of women living in oppressive circumstances and the difficulties of rabeling against oppressive forces the
Women in both NOS find themselves in situations of overwhelming violence and must use whatever means necessary to combat their oppressors through these novels we can discern a common tra of f strength in the face of adversity on the one hand the good terrorist follows Alice the young woman who abundant her
Privileged life to join a terrorist cell just like naj’s Father Omar in willow trees it is true that Alys is filled with idealistic f for her cause yet this yet she soon discovers the harsh reality of terrorism and his devastating effects throughout the novel Alice is constantly torn between her convictions and the
Demands of the terrorist crew as the as she navigates her role in the group and his activities she must come to terms with her own sense of morality alysa’s story is an explanation of the complexities of Womanhood and terrorism and how they intersect in a world of violence and oppression on the other
Hand willow trees follows the story of NAA who starts the journey to find her patriarch so as to confront him eventually and at the end of her journey najma realizes that her father’s love for honey his friend was the only motive for which he deserted his family and I
Quote you loved him dad he took off his glasses and wiped them too much perhaps NAA feels released after having seen and talked to her father who was sentenced to death she was like her name indicates an Arabic NAA a whispered or a secret conversation which as his father’s
Explains to her at dawn and after morning prayers I imagined you I whispered my answers and blew them hoping that the breeze would carry them to you also life is secret conversation najas final home is Liberation daring and knowing liberated by the spaciousness and this is a quote
I stretched my arms out and said to The Chariot shied Cloud peace be of upon you wherever you are after months of studying British trees and much quizzing by Elizabeth over many dinners I had begun to recognize them I must go back to sweep my mother’s
Grave in the last sentence of the novel one can suggest that NAA decides to come back to Jordan to change some cruel things the society has long been practicing I also argue that NAA would finally find a way in between her father’s fundament alism and her mother secularism a way that perceives the
Truth from a neutral and ideology free position the novel represents different forms of extremism it also represents how those who are ethnically religiously and ideologically different should be tolerated moving on to the concluding portion both the good terrorist and Vries don’t we explore the complexities of Womanhood and terrorism in different
Ways the two novels offer a unique perspective on the impact of violence on women and how they must use their own inner strength and courage to survive in a hostile environment both Alice and NAA represent a new generation of women who are unaff to stand up and fight for
Their beliefs despite the overwhelming ODS in this way the two op emphasize the universality of Womanhood and terrorism and how women are often forced to confront different ethical choices in the face of Oppression in a nutshell the good terrorist and willow trees don’t whip provide a complex and Nuance look
At the real drives behind terrorism also through the stories of Alice and njba we can gain insight into the struggles faced by women in oppressive societies and the strength and courage that allows them to endure in the face of adversity the two novels emphasize the universality of Womanhood and terrorism
And serve as a poignant reminder that women are capable of rising above oppressive forces in order to pursue their own paths so this brings me to the end of the paper thank you thank you so much chandraa Professor chandraa chakra for going through it and reading it out
For us and it was such a reward ing uh paper and um putting it in context to the rest of the webinar that we were having uh that we are having since yesterday it is interesting how uh the good terrorist returns to us and how women and terrorism uh is
Again uh take we have a uh we take look closer at it and a work by Ling this is what I I was having uh a word with Professor ratar Raman yesterday that how good terrorist which is perhaps jna is also here uh not really one of the works
That we consider um as a favorite among research Scholars or paper writers um very interestingly has taken up a lot of um attention in this seminar and that I think is very rewarding because it it it shows that the webinar and the paper it’s re uh it’s opening up a lot of New
Roads for Lessing scholarship which is of course the very business of these chapters looking at Lessing interactively comparatively making intersections and in the in the process um you know uh one or two uh are regain Focus ratna you muted okay right go no tell me no I thought you was saying
Something no wasn’t okay uh so thank you thank you professor chakti and we have to rush to the next um um session which is the final session it has a panel discussion um involving five youngsters um and Professor oel um is is the moderator of this student panel
Discussion um uh if Prof uh is zel here uh yes hi hi hi so it’s going to be over to you um the the we have NOA Hamza from the high Institute of language of Tunis Tunisia ilham High Institute of languages of Tunis Tunisia Ana ISAT MAA of independent uh University Bangladesh
Taka we have that is an error there in the in the program shaam uh who is who is an assistant professor sistant Nita University Kolkata India as as nent as the Doris Ling North Africa he’s still a student as far as we are concerned but welcome into into the your new role Professor
Dam and sudip dat who is also a visiting lecturer they are all genzies and that is our topic for the day how jenes read Lessing over to the moderator Dr uel assistant professor in English gurun nanak D University Amit India and STI we should be able to see all of them speak
Yes yes if if it is possible to good afternoon if it is possible to have your um cameras on then we are we are kind of going off so it would be nice interesting panel yes okay uh thank you so much uh can you please uh tell me how much time we have
For this session they are supposed to make five minutes presentation so uh not more than that um if they do it a little less then we can have an a little bit of an open house before we call it a wrap for the two days so uh good evening uh
Everyone it’s evening at my place so good evening but my greetings to all of you uh first of all I congrat with and her complete team at Tunisia for successful launch of North Africa chapter so uh after listening to the papers which were read yesterday we can
Uh Express uh in the student session um uh we can express nothing but uh I guess amazement and at the same time a lot of Hope and satisfaction that yes uh Lessing is going into good responsible hands uh so Zen uh Jen z uh which is uh the focus today
Uh uh this is that generation which uh is born after 1997 and till 2012 that is gen z uh and uh before then we have Generation Y Generation X probably I don’t think anybody would be older than that here so uh uh how this generation uh sees Ling
How it reads and uh as uh STI has already told us there are five very young vibrant and dynamic Scholars who are going to discuss with us uh the course of lessings reading Lessing scholarship and actualization of lessing’s vision uh across the continents across the places uh so we have nuha ilham
Alisa as STI has already told I’m going by this order only so I would first of all invite uh Hamza from higher Institute of languages uh Tunis Tunisia uh to uh take the podium and express his uh insights over this so uh good afternoon or evening everyone depending on the time zones of
Course um I would like to start by saying I’m very honored to be among you and I would like to thank everybody who presented already for their insightful ideas uh I want of course to Grant a special thanks to my professor and supervisor Dr B for first of all making me fall in
Love with Doris lesson and second of all giving me this opportunity and here’s two more uh to come okay so I would attempt to represent uh The jz’s View and take on dor lesson through her space fiction narratives um basically shikasta because this is the scope of my um
Search work so uh to start I would like to say that in the cosmic trry of Doris Lon chika characters embark on an odyssey that intricately waves together the profound concepts of home and belonging as leson crafts her Narrative of cosmic proportions the exploration of these themes takes on a nuanced and
Captivating quality Chasta challenges CH challenges the conventional Notions by presenting home not as a static place but rather as a dynamic and Cosmic construction this is exemplified by the novel’s profound exploration of characters who are grappling with a sense of displacement from the beginning of the novel up to the end
And and this is a harsh aspect of existence that has lately been crystallized like never before in front of the eyes of the Gen Z following the attack on Gaza which U Echoes to a great extent what happens in in shikasta in the events of shikasta so we witnessed
We witnessed that as this generation with our own eyes and uh shn will always be beat telling the character’s Cosmic struggles resonate with our contemporary quest for identity by intertwining the celestial Landscapes of shikasta with the multifaceted journey of the genzi in defining or trying to make sense of our
Belonging we uncover parallels that bridge the cosmic um reality with nowadays Earthly so first of all I’m going to tackle um home as a cosmic constru contrast sorry in shikasta home here is introduced as complex and Cosmic and it transcends the national the traditional Notions in which characters uh grapple with a
Profound sense of displacement they Echo the broader Human Experience of seeking belonging in a vast and Ever Changing Universe these Celestial forces shaping Destinies within the narrative mirror the novel’s portrayal of home as a dynamic and evolving uh con concept as characters navigate Cosmic Landscapes their quest for home becomes symbolic of
The universal human struggle to find a place and to belong amid the complexities of modernity uh also shikasta portrays the shattered realities and navigates the sense of psychological displacement that is constantly faced by this generation so the characters of Chas face disruptions displacements they that mirror the fragility of human
Connections this Cosmic turmoil resonates with the real world challenges faced by this generation a generation navigating a globalized and rapidly changing environment the characters struggle to find a stable sense of Home amidst Cosmic upheavals draws a pant uh parallel to the contemporary quest for belonging now this part underscores the
Universality of Human Experience of displacement and the intrinsic need for a stable sense of belonging which we are yet to find as as Generation Z whether the in the cosmic expanse of shikasta or modern complexity of the genz world now there is yet another aspect that we are
Dealing with or we are struggling with rather as um being part of this generation is that it is that of a loss of identity transition into the Contemporary Generation Z grapples with identity and belonging in GL in a globalized society we have it it seems at times like we no longer have Roots
Same as the Shust people post-war and post attacks they no longer know where they belong to and they are being constantly displaced whether culturally psychologically or even physically it echoes in the in in the interconnected world of digital age Generation Z connected by technology yet seeking individuality exemplifies a ceaseless
Quest for a sense of belonging am made diverse cultural influence uh influences this section draws parall s between the characters Cosmic exploration in shikasta and the Contemporary challenges faced by us the Z generation highlighting the Timeless nature of the human search for identity and search for um Roots and um it is um with equal importance that shikasta makes us ReDiscover home and and um try resiliently to make sense of a home even in the absence of traditional tenants that make up a home so shikasta unveils the trans the transformative potential embedded in the characters Journeys
Characters within the novel ReDiscover their sense of home through adaptability and resilience this mirrors the trans the transformative potential with Generation z a generation navigating societal changes with resilience with adaptability like no uh other previous generation we have a strong sense of AD adaptability which cannot be denied the character’s Evolution sheds light
Equally on the adaptability inherent in the Contemporary quest for a meaningful sense of belonging this uh part emphasizes the capacity for growth and transformation as individuals navigate this complexity of trying to always is rapidly finding a home in an Ever Changing world so um this exploration um regards
The cosmic Odyssey within shikasta which emerges as a resonant metaphor for generation’s ongoing quest for a meaningful sense of home which they know beforehand it could change in a click the novel serves not only as a cosmic Saga but as a reflective lens through which we gain profound insights into the
Enduring and Universal journey of finding one’s place in the vast expanse of the universe by intertwining the celestial narratives of shikasta with the Contemporary struggles of Generation Z we eliminate the Timeless and interconnected nature of human experiences of home and belonging now we Endeavor to bridge the cosmic and the
Earthly Realms together invi in hands listeners or readers to contemplate the profound connections between a Celestial Odyssey in space and a multifaceted Journey that we are undergoing as a modern generation living and existing in the modern world making shikasta a work of art that defies time and space and hence making lesson an
Author that represents human struggle in every time and place she is viewed henceforth as a prophetic figure who can foree and foreshadow the upcoming and hence for henceforth she um was able to Echo an upcoming um struggle for this generation she attempts through her literature to portray Humanity’s Decay
And downfall to eventually pave the way for our Salvation or the Cor Direction uh of our Fates this facet of the othor is portrayed through her protagonist drawer who is the who has been throughout the novel The Eyes of the Blind and the ears of the deaf who has
Taken all along the prophetical dimension of the author within the pages and tried to save the chastens hence echoing the author’s voice uh throughout the entire narrative thank you all for your attention and I hope I was clear enough thank you thank you very much Miss thank You hello is not available so if you could continue yeah uh since I is ilham there if she’s not we will just go move on to the next speaker from Bangladesh Anisha ishat is Anisha here she’s here you could have your video on thank you so much de thank you can you hear
Me yes uh you’re loud here nice okay so first I would like to uh thank everyone and this is my first time that I’m going to read the paper and the topic is on how James is reading Lessing read Lessing sorry so at first uh I’d like to say something about uh Doris
Ling’s work and Doris Ling’s Works including to room 19 hold enduring relevance for contemporary Bangladesh and resonate with generate Generation Z readers lessings exploration of universal themes such as identity societal norms and individual struggles transcends time and culture providing a mirror for young bangladeshis navigating a changing
Society as a geny individual I connect with Ling characters in their Quests for autonomy and self-discovery reflecting on shared human experiences Glory stressing St 19 is an exploration of the complexities within the human psyche and constraints of societal expectations this story uh the this short story follows the life of Susan
Rollings a seemingly conventional woman whose internal struggles unreveal in a powerful and tragic manner Ling skillfully desect schemes of identity the societal rules imposed on individuals and the consequences of sub braising one’s true self through 19 serves as a thought provoc provoking narrative that dels into the profound depths of human
Emotions making it a Timeless piece that continues to resonate with readers including those in contemporary Bangladesh as they grapple with issues of individual and societal Norms in their own lives Doris Lings relevance to contemporary Bangladesh lives in the universality of the things she explores in her wordss although her narratives often draw from
Her own experiences and the sociopolitical climate of her time the fundamental human struggles and complexities she dels into un ESS in the context of Val adesh where social political and cultural landscapes are continually evolving lessons exploration of identity societal structures and The Human Condition remains pertinent Bangladesh like many other
Nations is undergoing rapid changes especially with the younger generation playing a significant role in shaping the future Ling themes of individualism self-discovery and the questioning of established norms and power structures can resonate with contemporary Bangladeshi youth who are navigating their own paths in a changing society as a member of Generation Z
Relating to Lessing and her characters involves finding common grounds in the Universal struggles depicted in her wordss the Quest for identity the desire for autonomy and the exploration of personal values are themes that transcend time and culture in a globalized world world where unifor uh where information is readily accessible
Zenzi individuals in Bangladesh can connect with lesing narratives drawing parallels between the challenges faced by her characters and their own experiences zenzi readers engage with Doris Lings work with a fresh perspective inter interpreting her writings through the of their own experiences and rapidly changing world around them Lessing exploration of
Complex social social issues identity and human relationship resonates with the diverse and socially conscious mindset of Z in an era defined by digital connectivity and the sharing of ideas zenzi leaders may approach Ling’s work with a collaborative Bri Spirit discuss same themes and characters across online platforms the accessibility of
Information also allows them to De into the historical and cultural context that influence Ling’s narratives fostering a deeper understanding of her one in summary JZ engages with Doris Ling words by applying their unique perspectives leveraging digital platforms for discussion and drawing connections between narratives and the present issues of the time Ling standless
Exploration of The Human Condition provides zenu with a literary landscape to navigate and interpret in their own evolving con context thank you everyone that was my thank you so much um we will go on to the uh oel are we not getting across toel don’t you’re
Muted no she’s not can’t hear you we can’t hear you she’s already been asked uh yes uh o for some reason we cannot hear you although you’re speaking so uh yes uh uh while you figure that out we’ll go on to the next speaker and maybe using a Cod or something like that
Might help uh these things happen no issues at all you go on to the next person um which is shindu are you here could you unmute can we have the video on also please thank you so much thank you so much yes yes thank you so much yes we we can’t hear you I request everyone else to mute themselves please it will help because we are getting a feedback yes thank you for thank you shindu um I think that he’s made raise a lot of um new interesting points which we might take up later if you have time uh but we’ll take on the
Final speaker which uh sudipto and sudipto if you see my hand going up or just a hand demo then you know that you have to kind of wind up sudipto sure ma’am am I audible yes audible very much so visible too thank you so and visible
Yes yes thank you thank you uh so my warm R to everyone the dignitaries present here so I will jump into my topic right away uh I am dealing with translation of Lessing so uh the first question that we should address today is who are these genzies uh we will
Describe in terms of time and space maybe so these people are born in between the late 1990s and early 2010s 2012 uh in fact so therefore as part of the global village and English being the franka the major question remains should they at all wait for a suitable translation of this generation which
Throughout is familiar with internet sources should just go and read up Ling in original will refer to Benjamin’s the task of the translator where he questions the notion of a translation is meant for readers who do not understand the original if one has read the original would should be interested in
Reading uh the translated version or versions for bamin translation is a form and translatability depends on the term of the circle uh and the tangent the original and uh the translated word so for an author like Ling I believe she deserves to be translated into many many
Languages the question is still uh that how is j z for a targeted readership with the digital access they can also find the translations to read and admire which is supposed to be admired now I started by defining genes in terms of time it’s time for space uh respective
Of where they come from a Metro or suburb or a rural area they share a space of commonality uh where actually the Jan Zen is happening the space is digital a virtual social media space often offered for free to make it make its business upon the consumer capitalist
Model uh now readers uh often unconsciously are consumers so will they consume a Lessing translation I think uh they are needed to be Fade with a relatable content uh because you know all over Instagram Facebook a trade everywhere we have this culture of relatability where the genz are dying to
Comment on any post they find slightly relatable ass bro ass so the stories I have taken up uh are flight and storms they are based on very different kinds of spaces as shingu Sha points out uh that Doris Ling works with this interplay uh between urban space and natural rural space uh
So in these two stories also we find this interaction between these two spaces but we belong to a common space uh a digital home and we have to go into the our physical spaces our real physical spaces to find the comfort of relatability out of those stories in the
Stories we find many things silent unspoken and unheard of including that influx the psychological influx between inner uh emotions and outer expressions of the protagonist now Henry Li in his the production of space confirms that no space is empty and they must have some meaning the social space is not an
Abstract and objective thing but a being of concrete social things now in the urban space we find kinds of power dynamics and in terms this space becomes a representative of social hierarchies whereas the natural rural space on the hand has its own power dynamics too but
That mainly with uh the age Factor so on this kind of case study these two stories Feit directly very much so in fact with uh the thunderous storm and rain splattering away all the traces of natural space in the story storms uh we find a direct conflict a direct
Interplay between this Urban space and the natural space and if a translation of these two stories has to be powerful enough impactful enough they have to replicate reproduce this kind of interactions and dichotomies now to wind up so what are there to be translated generation gap is
There there is time history space and the tension uh between the generations uh and of course the language now the deconstructionist will uh tell us that a culture is a narrative B of historical or physical Origins and the structuralist would say that culture is an interaction between different systems of
Science so a word to word or a unique to unique translation linguistic transfer is sought for but how to make it relatable and I highly doubt that JZ lingo is a thing in Indian or African vernaculars all those idks iy k y iyk yks the delus and the culus are all
Included in that English culture that culture of the linga franka uh should slangs finds it finds its way into fruitful translations I really into question that uh moreover the other factors apart from the language needs to be uh translated and transferred as such that the cultures that Ling wanted to express
Remains there with all due respect and still the translated result can find its way into the digital culture of relatability so it’s part of my limitation that I don’t know many languages uh there in this panel itself I preferably would have referred to some English to Bengali translation
Possibilities but I would not do that right now but I am open to discussing things uh anytime after the panel ends or the program ends so thank thank you from my end thanks Aon for this opportunity thank you sudipto um that was really maintaining time I would say
Uh although you I know you had a lot to say uh is there anything that there are a lot of youngsters here uh some of them are youngsters who were presenting yesterday like tanoy and uh pahul uh I think they have rejoined and samik is also here so is there anything you all
Would like to add suida is here so if there’s anything you would like to add we we will uh put the uh panel or the floor open for anybody else to say something and um already in the chat box we had um person called SES Ben Gil uh
I’m not sure whether I’m getting the name pronunciation right um but she he or she does write hi everyone my internet connection is very unstable I can’t turn on my mic but as a genz I want to shed light on the fact that we are a very alienated generation indeed
Personally speaking like mentioned above by Dr myle I was simply an adult since my earliest childhood so um it is uh see we we’ve been dealing with Lessing for so long the moment we get to talk we don’t stop so I will allow others to the youngsters to come in with
If they have anything to say maybe pahul maybe um TMO if you all have anything to pitch in with or maybe well thma is typing you can also tell us so I I think um and if the panelist themselves if you have anything to say yes well I’ve really enjoyed all what
They have said especially shendu because actually well he has brought this whole new episode of Sufi and kind of uh I mean U it’s a new take actually and so many many things that we everyday see sadguru and G gopal and everything the spirituality the question of spirituality and the way he
Has you know even if we don’t talk about anyone specifically focusing on psychology and all that we really we do feel that we have a need for something else that superc Consciousness that he was talking about we do feel it we don’t need a psychologist to come and tell us
That we need this this Supra Consciousness and all that so this is something Lessing articulates in our own way and well I would ask if that it’s not a question actually it’s an observation more of an observation that well um well then are we taking I mean J
G are they taking spirituality I mean if we are taking uh as if we are taking that way spirituality is something that you know some people are selling and all that then are we taking it very lightly I mean very fly that is what I’m trying
To ask them and if Jes are taking it you know uh on the one hand they are saying it that it is self transcending well so it’s giving them a space so kind of to negotiate with their problems and everyday difficulties and then on the other hand they are taking
Saying that well Jes think that this is something which we can sell so they are sellable so are we on the one hand taking it very seriously as something that gives us a space with reference to Lessing and then at the same time we are telling we are we are saying that well
It is something that people are selling around us then are we not contradicting ourselves somehow that you know that’s an observation of of course I would ask all the changes if they comment on the Young The Young group who are here other than shanu if there is anybody who would
Like to respond to that uh or if shanu wishes to respond to that yes I I would like to respond to that uh it’s a very brief thing first of thank you T for the question it’s a very interesting observation and I believe that ma’am STI mam you read a comment
Like a person had read like we we are feeling alienated day by day and it’s a like sadly but true reality that I don’t know about like what J like y or Gen X is talking doing in this kind of a uh age of social media but we Jes are
Absolutely for sure we are alienated from the outer World itself like we are at the we are at our home and like contest continuously Glu to the smartphone and whatnot but the thing is that that is the time when this idea of spirituality is sold and I’m not
Claiming that Jan Z is selling spirituality but it is that spirituality is sold to Jes because there is lack of understanding of what spirituality is and if you go and visit five channels five influencers they have all different definitions of spirituality and they have their own brand of spirituality
They are selling a particular thing and that is the thing I asked like I’m not going into that realm like what kind of spirituality is true on like more applicable or not my idea is that there is a vo and that is why jenzi is trying
To find spirituality in a certain way of sense and and if if we read uh Lings even prior works like before the Sufi age or after like space fictions uh there the idea of Sufism or the idea of a prophetic or a Visionary thing or a mysticism is there uh but the
Manifestation got like the highest point I think in those in the 19 early 1970s when she’s writing The Visionaries fictions of the spiritual fictions particularly no no wanted to coming there so can we have her NOA wanted to say something in the same line so I don’t want to yeah
Absolutely yeah okay am I audible yes okay thank you very much I just wanted to say that uh for an author like Doris Lon it should come as no surprise that the modern generation or Generation Z would still find home in her because some of auers are so able to
Oversee and so able to overshadow that they become Timeless like uh something I heard in yester yesterday study day it’s like um Doris Ling is like the B it’s like Shakespeare people of all ages of all times of all uh countries and uh and places F still find home in Shakespeare
And still study Shakespeare with the same passion for uh decades and uh and and generations I think same goes for Doris lesing since she has managed to Encompass um the struggles and um and the the yeah the struggles and the challenges of each and every generation
Of each and every uh gender of each and every population she uh has managed to encom encompass the suffering of this generation before it even started um to happen she um was able to overshadow that by the actions of the um older Generations we are coming to this point
We will inevitably be here at some point and here we are okay that uh that’s a valid point I think uh that it is it is like uh that actually does great to the what we believe in that the Lessing has been and continues to be for um for the next
Stages to come for maybe and sudipta has something to say sudipta incidentally was involved sh shanu in translating lesing which is why they are so keen on talking about translating her into a different uh culture sudip your point please uh yes uh I had a question from
Dr UJiT man and I would like to address that promptly uh so am I audible yes okay so what ma’am asked yes we are we the genes this is a question of temperament we are constantly being soled with shorter kind of fictions okay there are longer films there are longer web series
And we are having pieces out of out of those text and are being FID as reals we are uh quite attracted towards shorter fictions shorter visual narratives uh in fact in the arena of literature in every Penguin book stalls uh I can I can uh almost bet that there will be some
Copies of TT books TTT collections terribly tiny TS some 30 40 words of micro fictions uh printed inside the covers of a book uh they were digital fictions they were posted on Facebook and Instagram and now they being printed for General consumption so yes there will be novels translated but the
Translators and the readership the targeted readership both being genes uh and us we highly doubt that whether such novels in Translation will be much famous will be much not uh favorite for us we would rather look into the shorter kinds of fictions a fiction that we can
Finish up in one sitting suppose we are traveling from one place to another like shanu or me we travel every day for our work so we would like to experience that kind of a translation work or original work that finishes that we can finish in
One go at one go a buzz right and we can finish a text for a novel that cannot happen so the short stories the non-fictions they will gain more prominence with time I think okay that that is like we have moved on to the idea of genre here and
Uh how and why perhaps Lessing has remained um appealing to the Generation Z is what sudipta is saying that she also has these shter fictions uh which can be translated and which can be read so uh the reason why she’s still relatable to a group of uh a different
Generation altoe and uh Professor Emma dasan had something to say uh no you’re muted sir we will well I fully agree with sud that is people people tend to read shorter fiction these days and a good comparative example could be you know cricket matches uh those of us who
Belong to the older Generations began watching test matches and then came one day one one then you have T20 and now you have also hunds so you see people don’t have much time and even these days plays performances do not last more than one
And a half hours it used to be 3 hours or so and Hindi films of course but if you look at Bengali films well not more than two days so people tend to read smaller fiction they also don’t have much much time to watch you know cricket matches that last five days is
So uh so that’s a good point you made though uh and also when you are talking about translation or Jes approach to translation and the language or I mean language shapes what happens in different cultures things like that well instantly a good example came to my mind
You know my daughter’s um my elder daughter she is a master student in Daka University so um you know a couple of years back she was you know using this word called par so I couldn’t really connect what is that so she would be always you using this
Word and her younger sister uh she’s in grade 10 they would change words par things like that they would and then I realized one one day she told me Baba Paran father don’t take par then I understood that is something that you shouldn’t be troubled much or you know
Let us haveit in our own way so this is Fant how generation G can connect themselves that is they have different set of VO as well and this is uh if conation can accommodate I hope sudip has done that I mean it was difficult it is difficult to translate you know the
SC and also is difficult to communicate listening to other you know other readers in translation so if the target audience belongs to J G then you need to keep it in mind that they have different vocabulary so that they can communicate so that was an observation
Right thank you so much and we have we it seems like we have more comments coming in however on the note that both Gen X or before that is there a uvw to which we belong I don’t know um has agreed with JZ let’s keep to this
Plane of being in agreement and call it a day and go on to the final uh part of the final section of of the webinar uh which would be a word of thanks from B but before that we have um Professor jna reg with us and uh I will I would may I
Request withina to introduce jna and go on to the valedictory session okay here yes I’m here I can see I don’t know if you can hear me thank you thank you STI it was amazing I was I immersed into the uh the Gen Z Sligh generation let me use their words um
Thank you jna for being here for joining us but also for allowing us um to be part of this journey um I don’t know if I am going to succeed to give tribute to jna she’s the president of Doris Ling uh Society I don’t have a bio but I can say
That she contributed massively to um preserving that Heritage and to keeping us gathered around uh Lessing and uh I cannot find words to thank her for um allowing me to to open um a a chapter in North Africa and for trusting me um and I would like to thank you as well
Because preserving this chapter pushed me as a as a researcher to finish my PhD because I relied on the works of so many yeah yeah it’s been long ago you know it’s 2016 but the journey started with Doris Ling Society I found a lot of Articles and books and thanks to every
Member who contributed to every single uh chapter published and book um I had the chance of finishing my PhD and now I’m transmitting this to my generation so just na that heavy Heritage um I think is preserve thanks to you and uh to all Doris lesing uh
Society members so um Professor jna we will be honored if you say a few words with this you share your with this new generation honored thank you for joining us today thank you bu um I just um also just want to before I start just to say
That it’s not a question of being allowed to start a chapter I mean the honor is mine is the honor is for the society um that there is the energy and interest around the world and we’re so delighted that you’ve started the North Africa chapter um so good evening for me
It’s morning everybody what an enjoyable webinar full of energy and experimentation I couldn’t watch the program live yesterday so I caught up on it via YouTube in the middle of the night my night on the Google meet alone we had some 25 30 people each day and still more on YouTube participation by
30 plus people from 7even different countries in a collaboration between two chapters of the Doris lesing Society fantastic IC The Chosen theme the Quest for home has been so rich so deeply gendered both refuge and prison and as presenters have reminded us a sight of violence surveillance patriarchal normativity
Domestic Terror and also a Utopia longed for in Exile it is an ideal theme for delving into the work of Doris lesing and other women writers as women have traditionally had such a fraud and contradiction contradictory Rel relationship with Home even though home has been designated or perhaps because
Home has been designated as their Sphere not far from everyone’s thoughts throughout this webinar has been the current tragedy of Destruction and displacement unfolding in Israel Palestine where Innocents are being slaughtered in their safe places forced to move on again and again and taught in the most brutal of fashions that no
Place is safe for refugees and diasporic populations home is a site of memory and Nostalgia reconstructed in the imagination but home is not only an idea home is also a real place we long for an end to the killing and for the multiply displaced people of Israel Palestine to find home at
Last I am the current soon to be outgoing president of Doris lesing society which was founded nearly 50 years ago by Young mostly female Scholars mostly in the United States and Canada in recent years this the society has steadily become more International that is such a welcome thing today most of our new
Members are from Asia the Middle East and Europe hearty congratulations to Doris lesing Society North Africa the most recently formed chapter this webinar is its launch event B you did it wishing you all the best as you continue to deepen and widen your membership and networks the best new development in the
Doris lesing Society in the past two years has been the formation of chapters starting with the DLS South Asia in 2022 such a prolific group Next DLS North Africa and very soon DLS China yesterday I sat in and and spoke at the opening session of the Symposium that is
Being held at H Hunan Normal University and with 50 um participants there and something like 85 sessions um really inspiring too what a tribute to Ling at her 10th uh anniversary of her death these chapters jump start what we’ve been trying to do for some time that is to read Lessing in comparative
Contexts this is precisely what we have seen over the course of this webinar with papers examining works by three generations of female writers in conjunction with works by Ling another standout element of this webinar has been the engagement with lessings work by younger Scholars and in interesting formats such as two people
Presenting together and the articulate jenz reads Lessing panel what a delight to see students from Tunisia Bangladesh and India interacting in this way across countries and continents you are the future of Doris lesing studies so we’ll be increasingly looking to you for your insights and ideas about how best to move
Forward congratulation to the hosts and organizers Swati Mitra of DLS saaa was witha Maul of dsna and chandraa chakravarti of the of the CSG CM I love acronyms for pulling together this ambitious program and thanks to the stalwart members of dssa who gr graciously offered introductory remarks and shared sessions Professor
Hmed aanan ratna rahan udalit sajish bapala special thanks to Radha chakravarti who as this chapter’s mentor offers reassuring support and wise guidance we look forward with anticipation to the upcoming special issue of our scholarly Journal Doris Ling studies being guest edited by dssa ah heads up as many of you know the
Doris Ling Society organizes at least one session at the annual Convention of the modern language Association this year the SE session our session is entitled the figure of the Grio in Doris lesing an African and postcolonial IAL diaspora writers in which we’ll also be reading Lessing in a shared frame with other
Writers because the MLA conventions are always held in North Africa and the costs of no sorry North Africa North America and the cost of membership and registration and Conference travel are Out Of Reach for many Doris Ling members outside of North Africa um we in order to keep the society’s activities
Accessible to all members uh since the covid pandemic we’ve been repre ing our MLA session at our annual business meeting held over zoom and 2024 will be no exception so please save the date Sunday 7th of January 2024 and we’ll give you confirmation and details as soon as they’re
Available finally in remembrance and gratitude uh I will be lighting a candle for Doris lesing on this 10th anniversary of her death and uh thinking about her and her work and us all um who are here on this Earth on this broken Planet uh carrying on Bravely as she’s guided us to do
Thank you for inviting me to give these Bri brief closing remarks and now let me turn over to bua just now thank you thank you so much J now for um these moving words um um when I started reading had raised her hand and Robin is here yes please Robin you’re here is
Here yes could you activate your mic please actually I I pressed it accidentally but um thank you so much um I will catch up with everything on YouTube and let me remind everyone that um we’ll be having a student essay contest and I will send that out today that
Information and um those those who participated in this webinar um will be invited to um contribute um their work so thank you thank you to everyone and and greetings from me and California right now very inspiring thank you Robin thank you so much for joining us for taking the time to join
Us um when I started reading Doris Ling’s Works my experience uh itself of reading itself changed and I found home in those shores of sweet un reasons lesing was self-taught was a self-taught woman who refused all kind of conformism all forms of indoctrination or social social molding she left school at the
Age of 14 and started the Journey of reading she once asserted um that the best education is a good library and here we are reading her books and learning from her she believed in the capacity of fiction to blur the boundaries of space between space and time and reach readers everywhere and
Here we are reading her texts and writing about her from different parts of the world and and joined by different um Generations from Storyteller to humanist lesson becomes what um what she calls in a small personal voice an architect of the Soul indeed she thinks I’m quoting her once a writer has a
Feeling of responsibility as a human being for the other human beings he influences it seems to me he must become a humanist and must feel himself as an instrument of change the act of getting a story or a novel published is an act of communication an attempt to impose
One’s personality and beliefs on other people she metamorphosed the role of the writer into a humanitarian humanitarian sorry um historiographer forever for her home is not physical it is rather that inner jungle inside every one of us Ling died in 2013 at the age of 94 leaving behind find a valuable and incredible
Literary Heritage uh we give her tribute today heartfelt thanks doring Doris lesing for giving what could never be taken I’m using sh’s uh words uh I would like to thank Doris lesing society’s Founders and members for creating a hub of Exchange open to the world I couldn’t
Have done my PhD without their valuable contribution to the literature words are not enough to thank thank the president of Doris lesing Society Professor Jos Nar for pushing DLS studies forward and trusting us me and my colleagues and students with North Africa chapter um I had the chance to have a
Guardian anger Angel all along the process Dr STI Mira whose passion for Lessing and literature keep ins inspiring me every day thank you Swati for being you and for putting all this together and making it happen you and your team I’m truly grateful and proud of this collaboration um thank you North Africa
Chapter members who participated and joined um and mainly Dr hanen bomi my friend and collaborator and VI dasra amongst others who were not able to join but are part of the research group I would like to thank my dear friend and collaborator Professor elizabetha Marino for accepting to be part of the
Conference and delivering a special lecture from a special person I also thank my students no who is defending her thesis very very soon on Ling M far D and th those all those who joined thanks to all the participants from both chapters for their thought provoke provocative talks I learned a
Lot during these two days I would like to thank our guests and mainly Professor Chen and we wish um China and the China chapter all the best um I’m pretty sure we will collaborate soon swey will be preparing something I’m pretty sure I feel like we succeeded STI in
Creating a home of our own yesterday and today more to come with Lessing I’m pretty sure to you swti thank you for everything and this has to come come to an end and while J jna talks about lighting a candle and we have everyone more or less here I don’t know whether
Before the internet crashes can everyone just turn on their videos if possible um maybe it will crash but then we’ll crash out together so let’s have the videos on um and then we can uh Adria behind the scene can take um screenshot of who whichever faces that Show no Radha Radha RNA is here the students the Instagram Rich students are shy of camera that’s nice what about’s video is your your video will work it’s late for him yes let’s have all the videos yes thank you so much let’s have your video
All of you let’s have the videos on if possible especially the panelists Shan sh all of you if you could have then we’ll have one full screen no I think it’s not maybe it’s not working I think maybe maybe maybe so many videos are not working in the bandwidth that we have so
That for for whenever whichever in generation Alpha Beta gamma when we meet in person and we might have a webinar again in person sometime somewhere um but till then um it’s going to be a very good night uh very very enriching two days I uh we had some
Brilliant paper one from the lady here on screen Professor uh bomi uh hen is uh how we’ll get and Professor elizabetha that was a wonderful take I never could figure out the black Madonna that way uh the lady who has kind of seared us through the different chapters um just now on screen
Robin also pushing us supporting us behind the scene uh and yes but I think the cake goes to the young Group which have joined and it’s a trend that we saw from the very beginning of the first webinar that we had uh the technical team is Young students ex- students uh who are
Now joining the force as Educators uh will carry it all with them so yes a big hand to everyone and um bana has gone off she is in France she’s a real here traveler she is really traveling time and spaces so she’s now yes and there she
Is she’s called herself a witch so she’s going to kind of do some kind of spashing off some some of a magic so yes we Have It All We Have It All thank you thank you R if you’re still here for guiding us through and if there’s anybody I am
Missing out uh please understand you’re there very much in our thoughts and it would have not been possible without your valuable addition to the two days of proceedings and hard work STI needs to thank you as well oh thank you so much for that and I was just about to
Say there is Chandra here the technical team they have been supporting all the yeah so a big thanks to them and a big clap to them and uh yeah RNA I don’t I know I do all the hard work but the person who drives me is this lady here
Uh become come of the same group group from the same Mentor as it were a PhD guide and she’s the one who would just drop a line and say are you getting anywhere and so you know I have to kind of run and get the things done so yes uh
Thanks and I think there are going to be a lot of intersection on Lessing a lot of new ideas will which will uh of course B we you and I we have forgotten uh all this will go in into a proceeding and bhana said even when we were
Thinking about the title it’s going to be a book STI it’s going to be a book so it’s going to be a book we will call we will send out the emails um we we have the full papers of most of them but I’m sure they would like to revise reconsider
Reframe uh so we will uh get a book done but first I need to get that special special issue off our head and chest uh before we go into the proceedings while the others go on uh so yes that is how it is going to be uh we will leave in
The middle of this chaos that we have wonderfully created of all the generations and all the Lessing readings and all world literature put together and thank you everyone and a very good night and a h very happy day those who are the day could you share the link again so
That they add their uh emails to receive their certificates you share it again in the chat please yeah so before um we move off uh most of them have registered and um just for a final moment in case in case we have missed anybody out uh so here it goes the registration for
Day two and while I’m at it um I really like listening to that’s day two that’s you know me doing a shift over uh I just like listening to mentors and advisers um having no idea of my own maybe uh that is why so I did get some
Of my students to take down the notes for a final report that hopefully we will send across uh and share with everyone out here and to GLS as well because they make uh good reading I say uh and students like um arunima and Ria and prna have been at it um arunima was
Up all night to get it all done so yes we are uh trying to Ren the young group as as much as we can as you see while we are talking about future projects uh let me also think that if we make time uh before semester ends and
All that we may have a reading group meeting as we have done before uh with more youngsters in the group now uh and across borders I think we uh we can have an interesting reading yet again so on that note while the people who have
Joined in late if you could fill out uh just copy the that that um uh registration link and fill it out for us then we will have the necessary email IDs and your your names and designation before we can send out those very valuable uh certificates which are nowadays they are very Val
Very valuable it seems uh but I think you are although uh this might go into memory I hope this session and these two days will also remain very differently valued for you and RNA we will have the last word from you no I was simply going to say that this registration thing is
Very tricky especially if you don’t belong to generation next because every time you switch it and fill up the form it says you can sign once more so I time I do that I keep thinking oh Bud’s put up one sti’s put up another so should I
Keep just keep signing these while it keeps telling me you can fill in one more option that now it’s not for you I know I’m simply telling you I began by saying you know since I’m not generation next but see it’s not for you this is what happens when dinosaurs come on all
Right and as long as you’re not Spitting Fire it’s fine you’ve got all confused it’s dragons that spit fire oh yeah true yeah it’s all I was very bad with it in any case yeah but this has been wonderful and uh I’m just so glad that I know all of
You yeah I know I know I know the feeling yes so I think I think Ling would uh have had something extremely extremely saky to say about this like oh my God you people can gather and waste waste so go get yeah she’d probably say
Go get a live yeah yeah tring me but I mean that’s list and to her anyway when she said don’t work on my books for your research yeah that’s what she has so so good yeah very valid points um but you know something this is online we are not
Serving dinner or lunch so we have to call it a day or a night and so we will do person thing andal maybe maybe if this is what I do whenever I have an online class is um to ask everybody to open their mics at the
Same time to to do a lot of noise to say goodbye it will be great shall we put on our torches it’ll be like lighting a candle yeah exactly oh that’s great yeah that’s a very good idea yeah thank you RNA okay I’ll tell you what since we are
On and others cannot come in um I think we will switch off our videos now and we will see whether the others are shown so we’ve got is for a second okay here you are the candle candle yeah here I’m trying to take a picture just
WHYY remove it a little bit from your head let me take a picture right perfect yes okay so can we just I’m switching off the video so that somebody else can Sure can somebody else uh switch on their videos in that case maybe the bandwidth will accommodate no okay noers no no no no they it’s a it’s a different different gen it’s all right we are the oldies and we will talk there we are okay just to the
Noise what do you want us to do your yeah so should we say goodbye all together maybe bye have a wonderful day or evening or night that’s great that’s great
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