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Papers by Ferdinand Kpohoue

Research paper thumbnail of Social class control and domination in America: A critical revisitation of the Great Depression as lived by Americans, through the novel The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

International journal of social research, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of African Community Life Pattern in some Novels of Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston

Studies in Linguistics and Literature, 2021

The objective in this paper is to investigate the preservation of the community life that charact... more The objective in this paper is to investigate the preservation of the community life that characterizes African people in the novels of Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston.As a matter of fact, in all of Morrison’s novels, the black community is, from one perspective, largely defined by the dominant white society and its standards. The Bluest Eye takes place in Morrison’s home town of Lorain, Ohio. In the novel, the black community of Lorain is separated from the upper-class white community, also known as Lake Shore Park, a place where blacks are not permitted. The setting for Sula is a small town in Ohio, located on a hillside known as “Bottom”. In Song of Solomon, the reader is absorbed into the black community, an entity unto itself, but yet never far removed from the white world. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, actions take place in Eatonville in Florida.The study has revealed that there exists a strong solidarity in the different communities in the novels selected for this stu...

Research paper thumbnail of The Electoral College and Its Winner Take All System: An Outdated Machine in Modern American Democracy

Scholars international journal of linguistics and literature, Dec 30, 2020

American voters elect the President and Vice President of the United States of America indirectly... more American voters elect the President and Vice President of the United States of America indirectly, through an arrangement known as the Electoral College system. The U.S. Constitution, in Article II, Section 1, Clause 2, as amended by the 12th Amendment in 1803, together with a series of implementing federal statutes, provides the broad framework through which electors are appointed and by which they cast votes for the President and Vice President. However, the Constitution says nothing about how the states should allot their electoral votes. The winner-take-all was the choice of the majority of the States. Presently, 48 states and the District of Columbia (Maine and Nebraska are the exceptions, having adopted the district system) have adopted the winner-take-all method of allocating electors. Under this method, the slate of electors, representing the presidential and vice presidential ticket that wins a plurality of votes in a state is elected on Election Day in November, and later meets in mid-December as the Electoral College to cast all of the state"s electoral ballots for the winning presidential and vice presidential candidates. This electoral system has proved undemocratic in modern time. The objective of this paper is to shed light on the limits of the American presidential electoral system which is no more in accordance with the ideals of the democracy today. Through historicism and Marxism theories, investigations have shown that some candidates can get a majority of the popular votes but fail under the winner-take-all conundrum. More importantly, the system has generated a dangerous geographical separation with red and blue territories in the same United States. The compromises and ideals of 1787 constitutional convention are rather outmoded for the 21st century democracy.

Research paper thumbnail of Emasculation and the male characters in Sula by Toni Morrison

Emasculation is a drawback of slavery as it was practiced in the Americas. This aspect appears in... more Emasculation is a drawback of slavery as it was practiced in the Americas. This aspect appears in Sula where female characters play the main roles. Male characters are shaped to be absent, irresponsible or insane. Female characters take care of the household and fight for their own survival. Children are educated by the female characters, male characters are regularly absent, some of them have deserted the household. The objective of this paper is to explain, through the emasculation system, the behaviors of the male characters in Sula in order to provide deeper understanding to Toni Morrison’s skills to deal with the conditions of Blacks in the South of the USA. This can help to understand more Sula which is deeply rooted in the black community with its traditions and realities.

Research paper thumbnail of Emasculation of male characters as seen through Sula by Toni Morrison

Emasculation is a drawback of slavery as it was practiced in the Americas. Men are limited in the... more Emasculation is a drawback of slavery as it was practiced in the Americas. Men are limited in their power in order to be exploited without strong reactions. This aspect appears in Sula where female characters play the main roles. Male characters are shaped to be absent, irresponsible or insane. Female characters take care of the household and fight for their own survival. Children are educated by the female characters, male characters are regularly absent, some of them have deserted the household. The objective of this paper is to explain, through the emasculation system, the behaviors of some male characters such as Shadrack, Plum Peace, BoyBoy, Jude and Ajax (Albert Jacks) in Sula in order to provide deeper understanding to Toni Morrison’s skills to deal with the conditions of Blacks in the South of the USA. This can help to understand more Sula which is deeply rooted in the black community with its traditions and realities.

Research paper thumbnail of The black community portrayal in toni morrison: the bluest eye (1970), sula (1973) and song of solomon (1977)

International Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Culture, 2018

This paper aims at investigating Toni Morrison's endeavor to locate the black community's actions... more This paper aims at investigating Toni Morrison's endeavor to locate the black community's actions in three of her novels: The Bluest Eye (1970), Sula (1973), and Song of Solomon (1977). Toni Morrison's novels have particularly depicted the black community from a specific perspective, the one that is largely defined and shared by the dominant white society and its standards. The Bluest Eye sets in Morrison's hometown, Lorain, Ohio. In this novel, the black community in Lorain is separated from the upper-class white community, also known as Lake Shore Park, a place where blacks are not permitted. As for Sula the setting is a small town in Ohio, located on a hillside known as "Bottom". Song of Solomon plunges the reader into the absorbing black community, a standalone entity, but yet never far removed from the white world. The first pages of the novel describe "Not Doctor Street" and "No Mercy Hospital". These names are used within the African-American community but are unofficial and not recognized by the white city rulers who instead identify them as Mains Avenue and Mercy Hospital. In short, the setting for Song of Solomon is an anonymous city in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The study has revealed that there always exists a white community bordering the black community as its standard and a machine to repress and exploit its people. This parallel which is actually a quest for identity is omnipresent in Morrison's novels surely because she is an African American writer.

Research paper thumbnail of Social class control and domination in America: A critical revisitation of the Great Depression as lived by Americans, through the novel The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

International journal of social research, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of African Community Life Pattern in some Novels of Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston

Studies in Linguistics and Literature, 2021

The objective in this paper is to investigate the preservation of the community life that charact... more The objective in this paper is to investigate the preservation of the community life that characterizes African people in the novels of Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston.As a matter of fact, in all of Morrison’s novels, the black community is, from one perspective, largely defined by the dominant white society and its standards. The Bluest Eye takes place in Morrison’s home town of Lorain, Ohio. In the novel, the black community of Lorain is separated from the upper-class white community, also known as Lake Shore Park, a place where blacks are not permitted. The setting for Sula is a small town in Ohio, located on a hillside known as “Bottom”. In Song of Solomon, the reader is absorbed into the black community, an entity unto itself, but yet never far removed from the white world. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, actions take place in Eatonville in Florida.The study has revealed that there exists a strong solidarity in the different communities in the novels selected for this stu...

Research paper thumbnail of The Electoral College and Its Winner Take All System: An Outdated Machine in Modern American Democracy

Scholars international journal of linguistics and literature, Dec 30, 2020

American voters elect the President and Vice President of the United States of America indirectly... more American voters elect the President and Vice President of the United States of America indirectly, through an arrangement known as the Electoral College system. The U.S. Constitution, in Article II, Section 1, Clause 2, as amended by the 12th Amendment in 1803, together with a series of implementing federal statutes, provides the broad framework through which electors are appointed and by which they cast votes for the President and Vice President. However, the Constitution says nothing about how the states should allot their electoral votes. The winner-take-all was the choice of the majority of the States. Presently, 48 states and the District of Columbia (Maine and Nebraska are the exceptions, having adopted the district system) have adopted the winner-take-all method of allocating electors. Under this method, the slate of electors, representing the presidential and vice presidential ticket that wins a plurality of votes in a state is elected on Election Day in November, and later meets in mid-December as the Electoral College to cast all of the state"s electoral ballots for the winning presidential and vice presidential candidates. This electoral system has proved undemocratic in modern time. The objective of this paper is to shed light on the limits of the American presidential electoral system which is no more in accordance with the ideals of the democracy today. Through historicism and Marxism theories, investigations have shown that some candidates can get a majority of the popular votes but fail under the winner-take-all conundrum. More importantly, the system has generated a dangerous geographical separation with red and blue territories in the same United States. The compromises and ideals of 1787 constitutional convention are rather outmoded for the 21st century democracy.

Research paper thumbnail of Emasculation and the male characters in Sula by Toni Morrison

Emasculation is a drawback of slavery as it was practiced in the Americas. This aspect appears in... more Emasculation is a drawback of slavery as it was practiced in the Americas. This aspect appears in Sula where female characters play the main roles. Male characters are shaped to be absent, irresponsible or insane. Female characters take care of the household and fight for their own survival. Children are educated by the female characters, male characters are regularly absent, some of them have deserted the household. The objective of this paper is to explain, through the emasculation system, the behaviors of the male characters in Sula in order to provide deeper understanding to Toni Morrison’s skills to deal with the conditions of Blacks in the South of the USA. This can help to understand more Sula which is deeply rooted in the black community with its traditions and realities.

Research paper thumbnail of Emasculation of male characters as seen through Sula by Toni Morrison

Emasculation is a drawback of slavery as it was practiced in the Americas. Men are limited in the... more Emasculation is a drawback of slavery as it was practiced in the Americas. Men are limited in their power in order to be exploited without strong reactions. This aspect appears in Sula where female characters play the main roles. Male characters are shaped to be absent, irresponsible or insane. Female characters take care of the household and fight for their own survival. Children are educated by the female characters, male characters are regularly absent, some of them have deserted the household. The objective of this paper is to explain, through the emasculation system, the behaviors of some male characters such as Shadrack, Plum Peace, BoyBoy, Jude and Ajax (Albert Jacks) in Sula in order to provide deeper understanding to Toni Morrison’s skills to deal with the conditions of Blacks in the South of the USA. This can help to understand more Sula which is deeply rooted in the black community with its traditions and realities.

Research paper thumbnail of The black community portrayal in toni morrison: the bluest eye (1970), sula (1973) and song of solomon (1977)

International Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Culture, 2018

This paper aims at investigating Toni Morrison's endeavor to locate the black community's actions... more This paper aims at investigating Toni Morrison's endeavor to locate the black community's actions in three of her novels: The Bluest Eye (1970), Sula (1973), and Song of Solomon (1977). Toni Morrison's novels have particularly depicted the black community from a specific perspective, the one that is largely defined and shared by the dominant white society and its standards. The Bluest Eye sets in Morrison's hometown, Lorain, Ohio. In this novel, the black community in Lorain is separated from the upper-class white community, also known as Lake Shore Park, a place where blacks are not permitted. As for Sula the setting is a small town in Ohio, located on a hillside known as "Bottom". Song of Solomon plunges the reader into the absorbing black community, a standalone entity, but yet never far removed from the white world. The first pages of the novel describe "Not Doctor Street" and "No Mercy Hospital". These names are used within the African-American community but are unofficial and not recognized by the white city rulers who instead identify them as Mains Avenue and Mercy Hospital. In short, the setting for Song of Solomon is an anonymous city in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The study has revealed that there always exists a white community bordering the black community as its standard and a machine to repress and exploit its people. This parallel which is actually a quest for identity is omnipresent in Morrison's novels surely because she is an African American writer.