Breaking the Mould: Women’s Voices and Visions in Literature -Padmavathi Neelamraju “Age cannot wither Nor custom stale her infinite variety.” (Cleopatra) What Shakespeare said about Cleopatra was undoubtedly true of the image of woman; she was the pinnacle source for literature and also creator of literature. It is the need of the hour to be […]
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Dramatic Tinges And Poetic Niceties in Gurajada’s Sarangadhara -M Venkata Lakshmi ” The labouring dawn gave out the child of lightWhose infant became played O’ere the river’s breast.” That dramatic description of ‘early morning’, done by Gurazada Venkata Apparao in his long story-poem ‘Sarangadhara’, presents a glimpse of the poet’s immense […]
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To tell a tale-29 (Chapter-7 Part-7) -Chandra Latha M.M.Bhakthin explains that “the novel is determined by–experience, knowledge and practice (the future).” This is the equation of the past, present and the future of the novels and the selected novels succeeded aesthetically and attained a kind of universality within the narrated world. Bottom line of all […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-21 -Nidadvolu Malathi The novel, Son of the Soil, published in 1972, supposedly depicts the collapse of zamindari families.[1] The rich landowners were losing their hold on the land, urban life was luring villagers to cities, and the old values were changing fast. Sambayya, who dedicated his entire life to his land, is […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-20 -Nidadvolu Malathi Vasundhara Devi’s long story, “Penjeekatikavvala” [Beyond the Dense Darkness] received critical acclaim for its profound discourse on life and death. The story opens with a brief description of a location in the city, where the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ lived side by side. For all the wealth and the amenities Jayalakshmi, […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-29 (Chapter-7 Part-6) -Chandra Latha Heteroglossia as defined by M.M.Bhaktin is the base condition governing the operation of meanings in any utterances. It is that which insures the primacy of the context over text. At any given time, at any given place, there will be set of conditions–social, historical, meteorological, physiological-that will […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-28 (Chapter-7 Part-5) -Chandra Latha Gopichand’s seventy year old novel may appear relevant for latest times appealing to the present reader, and the decade old novel, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana could successfully, take the reader to seventy years past. Understanding and execution of the organic nature of the time with […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-19 -Nidadvolu Malathi The story, “Bhayam”, [Fear of Death] by Tangirala Meera Subrahmanyam throws light on the kind of irrational fears we entertain. It illustrates the unfounded fear of death people experience. It is not a philosophical catechism on death. The author depicts the fear or anxiety that the sight of a dead […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-27 (Chapter-7 Part-4) -Chandra Latha In the thesis, the distinctive narrative styles of the selected novels written in the native languages of the novelists, namely Telugu, German, Spanish and Italian, are presented in the order of their publication in their original language, between 1946 to 2004, approximately […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-18 -Nidadvolu Malathi The story “Manchudebba” (Frostbite) addressed one of the very rarely mentioned taboos in society,namely, marriage under false pretenses to hide a man’s impotence. The story opens with Kalyani, a young woman, visiting her grandmother in a small village. She is bored. While on terrace just to pass time, she spots […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-26 (Chapter-7 Part-3) -Chandra Latha M.M. Bhaktin suggests that the organic nature of novel is embedded in it’s pluralistic nature. Marquez’s conscious choice of multi-fold narration makes it the ultimate example for textual plurality. The oral narrative tradition of folklore is cleverly captured in the narrative style. Inclusion of the distant places […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-17 -Nidadvolu Malathi Synopsis: Kannamma was a working class woman. After her husband had left her and her baby for another woman, she was looking for work to make a living. She took several odd jobs, but each time, she found herself cornered. Every man she had come across assaulted her or made […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-25 (Chapter-7 Part-2) -Chandra Latha With appropriate expression of percept and concept, this novel achieves Sui generis. With the lofty narrative style to describe trivial things with a combination of classical rhetoric and simple colloquial prose, Puppets can be rightly called a mock epic novel that suits the definition of a novel […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-16 -Nidadvolu Malathi One story illustrating the woman’s awareness, just awareness only, is “Eduru Chusina Muhurtam” [The Long Awaited Moment] by P. Saraladevi. The story illustrates woman’s perception of how she was being ignored by her family members. At the age of six, little Durga started looking around and wanting the things she […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-24 (Chapter-7 Part-1) -Chandra Latha The Narrative of Life: Conclusion The selected novels of this study are from various parts of the world. The English translations of the original texts, written in the native languages of the novelists, namely Telugu, German, Spanish and Italian are used to […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-15 -Nidadvolu Malathi 3. THEMES In the preceding chapter, we have noted how Telugu women writers moved away from bhakti tradition of self-effacing to the awareness of self (identity) following the nationalist and social movements. It is important to note that the original intent of the social reformers and educationists was not instilling […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-23 (Chapter-4 Part-4) -Chandra Latha The Shattered Glass: The Tin Drum Günter Grass The Tin Drum is filled with religious overtones. Critics observe that The Tin Drum illustrates Seneca’s axiom, “The knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation.” (Seneca, Consolations and Moral Letters. Latin Proverb) http://thinkexist.com/ quotation/ the_knowledge_of_sin_is_the_beginning_of/176801.html) […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-14 -Nidadvolu Malathi Use of Pseudonyms Use of pseudonyms in the latter half of the twentieth century requires special mention. Unlike in the United States and Great Britain, Telugu women writers did not use male pseudonyms. Those who used pseudonyms picked only female names. For example, Aravinda (A.S. Mani), Syamala Rani (Akella Kamala […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-13 -Nidadvolu Malathi The reviewer also noted that a reader from the audience sent a note to the podium in the form of a poem, “Oh voyagers! Bring our women writers down to the earth,” implying women writers were writing unrealistic stories. Lata said in response, “Why don’t you look up and acknowledge […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-22 (Chapter-4 Part-3) -Chandra Latha The Shattered Glass: The Tin Drum Günter Grass Narrative overtones are present throughout the novel. When Oskar was caught and asked to identify himself to the Inter-pole gentlemen who came to arrest him, he said, “I am Jesus.” Nevertheless, I was arrested under the name of Oskar […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-12 -Nidadvolu Malathi Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Akademi The state government formed Sahitya Akademi [a literary organization] in 1957. One of the functions of Akademi was announcing awards annually to the best works in several categories. In 1976, the Akademi announced awards for works in various literary genres as usual but excluded fiction from […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-21 (Chapter-4 Part-2) -Chandra Latha The Shattered Glass: The Tin Drum Günter Grass Oskar’s perspective of photographic image gives rise to a contemplation upon inconsistency between accepted history and individual remembrance which draws together the motifs of perception, memory, representation and photography to register the after-image of the past. The photographic images […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-11 -Nidadvolu Malathi Female Scholars’ Perspective in the Academy Some of the contemporary women writers from the academy subscribed to the view that Sulochana Rani’s fiction was doing more harm than good to the society. C. Anandaramam, a noted writer and Telugu professor, commented in her study of fiction of the seventies and […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-19 (Chapter-3 Part-5) -Chandra Latha Among the other characters, Lakshamamma, Lalitha, Padma and Ammayamma need special mention. Minor characters like Sita, Jaggaa Rao’s mother and have their own crucial roles to play. Describing the nature of Laxmamma the writer relates, “Human nature is very strange. An atom can be split, the moon […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-10 -Nidadvolu Malathi The Academy The academy continued to be indifferent, despite the unprecedented interest the readers, the magazine editors, and publishers were showing in the fiction by women writers at this time. Women writers were conspicuous by their absence in the critical works produced by the academy in the sixties and early […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-19 (Chapter-3 Part-5) -Chandra Latha Among the other characters, Lakshamamma, Lalitha, Padma and Ammayamma need special mention. Minor characters like Sita, Jaggaa Rao’s mother and have their own crucial roles to play. Describing the nature of Laxmamma the writer relates, “Human nature is very strange. An atom can be split, the moon […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-9 -Nidadvolu Malathi Magazine Editors and Circulation Numbers During my interviews with women writers, several of them mentioned that the magazine editors encouraged them. The names included Narla Venkateswara Rao, Gora Sastry, Khasa Subba Rao, and Puranam Subrahmanya Sarma. Other weekly and monthly magazines like Sahiti, Swati, Yuva, Tharuna, and Jayasri also were […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-18 (Chapter-3 Part-4) -Chandra Latha The dilemma is that which class does Chandrashekharam belong? The oppressed or the oppressing? It reflects the dual nature and the split personality of Chandrashekharam. His reaction to his father-in-law‘s death is different from his reaction to his child’s death. He starts attributing his child’s death to […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-8 -Nidadvolu Malathi Economic Status Economic status did not play a crucial role in women’s writing in the early fifties. In the past, supporting the family was not woman’s responsibility. Therefore, economics was not a part of the equation. The situation has changed, drastically after women entered the workforce. Ironically, the question became […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-17 (Chapter-3 Part-3) -Chandra Latha Situational irony the disparity of intention and result and the result of an action in contrary to the desired or expected is also profusely used in the novel. According to Lars Elleström, Situational irony is “a situation where the outcome is incongruous with what was expected, but it […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-7 -Nidadvolu Malathi Marital Status Regarding marriage, most of these writers have shown some kind of independent thinking. Each of them seemed to have taken a stand in their own way. Achanta Sarada Devi mentioned that she had ample opportunity to read books because of her marriage with Janakiram in 1944. Malati Chendur […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-16 (Chapter-3 Part-2) -Chandra Latha In the novel, Krishna Rao invokes Karl Marx, and legendary epics like Mahabharatham, Bhagavadgeetha, classic poetry like Kalahastheeswara Satakam many times. The narrative of Puppets is divided into thirty five chapters. Every chapter begins with a simple, exterior description that sets the required tone to its narrative. […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-15 (Chapter-3 Part-1) -Chandra Latha A Cup of Brewed Coffee: Puppets G.V. Krishna Rao It’s boiled. It’s steeped. It’s made into steaming hot coffee brimming creamy soft lather to awaken one from the long night’s hard sleep, out of the illusion of dreams and the confusion of hangovers. It’s the perfect mixture […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-6 -Nidadvolu Malathi AT HOME Before discussing the unprecedented success of women writers in Andhra Pradesh, let us review their education, familial and economic status in the fifties and sixties. Education In families even with moderate income, sending girls to public schools started in the late nineteenth century. By mid-twentieth century, young women […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-5 -Nidadvolu Malathi 2.FAMILIAL STATUS and SOCIAL CONDITIONS In the preceding chapter, I attempted to trace some of the trends regarding women’s education in upper classes and their creative writing, which was mostly poetry. In this chapter, I shall examine the next stage in the evolution of women’s writing—-a spirited mix of tradition […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-14 (Chapter-2 Part-7) -Chandra Latha Gopichand avows, “Expression of life is the ultimate attraction. Any defined literary form is a fixed frame. Literary forms are born to express the life. Why should we give more validity than that? If we can get more benefit by moving beyond those frames, Why shouldn’t we […]
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INDEPENDENCE DAY -Sasi Inguva I wake up to the chorus of the good old hindi song Jahan daal daal par sone ki chidiya karti hai basera Woh bharath desh hai mera! Woh bharath desh hai mera! coming from the loud speakers, outside in the gully. The music ringing in my ears, of veena, of violin […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-13 (Chapter-2 Part-6) -Chandra Latha In his detailed essay, Rationalism and Naturalism, Gopichand declares, “I agree that there are limitations to Rationalism. But, only rationalism can explore the truth …Natural knowledge is acquired in the human evolution. Even before we tried to know it, we have it. Knowledge acquired by human experience […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-4 -Nidadvolu Malathi Recognition and Reward Next to publishing, the second shift from the past was in the area of recognition and reward for writings by women. Attempting to put these two issues in the social context of Andhra Pradesh is a complex task. The complexities arise from the multi-layered familial relationships as […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-3 -Nidadvolu Malathi Kanuparti Varalakshmamma (1896-1978), erudite writer, gave a compelling account of the social conditions during this period in her article entitled, “Dharmapatni Rajyalakshmamma”: “After her husband [Veeresalingam] started the widow remarriage movement, it became a fierce struggle for her to maintain her relationship with her natal home. It became impossible to […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-12 (Chapter-2 Part-5) -Chandra Latha As the children in the street make fun of these as madman’s scribbling or the manager removes him from the job, they reflect the reaction of the society for the rein less thought, whether it is as innocent as children consider or irresponsible as the manager considers. […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-11 (Chapter-2 Part-4) -Chandra Latha Gopichand infuses epistolary form to the narrative as a powerful means of discourse among the characters. Sitarama Rao gets a letter from his maternal uncle and Sitarama Rao responds with a request for hundred rupees. Then he gets no reply. Out raged by the lack of […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-2 1950-1975, Andhra Pradesh, India (An Analytical Study of Historical, Familial and Social Conditions that contributed to women writers’ phenomenal success immediately after declaration of Independence.) -Nidadvolu Malathi PUTTING AN END TO THE BOILERPLATE LITERARY HISTORY Foreword By Kalpana Rentala We have one thousand years of literary history. Up until now, there […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Women writers-1 1950-1975, Andhra Pradesh, India (An Analytical Study of Historical, Familial and Social Conditions that contributed to women writers’ phenomenal success immediately after declaration of Independence.) -Nidadvolu Malathi FOREWORD BY AUTHOR In the history of Telugu fiction, one quarter of a century following the achievement of our independence in 1947, from 1950 to […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-9 -Chandra Latha Passage :1 At one time, he had considered it very wrong to strike children, a great sin. He was surprised how parents could ever beat children. ”What do children know? They are innocent. What is the use of beating […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-9 -Chandra Latha Chapter–II Falling From the Peak : The Bungler Gopichand The second chapter, titled The Bungler’s wife, focuses on Indira. With the humble financial support from her father, Indira, who is in her advance stage of pregnancy, manages the household. Her daughter considers of dropping out of the school as […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-8 -Chandra Latha Chapter–II Falling From the Peak : The Bungler Gopichand “The Mind is its own place, and in itself Can make Heaven of the Hell, a Hell of Heaven’’ Gopichand was a multi-faceted genius, Short Story Writer, Novelist, Playwright, Editor, Essayist, Cinema Script Writer, Cinema Director and Producer, Radio […]
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Early Detection -Aparna Munukutla Gunupudi 5 years ago, I was driving home from work and heard on the radio that October is breast cancer awareness month. I thought, that is nice, they have a dedicated month for this cause and wondered what I can do to recognize that. I certainly can tell my two daughters […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-7 -Chandra Latha Chapter-I (Part-6) After examining the different definitions of narratology, an attempt is made to list out the various narrative techniques with respect to the aspects such as narrator, theme, characters, plot, setting, time, the use of imagery, history, cultural, social, economic, narrative modes, narrative styles, narrative tones and so […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-6 -Chandra Latha Chapter-I (Part-5) Geoffrey Chaucer, a 14th century British poet followed the narrative style of the Decameron with the similar narrative frame work in The Canterbury Tales (1386). Most of it was written in verse but some of the tales were written in prose. But the European literary world […]
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తెలుగు చర్చావేదికలు, బ్లాగులు & సైట్లు -డా||కె.గీత ముందు ప్రకరణాల్లోచెప్పుకున్నట్టు యూనికోడ్ లో తెలుగుని రాయగలగడం వల్ల టెక్నాలజీ పరంగా భాషను రాయడం, రాసిన దాన్ని కంప్యూటర్లలో అన్ని చోట్లా తిరిగి అదేవిధంగా తిరిగి చూడడంలో ఉన్న అడ్డంకులన్నీ తొలగిపోయేయి. ఇక “లేఖిని” వంటి సాధనాలతో ఆన్ లైన్ లో తెలుగు సులభంగా రాయడం వంటివి సాధ్యమయ్యేయి. ఇందువల్ల అంతకు ముందు వరకూ యాహూ గ్రూపు, గూగుల్ గ్రూపు వంటి చర్చావేదికల్లో RTS పద్ధతిలో తెలుగుని ఇంగ్లీషులో […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-5 -Chandra Latha Chapter-I (Part-4) The Native American Indian story tellers like Benjamin Whorf (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Lee_Whorf) Franz Boas(https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Franz_Boas), think that the native narrators do not experience themselves, or life as narrative grammar, or pattern or Euro-American space and time. Discussing the vibrant role of story, beyond fabula, and in resistance to Euro-American […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-4 -Chandra Latha Chapter-I (Part-3) Narratology and Novel In narrative theory, the actant is a term from the actantial model of semiotic analysis of narratives. Greimas’s actantial model reveals the structural roles typically performed in storytelling, such as “hero, villain (opponent of hero), object (of quest), helper (of hero) and sender (who […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-3 -Chandra Latha Chapter-I (Part-2) Narratology and Novel This pioneering structuralism theory, distinctively developed, is based on the study of narrative in literature or Narratology. However, Lévi-Strauss’s theory was pre-figured to the theoretical lineage to Aristotle, but modern narratology is agreed to have begun with the Russian formalist Valdamore Propp. Since Aristotle plots […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-2 -Chandra Latha Chapter-I Narratology and Novel The human being is considered a thinking animal and he is a social being by nature. One can surmise that the human being’s psychological inclination for communication is shaped the emergence of a society. The narration is seeded in the dire necessity of meaningful communication […]
Continue ReadingTo tell a tale-1 -Chandra Latha On the Other Note (Intro: To Tell a Tale) “Why do you need a Ph.D.? Instead, focus on your fiction. Your fiction is expected for both research and study.” “Any student can be trained to write a dissertation, but not to write fiction. Mind it!” “For sure, your fiction […]
Continue Readingతెలుగు చర్చావేదికలు, బ్లాగులు & సైట్లు -డా||కె.గీత ముందు ప్రకరణాల్లోచెప్పుకున్నట్టు యూనికోడ్ లో తెలుగుని రాయగలగడం వల్ల టెక్నాలజీ పరంగా భాషను రాయడం, రాసిన దాన్ని కంప్యూటర్లలో అన్ని చోట్లా తిరిగి అదేవిధంగా తిరిగి చూడడంలో ఉన్న అడ్డంకులన్నీ తొలగిపోయేయి. ఇక “లేఖిని” వంటి సాధనాలతో ఆన్ లైన్ లో తెలుగు సులభంగా రాయడం వంటివి సాధ్యమయ్యేయి. ఇందువల్ల అంతకు ముందు వరకూ యాహూ గ్రూపు, గూగుల్ గ్రూపు వంటి చర్చావేదికల్లో RTS పద్ధతిలో తెలుగుని ఇంగ్లీషులో […]
Continue ReadingTelugu Online & Expansion -Dr Geeta Madhavi Kala Unicode was a revolutionary change in the history of computational Telugu from the early 90s to the current early 2020s. Many of the early sites that started with Telugu for the first time failed because of non-Unicode Telugu scripts. “Online” means “connecting” a computer to a computer […]
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Telugu Fonts -Dr Geeta Madhavi Kala Before learning about the types of Telugu fonts, let’s see what the actual “font” is. “Font” is a style of writing. For example, from the 80’s, Bapu Hand writing style was the most famous style of handwriting. Another style of writing is beautiful, rounded and coherent. Writing letters with […]
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Unicode – Telugu -Dr Geeta Madhavi Kala In the previous chapter we talked about the preliminary stage of Telugu typing! Before learning about keyboards, let’s look at Unicode. Though Telugu script could be typed on a computer as a Typewriter, if we think of what is Unicode and why is it required, for the files […]
Continue ReadingTelugu typing- A Beginning (Chapter-2) -Dr Geeta Madhavi Kala In October 1923, Sri Didugu Venkata Narasimharao from Guntur announced for financial assistance to make a Telugu Typewriter. Later in December of the same year, Acharya from Konda gadapa, a village near Bhuvanagiri in the Nizam’s kingdom, announced that he had the technology necessary to make […]
Continue ReadingTelugu As A Computational Language Intro- System of Computers -Dr Geeta Madhavi Kala In 1991-92 the Telugu language came into use on computers. Until then, English was the first medium of all technologies, and in the computer field, English had to be matched. These are the days when the WWW (World Wide Web) was introduced […]
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Telugu As A Computational Language -Dr Geeta Madhavi Kala Telugu emerging as a computer language among the many languages from the last decade is very prominent and a noticeable fact that everyone should know. In view of the importance of it increasing through social media and smartphone, I feel interesting aspects behind the computerization of […]
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