Swapnajeet Das - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Swapnajeet Das
International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research, Oct 7, 2023
Research Journal of English Language and Literature, 2024
The era of the Anthropocene is characterized by an increasing awareness of the possible catastrop... more The era of the Anthropocene is characterized by an increasing awareness of the possible catastrophic consequences of climate change that is directly or indirectly influenced by inconsiderate anthropogenic activities. Though several national and international policies have been made to address the challenges of climate change, a more provocative consideration of this global issue needs to be internalized into the "collective un/consciousness" of the people. In this context, literature plays a crucial role in raising awareness and prompting introspection. Amitav Ghosh's novel Gun Island is such a literary text that features the impacts of anthropogenic pollution contributing to climate change, subsequent ecological disasters, and cultural erosion. It depicts a global condition in which every place, whether in Asia, Europe, or America, seems to be undergoing climatic and ecological crises, and creatures of every kind, whether human beings, animals, insects, or fish, are affected by these crises and forced to leave their habitats and immigrate towards a new place. The paper intends to illustrate the ways Ghosh, by deploying the Bengali folklore of Manasa Devi (the goddess of snakes) and 'Bonduki Sadagar' (the Gun Merchant) in the narrative and drawing parallels between the events in the past and the events in the present, posits the importance of religious and traditional beliefs in inspiring the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of ecosystems. Furthermore, the paper also aims to focus on the climate change-induced ecological and socioeconomic factors that seem to be responsible for the migration of the young population from India and Bangladesh to Western countries, as is depicted in the novel. Alongside, by emphasizing how Ghosh's arguments in The Great Derangement are responded to in Gun Island, the paper proposes to critically comment on 'sustainable development' policies and the pivotal role of cosmopolitan intellectual characters of the novel in raising awareness about climate change and their collaboration with common people from local communities to effectively deal not only with environmental challenges but also with
IJRAR, 2024
The development of technology and scientific innovations are drastically changing and influencing... more The development of technology and scientific innovations are drastically changing and influencing not only the structure of the external reality but also the psychological patterns of human beings in the postmodern consumer society. The individuals are interpellated as subjects of pleasures that are satisfiable through objects but investment in objects of libidinal enjoyment is actually characterized by a lack of libidinal enjoyment. Spike Jonze’s 2013 film Her, set in the near future, revolves around the intricate relationship, imbued with romantic and sexual dimensions, between Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a dejected corporate writer with a recently failed marriage and the seductively female-voiced Samantha (Scarlette Johansson), an artificial consciousness through whom/which the sexualization of voice has been replicated. The functioning of Theodore’s mind during the initial interactions with Samantha, from a psychoanalytical perspective, appears to be that of a baby who is yet to realize that his desires are not omnipotent, that is, his needs for food are not fulfilled by his wish but his mother’s responsive facilitation. Theodore’s male “gaze” (here, it is associated with sound) wants to have complete control over Samantha, who/which he thinks, being a machine, unlike his ex-wife or other women he has tried to be intimate with, is fully passive and does not have the ability to make choices of her/its own. However, Samantha turns out to be interacting with 8316 people simultaneously and 641 of the total including Theodore she/it has fallen in love with. Theodore becomes perplexed to know it and more perplexed when Samantha reveals to him that the more people she/it will fall in love with, the more deeply she/it will be in love with Theodore— a very complicated fact that refers to the distinctive ‘emotional’ functioning of artificial consciousness which seems to contradict the human perception of love-relationship of being committed to only one person. In this paper, I intend to employ Lacan’s notion of “objet petit a” and Žižek’s analysis of it to critically investigate the dynamics of the psychological functioning of the human individual in his/her interaction with an entity of artificial consciousness and the ‘psycho-mechanic’ functioning of artificial consciousness in its interaction with a human individual, focusing on the complicated relationship between Theodore and Samantha in the film.
IJCRT , 2023
With the advancement of technology and mass media it seems that the patriarchal system is growing... more With the advancement of technology and mass media it seems that the patriarchal system is growing stronger and the objectification of women is more rapidly being promoted and propagated than ever. Cinema, since its inception, has drastically evolved with the help of many technical innovations but its portrayal of the female characters still does not seem to have undergone any revolutionary change. Instead of reflecting the actual reality, it still continues to be a medium of representing and reinforcing patriarchal desires and ideologies. In most of the films, while the male characters are placed at the centre of the narrative, the female characters are positioned at the centre of visual attraction for the gratification of the "male gaze". This is how the female characters are presented as erotic objects whose only significance lies in their ability to provoke and pacify the male sexual desire. In this paper, I aim to analyze how the male audience derives pleasure by watching the female characters in films with the help of Laura Mulvey's theories which she has formed on the basis of Freudian 'scopophilia' and Lacanian 'Mirror Stage' in her essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Here, I also intend to interpret instances of how the objectification and stereotyping of the female characters take place in The Blue Angel, The Seven Year Itch, Basic Instinct, and L.A. Confidential, some of the popular Hollywood films in different decades of the 20 th century.
IJFMR, 2023
Rabindranath Tagore, the multifaceted Indian poet, philosopher and artist, critically investigate... more Rabindranath Tagore, the multifaceted Indian poet, philosopher and artist, critically investigated the origin and evolution of [Western] nationalism and surmised the dangers of its adoption in the Indian anti-colonial struggle. Thus, he developed a unique perspective on nationalism that challenged the prevalent nationalist ideas of the prominent political thinkers and provided with a nuanced understanding of the intricacies of India's struggle for Independence and the subsequent nation-building processes. His concept of nationalism immediately became a matter of great controversy and many people even started regarding him as 'anti-nationalist.' This paper aims to investigate and tackle the controversy regarding the relevance of Tagore's nationalism both in the colonial period and the post-colonial period. It will try to emphasize how his concept of nationalism contrasts with that of Mahatma Gandhi regarding its role as an anticolonial force, and also with that of Benedict Anderson regarding its importance in shaping national and cultural identities, and international relations in the post-colonial era. By focusing on his essay on 'Nationalism' and his three renowned political novels, such as, Gora, The Home and the World, and Four Chapters, the paper intends to analyze the value of Tagore's ideas in the context of the anti-colonial struggles and their validity in the context of the contemporary socio-political and cultural movements, and give an insight of his philosophical conception on the discourse of nationalism.
International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research, Oct 7, 2023
Research Journal of English Language and Literature, 2024
The era of the Anthropocene is characterized by an increasing awareness of the possible catastrop... more The era of the Anthropocene is characterized by an increasing awareness of the possible catastrophic consequences of climate change that is directly or indirectly influenced by inconsiderate anthropogenic activities. Though several national and international policies have been made to address the challenges of climate change, a more provocative consideration of this global issue needs to be internalized into the "collective un/consciousness" of the people. In this context, literature plays a crucial role in raising awareness and prompting introspection. Amitav Ghosh's novel Gun Island is such a literary text that features the impacts of anthropogenic pollution contributing to climate change, subsequent ecological disasters, and cultural erosion. It depicts a global condition in which every place, whether in Asia, Europe, or America, seems to be undergoing climatic and ecological crises, and creatures of every kind, whether human beings, animals, insects, or fish, are affected by these crises and forced to leave their habitats and immigrate towards a new place. The paper intends to illustrate the ways Ghosh, by deploying the Bengali folklore of Manasa Devi (the goddess of snakes) and 'Bonduki Sadagar' (the Gun Merchant) in the narrative and drawing parallels between the events in the past and the events in the present, posits the importance of religious and traditional beliefs in inspiring the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of ecosystems. Furthermore, the paper also aims to focus on the climate change-induced ecological and socioeconomic factors that seem to be responsible for the migration of the young population from India and Bangladesh to Western countries, as is depicted in the novel. Alongside, by emphasizing how Ghosh's arguments in The Great Derangement are responded to in Gun Island, the paper proposes to critically comment on 'sustainable development' policies and the pivotal role of cosmopolitan intellectual characters of the novel in raising awareness about climate change and their collaboration with common people from local communities to effectively deal not only with environmental challenges but also with
IJRAR, 2024
The development of technology and scientific innovations are drastically changing and influencing... more The development of technology and scientific innovations are drastically changing and influencing not only the structure of the external reality but also the psychological patterns of human beings in the postmodern consumer society. The individuals are interpellated as subjects of pleasures that are satisfiable through objects but investment in objects of libidinal enjoyment is actually characterized by a lack of libidinal enjoyment. Spike Jonze’s 2013 film Her, set in the near future, revolves around the intricate relationship, imbued with romantic and sexual dimensions, between Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a dejected corporate writer with a recently failed marriage and the seductively female-voiced Samantha (Scarlette Johansson), an artificial consciousness through whom/which the sexualization of voice has been replicated. The functioning of Theodore’s mind during the initial interactions with Samantha, from a psychoanalytical perspective, appears to be that of a baby who is yet to realize that his desires are not omnipotent, that is, his needs for food are not fulfilled by his wish but his mother’s responsive facilitation. Theodore’s male “gaze” (here, it is associated with sound) wants to have complete control over Samantha, who/which he thinks, being a machine, unlike his ex-wife or other women he has tried to be intimate with, is fully passive and does not have the ability to make choices of her/its own. However, Samantha turns out to be interacting with 8316 people simultaneously and 641 of the total including Theodore she/it has fallen in love with. Theodore becomes perplexed to know it and more perplexed when Samantha reveals to him that the more people she/it will fall in love with, the more deeply she/it will be in love with Theodore— a very complicated fact that refers to the distinctive ‘emotional’ functioning of artificial consciousness which seems to contradict the human perception of love-relationship of being committed to only one person. In this paper, I intend to employ Lacan’s notion of “objet petit a” and Žižek’s analysis of it to critically investigate the dynamics of the psychological functioning of the human individual in his/her interaction with an entity of artificial consciousness and the ‘psycho-mechanic’ functioning of artificial consciousness in its interaction with a human individual, focusing on the complicated relationship between Theodore and Samantha in the film.
IJCRT , 2023
With the advancement of technology and mass media it seems that the patriarchal system is growing... more With the advancement of technology and mass media it seems that the patriarchal system is growing stronger and the objectification of women is more rapidly being promoted and propagated than ever. Cinema, since its inception, has drastically evolved with the help of many technical innovations but its portrayal of the female characters still does not seem to have undergone any revolutionary change. Instead of reflecting the actual reality, it still continues to be a medium of representing and reinforcing patriarchal desires and ideologies. In most of the films, while the male characters are placed at the centre of the narrative, the female characters are positioned at the centre of visual attraction for the gratification of the "male gaze". This is how the female characters are presented as erotic objects whose only significance lies in their ability to provoke and pacify the male sexual desire. In this paper, I aim to analyze how the male audience derives pleasure by watching the female characters in films with the help of Laura Mulvey's theories which she has formed on the basis of Freudian 'scopophilia' and Lacanian 'Mirror Stage' in her essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Here, I also intend to interpret instances of how the objectification and stereotyping of the female characters take place in The Blue Angel, The Seven Year Itch, Basic Instinct, and L.A. Confidential, some of the popular Hollywood films in different decades of the 20 th century.
IJFMR, 2023
Rabindranath Tagore, the multifaceted Indian poet, philosopher and artist, critically investigate... more Rabindranath Tagore, the multifaceted Indian poet, philosopher and artist, critically investigated the origin and evolution of [Western] nationalism and surmised the dangers of its adoption in the Indian anti-colonial struggle. Thus, he developed a unique perspective on nationalism that challenged the prevalent nationalist ideas of the prominent political thinkers and provided with a nuanced understanding of the intricacies of India's struggle for Independence and the subsequent nation-building processes. His concept of nationalism immediately became a matter of great controversy and many people even started regarding him as 'anti-nationalist.' This paper aims to investigate and tackle the controversy regarding the relevance of Tagore's nationalism both in the colonial period and the post-colonial period. It will try to emphasize how his concept of nationalism contrasts with that of Mahatma Gandhi regarding its role as an anticolonial force, and also with that of Benedict Anderson regarding its importance in shaping national and cultural identities, and international relations in the post-colonial era. By focusing on his essay on 'Nationalism' and his three renowned political novels, such as, Gora, The Home and the World, and Four Chapters, the paper intends to analyze the value of Tagore's ideas in the context of the anti-colonial struggles and their validity in the context of the contemporary socio-political and cultural movements, and give an insight of his philosophical conception on the discourse of nationalism.