Papers by Phacharawan Boonpromkul
Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) is a remarkable novel that deals directly with ... more Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) is a remarkable novel that deals directly with challenging issues of women in Afghanistan, a country often perceived as an extreme case of long-standing, traditional patriarchy, worsened by decades of military conflict. This paper discusses the practices and the implications of the burqa wearing, polygyny, and purdah or gender segregation—all of which are highly contested areas associated with Islamic cultures and have proved extremely ambivalent in Hosseini’s novel. Reading this novel against existing debates on these issues can help readers develop a better understanding and a more empathetic attitude toward Afghanistan and Afghan women, too. Lastly, the author also discusses the topic of motherhood and argues that Hosseini exploits this particular cross-cultural value in order to generate appreciation of the female sex under the extensively oppressive Taliban rule. As a result, Hosseini succeeds in achieving dramatic impact and cr...
MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities
Charlotte’s Web (1952) by E. B. White is a classic children’s book praised for the memorable frie... more Charlotte’s Web (1952) by E. B. White is a classic children’s book praised for the memorable friendship between its two protagonists. This article explores the problematic bond that results from Wilbur’s greater demand on Charlotte and Charlotte’s act of devotion. It also examines the moral value of humility, from the word “humble” which Charlotte weaves to praise Wilbur, which can be questionable as it is intertwined with innocence or ignorance, and better suits Charlotte who is reticent of her accomplishment. That she must pass on without recognition casts doubt on the author’s presentation of friendship and the said moral value. Looking beyond White’s fictional work, it is not surprising to discover his lack of respect for traditional morality. Even so, the article finds that White does offer certain moral guidance to his young readers, but it is far from straightforward due to his frequent employment of evasion, humor, and irony.
Zakes Mda’s novel The Whale Caller (2005) is a story about the extraordinary relationship between... more Zakes Mda’s novel The Whale Caller (2005) is a story about the extraordinary relationship between a man, a woman, and a whale. Set in the post-apartheid South Africa and involving issues like bestiality, animal conservation, and environmental degradation, the novel invites postcolonial and environmental reading. After laying out some of the relevant scholarly criticisms, this research article will engage four topics of interest to postcolonial ecocritics: the history of agricultural exploitation during the period of colonialism in South Africa, postcolonial tourism, whale conservation, and the challenge of global animal protection in relation to environmental justice. Throughout the study, the overlapping interests, as well as tension and conflicts, between the postcolonial and environmental criticisms will be underlined in order to show the possibility of interdisciplinary collaboration between the two fields. The research article will also shed light on the complexity and inextric...
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) is an animation written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.... more Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) is an animation written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Set in the future a thousand years from now, the story deals with the struggle of a princess of the Valley of the Wind to maintain the peace and livelihood of her homeland against the invading nation Torumekia and the expansion of the lethal Toxic Jungle. Yet beyond the fantastic encounters with giant insects in the Jungle and an adventure in a glider and fighter aircraft there are profound ecological messages that expose the vulnerability of the natural world as much as of its human habitats. This article scrutinizes the film with respect to the four main areas central to ecocritics’ concerns: (1) the concept of landscape, involving the depiction of pastoralism, wilderness, and sublime spaces and their implications; (2) the question of land entitlement; (3) toxicity and toxic discourse; (4) animals, especially insects, as these species are threatened by toxicity through insecticides...
MANUSYA
The documentary film Grizzly Man (2005), directed by Werner Herzog, is of special interest among ... more The documentary film Grizzly Man (2005), directed by Werner Herzog, is of special interest among ecocritics and environmental advocates because it deals directly with the topic of wildlife depiction, conservationism and, above all the interspecies relationship between grizzlies and man. This article investigates five problematic elements of Grizzly Man as an ecological film: the wildlife documentary as a genre, the highly controversial figure of Timothy Treadwell who produced the original footage, the grizzlies in the background, the voice and hand of the director Herzog in this film, and the film’s ending. The analysis of these five areas may deepen the audiences’ understanding of both the film and the ecocritical approach to literature. Apart from highlighting certain contradictions in the film’s ecological message and its representation of wild animal, the article tries, in its conclusion, to examine the film’s potential to generate environmentally positive responses and create a...
MANUSYA
Built on the storyline of the traditional fairy tale “Bluebeard,” Angela Carter’s short story “Th... more Built on the storyline of the traditional fairy tale “Bluebeard,” Angela Carter’s short story “The Bloody Chamber” (1979) contains striking alterations in the use of the first-person narrator, ambivalent and complex characterization, explicit sexual description and a revised ending; all of which have given rise to heated arguments among feminist scholars and literary critics. This paper relies on a close reading analysis and engages in the ongoing discussions by considering the problematic categorization of the story—as a fairy tale, a pornographic fiction, a gothic horror, and especially as a bildungsroman novel—in relation to several gender aspects such as power relations between the sexes, the concept of gaze, sadomasochism and the representation of men and women and their relationship. By focusing on gender issues in the short story and using the narrative structures of these genres as a framework, Carter’s ingenious revision of the norms becomes a sharper critique of the restri...
Uploads
Papers by Phacharawan Boonpromkul