22/ NEERAJ : POPULAR LITERATURE representing and misrepresenting women characters and female centric issues, popular cultures furthers gender inequality and patriarchal ideologies. Some feminist critics say popular culture should be used as a tool of resistance against the dominant patriarchal order. Michele Barrett says that feminists must try to influence ‘mass media and reach a wider audience by creating a distinctly feminine mode of expression. CHECK YOUR PROGRESS Q. 1. Elucidate some of the key features of popular literature which set it apart from other forms of writing? ‘Ans, Popular literature includes those writings which find favour with large audiences. It can be distinguished from artistic literature in that it is designed primarily to entertain, Popular literature, unlike high literature, generally does not seek a high degree of formal beauty or subtlety and is not intended to endure. The growth of popular literature has paralleled the spread of literacy through education and has been facilitated by technological developments in printing. With the Industrial Revolution, works of literature, which were previously produced for consumption by small, well-educated elites, became accessible to large sections and even majorities of the members of a population. The boundary between artistic and popular literature is murky, with much traffic between the two categories according to current public preference and Tater critical evaluation. While he was alive William ‘Shakespeare could be thought of as a writer of popular literature, buthe is now regarded as a creator of artistic literature. Indeed, the main, though not invariable, method of defining a work as belonging to popular literature is whether it is ephemeral, that is, losing its appeal and significance with the passage of time. The ‘most important genre in popular literature is and always has been the romance, extending as it does from the Middle Ages to the present. The most common type of romance describes the obstacles encountered by two people (usually young) engaged in a forbidden love. Another common genre is that of fantasy or science fiction. Novels set in the Western frontier of the United States in the 19th century and called westerns, are also popular, Finally, the detective story or murder mystery is a widely read form of popular literature, Popular {teature has also come to include such genres as comic ooks and cartoon strips. Critics argue that popular fiction lacks, it a fetion lacks longevity. It does not survive the test of Q.2. Comment on the categorisation of popular culture as a “culture industry” by intellectuals of the Frankfurt School? ‘Ans. The intellectuals of the Frankfurt School look at the market as they argue that all products of popular culture including literature, music and movies were part of a “culture industry” where a work of art has no ‘autonomy and it is a commodity to be bought and sold in the market. They highlight, it is the market forces that play a role in popularising the products of popular culture. The Frankfurt School, which also criticized Enlightenment, the intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th Centuries which sought to comprehend the world through human reason and rationality, argue that popular culture further legitimises socio-cultural status quo and makes the people powerless. They believe the power of the culture industry's ideology is, such that conformity has replaced consciousness. The school overlooked the heterogeneity of popular culture and the needs and desires of its audiences or readers. They say all forms of popular culture are similar and therefore, regressive in nature. All audiences ot products of popular culture have little or no agency at all. Technological reproduction has democratised & work of art by challenging its ‘aura’. As copies of at works are made possible, there is a “tremendous shattering of tradition”. Works of art become more available to the readers and they now assume the role of critics instead of passive consumers. It challenges the notion that the quality of a work of art sells. Q. 3. How has the breakdown of the distinction between high and low culture influenced the critical approach to popular literature? _ Ans. The breakdown of the distinction between high and low culture has influenced the critical approach to popular literature. In his study of the James Bond novels, Umberto Eco divides these novels in! their constituent elements and demonstrates the rues through which these unfold. Similarly, Tzvetan Todorov studies detective fictions. Thus; they study popular tex’ as part of a larger social order. They view these tes as being on constant dialogue with social, cultural a Political ideologies, paving the way for a sociologi“! critical approach. The critics study popular texts i? conjunction with social, cultural, political and econo™ determinants of a society concerned. They link °°" cultural phenomenon and the popular literate, Sociological approach includes different modes © analysis such as Marxist analysis and cult” ‘materialism, Certain genres have been studied Withi™ i Scanned with CamScannerThe Notion of The Canonical and The Popular INTRODUCTION — The term popular was associated with ‘peasant? culture, the lowbrow and the common until approxi- mately the mid-19th century. Since then films and books which were once viewed as quite routine forms of Popular entertainment such as the early Chaplin films, or spy thrillers, crime fiction and popular romances now get the status of revered classics. Shakespeare’s plays, swhich were very much a part of popular theatre as late as the 19th century, are now the epitome of high culture, In India, commercially successful popular fiction of the west such as the James Bond’s spy fiction and Agatha Christie’s detective fiction have found a foothold in the academic curricula and a popular and box office successful film like, Sholay, has earned a space in the category of classic cinema. In this chapter, we shall discuss the notion of the canon and canonical literature, ————____ CHAPTER AT A GLANCE LANCE DEFINING THE CANON Several texts from literature often are both classic and popular. Leslie Fiedler gives the example of Japanese art,a floating word picture called “Ukiyoe”, An ancient Japanese art form, Ukiyoe is printed with ‘wooden blocks in several colours and'they portray well- known figures, prostitutes and popular actors or as the Japanese would say, “bifin’, i.e, “a beautiful person”, Ukiyoe is high art which crosses over to popular art and has the merits of high art. Fiedler says, “Popular is too ambiguous a word to trust, for two of its. commonest meanings are middlebrow and folk, But Ukiyoe is lowbrow and urban, It is a mass-produced art of the city” Canon can be said a tradition, a category and a league that is exclusive and limited. Initially canon had a religious connotation. Canon was a standard of judgement or a text containing those views, such as that of the Bible or the Koran. Sometimes within religious traditions, as views evolve or change, some formerly canonical texts become “apocryphal,” meaning outside the realm of what's considered representative. Some apocryphal works are never granted formal acceptance but are influential nevertheless. An example of an apocryphal text in Christianity would be the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. This is a highly controversial text not recognised by the various Churches — but believed to be the words of one of Jesus’ closest companions. There isa belief that the Canon is that ‘hall of fame’, place, or tradition where only a select few can reach. But with time, the understanding of the canon has been revised and Popularity today is not the reason for exclusion from the canon, What is a Literary Canon? . A literary canon is the: collection of works Considered representative of a period or genre. Fot example, the writings of writers like: William Shakespeare or Chaucer are ‘apart of the Westem cano? and classical Indian writers like Kalidasa and Sutd3s are a part of the Indian canon because their writing style has impacted the writings of many in all genres-A literary canon stands the test of time. It has univ appeal, having a universality of theme and entet ® Certain hall of fame, Sanskrit texts in Indian literatu are part of its literary canon, i Over time, some works became less pertinent it the canon and were replaced by more “se beatetparts, For example, today People of colour become more prominent parts of the canon. Seve Scanned with CamScannermodem black writers like Langston Hughes (1902-67) of the “Harlem” renaissance fame, Toni Morrison author of “Beloved” (1931-2019), and Alice Walker (1944) author of The Colour Purple, and are a part of the modern canon. Writers like Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) of the Gitanjali fame, Pablo Neruda (1904-73), Raja Rao (1908-2006) the author of Kanthapura, Patrick White (1912-90), James Baldwin (1924-87), The Native Son Edward Braithwate (1930-2020), Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), most well known for Things Fall Apart, Scott Mommaday (1934), Amy Tan (1952), and Sherman Alexie (1966), are the representatives of the entire sub-genres of Native American, Asian-American, Australian, Caribbean, African, Indian and African- American styles of writing, Some works of some writers do not get appreciated in their time but their writing becomes part of the canon many yeats after their death. For examples, Jane Austen (1775-1817), who wrote “Pride and Prejudice”; Charlotte Bronte (1816-55), who wrote “Jane Eyre”, and Emily Dickinson (1830-86) who is well known for her poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" became part of the canon many years after their death. Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker Prizes have also played a significant role in the making of the contemporary canon, Some contemporary writers of fame and popular appeal who haye found considerable space in academic discussions are Marquez (1927-2014), Bapsi Sidhwa (1936), Salman Rushdie (1947), Orhan Pamuk (1952), Amitava Ghosh (1956), Jhumpa Lahiri (1967) and Aravind Adiga (1974). The Classic and the Classical A classic carries a universality of theme and stands the test of time. Classical works continue to educate, enlighten and inspire people of all times. Take Shakes- peare’s tragedies such ‘as Othello and Macbeth as examples. They have displayed lasting worth.and exemplify merit of its genre and hold relevance in all times, They are relevant even today. Mathew Amnold’s touchstone method is an understanding of real excellence and beauty in poetry, which make the writing relevant in all ages. T. S. Eliot links maturity to aclassic. He suggests a classic can only happen when a civilisation, its language, literature and mind is mature. He also believes the quality of comprehensiveness makes. a worka classic, Any text that enriches the human mind eventually stands the test of time is appreciated and read by generations to come. ‘THE NOTION OF THE CANONICAL AND THE POPULAR /11 Popular Classics Popular classics do not follow the strict categorisation of high or low. They come under both the high classisicists tradition and the market oriented popular tradition. The q."tv of these writings provides it longevity and reverenes to them, They draw a wide readership alongside a substantive market. The texts sell in the hegemony of commodified modern epoch. Munshi Premchand’s stories and novels, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart are examples of popular classics. The Notion of ‘Taste? The notion of taste, which is related to the concept of value and possibly, its lack of it, has been much discussed in the 18th century. Taste has been aligned to aesthetics. Both these terms were polite cultured words that defined merit and worth. Pierre Bourdieu, a celebrated 20th century expert in popular culture, says that the word ‘Opera’ is highly culture loaded. ‘Having not been to the Opera’ stands for lack of taste, standard and deficiency in culture. However, we all will agree that no institution or a set of people or any other social construct including the university can be the chief or the sole guardian of “taste” and “standards”. “Ekstasis”, discussed by Jameson, Sontag and Fiedler, should govern literature and culture. Exkstatis: The Pleasure Principle Ekstatis, a short ecstasy or happiness, is triggered by the thrill or pleasure when a reader reads a work of art or an audience watches its performance. Ekstatis is the emotive charge and can be summed up as the therapeutic function of art, which helps us to connect emotionally. Strating from Aristotle’s (385-323 BC), Poetics and Shakespeare’s (1564-1616), plays and Premchand’s (1880-1936), stories to popular bestsellers such as the romance Gone with the Wind (1936), by Margaret Mitchell (1900-49), the Detective fiction of Agatha Christie and Spy Thrillers of lan Fleming are based on this principle of pleasure. Aristotle's poetics and its universal principle tells us that Tragedy does not produce any chance pleasure, but the pleasure proper to it. Similarly, the form of pleasure evoked by thrillers is suspense which makes a reader read a story to find out what happens next, Every narration has the pleasure principle as its basis. If the bloody murders in the popular spy thriller writer lan Fleming’s Bond novels and the detective fiction of Scanned with CamScanner12/ NEERAJ : POPULAR LITERATURE. Agatha Christie's crime thrillers invoke thrill and excitement so does the murders in the novels of classic novelists such as George Eliot (1819-80) and Thomas Hardy (1840-1928). 7 The Idea of Kitsch Kitsch, a German word, relates to all that is, worthless and tasteless. Kitsch includes those objects orart that is considered as poor in taste due to excessive garishness and sentimentality. Kitsch has been linked with the popular, the lowbrow and:the common. For example, literature produced by the marginalised people in the west particularly the blacks and the natives was considered as kitsch or camp literature. Kitsch and camp literature became redefined after some significant and brave stories were written. One such story was written by Maxine Hong Kingston (1940), a Chinese American. It was the story of a Chinese girl growing up in America called Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976). Highbrow and Lowbrow Highbrows are people who appreciate everything that is considered intellectual. Lowbrows are people who have taste and look down upon anything tha is popular, common and kitsch. Extensive studies on American novel, cinema and music undertaken by cultural critics such as Perry Meisel prove these distinctions of highbrow and lowbrow to be thoughtless and severely damaging to culture. Middlebrow, which is neither highbrow nor low brow, is something conventional lacking refined distinction or raw energy. ‘Much later, the middlebrow became aligned with the middleclass. There is also debate on Private Enterprise and Public Enterprise. Private refers to the domain of the ‘select few’ and public enterprise include all the ‘commoners. : : : RELATION BETWEEN MYTHS AND POPULAR LITERATURE Myth isa consistent agent, which universalises all literature into a mythic whole, Myths and popular literature are closely related. Myths remove the gap that divides elite culture from pop culture, For example, despite its new or modern look, science fiction draws upon myths for its popular appeal In Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the two movies that made a mark in the contemporary scientific world, the scientific apparatus gives us an excuse to return to certain tales of mystery and adventure that thrilled us when we were little kids. Thus, popular literature has communal dreams, shared myths or archetypes. Characters of popular works immediately enter the public domain such as: Pickwick, Don Quixote, Sherlock Holmes and David Copperfield. Certain books ‘and authors are always remembered like Chaucer and Jane Austen and their works, but their characters. Some popular characters from popular works like Alice in Wonderland, Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan became household names even with those people who hadn't heard of Lewis Carroll, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creators of these popular figures in fiction. Besides popular literature never seems the kind of literature that you are reading for the first time since it dramatises communal myths and dreams oftime immemorial, Popular literature is also not bound by the writer or the produce or even the méde: Audio, visual or any other-art form in which it is produced, Popular literature never belongs to one medium itnever is just “words on the page”. . POPULAR LITERATURE: OPENING UP THE CANON There are several examples of literary works which were once popular have become the classics. So, there is a blurring line between the classic and the popular. Serious consideration was given to everything ‘popular’ in the mid 20th century after German intellectuals such as Adorno and Horkhiemer expressed grave concems over the explosion of mass culture in their book The Culture Industry. In the 1970s, some prestigious European and American Universities incorporated courses in popular culture atthe University level. The inclusion of Shobha De’s novel as representative of Asian-Indian literature for serious study at the university level in the west is notable. In the late 1980s, several Indian Universities such as Mumbai, Punjab and Jadavpur redefined Canonical study. In the late 1980s, the University of Delhi conducted academic discussions oni the opening up of the syllabus of B.A Honours English, In early 1990s, the study of popular literature was amalgamated with Canonical literature in an optional paper called ‘Forms of Popular Fiction’, Nothing is born classic or popular. Most of the classics today were popular once. The music of the famous band the ‘Beatles’ was not taken seriously and was considered vulgar but was very popular. The famous English writers D. H. Lawrence and William Faulkner wrote on taboo subjects, their books were ‘banned, yet they were popular then, and are considered classics today. Shakespeare wrote for the pit and kneW little Latin and even less Greek, has not blunted his, influence over the years on readers, Scanned with CamScanner‘The Idea of the ‘Canon’, the ‘Pop’ and the ‘Academia ‘Academia talks about standards, which implies quality. Anything that comes under its realm is considered standard. The inclusion of the popular has affected the hierarchy and sub-verted standards. Now both classics and the popular are taught in classes. It can be said as the impact of globalisation and post- colonial understanding of literature. Studying canonical works of the past from a modern perspective offer a new appreciation. For example, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver § Travels, which was considered as Children’s Literature for long, has now become an exemplary satire on humankind. Academia and academics rely on the canon to teach students about literature, It should include works that are representative of society, providing a snapshot of a given point in time. Discussion about which works are worthy of further examination are likely to continue with the changes in cultural norms. Popular Literature and Mass Media: Cinema Literature and cinema developed a unique relationship with the birth of the representation of literature on celluloid, They are strongly linked now. Cinema is one of the dominant technologically progressive modes of cultural transmission. It is an integral to the development of the ‘cult of the pop’ in modern societies. Cinema creates an extended narrative text for literature. It is because of the mass public culture, art practice, vehicle of propaganda and adaptations. A paradigm shift has taken place in the last two decades. Now a text has been placed against various production apparatus — cinema, stage, television and comic books. If literature has to meet its roles and purposes and be a communicative practice, the analysis of popular narrative can provide a crucial link between the literature and study of other mediums. INDIAN ENGLISH POPULAR FICTION AND THE LITERARY CANON The Indian English popular fiction is redefining the canon, They are rooted in the concems of the present and voicing the aspirations of the young and new Indian middle cls. In its bid to respond to the cultural effects of consumerism, moral anxieties over shifting gender Toles and changes in youth culture, itis playing a pivotal role in canon formation, Adopting a simple, pragmatic approach to language, these pop fiction writers have made themselves more relevant to their young readers and the budding, experimental competitive print, THE NOTION OF THE CANONICAL AND THE POPULAR /13 television and online media. Indian English popular fiction is also taking part in rewriting hegemony. They represent the consumerist middle class — ‘one that represents the promise of the liberalising Indian nation — as the new materialist Indian dream. As India steps into the third decade of neo-liberalised globalization this * emboldened sect of readers up their demands of reading. and consumption. Writers like — Chetan Bhagat, Adv: Kala, Ravinder Singh and Durjoy. Dutta are meeting Psychological gratification and celebratory representation, In Consumable Texts: Uncultured Books and Bibliographical Sociology (2014), Suman Gupta talks about popular and commercially popular Indian fiction. The economic factors and the number of copies sold are indispensable parameters of the popular texts in the 21st century. Most of the novels by young social media savvy authors deal with the present reality of the youths. They interact with the youth on social media platform view and continue to seek their advice. The social media increasingly becomes an essential tool for . the authors to understand the wishes of the reader. The commercial authors step out of their role as individuals capable of simply writing. With Chetan Bhagat, the profile of a star-author was more than just writing popular novels. These new writers do not really concen themselves with canons and canonisation. They are making their own kind of canon though sections of staunch literary crities frown upon the idea of popular commercial fiction, emerging as a major form of literature today. : . CHECK YOUR PROGRESS Q. 1. Define ‘canon’ and ‘canonical’ by giving examples. ‘Ans, Canon is defined as a traditional collection of writings, against which other writings are evaluated. It means a long list of works taken as authentic. For example, the Bible and Koran= both written in Hebrew and even translated versions. The Bible was considered a yardstick to evaluate other literary pieces, according to a certain criterion. Secondly, students of literature use it to refer to the writings included in anthologies, or textbooks under certain genres, and thus, are evaluated according to the genre under which they are placed. This meaning covers the entire literature generally thought as suitable for aesthetic admiration and academic use. The third definition of the term indicates the literary writings of a particular anthor, Scanned with CamScanner|. The knight has an awkward gait, rides Cay, and repeatedly falls off the steed as Carroll mise Ma stammer. The Knight also is fond of a jay and isa great inventor of things just as Carroll oder Knight carries an array of objects like a vss fe adish, a mousetrap and a little box to keep veetge and sandwiches and has even invented anklets clothes “the horses from shark bites. Though these ws may have litle utility, it reminds us of knick- ie sauchas wind-up animals, chess set for travellers, ing wax and other things that Carroll invented, ‘The White Knight isthe only character in the world ofthe looking glass that is chivalrous and kind to Alice Srsavesher from the evil Red Knight. Before helping per or0ss the final frontier, the knight sings a parting forgto her about humans growing old and losing their imocenee, The song is Carroll's tribute to his friendship wrth young Alice and a sad realisation that they inevitably have to part ways upon Alice’s maturation into ayoung woman. When Alice reaches the last square, she finds a golden crown on her head and knows that she will soon fecrowned witha formal feast in her honour. The party isasymbolic coming-of-age feast, where all the quirky Characters of the looking glass world that have been a part of Alice’s growing-up get to take part. ‘The two Queens examine Alice on proper social conduct, dos and don'ts of appropriate behaviour, while teaching her manners and etiquette to prepare her for herroleas.a young lady, The Red Queen criticises Alice and tllsher tobe obedient and behave properly since she is now the queen, Carroll comments on the excessive focus on manners and the farcical rules that a person was expected to observe in Victorian society. The Red Queen considers it rude to “cut any one you have been introduced to” and applies this social protocol to the leg of mutton as well. The banquet episode where stiff outward formality is put on display even to food items such as a ‘leg of mutton’ and the ‘pudding’ is a caricature of Victorian emphasis on manners. The Red Queen asks Alice to give a speech. As Alice rises to assert herself as the new queen, the banquet goes awry in the climactic moment. The crockery becomes alive, candles grow taller and reach theceiling and the White Queen tumbles into the soup. Unable to make sense of the confusion, Alice angrily ‘ums the table over and blames the Red Queen whom she considers responsible for all the chaos. She grabs ‘and shakes the Red Queen who turn into a kitten. By «= call Le "WIS CARROLL : THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS /49 taking hold Red King. of the Res Tt becomes the end of the game of chess and Ali Te a Tealises that she had a dream. She’ mene indes She who was dreaming or whether she was paced living the Red King’s dream. At the end of the ok, Carrolll questions the nature of our existence and the question of whose dream is it that we are living. —_—_—_—__ CHECK YOUR PROGRESS arenes chess motif of chess is central to our ling of Through the Looking Glass. Explain, Ans. The structure of the book is in the form ofa chess game. The chess motifis a key to the narrative of the book which can be read at the physical level, meta- Physical level and dream world level of the looking glass. The world of the book is laid out in the form ofa chess game, where the land is a giant chess board with Tows separated from each other and divided by brooks and hedges. While looking down from the hill, Alice finds that “it isa huge game of chess that’s being played — all over the world’, and wishes she “could be one of the chess pieces... (and) wouldn't mind being a pawn... though of course I should like to be a Queen best.” Alice finds herself‘ chess piece—a white pawn—herself and a part of the bigger chess game that the writer plays by constructing the narrative. Carroll borrows from the idea of the middle ages when the chess was played on enormous fields with human beings as chess pieces and presents it as a laid out path for Alice to move on. Since it is a fantasy narrative, the text only loosely subscribes to the rules of the chess. The king is fixed and dormant while the two queens move/scurry about. ‘As a pawn Alice progresses from square to square before she reaches the last square and becomes a queen. The chess is conflated with fantasy and produces anon- sensical narrative. At the physical level, the chess becomes a symbol of Alice’s journey through life where she starts as a white pawn and eventually becomes a queen. Her unidirectional progress on the chessboard and its linearity presents her ageing and maturation where she has to leave behind her childhood and emerge a woman. This development fits in with the actual rules of the game of chess, where, upon successfully reaching the last row of the chess board, a pawn may become any piece the player desires (which is usually a queen, the most powerful of all chess pieces). As mentioned earlier, the game of Chess represents Alice’s journey 'd Queen, Alice checkmates the Scanned with CamScanner0 / NEERAJ : POPULAR LITERATURE to maturation. She is entrapped in the “adult space” of the world of the chess game, where “each square is a progression in successive stages of maturity”, with her “arrested movement symbolized (by) the word “checkmate”, ‘The narrative carries a meta-physical dimension with the structure of chess described as a metaphor of the world with all its rules. As an ordained man of the church, Carroll raises philosophical question on the nature of our existence. The Chess motif presents a deterministic concept of life. It explores the idea of us humans as pawns, as a part of the bigger game of chess, journeying through the pre-determined plot of life and moving according to what has been already planned for us. Just as Alice’s journey in the world of the looking glass is guided by a set of rules that lead to a preordained conclusion, our lives are akin to an illogical game of chess, with us being a part of God’s dream. The idea is presented through Tweedeldee, who informs Alice that she is living the Red King’s dream. It is the Red King who controls the dream and Alice is but a figment of his dream following a preordained path already set for her. Life is often drawn as a game of chess where we are just pieces in a higher game of chess. Martin Gardner says the game of chess becomes an allegory of life itself. Alice can move freely but only within the confines of a square and has no real agency, just as we too are living out the dream of some God. It draws upon the idea of humans as just chess pieces on earth with limited influence like Alice’s movement on the board where things happen to her and she has no real agency. The chess motif helps Carroll throw light on the pre-deterministic nature of the universe where free willis an illusion and we humans are merely pawns being moved by an invisible hand. The use of chess as amotifis also reminiscent of the fact that Carroll taught chess to the Liddell sisters and even invented the traveller’s chess. Q. 2, How does language work in Through the Looking Glass? Explain the linguistic ambiguities and wordplay in the novel. Ans. Carroll has used ambiguous, nonsensical and unintelligible language. For example, Alice is confused when a frog says it can’t understand why anyone should “answer” the door unless it has been “asking” something. Similarly, when Alice “begs pardon”, the White King tells her “it isn’t respectable to beg”. When Alice says she sees “nobody” on the Toad, the King wishes he had good eyesight to be able to see “y The novelist has also used homophones and homonjm, as a source of confusion. Structure is also responsible for ambiguity: he linear order of words implies different interpretation depending on the presumed function of the words i the sentence, One further example of this: “But you" stay and see me off first?” “To see somebody off” meas to take leave of someone setting out on a joumey, accompany to the place of departure. The Knight sss Alice to see him off in this sense. The same phrase ges a different interpretation if “off” is a preposition: i see somebody falling off from somewhere - as Alice sees the Knight falling off from the horse when he is leaving. Q.3. Critics have called Lewis Carroll's useof nonsense and fantasy as highly subversive. Do you agree with this assessment? Ans, The novel is bracketed in the category of nonsense genre because of the use of non-sense to depict the world of the looking glass. It does not follow any logic and is characterised by its absence of sense. Ithas many fantasy elements and subverts any logical reasoning. It has talking flowers, a Queen who has tun fast to stay at the same place and animals like sheep that shifts shape. The rules of the mirror world at topsy-turvy and based on the inverted logic of the outside world as there is a constant inversion and reversal at work. Alice has to walk in the opposit direction to reach the Red Queen. The cake is passed around first and then sliced. The sense or rationality absent in the world, Nonsense in literature has bee? used to produce an alternative reality. It seems abs and nonsensical to adults and may have meaning for? child, Martin Gardner says that the Alice books have to be read differently since “We are dealing witha ve curious, complicated kind of nonsense, written ft British readers of another century”. By adopting * young girl's view of her surroundings, Lewis Ca™ looks at the adult world afresh from a child Perspective and shakes our definition of ‘sense’. _—— TERMINAL QUESTIONS Q. 1. How does language work in Through He Looking Glass? Explain the linguistic ambigt" and wordplay in the novel, ; Ans, In Through the Looking Glass, is used complex language, For Alice, the langua8? 1, source of great confusion because it is hig™ the writer ‘Scanned with CamScannersical and unintelligible and in conflict with her rons duse of language. The language has been used see trary way. The language used by the characters, inant se and appears to be nonsensical. bo erexarple, in the garden where there are talking Rose tells Alice that the branches ofa tree are *ughs and therefore a tree could bark bough- ln the real world, ‘bark’ ofa tree and bark are wove ot related whereas inthe world ofthe looking guste meaning cannot be evaded. The trees havea . and can scare people off to protect the flowers with its bough(s)’. There are many instances of such wrdplay and puns inthe text. The flowers chatter and fentandren'tsleep since the flower “bed” is not made tof by the gardener. At another instance, Alice is pefuddled when a frog she meets says it can't understand why anyone should “answer” the door ‘ales ithas been “asking” something. Similarly, when ‘Alice “begs pardon”, the White King tells her “it isn’t respectable to beg”. When Alice says she sees *pobody” on the road, the King wishes he had good eyesight to be able to see “nobody”, Homophones and homonyms are a source of confusion in the novel, since one word can mean different things in different contexts. Two words sound the same but have a different meaning. It shows that language a our lived experience defies common sense andishighly arbitrary in its use. Similarly, the arbitrary nature of language in defining the meaning of words is presented through the use of homonyms such as bark, bed and bough, and homophones like tail-tale and flower-flour. Q.2. Would it be correct to say that Through the Looking Glass comes under the purview of both popular fiction and children’s literature? ‘Ans. Through the Looking Glass comes under the purview of both popular fiction and children’s literature. According to David L. Russell, Carroll’s novel marked the apotheosis of what many critics consider the golden age of fantasy writing in English. “abandon{ing] all the rules of writing for children,” Carrol reates in these novels an “Extraordinary fantasy filled with a delightful mixture of satire and nonsense and almost devoid of instructional moralizing.” Russell ‘ays that the novel completely broke the bonds of didacticism and have rightfully become a part of ¢hildhood mythology. Recent publications of Carroll’s work attest to its ‘continuing popularity, Gillian Engberg, writing for LEwI IS CARROLL : THROUGH THE, LOOKING GLASS 151 Booklist i i ; dition luo arpliments the 2005 Candlewick as lelen Oxenbury as a splendid noting its slightly di i ation y ly different characterization of Alice: “Oxenbury's Alice, ene both old-fashioned and modem, and comfortable Worlds on both sides of the mirror.” C. san, also in Booklist, says positively on a 2006 cant 6 ly on a 2006 edition of ed Wonderland illustrated by Alison wre thean commends “Jay's distinctive paintings” and ee gibraties with dozens of other Alces on shelf fant to make room for this handsome edition.” Clearly, Carroll’s novels about Alice are masterpieces that remain popular into the twenty-first century. Through the Looking-Glass comes under the category of children’s literature as itexplores the hidden spaces and imagined worlds of childhood, as Alice steps through the looking glass into a backwards world of her own imagination, Unlike the fall that opens the first Alice novel, this stepping through into a dreamscape of talking flowers and moving chess pieces represents amore mature and conscious gesture on Alice’s part. It is amovementto escape the lonely drawing room world in search of community with guidance from characters such as the intelligent Gnat and the benevolent White Knight. ‘As Carroll’s novels suggest, growing up was a well- organized affair in the 19th century, with guide books, moral conduct books, and didactic novels designed to guide children in their moral and physical development. ‘Alice's imagined world provides release from this world of control, moving her into a backward, playful and adventurous world. But the new location does not necessarily guarantee new understanding. Alice’s maturity is realized during the course of the novel. Dreaming of a space in which her mature imagination might eseape from the Victorian rules of civility and decorum, Alice finds herself in a world bound by arbitrary rules and by an implicit desire not to breach traditional boundaries and not to address directly the desire to become, metaphorically and literally, the queen of her own castle. Despite her own best efforts to create a world in which the crown of maturity is within reach, Alice wanders through a world in which solitude and frustration continue fo weigh heavily upon her. Q. 3. What do we learn about the Victorian society froin Alice’s adventures in the world of the Looking Glass? Scanned with CamScanner62) NEERAJ : POPULAR LITERATURE Ans. The novel was shaped by the ideological confidences associated with imperial expansion in the Victorian period as well as by the philosophical uncertainties caused by conflict between ideas promoted by science and religion then. As the 19th century opened, the debate between the religion (faith) and science (empirical study) seemed oddly at peace. Traditional anxieties had been lessened, it seemed, by such an influential book as William Paley’s Natural Theology (1802), which argued that the scientific study of the natural world reveals divine agency and intelligent design. Coming in a considerable line of thinkers who wrote and spoke about evolution, Charles Darwin published his Origin of Species in 1859, bringing the claims of scientific data head to head with the ancient biblical text. In Through the Looking-Glass, Alice experiences ‘moments that resonate with implications of this conflict, when what she believes about the world is undercut by the reality of a world in which everything seems to be done backwards. She faces moments, as did many Victorians, when her own faith is challenged by her experience. In the Looking-Glass world the impossible is always possible, as the White Queen tells Alice, and what a person believes can appear patently incotrect, Q.4. The instability of language in Through the Looking Glass is intended to question the very foundation of the Victorian emphasis on reason, order and propriety. Discuss. ‘Ans. On the surface, the language looks non- sensical, but on deeper interpretation, the language is highly orderly and logical and is used in its literal sense. Gnat asks Alice the use of names if they do not represent literally, the object they denote, and goes.on to locate several insects in Looking Glass Land, including the rocking-horse-fly, the snap-dragon-fly and the bread- and-butter-fly, that represent the literal meaning of the names. Bread and butter fly's wings are thin slices of bread and butter with its head as a lump of sugar, The rocking-horse-fly is made up of wood, swings from branch to branch and lives on sawdust, whereas the ‘snap-dragon-fly as a Christmas-themed insect is made of plum-pudding. There is extreme literalness of language as the insects literally represent the objects they refer to, ihe se of language in the Looking Glass Land, ‘the slippery language of the real world, where there is a tenuous connection between logic and language, the language used in the Looking Glass Land -it ends with questions about whether Alice’ is highly coherent and logical. However, the language of the inverted mirror world lacks sense for Alice because she has imbibed the language of her own world, The linguistic nonsense is used as a form of critique to show the lack of sense and semantics in our real aut world where a single word can have many meanings and where it is necessary to know not only the coret meaning of the words but also how a specific word his been used in different contexts and situations, The language of the looking glass world is vey logical and is not used loosely at all like in our word Words have the power not only to create events but also to manifest them. Carroll shows this power of language to create events through the use of nursery thymes that must follow the determined the course of action, Whatever is written in the nursery rhymes shall come to pass: Humpty Dumpty shall “havea great fall, Tweedledee and Tweedledum shall “fight over the rattle” not because they want to, but because it is writen. Words give rise to events simply by being spoken. Language is not passive and has the power to predit and predetermine events. The author presents how words have the power! assign identity to people and things. The very act of ‘naming’ not only identifies but also categorise, labe's and stereotypes. It is through language that hierarchy and order are created and imposed. In the forest with no names, the fawn and pawn (Alice) are initially friends, but as soon as they reach the end of the wo the fawn darts away in fear realising that Alice is* human child and hence, not harmless. The forest which things have no names is a reflection of the Pre lapsarian universe where things exist without 2) imposed socio-cultural meanings and a ‘human’ ‘animal’ are at the same level. Q. 5. How does Carroll posit a relo0! established concepts of logic and reality in t of fantasy? Ans. Through the Looking-Glass opens’ wits Alice imagining a world beyond the looking sl#55 %5 dream i at the he gu? might actually be a dream within a dream. In this et the novel raises questions about the nature of Carroll blurs the distinctions between being sl, being awake so that it becomes difficult to tell Wr 7 conscious world ends and the world ae Bins. Sudden and apparently random move" from place to place aa eiagesl is inwakng or mark shifts in dream states, Alice seems 08°" ud Scanned with CamScanneryr _ ga backwards dream world, a place that exists as a ilo aralfel universe which reminds readers, as the in queen points ut thatthe impossible available vein he everyday. But Carrol’s examination of seth of reality is more thorough than a dream e mnoe suggests. Alice’s dream world seems sede ged in the dream world of the Red King, and at ame time her dream world permits her to cross the perinvsibility early in the novel, for instance, suggests aaimost godlike power that derives from her ability fp imapine the chess world, But when Alice suddenly becomes: yisible, she becomes a player in a different 1, one that she cannot control. Troubling, too, is the sense that Alice is trapped in a reality that cannot peproven to exist objectively. If she sets out to prove that she exists as @ real little girl and not as part of the ed King’s dream, Alice is forced to wake up the Red King by Way of proving her point, an act which introduces two philosophical problems. IfAlice is part ofadream, can her actions in the dream actually change the world outside the dream? In other words, can the dreamed Alice actually awaken the sleeping King who exists in a reality outside the dream? Then, too, what happens ifAlice isa figment of the King’s imagination? By waking him, Alice will end the dream and, in doing s0, end her own existence; in order to prove her own existence, Alice must risk terminating that existence. Q.6. Critics have called Lewis Carroll’s use of nonsense and fantasy as highly subversive. Do you agree with this assessment? ‘Ans, Through the Looking Glass has an imaginary world in which Alice wanders. The story runs like the dream of a half-asleep child in which Alice magically crosses over to the other side of the mirror into the world of looking glass. The use of fantasy not only establishes daydreaming as a motif in the text but also presents the restricted life of young Victorian girls who were denied the freedom available to boys. Alice, a lite girl in a conservative patriarchal society, can wander freely only through her imagination. Carroll has used nonsense to depict the world of the looking glass. It does not follow any logic and lacks sense. It has many fantasy elements and subverts any logical reasoning. It has talking flowers, a Queen who ‘uns fastto stay at the same place and animals like sheep that shifts shape. The rules of the mirror world are ‘opsy-turvy and are based on the inverted logic of the Outside world as there is a constant inversion and spolds connecting one realm of reality to another. LEWIS CARROLL : THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS/ 53 Teversal at work. Alice walks in the opposite direction ne on Queen. The cake is passed around abated aie lsh terol 1 Seems fora child, fo adults and may have meaning Carroll has also used complex ianguage in the novel. The language is a great confusion for Alice because it is highly nonsensical and unintelligible and in conflict with her sense and use of language. The Tanguage looks arbitrary, lack sense and nonsensical. For example, in the garden Rose tells Alice that the branches of a tree are called boughs and a tree could bark bough-wough. In the real world, ‘bark’ of a tree and bark ofa dog are not related. The trees have a ‘bark? and can scare people off to protect the flowers with its “bough(s)’. Carroll raises the metaphysical question on the nature of reality through Tweedledee who tells Alice that she is not real but only a “sort of thing” in the Red King’s dream, He says Alice is a figment of the sleeping, Red King’s dream and would vanish if he were to wake up. Alice considers this as nonsense and claims she is real and not imaginary, but Carroll questions if we are indeed a part of some God’s dream. When Alice reaches the last square, she finds a golden crown on her head and knows that she will soon be crowned with a formal feast in her honour. The party is a symbolic coming-of-age feast, where all the quirky characters of the looking glass world that have been a part of Alice’s growing-up get to take part. As Alice rises to assert herself as the new queen, the banquet goes awry in the climactic moment, The crockery becomes alive, candles grow taller and reach the ceiling and the White Queen tumbles into the soup. Unable to make sense of the confusion, Alice angrily tums the table over and blames the Red Queen whom she considers responsible for all the chaos. She grabs and shakes the Red Queen who tum into a kitten. By taking hold of the Red Queen, Alice checkmates the Red King. ——_—— MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS Q.1. Lewis Carroll is the pseudonym oft (a) Charles William (®) Charles William Dodgson (0), Lutwidge Dodgson William (d) Charles Lutwidge Dodgson Ans. (d) Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Q. 2. Lewis Carre! is known today as the famous: ‘Scanned with CamScanner