Conference Presentations by Tara Senanayake
Kate Chopin's The Awakening can be read as a courageous piece of fiction as it promoted values th... more Kate Chopin's The Awakening can be read as a courageous piece of fiction as it promoted values that conflicted with standards of accepted "lady-like" behavior. The novel rejected social conventions and contradicted many 19 th century expectations of women and their "supposed roles." Chopin wrote at the height of the first wave of the women's movement struggle, a time in which the demand for "rights" for women was still in its infancy. The Awakening is radical in its treatment of motherhood as it questions the assumptions that childbirth and childcare are a woman's principal vocation. By shattering the illusion that giving birth is a glorious experience, Chopin attacks the patriarchal structure which denies women control over their bodies. The Awakening can thus be classified as a "feminist" novel written by an author who is considered to be a forerunner of the feminist authors of today. The protagonist, Edna Pontellier's rejection of the institution of motherhood and family signal moments of aporia in the novel, and highlights the status of the female individualist who tries to break free of entrapping society. Thus the present paper is an endeavor to study The Awakening as a bildungsroman, and examine how the myth of individualism accommodates the aspirations of women. This paper will attempt to interrogate issues of this emerging female (feminist) individuality and self-definition. An attempt will be made to redefine the birth motif as a metaphor for the "rebirth" of Edna Pontellier (and by extension Kate Chopin) as an artist, who is progressing towards a new self-definition.
Proceedings of the 3RD ICLEHI KL 2016, 2016
First introduced to the country during the period of British colonialism, English still occupies ... more First introduced to the country during the period of British colonialism, English still occupies a significant/privileged status within the Sri Lankan context due to diverse linguistic and socio-political factors. Despite the various language policies adopted by the Sri Lankan governments since the country's independence from the British Empire in 1948, the influence exerted by English in the fields of administration, education, and employment is still quite considerable. Owing to this close association of English with power and upward social mobility, there is a strong desire/compulsion among many Sri Lankans to learn English. Hence, such a scenario has created a great demand for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), and consequently there has emerged in Sri Lanka an expanding market which caters to the English language learning and teaching needs of the individuals. This market for English language learning and teaching is catered to by both private and public sectors at different levels. The focus of this paper then is on how the public sector universities seek to cater to this demand for teaching English. English Language Teaching Units (ELTU) established within individual universities have been assigned the role of improving the English language competency of the undergraduates. However, one issue encountered by the ELTUs is that they are expected to cater to students studying in different faculties and there is no common policy to determine the type of English to be taught. In fact, what is taught ranges from English for General Purposes (EGP) to English for Specific Purposes (ESP). For the purpose of this research, we selected the ELTU at University of Peradeniya and attempted to identify what form/ forms is/ are more appropriate in teaching ESL. Data was gathered using qualitative methods, and interviews along with open ended questionnaires were used in this regard.
Papers by Tara Senanayake
First introduced to the country during the period of British colonialism, English still occupies ... more First introduced to the country during the period of British colonialism, English still occupies a significant/privileged status within the Sri Lankan context due to diverse linguistic and socio-political factors. Despite the various language policies adopted by the Sri Lankan governments since the country’s independence from the British Empire in 1948, the influence exerted by English in the fields of administration, education, and employment is still quite considerable. Owing to this close association of English with power and upward social mobility, there is a strong desire/compulsion among many Sri Lankans to learn English. Hence, such a scenario has created a great demand for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), and consequently there has emerged in Sri Lanka an expanding market which caters to the English language learning and teaching needs of the individuals. This market for English language learning and teaching is catered to by both private and public sectors at di...
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening can be read as a courageous piece of fiction as it promoted values th... more Kate Chopin’s The Awakening can be read as a courageous piece of fiction as it promoted values that conflicted with standards of accepted “lady-like” behavior. The novel rejected social conventions and contradicted many 19 century expectations of women and their “supposed roles.” Chopin wrote at the height of the first wave of the women’s movement struggle, a time in which the demand for “rights” for women was still in its infancy. The Awakening is radical in its treatment of motherhood as it questions the assumptions that childbirth and childcare are a woman’s principal vocation. By shattering the illusion that giving birth is a glorious experience, Chopin attacks the patriarchal structure which denies women control over their bodies. The Awakening can thus be classified as a “feminist” novel written by an author who is considered to be a forerunner of the feminist authors of today. The protagonist, Edna Pontellier’s rejection of the institution of motherhood and family signal mome...
First introduced to the country during the period of British colonialism, English still occupies ... more First introduced to the country during the period of British colonialism, English still occupies a significant/privileged status within the Sri Lankan context due to diverse linguistic and socio-political factors. Despite the various language policies adopted by the Sri Lankan governments since the country's independence from the British Empire in 1948, the influence exerted by English in the fields of administration, education, and employment is still quite considerable. Owing to this close association of English with power and upward social mobility, there is a strong desire/compulsion among many Sri Lankans to learn English. Hence, such a scenario has created a great demand for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), and consequently there has emerged in Sri Lanka an expanding market which caters to the English language learning and teaching needs of the individuals. This market for English language learning and teaching is catered to by both private and public sectors at different levels. The focus of this paper then is on how the public sector universities seek to cater to this demand for teaching English. English Language Teaching Units (ELTU) established within individual universities have been assigned the role of improving the English language competency of the undergraduates. However, one issue encountered by the ELTUs is that they are expected to cater to students studying in different faculties and there is no common policy to determine the type of English to be taught. In fact, what is taught ranges from English for General Purposes (EGP) to English for Specific Purposes (ESP). For the purpose of this research, we selected the ELTU at University of Peradeniya and attempted to identify what form/ forms is/ are more appropriate in teaching ESL. Data was gathered using qualitative methods, and interviews along with open ended questionnaires were used in this regard.
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening can be read as a courageous piece of fiction as it promoted values th... more Kate Chopin’s The Awakening can be read as a courageous piece of fiction as it promoted values that conflicted with standards of accepted “lady-like” behavior. The novel rejected social conventions and contradicted many 19 century expectations of women and their “supposed roles.” Chopin wrote at the height of the first wave of the women’s movement struggle, a time in which the demand for “rights” for women was still in its infancy. The Awakening is radical in its treatment of motherhood as it questions the assumptions that childbirth and childcare are a woman’s principal vocation. By shattering the illusion that giving birth is a glorious experience, Chopin attacks the patriarchal structure which denies women control over their bodies. The Awakening can thus be classified as a “feminist” novel written by an author who is considered to be a forerunner of the feminist authors of today. The protagonist, Edna Pontellier’s rejection of the institution of motherhood and family signal mome...
Phoenix Volume XIII & XIV, Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth, 2016 &2017. ISSN 1017-1622, 2017
Phoenix Volume XIII & XIV, Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth, 2016 &2017. ISSN 1017-1622, 2016
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Conference Presentations by Tara Senanayake
Papers by Tara Senanayake