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Earth

Earth. By Deepa Mehta . Group Discussion (1-2). Group Discussion. Please see the lecture ppt at EngSite. Outline. Basic Info . Partition & Race relations Women’s Roles Kite Festival Questions about Lenny, Shanta vs. Dil Navaz Work Cited Next Week .

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Earth

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  1. Earth By Deepa Mehta Group Discussion (1-2) Group Discussion Please see the lecture ppt at EngSite.

  2. Outline • Basic Info. • Partition & Race relations • Women’s Roles • Kite Festival • Questions about Lenny, Shanta vs. Dil Navaz • Work Cited • Next Week

  3. Basic Info (1): Allusions to Partition • conflicts [see lecture ppt.] film-chap 4 • Discussion in the Park : --What's the newsfrom the Viceroy's house? -- I've heard Gandhi, Nehru, and Mountbattenare really tight. -- Really? -- If they are that close,who will champion us Muslims? -- And who will help Jinnah Sahib? -- Master Tara Singh and his bleating herd of Sikhs?

  4. The Role of British Empire

  5. I. Race Relations: Parsees • chap 2 –cracking jokes • chap 6 -- bum licker or invisible

  6. Basic Info (2): 3rd Gathering of Friends • conflicts [see lecture ppt.] film-chap 11 • Lahore (where the story took place): • Muslim as the majority; • Hindus owned most of its businesses; Sikhs seen as “trouble” or “the fighting arm of India” • When it becomes evident that Lahore will be part of Pakistan, most of the Hindus and Sikhs pick up and leave. • Lahore – a border city, flooded with refugees

  7. Race Relations: Main Characters • Dil Navaz – associated with poetry, performances • Hassan –quieter – “We lived as brothers…” “Our holy Koran lies in their” Golden Temple in Amritsar.” • -- Pacifism: “Our holy Koran lies in their Golden Temple in Amritsar.” Willing to convert

  8. Basic Info (2):Eatery//Dinner at Home • Surfacing conflicts in film-chap 11 • Against the British culture represented by Lenny (“English pudding”) • Stereotypical images of Sikhs (a history of violence) • worries about Muslims left on the wrong side • –

  9. Escape from Conflicts • The only alternatives [besides death and departure]: siding with the powerful • conversion; e.g. Hari convert to Islam (chap 17), and Pappoo’s family to Christianity (chap 12, chap 20) (ref. Raisinghani 162) • Not always useful – Shanta --[chap 13] the Parsees aren't taking sides.Everyone knows that. As long as I'm with you,I'm safe. -- [the end] Madame, tell Hasan!

  10. Independence: Ironies (14 August 1947—Dominion of Pakistan) Midnight of August 15, 1947 Jawaharlal Nehru: “Tryst with destiny” speech

  11. Basic Info (2): Women’s Roles in Wars • A site of contestation • the refugee scene –the boy’s mother • the life and fate of Shanta • In the novel, the raped women • gathered in a house, and, in case of attack, burned themselves; • survived with a strong sense of guilt (e.g. Shanta in a brothel and Lenny) (ref. Raisinghani 164)

  12. Basic Info (3): Kite Festival • In Lahore – “the city’s youth have sent thousands of brightly colored kites into the sky during the festival, held on a weekend in February or March.” • Vicious competition with strings made of wire or coated with crushed glass, which killed a lot of people. • Banned in 2006 because of the number of people dying of sharpened strings (source) • Cancelled last year because of the suicide attacks. • Ref. kite flying in Kabul in 2001, after being banned in 1996. (source)

  13. Characters • The Sethna family 1 Narrator-- Lenny Sethna 2 Shanta, the Ayah 3 Parents -- Bunty Sethna • Male characters Hassan, the Masseur Dil Navaz, the Ice Candy Man • The others (1) -- Mr. Rogers • The others (2) Imam Din – the cook Pappoo Mr. Singh Sher Singh-- Sikh Hari / Himmat Ali

  14. Major Questions How does the Partition affect Shanta? Why does she get abducted by the mob? How does the Partition affect Lenny?

  15. Follow the Characters Shanta Lenny Dil Navaz

  16. Plot • Home • Dinner • Park (friends) • Game • Game (Kite) • Home (Dance) • Outside (Protest) • Park (friends) • 9. Wedding • 10. Meal (friends) • 11. Home • 12. Train

  17. Plot 13. Conflicts on the street/Independence 14. Balcony and Home (Game) 15. Birthday--Home (Doll & Refugees) (“Do you want to play marble” “Cake? What's that?”) 16. (Friends) Discussion  Shanta with Hassan 17. Home (Singh hiding) 18. Home (Getting Married) 19. Home (Mob attack ) 20. Ending

  18. Follow the Characters

  19. DilNavaz vs. Communal Violence • Among Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. • e.g. fighting, killings, raping “the fallen women” and ghost train.

  20. DilNavaz: an Interpretation • Is it correct? It’s not about Muslims and Hindus, but something inside us.

  21. Characters across the Racial Divides • Character Names: Dil Navaz -- the Ice Candy Man, Shanta -- the Ayah;   Hassan -- the Masseur, the Sethna family –as Parsees Singh –the Sikh. • Compare the characters of Hassen and Dil Navaz. • Discuss Dil Navaz’s changes in the film. Why do think the original novel is subtitled The Ice Candy Man?

  22. The Roles of Women and Children • Shenta’s role • Children • The child bride (untouchable) saved by marrying a Christian dwarf; • The Muslim refugee child (clip 14) • Lenny: unhappy birthday; breaking plate and doll, nightmare • Describe Lenny’s perspective; What do you think about Lenny’s betrayal of Ayahat the end of the film?

  23. main symbols & Filmic techniques (contrast and main colors) • Images and symbols: • Lion, the statues, the park • telephoning Allah, • fire

  24. Earth Women and Children

  25. Shanta – attractive and a joiner at first

  26. Refugee Muslim Child: wanting to play marble, not knowing what a cake is

  27. Children: knowing but scared

  28. Children: knowing but scared

  29. Climax: what do DilNavaz and Lenny each see and feel?

  30. Shanta & Lenny • Color – orange, red vs. darkness and fire • Statues • the characters’ gazes (at Shanta)

  31. Shanta: Contrasts and Degradation • A lively park to a desolate one • Friends to enemies: changes of the different meetings in the park and at night • Parsees and sympathetic Muslims (Hassan and the cook): powerless • Poetry and love, to Violence, and then to betrayal of trust • Beauty and Marriage destroyed

  32. Earth: Key Words • Race and Cultural Differences; • The roles of children and women. • main symbols & Filmic techniques (contrast and main colors)

  33. Final Question: You and the Characters • Similarities -- partition: experience something beyond our comprehension (e.g. 921 earthquake, 911) -- Shenta: someone close (e.g. nanny) but from another class/race/nation -- Ice-Candy man & love-triangle -- • Differences? -- no brutal racial conflicts -- The personal connected with the political

  34. Work Cited • Raisinghani, Neelam. “Wounded India in Deepa Mehta's 1947-Earth.” Films, Literature and Culture: Deepa Mehta's Elements Trilogy. Ed. Jasbir Jain.  Rawat, 2007: 156-67. • “Back out in the open, Afghan kites fill Kabul's sky with colour ” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/back-out-in-the-open-afghan-kites-fill-kabuls-sky-with-colour-618690.html

  35. References • Violence against Women http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1ekGjg1sUw

  36. Next Week • “Pigs Can’t Fly”

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