Tuesday 30 January 2018

Samuel Johnson – An Interesting Insight!

Samuel Johnson

In 1911, A.C. Bradley, a Shakespearean scholar, presented ‘‘Jane Austen: A Lecture.’’ In it, Bradley praised Austen’s narrative skill and compared her to Samuel Johnson.

At the beginning of his career, Beckett spent his time in Dublin reading, in his own word, ‘‘wildly.’’ From Johann Goethe to Franz Grillparzer to Giovanni Guarini, he finally settled into a single-minded concentration upon the life and work of Samuel Johnson.

The Life of Johnson (1791), is a biography by James Boswell. Boswell’s biography of his close friend and English poet, Samuel Johnson, was revolutionary in his use of quoted material and vivid details to paint the picture of a living, breathing human rather than a dry historical figure.

Well, Samuel Johnson is still popular for his crushing critique of Donne’s poetry in his ‘‘Life of Cowley’’ (1779). In this famous essay, Johnson used the term ‘‘metaphysical’’ as a term of abuse to describe poets whose aim, he believed, was to show off their own cleverness and learning and to construct paradoxes so outlandish and pretentious as to be ludicrous, indecent, or both.

Again, it was Samuel Johnson, who first called Dryden the Father of English criticism, considered him the English poet who crystallized the potential for beauty and majesty in the English language: According to Johnson, ‘‘he found it brick, and he left it marble.’’

Moral issues dominated critical discussion of Restoration comedy. Critics such as Samuel Johnson and Thomas Macaulay took the high moral road in condemning Etherege’s work, fearing the dangers of ‘‘mixed characters’’ on impressionable young minds. Indeed, this was a view that was common up to the early twentieth century.

Goldsmith furnished The Bee with miscellaneous essays, short pieces of fiction, and book and play reviews for its eight-issue run. One such essay by Goldsmith praising the works of Samuel Johnson and Tobias Smollett came to Smollett’s attention, and he invited Goldsmith to contribute to his Critical Review.

Goldsmith had a wonderful rendezvous with a coterie of well-known intellectuals led by Samuel Johnson who called themselves The Club (later the Literary Club), a group that included the painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, writers James Boswell, Edmund Burke, and Thomas Percy, and actor and theater manager David Garrick.

Goldsmith died at the Temple on April 4, 1774. His death occasioned widespread grief. ‘‘Epigrams, epitaphs and monodies to his memory were without end,’’ wrote Sir Joshua Reynolds in his character sketch. ‘‘Let not his frailties be remembered,’’ *Samuel Johnson declared,* ‘‘he was a very great man.’’

On his Life and Work

Known in his day as the ‘‘Great Cham (sovereign or monarch) of Literature,’’ Johnson displayed a vigorous reasoning intelligence, a keen understanding of human frailty, and a deep Christian morality.

Monday 22 January 2018

'Selfie' @ Anna Adarsh College, Chennai!

It was a pioneering and one-of-its-kind production from the Department of English, Anna Adarsh College for Women, Anna Nagar, Chennai. Titled, 'SELFIE,' the play was directed by Mathivanan Rajendran & Nikhil Kedia.

The setting was perfect to a tee, at the Parmadevi Goyal Auditorium, and there was pin-drop silence as the theatre-beings walked on to the stage, with a chorus of HASHTAGS, beginning with, ‘THE SHOW STARTS NOW’ and a string of hashtag echoes to different tunes on stage.

Problems of all hues and colours beset a group of college students even as they gear up to face a future filled with grave uncertainties, turmoil, problems and challenges. But, the major problem with them all is that, they were all worried that they weren’t that good enough! Not that presentable type, which the world wants! Parallel screams on similar tunes echo to a different beat all across the stage.

‘I doubt myself! I don’t look good. What will people think of me’
‘I’m so conscious of my imperfections that I arrive early and disappear into the background.’

The girls are a harried lot as a diet high on calories makes them obese. The higher the cost, the higher the calories. So yes! Does your cuppa cost you Rupees Thirty? Then you’ve got 300 calories for takes!

Mom says, “It’s what on the inside that matters! But it’s actually ugly that comes from the inside. Beauty is from the outside. Yes, it is!” screams a voice, disgruntled and perturbed with each passing day. 
To another girl, it’s a different tune, when she says, “I just don’t want to end up with the thoughts of ending up with nobody!”

To yet another girl, “As I see it, the word SeLFIE is just two letters away from the word selfish!”

The extent to which the digital has swayed the characters is shown through numerous examples. One such shot –

Is this seat taken?
Is this seat taken?
You… adiye you…
No! not at all!
Bespeaks to the linguistic crossfertilisation of the theatrical enterprise which had rapturous applause to every vibrant tune of the performers on stage!

A girl, who gets drunk along with her friends at a party, forgetfully posts her pictures in an inebriated condition on social media, and then regrets the same. She then ruminates,

‘Once you send something on social media, there’s no possibility of taking it back!
You know what! How much I would love to bury my face under a blanket!
Until one day we exist in the clouds… Hungry for answers!

Wednesday 17 January 2018

NET Preparatory Classes @ Soka Ikeda College, Chennai

The PG Department of English
Soka Ikeda College, Chennai

Invites

All NET/JRF/SET Aspirants

For a

THREE-DAY INTENSIVE

NET/SET Preparatory Classes

By

Dr. Benet & Team

26 to 28 January 2018

At

SOKA IKEDA COLLEGE
Of
ARTS & SCIENCE FOR WOMEN

Registration Fee: Rs. 500/- [can be done in person, or by DD]

All Participants will be provided with Tea, Snacks and Lunch.

Last date for registration: 20 January 2018

For more details, contact

Prof. Sandhya Lakshmi @ 9444104824

Saturday 6 January 2018

The Hindu Lit for Life @ Chennai

The Hindu Lit for Life

THE SHARPEST LITERATURE FESTIVAL IN INDIA

14, 15, 16 January 2018

For three days in January, every year, Chennai sees frenetic activity with writers, novelists, artists, performers and literary enthusiasts descending upon this coastal city of Tamil Nadu. The Hindu Lit for Life takes over the metropolis and its people with performances, conversations, discussions and workshops.

In 2010, The Hindu began its first-ever edition of this Literary Festival. The brainchild of Dr. Nirmala Lakshman, Director, The Hindu Group, a Festival that started as a one-day show in 2010, has burgeoned into a three-day bonanza, hosting brilliant authors and thinkers from all over the world.

The Festival has expanded its reach every year exploring fiction, non-fiction, politics, history, arts, cinema — in fact all genres that celebrate ideas. Over the course of its journey, The Hindu Lit for Life has enriched the literary space in Chennai by looking at books and beyond.