ELSA Meet
Childhood and
Literature
20 January, 2019
Goverdhan Hotel, Agra
The topic was introduced by Dr. Nibir K. Ghosh. He initiated the discussion
by clearly demarcating the boundaries of discussion where the participants were
free to discuss Literature for/by/on children, thus making the
topic encompass everything related to
children and literature. He laid emphasis on role of oral tales narrated
to children in the formative years in developing their interest in literature.
He mentioned the “Apna Apna Bhagya” by
Jainendra Kumar and the deep influenced it had on him when he read it first in
his childhood. Dr. S. P. Singh referred to stories that are popular with
children like Aesop’s Fables, Panchtantra by Vishnu Sharma and other works. According to
him C.S. Lewis in his work for children Chronicles of Narnia has
touched upon the complex issues in a very simple manner. He also spoke about J.
R. R. Tolkien’s creation of middle earth in Lord of the Rings,
Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories and
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland which
take deep philosophical questions in a lighter way. Dr. Singh also delved on
the latest work of Anuraha Roy, All the Lives We Never Lived which
uses child as a protagonist to show anguish of motherless childhood. Dr. Rajan
Lal talked about the story “Homecoming” by
Rabindranath Tagore and he highlighted how the childhood is emotionally tender. Ms. Jessica Joel read her poem named “Beyond
Capture” which encapsulated her tryst with literature in her own childhood. Dr.
Shrikant Kulshreshta talked about the poems of Walt Wittman and William
Wordsworth. Ms. Shireen mentioned how literature can help children in their
formative years.
Mr. Saurabh Agarwal spoke about the
dark side of childhood portrayed in literature. He narrated how William Golding
in Lord of the Flies brings out the inherent savage element
in the group of young boys marooned on an island. He also talked about how the
child protagonist has been used to expose the irrational behaviour of the in
literature. A short story by V. S. Naipaul, “Love, Love, Love Alone” is a glaring example of this. Dr. Anjali Singh lamented the role of social media
and television in keeping the children away from reading and she shared her own
personal experience as a mother of two daughters in keeping them away from the
onslaught of electronic media and how that has helped their growth. She spoke
about “Songs of Innocence” by
Blake and “Goblin Market” by
Christina Rossetti. Dr Sanjay Mishra mentioned
the importance of Tales from Shakespeare
by Charles and Mary Lamb in giving a better understanding of the Bard to a
child than any other work. He also highlighted the importance of “My Boyhood Days” by Tagore as a work
about childhood.
Child Subjugation in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye
Manju
Childhood is specially considered the blessed age which holds innocence.
On the one hand there are certain poets like William Wordsworth who addresses a
child as the best philosopher”who beholds the world with the spectacles of
imagination and wonder to glorify this age calling it divine in their poems but
on the other hand the painful and wretched tales of childhood have attracted
the attention of those authors who look at the ugly realities of this world
with their naked eyes. There are many children who are deprived of the joys of
childhood. The atrocities committed on them are unutterable as they hold the responsibilities
of an adult, are sold in the slave trade, engaged in unsuitable employment,
accommodated in the shunted places where they are exploited physically,
mentally and sexually as it is easier to control a child by beating or
threatening as compared to an adult.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is a story of a girl Picola who is humiliated and
despised not only by the society but also by her own parents. This nine-year
old girl is raped by her own father out of hatred and when she reveals this to
her mother she is not believed and is beaten. There are several children who
are sexually abused even by their own kith and kin. Picola is the daughter of
Breedloves although their life is nurtured by depravity, fear, hatred and
oppression. Picola is the embodiment of innocence with innocent dreams. She
wanted to be loved and accepted by her parents and others. Society teaches that
beauty makes people lovable so this black child starts yearning for blue eyes
as she believes that this will make her beautiful to be loved by her parents
because her own mother lavishes all her love on her employer’s daughter who is
white and has blue eyes. As it is clear here, her mother’s vision is blurred by
the pink, white and golden world of Fisher. Picola learns that she is ugly,
unacceptable and specially unloved. The innocent dream of Picola is crushed and
what she gets is just insanity. These blue eyes may be something else for an
individual child i.e. good life, love of parents and sometimes even food which
the poor and wretched children long for and in the process of getting their
urge fulfilled their childhood turns into disaster.
Reference
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye.
London: Vintage, 1999.
Dr. Manju teaches English at
Chandigarh University, Punjab.
Literature and Childhood
Sanjay Mishra
I know that there is whole branch
of study dealing with children’s literature. But I am not at home with this
description as to what it really indicates: is it literature by children that
we should discuss under this gamut? Or, is it literary writings, poems and
stories, about kids and childhood? With the advent of J.K. Rowling’s phenomenon
of Harry Potter series of fantasy novels, the canon of children’s literature
has assumed new dimensions but I find extremely hard to read and finish such
type of writings. So I shall talk about literature which I was exposed to when
I was a child and which developed interest for literature in me.
First, I recall the short story “The
Lost Child” by Mulk Raj Anand. It is one of most anthologized short stories. I
first heard this short story from the mouth of my father who narrated it to me.
Tears began rolling down my eyes at the predicament of the child as he is lost
and desperate to find his parents. I later read the story in a book. This story
made a powerful impact on my mind as to the power and beauty of literature to
touch and move people. My empathy for the child in the story was immense.
The second book I remember reading
in my childhood is My Boyhood Days by Rabindranath Tagore. It was the
slimmest volume on the shelf; hence I picked it up. I found Tagore’s
recollections of his childhood and his descriptions of Calcutta, his wonder and
delight in commonplace things absolutely mesmerizing. I fell in love with Tagore’s
personality and writings. It is interesting to note that Tagore wrote this
memoir of his childhood when he was approaching eighty.
And, thirdly, I recall from my
childhood another famous book which initiated me in to the world of English
Literature. It was Tales from Shakespeare by Charles Lamb and his sister
Mary Lamb. My father gave the book when I was perhaps entering High School. I
remember its size was unusually small: it was in the square shape. It was
perhaps an edition meant exclusively for children. I read through the entire
book in several sittings and was fascinated by the stories and characters
created by Shakespeare. I then fell in love with Shakespeare. My father told me
that every student who wants to study English Literature should begin his/her
reading journey by two books: Tales from Shakespeare and Hudson’s An
Outline History of English Literature.
Dr. Sanjay Mishra is Associate Professor in the Department of English at R.B.S. College,
Agra.
Literature and Childhood: Opening Remarks
Nibir K. Ghosh
Lost in
the funhouse of a sheltered childhood and ensconced in the comforts of parental
care, many of us may have grown up quite unmindful of issues and concerns that
beset millions of children around the world who grow up and live in abject
poverty and misery facing exploitation, discrimination, inhuman behavior and
abuse as a matter of daily routine. We fondly remember the fairytales, stories,
myths and legends narrated to us by our parents or grandparents at bedtime in
our early childhood days. In that tender age, stories that we heard opened our
minds to limitless possibilities and expanded the reach of our imagination to
encompass all things wondrous and beautiful. They were our first exposure to a
world of fascination far removed from the grim realities that we would see all
around us as we got older. Though fairy tale endings have an innate fascination
for children, I wonder if there are many among us who would relish stories that
unfold the bitter truth of a world that resonates the spirit of poverty in the
midst of plenty. Even in a nation like the United States of America that boasts
of being the most powerful democracy on planet Earth, and where the inalienable
rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness are held sacred in idealistic
parlance, it is common knowledge that there are, as of today, more black
children in jails than in schools. In the context of India, the world’s largest
democracy, the situation is no less ambivalent.
Quintessentially,
freedom from fear sums up the whole philosophy of human rights. According to Alfred Hitchcock: “Fear isn't so difficult to understand. After
all, weren't we all frightened as children? Nothing has changed since Little
Red Riding Hood faced the big bad wolf. What frightens us today is exactly the
same sort of thing that frightened us yesterday. It's just a different wolf.
This fright complex is rooted in every individual.” In this grim scenario the
only redeeming feature seems to lie in the hope generated by the flux of
counter-narratives provided, from time to time, by the “hierophants of an
unapprehended inspiration” —writers, poets, intellectuals and activists. I
would like to refer here to a statement made by Kailash Satyarthi in his Nobel
Peace Prize acceptance speech: “Twenty years ago, in the foothills of the
Himalayas, I met a small, skinny boy. He asked me: ‘Is the world so poor that
it cannot give me a toy and a book, instead of forcing me to take a tool or
gun?’ I refuse to accept that the world is so poor, when just one week of
global spending on armies is enough to bring all of our children into
classrooms. I refuse to accept that all the laws and constitutions, and the
judges and the police are not able to protect our children. I refuse to accept
that the shackles of slavery can ever be stronger than the quest for freedom.”
Prof. Nibir K. Ghosh is UGC Emeritus Professor, Department of English at Agra College, Agra.
Beyond
Capture
Jessica
Joel
I have been to England, France and Spain,
I have been an orphan, a widow and a dame.
I’ve borne the sharp stings of my master’s whip,
And from a crystal Chalice Cabernet’s sip.
Like Pip, in Kent, in Great expectations,
I’ve suffered Mrs Havisham’s petrifications.
And morose I’ve been with David Copperfield,
When life’s arduous turns reeled.
Like Jim in Treasure Island, I’ve been dauntless,
Learning life in Hispaniola, turning adventurous.
I’ve blended mischief and virtue, into my skin,
Like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
I’ve learnt through Emma’s mistakes, the gravity of
affection,
Of flawed precocious’s declination.
And like witty Elizabeth Bennet’s prejudice,
I’ve crushed my pride into a humble edifice.
Like Michael Henchard in the Mayor of Casterbridge,
I’ve known that Family and decisions are but a
smidge.
And from the alienated, miserable Silas Marner,
I’ve learnt to be Eppie, with arrows of joy as armor.
I’ve lived the bliss of love with them, suffered with
sheer pangs of pain with them,
I have fought battles and reclaimed ecstatic victory
with them.
At wide horizons I have gazed, beyond capture,
And this was my childhood in literature.
Jessica
Joel is a PG student in English at St. John’s College, Agra.
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