2020

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 39
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    Invention and exploration of artificial languages in the light of historicism
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Sarina Mohsin
    The creation of new languages has always been an important part of the history of human life. Languages are not only made of words rather they express the variety of culture, traditions, and lifestyles as well. By applying the notion of Stephen Greenblatt New Historicism this paper aims to explore the invention of artificial languages. New historicism defines as a form of literary theory whose main purpose is to understand the intellectual history through literature. Artificial languages which are also called constructed languages are created by humans intentionally. The most well-known languages are Esperanto and Dothraki. Esperanto is the widely spoken auxiliary language while Dothraki is the fictional one. The major part of the paper relies on Esperanto and its background, why his inventor was influenced to introduce such language on the other hand Dothraki will examine in the series Game of Thrones a TV adaptation of the novel A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R Martin. This paper contends to promote the in-depth analysis of Artificial languages and its impact on literature.
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    Religious east/west confrontation in the blessed house by Jhumpa Lahiri
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Inam-Ul-Haq
    This paper aims to scrutinize the concept of religious diaspora in the short story The Blessed House by Jhumpa Lahiri who often pens down the resilient assimilation of the third world people in the first world countries. She looks at the difficulties faced by the immigrants who because of the cultural and religious differences go through identity crisis and displacement. Mainly, her collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, focuses on the lives of immigrants going through the crisis of balancing between their origin and the current life. Along with the diasporic repercussions of the culture, the religious diasporic crisis play an integral part in the development of the identity living in the opposite world. The study examines this concept under Robin Cohen‟s model of diasporic studies which explains how a different culture affects religion of the immigrants and their generations. Jhumpa Lahiri narrates the story of a newly-wed couple in which the husband undergoes the religious dispute with his wife who happens to belong to the culture of the first world. This East/West contradiction serves as the subject of concern studied in this paper under the theoretical framework of Post-Colonial diasporic theory. It will further look at the aspects of religious assimilation affected due to the mixed origin of both characters. This explains how a South Asian immigrant reluctantly assimilates to the culture of the first world despite his Hundi fundamentalist identity.
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    Analysis of the namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri in the lens of diaspora and theory of hybridity by home k Bhabha
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Muna Manzoor
    The Namesake highlights the struggles faced by multi-cultural and immigrants, specifically Bengali immigrants in English countries. Jhumpa Lahiri herself, being a hybrid, raises the issues faced by immigrants in this contemporary era. Hybrid is a product of two different region. Hybrid is in conflict between land of origin and host country. This study focuses on the challenges faced by the diaspora community in a foreign land. It will investigate in-depth the issues faced by third world country citizens both as immigrants and settlers. This investigation reflects upon the double identity of Gogol, the hybrid and essential protagonist in the novel. Gogol suffered from duality and alienation throughout the novel. The selected text is very first novel by Jhumpa Lahiri that articulated the feelings of hybrid in a foreign land and the way they tackle those emotions of being an outsider, the other, an inferior. The post-colonial writers who experienced hybridity always try to depict this relationship through their literary work for years. Considering this unavoidable aspect of cultural conflict and hybridity. This paper will examine and study the character of Gogol in the lens of Homi K. Bhabha’s theory of hybridity.
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    Analyzing the representation of Pakistan in Bollywood and Hollywood via the lens of propaganda theory
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Ayesha Afzal
    The two biggest markets of Film production i.e. Hollywood and Bollywood have produced a plethora of films regarding terrorism. The addition of Pakistani terrorist has always remained a perfect on trend addition to the film content. The research is carried out to reveal the tactics of the two power houses especially Bollywood in pumping the negative stereotypical image of Pakistan. The paper stresses on the point that how this foreign theatrical medium is deeply involved in manipulating the minds of masses across the world by presenting the antagonistic image of Pakistan. The paper explores the ideology of Bollywood and Hollywood to fuel hate and Islamophobia. It also discusses the Major forced involved in the production of such films which only aims to spread hate towards Pakistan and Muslims. The base of the structure of Hate spreading Films is strengthened by (RAW). The negative and indirect representation of Pakistan through language is also highlighted in the paper. The films chosen for this purpose include: Agent Vinod, Phantom and Iron Man. The dialogues from these Movies are included in research for analysis. The analysis of the films is done through the Propaganda Model proposed by Herman and Chomsky. The paper in this aspect shows the use of medium of arts such as films, posters, books, magazines etc. for doing propaganda and gaining political and socio-economic benefits. The study provides a reality check of two Big production markets who are ignorant about their countries participation in spreading violence and extremism where One of them is killing masses of innocent leaving them homeless in the name of eradicating terrorism and the other is declared as the number 1 country in the list of violating minority rights. It discusses the impact of the films on people of Pakistan and Pakistan image around the globe
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    The violation of jus in bello in Tariq Rahman’s bingo and Khademul Islam’s an Irish story
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Tehseen Zahra Abbas
    This research tends to explore the Violation of the ethics of war during the partition between Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1971. By examining the untold stories of the migration of Bengali people, the study validates the violation of Jus in bello (war ethics) under the ‘Just War’ theory by Alexander Moseley. Under the evaluation of three key principles of Discrimination, Proportionality and Responsibility in Jus in bello, it aims to look at the violation of basic war principles. The partition of 1971 is considered to be less atrocious than the partition of 1947. This paradoxical concept constructs the unnerving debate over Pakistan’s role in the history of double independence. By scrutinizing two short stories, Bingo by Tariq Rahman and An Ilish Story by Khademul Islam, it studies the violation of war principles carried out by the military forces and alleged religious representatives of both countries. Primarily, it highlights the untold atrocities during the partition of 1971 in the name of separate nationality, language and identity. In analyzing these short stories, the study generates a comparison between Pakistani and Bangladeshi writers in their approach towards the notion of separation. It examines the repercussions of the violation of the war rules as the barbaric mass killing of East Pakistanis in 1971 represent the horrors of partition in 1947.
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    A comparative study of medusa and Shireen from “the bull and the she devil” by Zaib un Nisa Hamidullah
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Kohenoor Khan
    This paper intends to compare the character of Shireen from “The Bull and The She Devil” with the mythical character of Medusa. Under the concept of Ecriture Feminine presented by the feminist theorist Helene Cixous in her 1975 essay “The Laugh of Medusa”, this paper further intends to explore how women’s writing can change the narratives in male dominant literature. The major focus of the research is Cixous's ideas on the deconstruction of Lacanian phallus by reclaiming women’s subject position in the center. It aims to discuss the center, signifiers and their effects on male and female subject position i.e. men in the center and women at the fringes. It further intends to compare the signifiers of Shireen with the signifiers of Medusa. The speaking eyes and smile of Shireen work as the laughter of Medusa which symbolize the destruction of male-dominant writing arena through female narratives. Moreover, this qualitative research is the study of the preconceived notions and their ambiguity regarding South Asian women's role as wife and a female writer. With respect to their colonial history, the struggle against Lacanian phallus becomes stronger as they stand outside the fringes of the center.
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    Diasporic acculturation of the third world immigrants in Jhumpa Lahiri’s short stories
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Maria Aslam
    This study is an analysis of diasporic acculturation in Jhumpa Lahiri’s short stories “Mrs. Sen’s” and “Third and the Final Continent” which explore the difficulties of assimilation faced by the South Asian immigrants. As Jhumpa Lahiri focuses on the themes of displacement, cultural hybridity, and identity crisis due to the mixed origins of Indian immigrants, this paper attempts to examine the theory of Labour and Imperial Diasporas by Robin Cohen. In the book, Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri has penned down the untold stories of South Asians living in America. Also, she has unveiled the struggle of people adapting to a new culture and choosing a new identity despite an Indian background and American status. Through the character of Mrs. Sen adjusting herself to the new American culture, and the resilience of an unnamed protagonist towards his common Indian wife in “Third and the Final Continent”, Jhumpa Lahiri has conveyed the common difficulties faced by the immigrants living in the USA. By analyzing these stories under the diasporic acculturation in general, this paper further intends to study how immigration and assimilation affect women in particular. By exploring these aspects, this paper attempts to explore the analysis of Robin Cohen on Indian labor’s cult of immigration and imperial diasporic impact on the South Asians immigrants.
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    Mohsin Hamid’s exit west as a magic realist text
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Muhammad Murad
    The study explores the use of magic realism in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West by looking at its essentially postmodern roots and the aftermath of introducing magic realist characteristics in the novel. The present research tries to look at the text after getting magic realist touch, in the present case the effects of magic realist concepts on the novel’s readers and subject matter. Stemming from socio-political, cultural, and historical development, postmodernism literature is a way of depicting postmodern life. Magic Realism is its very offspring and to define it is difficult because of its open-ended interpretations ever since it first appeared in 1925 in art. It is a literary style in which magical or supernatural elements are embedded within a modern world. It is also considered a subgenre of ‘fantasy’ because of the incorporation of imaginary settings and actions in a text, while also trying to make it relevant for realist setting. Owing to its postmodern origin, Mohsin Hamid’s novel Exit West reveals instances of blurring genres, shifting from political to psychological, magical to realist fiction. The present research suggests that the novel introduces the ordinary technological gadgets as magical inventions bent on globalizing the world, by minimizing the idea of territorial borders that are the epitome of nationalism. The findings of this research suggest that it is a novel showing both physical and metaphysical journeys of people through the transcendental effects of cellphones and magical doors respectively. Above all, Hamid foresees a better future of humanity because of the interconnectedness of the world today through the usage of technological gadgets.
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    Tracing racism in Angie Thomas’s the hate u give
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Nimra Ilyas Butt
    By applying the critical race theory of Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, this paper aims to trace the racism present in the novel The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. According to Jean Stefancic and Richard Delgado, the race is the product of social relations and social thoughts. Their theory is based on six tenants out of whom five are a part of this research. The tenants include everyday racism, social construction, differential racism, intersectionality, and a unique voice of color. The novel dramatizes the issue of racism, homicides, unjust treatment of Blacks by White police, and the impact of these injustices on the life of Blacks. In this paper, racism, its forms, and its impacts on the lives of the victims will be discussed. The author of the novel also belongs to the Black community and she has faced racism too. She relates this dark issue with her real-life experiences to make the reader aware of the Black Lives Matter movement. This paper contends to encourage people of color to fight for their rights because Black Lives Matter.
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    Adaptation of gender representation in Bram stokers’ novel ‘Dracula’ (1897) and Netflix series Dracula (2020)
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Fatima Ashraf
    Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula (1897) is considered the most modern vampire myth in literature. This paper is analyzed with respect to the characters’ representation and the intriguing changes in the Bram Stokers’ novel Dracula (1897) compared with its contemporary 2020 adaptation by Netflix. This dissertation explores what kind of addition, reduction and, modifications take place in the contemporary series of Dracula series as compared to the novel. The prominent characters of the novel and series are compared with each other as to how characters were represented in the novel, and how they are portrayed in the contemporary series. Especially the main character of the novel ‘Dracula’ is portrayed by Stoker in such a way that his character not only shows vampiristic features but also shows his interest in mundane matters. The events in Stokers’ novel are symbolized how the human mind functions and how paranoia affects the human psyche and also the characters of Stoker’s novel.
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    Dystopian analysis of matched by ally Condie
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Areeba Altaf
    This paper intends to explore the elements of dystopia in the fictional country governed by the society. The dystopian world in the novel shows the horrors of a place that is flawed and manipulative under the influence of the society and the officials. The citizens act as puppets in the hands of the society and the officials maintain control over them. Freedom and liberty seem to be nonexistent. Utopia as opposed to dystopia makes a significant theme in the setting of the novel. The research shows the forceful and oppressive lifestyle of the citizens in the country as they form part of a state where everything is preplanned and predicted by statistics. The concept of dystopia and utopia as presented by Booker shall be applied to the literary text Matched written by Ally Condie to highlight the suppression and subordination imposed on the public by the governing faculties. The fictional novel shows a nightmarish space where one marries, where one lives, where one works and when one dies all is decided by the society. The society has achieved perfection as believed by the officials who are the bourgeoisie and the civilians need to maintain strict order to keep living the perfect life that is supposedly a blessing. The dystopian theory looks at the social injustice, societal errors of the community. The world of dystopia exercises powers over the suppression and elimination of opposition which shall be sought out in the novel along with the theoretical aspects of freedom, totalitarianism, Stalinism. Booker’s view on the social environment and concept of ideal world will be applied to the society’s image. The application of the dystopian concept to the text shall highlight the social horrors, injustices and traumas of the seemingly ideal but actually destructive and horrific world.
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    Exploring soul of the world in “The alchemist”
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Maria Younas
    This study discusses the difference between following dream and making dream through the character of Santiago in “The Alchemist”. Following dream shows the concern of dreamer with ‘the belief in dream’ rather making dreams depicts the concern of a dreamer ‘in his own strength’. By applying the concept of ‘latent content’ from psychoanalytic theory by Sigmund Freud it will study the dream of Santiago as his unconscious motivation. By following dream Santiago gets his motivation, his individuality and defeated his own arrogance. This study is unique in a sense that dreams is related to our ‘self’ on the other hand following dream is related to our soul. Therefore, obeying soul is superior to nurturing arrogance.
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    The dilemma of identity in Frantz fanon’s black skin white masks
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Mehak Amir
    This paper intends to scrutinize the identity crisis faced by Black people while living in White society under the theoretical perspective of “hybridity” given by Homi K Bhabha. As recorded in history, Blacks were made to forget history, their motherland, traditions and identity under the imposition of colonization. This paper explores White man’s burden and Black man’s burden and how this inverse relation loaded the Black’s soul with immense trauma. The book Black Skin White Masks by Frantz Fanon excruciates the psychological, ideological, linguistic, sexual dilemmas along with Black man’s identity. The fragmented identity of Blacks is always been a rhetorical question which is unanswered throughout centuries. The question of identity haunt all aspects of social reality i.e. Black’s culture, religion, customs, traditions and language. This research tends to focus on Black community under hegemonic expression of Western philosophies and to concentrate what Black man actually wants.
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    The whole nation’s trauma
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Aiman Kamran
    The purpose of this study is to examine the narrative from a psychological perspective about childhood trauma which reveals the protagonist’s enslavement, experiences and it’s after effects on her personality. This study analyzes how chronic childhood trauma leads to destruction of African-American community. The novel God Help the Child by Toni Morrison deals with the physical, psychological and spiritual destruction brought by a mother. Moreover, this study highlights the struggle of a child, who was alienated in a world of strangers. Childhood experiences and knowledge serves as an endless hell and functions as an ever-lasting misery that passes from one generation to another this experience later becomes the whole nation’s trauma. By applying the theory of trauma by Judith Herman and focusing on the psychology of the protagonist, this study aims to discuss all the traumatic issues discussed in this novel by Toni Morrison. Writer Toni Morrison shows the journey of the protagonist, Bride from devastating cycle of trauma to its tentative self and the role of mother in her life. Moreover, the study investigates the trauma of blackness which pushes the protagonist towards abnormal behavior. This inconsistent behavior highlights the racial discrimination that the protagonist faced and it takes a bodily existence in her mind because of her past traumatic experiences.
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    Evolution of Muslim representation in western literature and media
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Fatima Ayub
    This study intends to explore the evolution of representation of Muslims and Muslim communities in Western literature and media. Through Disney’s Aladdin and the novel Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali, the representation of Muslims in Western culture will be analysed. Both will be compared in terms of era and writer; the former being a white person’s narrative whereas, the latter being a Muslim’s. In mainstream Western literature and media, Muslim men had been represented as savages and inhumane creatures while the women were subjugated and sexualised but after the 9/11 attack they were shown as terrorists and dangerous entities which caused the up rise of Islamophobia and stereotyping of Muslims. Both before and after 9/11, Muslims were either strongly stereotyped, written with antagonistic characteristics or dominated by a white presence. As time has progressed the immigrant Muslims have been given a voice after being discriminated against in terms of ethnicity and religion for a long time. Firstly, this paper will explore how Muslims have been represented through the eyes of West and non- Muslim people as compared to the literature written by Muslims themselves, who reside in the West in the contemporary age. They are constantly given backlash for being Muslims and dressing the way they do. Secondly, it will highlight the stark contrast between the representation done by Western people and Muslims themselves. Finally, in this thesis paper, while taking into account the Muslim characters and Islamic settings featured in movies and literature of different years, the representation of Muslim characters and their presence in that specific novel/movie is analysed through the lens of Orientalism and Otherness proposed by Edward Said. I will analyse them as ‘orients’ in a Western society and how they have evolved from being ‘others’ to slowly making progress towards being the ‘self’ in contemporary literature and media.
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    Male gaze to female gaze
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Fiza Ishtiaq
    This research aims to explore the meaning of art through Manto’s school of literary criticism under the South Asian context. In this paper, Saadat Hasan Manto’s two short stories on the fierce massacre of lives and emotions will be compared under Charles H.Caffin’s theory, Art for Life’s Sake. Partition is considered to be the most horrifying period of history which provoked Manto and many other writers to transcribe the harsh realities taken place on the name of religion and nationalism. This qualitative research offers an analysis of Manto’s art of writing as a standard form of literature that reflects the lives of millions of people during, pre- and post-partition. By analyzing his two short stories, Thanda Gosht (Cold Meat) (translated by Bhalla) and Toba Tek Singh (translated by Tahira Naqvi), it further analyzes that how Manto’s writings reflects the universality in his art of writing. His major themes revolved around the frights of partition, rape, prostitution and social evils embodied in human nature, especially men. Exploring Manto’s subject of concern, it will further analyze the canons set by the humans themselves, bringing the sense of acclaimed ‘obscenity’ and ‘exaggeration’ in the open Urdu narratives.
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    Male gaze to female gaze
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) HOORIA AFZAL
    This research inspects the dominant patriarchal hierarchies with respect to spectatorship. In this regard, two Disney movies Cinderella 1950 and Brave 2012 are analyzed to see how females are projected on screen as per the patriarchal notions of femininity and how their bodies are being objectified. The analysis is guided by Laura Mulvey’s work in which she addresses the male gaze. This research focuses on various trends in the Disney movies especially as regards to the male gaze and how that gaze demoralizes and devalues feminine figures. The movie Cinderella 1950 is observed under the theory of male gaze. In Cinderella 1950 the princess is characterized out of pure male-centric paradigm where she is only limited to her house and not allowed to step outside while in response to this Brave 2012 is analyzed under the female gaze where the princess is shown as deviating from the traditional options for a girl in the given society. In both movies, different narratives of both male and female figures are considered. This research focuses on An Evolution in the Portrayal of Disney Movie Princesses through the lens of Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze and how this theory proclaims the societal strictures and bonds in which women are entangled. Through the analysis of the movies Cinderella 1950 and Brave 2012, this research shows that how the representation of female has been changed they have become empowered and have the ability to live there life according to there on will in the Disney movies with the passage of time.
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    Atwood’s the handmaid’s tale
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Iza Iqbal
    To consider woman as a mere commodity has been the tradition en-rooted in each society. Margaret Atwood in her novel The Handmaid’s Tale highlights the oppression of women in a broad range. She not only highlights their agony but also pin points how women were being caged in the Gilead society which is representative of the world at large. Through the lens of feminist dystopia and the character of Offred the research aims to analyze the suffering of women and how society perceives and treats them as an object. Furthermore, this research evaluates the linkages of the events in the novel with Pakistan under Former President General Zia-ul-haq and present era to show that while the character of Offred maybe fictional, what she undergoes, as a woman is the everyday reality of women in Pakistan but also worldwide. Due to the historical and political links of this research with past and present day Pakistan, it also explores the impact of feminist movement like Aurat March in conservative society like Pakistan.
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    To the lighthouse from the lens of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Javed Ahmed
    This research aims to study Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse through the lens of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The study attempts to show that how the personality development theory works on the novel To the Lighthouse throughout all dimensions of the study. Maslow stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence over others. The most basic need for our life is physical survival, and this is the first thing, which motivates our behavior. Once that level fulfilled, the next level up is what motivates us, and so on. The stages of the hierarchy can be applied on the characters of the novel “To the Lighthouse”. There are twenty-four characters in this novel, but this thesis will focus on the characters of Mrs. Ramsay, Mr. Ramsay, Lily Briscoe, and James Ramsay. The stages of the Maslow’s Hierarchy are Physiological need, Safety needs, Love and belongingness needs Esteem and Self-actualization. This study endeavors to see how the characters reflect the fulfillment of needs or the lack of it thereof.
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    Women against women
    (UMT, Lahore, 2020) Ayesha Khan
    This paper attempts to implement the theory of the Lacanian Symbolic Order on the genre of an autobiography authored by Pakistani female writers who have been in lawful or unlawful relationships with social or political figures of Pakistan. It is believed that Pakistani society hails patriarchy because it is phallocentric, thus leaving a bee space for women to disintegrate patriarchy. The autobiographical novel My Feudal Lord by Tehmina Durrani is taken as the feminist voice. This indicates that female literature canonized female readers and critics who misinterpret feminist autobiographical literature in the autobiographical genre. By associating oneself with the phallic structure, the author positions herself as a heroine through self- victimized narration. This raises questions on the impact of autobiographies written by females when the authors made it to the social and political headlines after being in a consensual, cordial, or matrimonial relation with eminent social or political figures. This research will unleash the notion of "women against women" by analyzing the rivalry amongst female characters and their portrayal in My Feudal Lord. This paper attempts to establish that autobiographies can be utilized to claim Lacanian phallus. This serves as a tool to incorporate, promote and impose patriarchy for women of other classes.