Vimarsh

Hello Today, I would like to talk about a chapter entitled "Apocalypse Now"  from the book  Simulacra and Simulation (1981) by Jean Baudrillard. The chapter is Baudrillard's views on the Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 movie Apocalypse Now . ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jean Baudrillard (1929 - 2007) Jean Baudrillard was a French sociologist and philosopher with an interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as well as his formulation of concepts such as hyperreality. Baudrillard wrote about diverse subjects, including consumerism, critique of economy, social history, aesthetics, Western foreign policy, and popular culture. WHAT THE CHAPTER IS ABOUT? Movie Apocalypse Now (1979)   and its director Francis Ford Coppola In this chapter Baudrillard provides an analysis of Coppola's “Apocalypse Now” (1979) argues the film transcends mere representation, be...

Hello  Today, I want to talk about the Peircean model of Sign. Let us begin by knowing about Peirce. Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 - 1914) Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) was an American philosopher, logician, and semiotician who is widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in the fields of philosophy, logic, and semiotics. His work laid the foundation for many contemporary theories in logic, philosophy of science, and semiotics (the study of signs). Peirce's intellectual contributions were highly original and expansive, though he was not as well-known during his lifetime. Today, he is recognized as one of the most important American philosophers. The Peircean model of signs is a theory of semiotics i.e. the study of signs and symbols and their use in communication. Peirce's model is based on the idea that a "sign" is something that stands for or represents something else. He proposed that signs are not just arbitrary symbols, but that their meani...

Today, I would like to talk about 1999 American comedy film Election .  Genre: Black Comedy Duration: 103 minutes The film is directed by Alexander Payne. Alexander Payne It was based on a novel of the same title by Tom Perrotta. Tom Perrotta, the author of the novel 'Election' WHAT IS IT ABOUT? The film is about a high school teacher named Jim McAllister. He teaches US History and Civics in Carver school. In his class, he gets to meet an over-achiever student. The student, Tracy Flick, lives with her mother, who motivates and guides her to be successful. Coming from a privilege family background, she aspires to participate in school elections. The smooth conduction of the election was the responsibility of none other than Jim who doesn't like Tracy. This election changes the life of our hero, Jim. How? WHY SHOULD WE WATCH IT? A very clean and easy to follow movie. Matthew Brodernick as Jim is excellent and he has great comic timing. Reese Witherspoon is great as an over-a...

Hello Today,  I would like to talk about Chapter 14 from the book Education and the Social Order by Bertrand Russell . The title of the chapter is "Education and Economics". Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970) ABOUT THE AUTHOR Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic philosophy. WHAT THE CHAPTER IS ABOUT? This chapter explores the profound and multifaceted influence of economic factors on education throughout history. Russell examines how economic systems shape educational funding, the aims of education (like increased production), class structures and the type of education received, and the role of endowments and traditions. Russell argues that economic forces significantly shape educational systems across history and different nations. He examines this influence through five key lenses: the amount of money a state invests in education (in...

Hello and welcome  Today, continuing our discussion of Saussurean sign, I would like to elaborate upon the concepts of langue and parole. Saussure distinguished between the langue and parole. He introduced the terms in his book Course in General Linguistics . These are linguistic terms that describe the abstract rules of language and the actual speech acts that use those rules.   Langue refers to the structured system of signs and rules shared by an entire linguistic community while parole refers to the actual use of language in speech or writing by individuals. Saussure advocated that the study of the sign should fall under the domain of langue , as it is concerned with the structural relationships that make meaning possible. Characteristics of Langue The abstract rules and conventions of a language, including grammar, syntax, and phonology  A system of signs that exists independently of the individual A set of rules that are internali...

Hello and Welcome, Today, I would like to talk about 1991 Hindi film Prahaar: The Final Attack written and directed by celebrated actor, Nana Patekar. It was Patekar's directorial debut and he hasn't made any other film since then. Genre: Action drama Duration: 168 minutes WHAT IS IT ABOUT? The story of the film is divided into two parts. In the first half of the film, Peter D'Souza goes to the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre for Commando training leaving his fiancee and father home. His father runs a small bakery. This entire part features rigourous commando training and soldiers' plight. Immediately after training, four of the commandos, including Peter, had to face a mission in which they had to save some school kids and their teachers from terrorists. In the second half, Major Chauhan finds out about the murder of Peter upon reaching his home, and he decides to serve justice. The kinds of challenges he faced is the main content of second half. In the end, ...

Hello and Welcome  Today, I want to talk about EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, RELATIVITY , an introduction to the section II of the Book LANGUAGE IN CULTURE AND SOCIETY: A READER IN LINGUISTICS AND ANTHROPOLOGY by DELL HYMES (1927 – 2009). About the Author: Dell Hymes (1927 - 2009) Dell Hymes was a linguist, sociolinguist, anthropologist, and folklorist who established disciplinary foundations for the comparative, ethnographic study of language use. His research focused upon the languages of the Pacific Northwest. What the Chapter is about? This chapter is introduction to the second section of the book. This section’s articles are about the issues of language diversity, relativity, and equality. Chapter addresses outdated misconceptions surrounding the study of language, specifically the inaccurate classification of languages as "primitive". It advocates for a more nuanced approach recognising the equality of all languages in their scientific value, while acknowledging their div...

Today, continuing our discussion of Saussurean sign, I would like to elaborate upon the interrelationship of the signs. Saussure says that a sign becomes meaningful in a specific sign system. Thus, language is a system of interrelated signs. Saussure argued that the value of a sign comes not from its intrinsic properties but from its relationships with other signs in the system. For example, the meaning of the word "tree" is partly defined by its difference from other words like "bush" or "forest." A tree is a tree because it is not a bush or it is not a forest or it is not anything else. Here, Saussure proposes two types of relationships among the signs in terms of its usage. Those relations are termed as Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic relations. SYNTAGMATIC RELATIONS  Syntagmatic relations are the linear relationships between words in a sentence or text. They are based on the order and position of words, and are governed by grammatical rules.  Simp...

My lecture on storytelling for MSW students was delivered a few years back. #mylecture #story #storytelling #lecture

Today, I would like to talk about 2025 webseries Paatal Lok, Season 2 . This is a second season of 2020 searies Paatal Lok , maintaing characters like Haathiram Chaudhari (PI), Gul Panag (PI's wife), Imran Ansari (who played Haathi Ram's Junior in first season and now an ACP), and SHO Virk. The series is directed by Avinash Arun and it has 8 episodes of approximately 40 minutes each. GENRE: CRIME, THRILLER DURATION: 8 Episodes (40-45 minutes) WHAT IS IT ABOUT? Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhary, the haggard, unlikely hero, investigates a high-profile murder case that leads him to remote corners of North-East India, where he battles powerful forces and personal tragedies in his pursuit of truth. The plot includes the politics of North East India; the drug mafias; the nexus of politics and underworld; and top of all, the influence of money and politics on justice system. WHY SHOULD WE WATCH IT? Flawless performances of Jaideep Ahlawat as Hathi Ram Chaudhary, Tillotama Shome as Meghna...