Tales Told by God: Stylistic Peculiarities of Qrua’nic Narratives.

Abstract The religious seminaries (Madaris) 1 of Pakistan have been a hot topic of discussion in the national and international media. These Madaris are reminiscent of the ancient education system of Islam. They attracted people’s attention during the last two decades and especially after the 11th September 2001 incident of New York. Another aspect of interest was their role in the Islamic insurgence (Jihad) waged in various parts of the world particularly in Afghanistan and Kashmir. These institutions impart orthodox education based on centuries old syllabus called Dars-i Nizami. The administrators are disinclined to any slight change in the contents of the syllabus thus bringing them to an open conflict with the modem education system and western culture. The Madaris have been divided on the basis of religious sects i. e. Shia, Sunni and Ahl-i-Hadith. Of them Sunnis are further splintered into many sub-sects such as Deobandis, Brelvis, etc. But their adherence to the primitive education, Jihad and abhorrence for the western civilization is almost the same. Despite repeated reference to these Madaris, there are many misconceptions or disinformation about them In the present paper, an attempt has been made to remove these misconceptions and present a true picture. Besides, historical perspective, vital statistics, curricula and problems and prospects have discussed in the paper in hand

Objectification of Personhood: An Analysis of Heroes in American Tv Series

This dissertation examines the representation of the female hero in the American television drama series which at a cursory glance seems to be informed by the enlightened discourse of feminism. The study looks into the notion of the female hero through a feminist lens in order to determine what ways of objectification, or treating women as objects, are at work in the depiction of the female hero in American television drama series. The objectives of the study were to determine the extent to which the female hero is objectified in American television drama series and expose ideological biases in terms of instrumentality, autonomy, agency, violability and subjectivity that exists in the representation of the female heroes in television drama series. For the purpose of the study of objectification of the female hero three drama series were selected: Grey’s Anatomy, Castle and The Good Wife. Martha Nussbaum’s theory of objectification delineating seven notions of objectification, namely: instrumentality, denial of autonomy, violability, inertness, denial of subjectivity, fungibility and ownership formed the theoretical framework of the study. Horace Newcomb and Paul M. Hirsch’s textual critical approach was used to study and interpret the dominant messages embedded in the pleasant disguise of fictional entertainment. A detailed analysis of the three notions of objectification: instrumentality, denial of autonomy and ownership (Chapter IV) shows that despite being given the role of the hero around whom the action of the drama series revolves, the female heroes, Meredith, Beckett and Alicia are undermined in various ways through objectification. Members of their family, male or female co-workers objectify them and deny them autonomy and claim ownership of them. The needs, interests and experiences of these female heroes are subordinated to those of the powerful, who are authority figures predominantly men and in some instances women as well, either in the family or the workplace. The female hero’s treatment as violable and her lack of autonomy (Chapter V) shows that she is not granted powers expected in the figure of a hero. Authority figures and men who control the female heroes’ lives fail to acknowledge that these women are owners of their own lives and have the right to self-determination and action. There is little awareness and resistance on the part of the women heroes as they sacrifice their individuality and independence and submit to the authority of men considering it beneficial to them. The analysis of the female heroes reveals that despite being given the role of heroes their agency is limited. They are not fully autonomous and are inert as someone else manages the decisions about their life and career. This inertness mars their status as heroes who are not fully active agents. It is a subversive strategy used in patriarchal societies to control tough women which reveals that women are only allowed to show power within certain parameters which do not threaten male dominance.