SCIENCE IN THE RENAISSANCE

 "The hallmark of the Renaissance was its holistic quality as all fields of art, engineering, science and culture shared the same exciting spirit and many of the same intellectual principles".

~ Joel Garreau

The Renaissance was not only recognized as a period of cultural and artistic revival but also as a period when Science and technology developed and new innovations came through the way. This is also seen as a less discussed topic of Renaissance, but one cannot ignore the developments and contributions of science and technology during this great era. This era is considered as the period during which modern science truly came to fruition as great advances occured in the fields of geography, astronomy, chemistry, physics, mathematics, manufacturing, anatomy and engineering.

BEGINNING

The development and growth of science and technology was gradual during the Renaissance period. The early Renaissance period is seen as a time of scientific backwardness.  There were no new developments in physics and astronomy. Renaissance philosophy lost much of its rigour as the rules of logic and deduction were seen as secondary to intuition and emotion.  Also at the time, medical care was very basic and largely depended on herbs and superstitions. It was only during the High and Late Renaissance period that actual developments took place and new theories and philosophies came to existence. The perspectives of people to look upon objects and human bodies changed and therefore new experiments and inventions began. In the health care field, scientists learned more about the human body works and new discoveries such as vaccination came into being. The invention of printing press, microscope, telescope, and the theories of Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei is considered to be crucial contributions to the Renaissance era as these became the base for further studies and developments during the time. The study of science changed during this period because the humanist spirit took hold and people started carefully observing the world around them. The humanist artists also encouraged the scientific growth as they performed their own  dissections to promote the study of anatomy and invented mathematical perspective to make possible the accurate, realistic portrayal of physical space. This connection between the art and science may seem a little strange to the modern observers, but the Renaissance art and architecture incorporated mathematics and precision into every piece. Also it is worth notable to consider that by the end of the Renaissance period, Scientific Revolution was on the verge to began. It is so connected with each other that Marie Boas Hall, a historian of science, coined the term " Scientific Renaissance" to designate the early phases of Scientific Revolution. 

MAJOR INVENTIONS OF THE PERIOD

The inventions and developments of the Renaissance period are innumerable as it was the time when the human society moved away from the ancient and medieval methods and encouraged new experiments and innovations that brought about huge changes in the history of science. Some of the inventions that took place during the Renaissance period are listed below: 

> PRINTING PRESS

The printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg  in 1440 in Germany. It was the first ever movable metal type printing press. Johannes Gutenberg famously printed an edition of Bible in 1456. The invention of Printing press became such a crucial development of history as it allowed easy access to large amounts of information. During the Renaissance, where already art and literature was flourishing, printing press became a great addition to this, as it allowed new ideas and worldviews to spread across the continent more easily. Literature reached to the masses in an efficient and durable way with the coming of the Printing press. The operation to retrieve classical texts was in action long before the printing press, but publishing the text had been arduously slow and prohibitively expensive for anyone other than the richest of the rich. But with the printing press, publishing the text became an easy and affordable task for many writers. Also with the growth of the printing press, literature that was early accessible to the elite class of the society, now became accessible to the common masses, which also brings in the fact that the printing press played a key role in the increasing literacy rates of the period. 

Printing press

> MICROSCOPE

Microscope was invented in 1590 by two Dutch spectacle- makers, Hans and Zacharias Janssen, which came up as a major help in other scientific discoveries. The microscope uses two different lenses to bend light and enlarge images. In 1660, the microscope was used to study the bacteria for the first time. The invention of the microscope allowed scientists to see cells, bacteria and many other structures that are too small to be seen with the unaided eye. It gave a direct view into the unseen world of the extremely tiny creatures. When the microscope was first invented, it was completely a new thing for the Renaissance people, but gradually they experimented with the microscope, discovering methods to clean the microscopic lenses, making it even more clear and easier to see. Later in 1609, Galileo, who heard of these early experiments, worked out the principles of lenses and made a much better instrument with a focusing device. With time, many scientist came up experimenting with the microscope and its working principles and developed a more reliable and accurate instrument that we see and use in the modern times. 

Microscope

> TELESCOPE 

Telescope was first invented by a Dutch eyeglass maker, Hans Lippershey in 1608. He was the first person to apply for a patent for a telescope and laid claim to a device that could magnify objects three times. The invention of the telescope played an important role in advancing the understanding of Earth's place in the cosmos. Early telescopes were primarily used for making Earth bound observations, such as surveying and military tactics. Later a small group of astronomers including Galileo, turned telescopes towards the heaven. Galileo was the first to use telescope systematically to observe celestial objects and record his discoveries. In the Renaissance, the invention of the telescope sparked major arguments, mostly between the Church and the Scientists of the time. It was only after the invention of the telescope that the argument aroused between groups of people who believed - the Earth as the centre of the Universe and that every cosmic body revolved around it and the other belief that emerged due to the scientific experiments that were happening during the period, that is the Earth revolves around the Sun. These arguments and  discoveries of the Renaissance period proved to be beneficial for further study of science and this emerged as a reason for many new discoveries that happened later. 

Telescope 

> Besides these above mentioned few inventions of the Renaissance period, there are many instruments that were first invented in this particular era. Some of them include woodblock printing, pendulum, barometer, eyeglasses, Clocks, watches, Muskets, thermometer, submarine and many more objects that we use today on a daily basis was invented during the Renaissance period. 

IMPORTANT SCIENTISTS OF THE ERA

As the Renaissance stood as a timeline, when people began to shift their focus from the religious and traditional notion of understanding things to a more liberal and humanist way of looking upon things. This led to a number of discoveries and innovations during the period. Many scientists experimented over things and formed theories and philosophies that were completely new to the contemporary times. Some of these scientists and inventors who during the Renaissance period have contributed a great deal to the history of science itself are listed below: 

> GALILEO GALILEI 

Galileo Galilei was an Italian natural philosopher astronomer, physicist and engineer who made fundamental contributions to the science of motion,astronomy and strength of materials and to the development of the scientific method.Galileo is known as the " Father of Modern Science" because of his contributions to the  field. Galileo was the first person to use the telescope seriously for astronomy and in doing so he discovered the moons of Jupiter, the first clear examples of bodies in orbit around a centre other than the Earth and also discovered the phases of Venus. Galileo openly believed in Heliocentrism, giving the theory that the Earth and other planets revolved around the Sun and this was completely opposed to Geocentrism, which believed Earth as the centre of the Universe. This brought a lot of controversies for Galileo as the Church and the geocentric believers were opposed to his theory and explanations. The theories and explanations that Galileo developed during the Renaissance period were later taken on to by other scientists and more new theories and discoveries were made that we study today in the modern world. 

> NICOLAUS COPERNICUS

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance-era mathematician, astronomer and a catholic canon who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the centre of the Universe. Relying on the Renaissance humanist predecessors and contemporaries, Copernicus expressed deep dissatisfaction with the confusion in astronomy and he intimated that the one who created the Universe for our sake also created humans with the capacity to discover and understand the structure of that Universe with certainty. One of the most important contributions of Copernicus was to the field of astronomy because of which he is known as the " Father of Modern Astronomy". It is believed that it was Copernicus' s heliocentric theory about the Earth and other planets revolving around the Sun which was further adopted and developed by Galileo Galilei. Therefore, it is said that Copernicus 's greatest contribution to the Renaissance was the transformative idea of heliocentrism, as the basic premise of the Renaissance was to construct theories and ideas that represented transformation and change. Copernicus actually represented how powerful human beings can be in changing people's minds and how individuals think, therefore his contribution to Science during the Renaissance period is worth mentioning. 

> JOHANNES KEPLER 

Johannes kepler was a German astronomer, mathematician and astrologer and  was also a key figure in the 17th century " Scientific Revolution". He is best known for his discovery of the three principles of planetary motion, by which he clarified the spatial Organization of the Solar system. Kepler discovered that planets move in elliptical orbits and at different speeds at different time, according to their distance from the Sun. Moreover, he founded modern optics by presenting the earliest correct explanation of how human beings see. He also developed the idea of a celestial physics: that is, he maintained that the celestial bodies are physical, such as the Earth and is moved by physical forces. He also intuited the workings of retina and brain and was able to describe how lenses worked. He is considered as the first to determine that refraction drives vision in the eye and that using two eyes enables depth perception. His contributions to the field of Science during the Renaissance period is very crucial and his philosophies and theories  allowed science to develop and produce new phenomenons that eventually became a crucial part in the field of Science. 

> Besides these few scientists, there are many other philosophers and experimentalist who have contributed immensely to the field of Science and technology during the Renaissance period. Some of them include Rene Descartes( Father of Modern Philosophy),Francis Bacon ( creator of Empiricism) ,Sir Issac Newton ( inventor of gravitational force and laws of motion),etc, who in their own ways came up with theories and ideas that are praised and studied by the whole world till this date. 

~ DEVIKA R NAIR 

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TUM SAATH HO....

 रहो में मुश्किलें तो, बहुत आई 

पर उम्मीद थी की तुम साथ हो,

मंज़िल बहुत दूर थी ,मगर 

विश्वास था, की तुम पास हो,

कई जंग में फतह पाई 

मंज़िल के और पास आई

था एक एहसास की तुम पास हो,

राह में ठोकर खाई 

थोड़ा मैं लड़खड़ाई

ज़माने ने तंज कसे

पर मैं न घबराई 

संभालने के लिए तुम साथ हो।

उम्मीदों पे दुनिया कायम है ,

उम्मीदों की उम्मीद तुम हो

जीवन के अँधेरे में रौशनी की किरण  आई 

है एक उम्मीद की तुम साथ हो।

-DIKSHITA PRIYADARSHINI 

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Modernism and Postmodernism

La Pastiche

No doubt, before an idea of the postmodernism there was another supposed the Modernism. It came into existence to the fashionable period combined with manufacture, market-oriented capitalist economies, new social categories, democracy, and Enlightenment values- ”reason and progress”. This controversial philosophy, the philosophy of the Enlightenment, it's attainable that ”the institution of objective facts and universal values.”

Post modernism broadly refers to a socio cultural and literary theory and a shift in perspective in a a variety of disciplines like social science, art, architecture, literature, fashion, communication etc. It is believed to have began in some 1950s. Work were decentred which did not portray any goal in life but merely represented an age of civilisation. 

Similarities between Modernism and Post Modernism

Post modernism is at once a continuation of and a break away from the modernist stance. Both reject rigid boundaries between high and low art as well as reflect the insecurities, disorientation, and fragmentation of the 20th century. Both modernism and post modernism were greatly influenced by events like world wars, industrialization, and urbanization. Both employ pastiche, i.e., imitation of another's style. Pastiche and parody serve to remind the reader that the work is fictional and constructed.

Differences between Modernism and Post Modernism

Though the works are fragmented modernism laments for the loss of the past whereas, post modernism celebrates the same. Modernism is a development in writing that was dominating in the twentieth century, described by a solid and conscious break from the conventional styles of exposition and verse. Conversely, postmodernism was a reaction against modernism and was set apart by its dependence on story strategies like unreliable narrator, fragmentation, parody etc. So forth Samuel Beckett, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Joseph Conrad, T.S. Eliot, William Faulkner, Sylvia Plath, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Butler Yeats, and Virginia Woolf are a few instances of modernist writers. Thomas Pynchon, Joseph Heller, John Barth, Vladimir Nabokov, Umberto Eco, Richard Kalich, Giannina Braschi, John Hawkes, and Kurt Vonnegu are a few instances of postmodernist creators. 

Modernist writers purposely split away from customary styles of composing and focused  on internal identity and cognizance in their compositions. The stream of consciousness was the significant strategy presented during this development. Be that as it may, postmodernist writers intentionally utilized a combination of earlier styles. They additionally utilized methods like fragmentation, intertextuality, unreliable narrator, dark humor and paradox. This is the primary contrast between modernism and postmodernism in writing. Modernist writers believed in coherence and unity and emphasised the importance of rationality and order. In modernist view:

More rationality would bring more order which would further bring better society.

Post modernism criticised binary oppositions cynically and believed everything to be a disorder. In post modernism there are no depths but only surfaces. Post modernist writers deconstruct and question the orders which modernists believed would bring stability and unity.

Some Examples of Post Modern Novels

• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
• Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
• Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
• The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

Some common literary techniques in postmodernism are as follows:

Pastiche – taking various ideas from previous work and styles and pasting them together to create a new story

Temporal distortion – non-linear timeline and fragmented narrative

Metafiction – Making readers aware of the fictional nature of the text they are reading

Intertextuality – acknowledging previous literary works within a literary work

Magical Realism – incorporating magical or unrealistic events into a realistic story

Maximalism – highly detailed, disorganized and long writing

Minimalism – using common and non-exceptional characters and events

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SARHADO KI DEEWAR

 जब न थी सरहदे, न थी दूरियाँ,

तब की  कहानी सुनाऊँ मै सबको,

न हीर- राँझा , न लैला- मजनू 

दो दिलो की  दास्तान सुनाऊँ मैं सबको, 

न धर्म की दीवार थी,न थी कोई बन्दिशें,

दो वतन ने दूर किए दिलो की ख्वाहिशे।

अफसाना था नाम उसका 

थी बिल्कुल बेपरवाह 

इरफ़ान की मोहब्बत में,

थी बेरुख सी हवा ।

इस बेरुख सी हवा के साथ 

तूफ़ान का मंज़र आया,

अफसाना-इरफ़ान के बीच 

सरहदे आ गई,

मोहब्बत का गुलाब न खिला 

नफरत की कांटे बिछ गई ।

दोनों परिवारों में आई दूरियाँ 

हिंदुस्तान - पकिस्तान में बट गई

दोनों दिलो की नज़दीकियां ।

अब चाकू और तलवारो ने 

बंदूकों की आवाज़ों ने 

उन खून की लेहरो में 

इश्क़ के जज़्बातों को बहा दिया ।

एक इस ओर गया 

एक उस ओर गई 

दोनों ने साथ छोड़ दिया।

ज़माने से हारी थी ये  मोहब्बत,

एक अधूरी दास्तान बताऊ मैं सबको।

-DIKSHITA PRIYADARSHINI

 When there were no boundaries, no distances,

Let me tell the story of that age,

Neither Heer-Ranjha nor Laila-Majanu 

Let me tell you the story of two hearts,

 

There were no walls of religion nor any boundaries,

The two homelands separated two hearts in love.

Asana was her name 

She was absolutely carefree

In The Love of Irrfan,

There was a soothing wind.

With this apathy air 

The storm came,

Between Afsana-Irrfan 

The boundaries came,

Roses of love did not bloom,

Thorns of hatred were spread everywhere.

Distances in both families came,

Hindustan - Pakistan got divided,

The closeness of both hearts was now distanced.

Now the knives and the swords,

The sounds of guns,

Swept away the emotions of love

in the waves of blood.

One went to this side 

One went to that side 

Both of them left.

This love lost itself in those days,

I tell you an incomplete story of that age,

-DIKSHITA PRIYADARSHINI

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WOMEN IN THE RENAISSANCE

 "During the Renaissance, women were not allowed to attend art school. Everyone asks, where are the great women painters of the Renaissance?"

~Karen DeCrow

Renaissance was a great movement in history that marked the rejuvenation of art, literature and culture across various countries of the world at different time periods. Whenever one talks about Renaissance generally, one never forgets to mention about the ' Renaissance man' , his contributions to art and literature of the period and his achievements that made him a great influencer, not only of the Renaissance period but also of the modern times. But mostly one forgets to talk about the ' Renaissance woman' - what was her role during the Renaissance period? Did she participated in the Renaissance movement? Did women received enough opportunities or had a choice during the time?  These are some of the fundamental questions that are rarely raised and talked about whenever one looks over the Renaissance period. The Renaissance period is mainly dominated by the male artists, scholars and philosophers but it also becomes necessary to discover the status of women and how women contributed to the Renaissance period in their own way. 

GENDER ROLES OF WOMEN IN THE RENAISSANCE

The question of "Did women had a Renaissance" or "Was there a women's Renaissance" is something that have been the topic of debate for a long time, especially during the 20th century. In 1977, Joan kelly wrote an essay called " Did women have a Renaissance", in which she challenged the contemporary historiography of Renaissance and explored women's roles in the Renaissance society. She also talks about women having less opportunities and agency as compared to men during the period. This article by kelly made other historians to look and analyse the historiography of Renaissance and other major  historical Periodization through the lens of women's experiences. The women of the Renaissance were denied all political rights and were considered legally subject to their husbands. Women of all classes were expected to perform the duties of a housewife and education was also not accessible to women, even though there were exceptions but that was also in the case of the elite class of  the society. Women were expected to fit in the ' ideal female figure' ascribed by the society and their thoughts and ideas were shaped by men. Marriage was seen as the only opportunity a women had in her life to move ahead in the social hierarchy and women who didn't marry was looked down by the society and were not permitted to live independently, either they lived with male relatives or were sent to convents. In the highly patriarchal Renaissance society, the roles women played were determined by the men in the society but there were slight differences in the status of women as per their social hierarchy in the society i.e the upper class women had a little space to express themselves as compared to the lower class women and the working class women. 

> LOWER CLASS WOMEN 

The lower class women were expected to be ' typical housewives' and take care of everything to do with the house. The lower class women were also supposed to work in the fields alongside their husbands and then look after the household and take care of the children .These women were excluded from the public space completely. The lower class women were completely denied the opportunity and space of their own to take part in the Renaissance movement, instead they were seen only as the caretakers of the house who engaged themselves in the household duties completely.

> WORKING CLASS WOMEN

The working class women were also expected to be ideal housewives and take care of the household but their position was slightly different from the lower class women. These working class women were allowed to help their husbands in running their business. Apart from t

helping their husbands, women also did minor works like sewing ,knitting, etc. The working class women had freedom of movement as compared to the lower class women, but they suffered as sexual servants. Even though the working class women engaged a little bit with the public space and were into the business ( as a part of helping their husbands or working for them), still they didn't enjoy much status in the society and didn't received the opportunity to participate in the Renaissance movement and through that to establish a self- identity of their own.

> UPPER CLASS WOMEN

The Upper Class women were the only women who were allowed to express themselves, but not sufficiently. The upper class women had servants and workers to help them but still they were expected to take care of the household. Even though the upper class women had a chance to express their minds but their thoughts were tainted by male influence. Also if a woman is a  shrew i.e an outspoken woman, then she is not considered as an 'ideal righteous female' as per the patriarchal renaissance society where only men were supposed to be heard aloud. This is clearly represented by William shakespeare in one of his play " The Taming of the Shrew". It is also worth notable that the women of the elite class, who inherited wealth and a measure of power, received classical educations, contributed to literature and also became patrons of the art. Therefore it can be said that only the upper class women received an opportunity to participate in the renaissance movement, even though one rarely talks about their contribution and the struggle they faced inorder to break the traditional norms and  to make their way into the Renaissance movement. 

INCREDIBLE WOMEN FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE

Even though women were denied political rights, financial autonomy and a higher social status in the society and were expected to be under the control of male domination, serving the household, still there are some notable women figures who made their way into the Renaissance movement, challenging and breaking away from the conventional system in which the society functioned. These women figures contributed to the art and literature of the period in their own way and constructed their own self-identity as a 'Renaissance Woman'.

> CHRISTINE DE PIZAN (1364-1430)

Christine de Pizan was a medieval french poet who became the first professional female writer in Europe and a proto-feminist who attacked misogyny and defended women at a time when the concept of feminism didn't yet exists. She also like most of the girls of the period didn't received a formal education but her father supported her learning and literary pursuits which was a great thing to do at that time. She began her literary career by writing poems in the memory of her husband, which proved successful.Later she started focusing on the idea of defending women and critiquing the patriarchal society she lived through her works.  Her books were revolutionary in their times, putting forward ideas about women and feminity that were incredibly progressive for a society that consistently degraded and dismissed women. Some of her famous works are "The Book of the City of Ladies"(1405) , " Book of Three Virtues"(1405), " Letter to the God of Loves"(1399), etc.

> ISOTTA NOGAROLA ( 1418-1466) 

Isotta Nogarola is known in history as the first major female humanist scholar of the Renaissance period. She corresponded with learned men through letter writing and was one of the few women in Europe who circulated her writings. She pursued such a field of study that was completely male dominated at the times. She faced immense criticism for pursuing her career as a humanist and  for choosing books and study over marriage. She later re-emerged as a religious scholar, which was seen as a field of study that was more acceptable for women to pursue at the time.  She challenged the conventional system of the patriarchal society by not marrying and also by not joining in a convent. Instead she lived an independent life alone which was not considered to be 'ideal' during the period. She gained recognition posthumously with the publication of many of her letters which are still admired even today. Her most famous work is " Of the Equal or Unequal Sin of Adam and Eve" (1451) which focused on the biblical dilemma faced by Adam and Eve and which of the two was responsible for the fall of humanity. Her life and works demonstrated the difficulty women interested in academia faced and they scorn they endured for choosing academia over marriage. 

> CATHERINE DE MEDICI ( 1519-1589)

Catherine de Medici , daughter of Lorenzo di Peiro( ruler of Florence), was the queen consort of  France from 1547 until 1559, by marriage to King Henry II and mother of kings Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. The years during which her sons reigned have been called " the age of Catherine de Medici" as she had extensive influence in the political Life of France. She was also known as one of the influential personality of the time. After the death of her husband Henry II, her son Francis II became the king of France at the age of 15. As her son was too young to understand the political system and rule an entire country like France, She got herself involved in the political administration and state affairs and it became a necessity for her to take decisions for the state. When she started getting involved in the matters of the kingdom, she also contributed to the growing Renaissance movement by providing patronage to great artists and writers. Catherine de Medici became an important women figure of the Renaissance because she entered the politics and managed the state affairs at a time period, when only men or Kings had the power to do so and women, even if they are Queens, were expected to run the household and produce more heirs for the kingdom. 

> MARGUERITE OF NAVARRE ( 1492-1549)

Marguerite of Navarre is one of the most important women figures of the French Renaissance. She was the first woman of French nobility to have many different works published and she was also the Queen consort of Henry II of Navarre. Marguerite was a celebrated Renaissance humanist and also a renowned author. Marguerite was an educated women of the upper class who was taught the tenets of humanism and she used it to study scripture. Marguerite believed in non- orthodox ideas and espoused reform within the Roman catholic church, believing that ' eternal salvation' can be only gained by sincere and true repentance of one's sins rather than by rote prayers, pilgrimages, good works, etc. This idea she believed drew a lot of criticisms towards her. She wrote many poems and religious meditations, but her most important work is the "Heptameron"(1559) which was published posthumously. It was only in the late 19th century that many of her unpublished works were found by historians and her literary legacy was appreciated as many scholars recognized her significant contribution to literature due to the historical, philosophical and religious concepts explored in her work.

> SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA ( 1532-1625)

Sofonisba Anguissola was a formidable Renaissance painter at a time when only men dominated the art of painting completely and no women of significance painted or was considered as a student of fine arts. Even though she emerged as a Renaissance painter, her gender still proved a barrier to her as she could not hire male models and also she could not produce the religious paintings that were at the top of the hierarchy of painting genres and which brought prestige to artists. Therefore she engaged herself in painting portraits, for which she became well known not just in Italy but internationally. As her reputation spread beyond Italy, she was invited to join the court of Philip II of Spain in Madrid in 1559 as a court painter and a tutor to the king's third wife, where she spent 14 years of her life. She is known as the most significant painter of Renaissance as "she showed a greater application and better grace than any other woman of her age in her endeavours at drawing, she has thus succeeded not only in drawing, colouring and painting from nature, copying excellently from others, but by herself has created rare and very beautiful paintings"(Giorgio Varsari). 

Sofonisba's self portrait of playing chess with sisters

CONCLUSION

Women's role in the Renaissance society, political system of the period and culture have been a topic of debate ever since the Renaissance period itself. Historians and commentators have constantly raised the questions like whether 'women had a Renaissance', 'Where was the women during the Renaissance movement', ' whether the patriarchal systems in place regulated them to the sidelines completely. But by the late 19th and 20th century, the historians and scholars recognized many female figures who participated and contributed to the Renaissance era. Women were involved in the state affairs from behind the scenes, acting on behalf of their husbands or sons and participated in unexpected and creative ways. Women made their way to arts and literature by challenging the age old customs and pursuing career options that were completely male dominated. It is worth notable that even though people talk less about women in Renaissance, still some of the Female figures have left their mark and influence over the future generations in such a way that we feel inspired by these brave women figures even today. 

~ DEVIKA R NAIR 

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Angry Young Men

  

 Angry Young Men, various British novelists and playwrights who emerged within the 1950s who expressed scorn and disaffection with the established sociopolitical order of their country. Their impatience and discontent were especially aroused by what they perceived as the hypocrisy and mediocrity of the upper and middle classes of their time.

    In July 1957 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan told fellow Conservatives at a rally in Bedford, England, that “most of our people have never had it so good.” The generation of novelists, playwrights, and filmmakers who became known as the “Angry Young Men” couldn’t have disagreed more. From the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, they produced a community of arresting works that were grounded in the “kitchen sink” reality of working-class life which railed against the class-conscious British social order, and reflected the alienated, rebellious, and pessimistic mood of many in post-World War II Britain. 

Kitchen Sink Drama

    The Angry Young Men were a new breed of self emerging intellectuals who were mostly of working class, of lower middle-class origin or labourers. Some had been educated at the post-war Red-Brick universities at the state’s expense, though a few were from the Oxford. They shared an outspoken disrespect for the British system regarding the class, its traditional network of pedigreed families, and the elitist Oxford and Cambridge universities. They showed an equally uninhibited contempt for the colorless state of postwar welfare state, and their writings frequently expressed raw anger and frustration as the postwar reforms failed to meet exalted aspirations for genuine change to all the people irrespective of their class.

Liverpool-Red Brick University

Oxford University

    The pattern that was clear in John Wain's novel Hurry on Down (1953) and in Lucky Jim (1954) by Kingsley Amis was solidified in 1956 in the play "Look Back in Anger", which turned into the delegate work of the development. At the point when the Royal Court Theater's press specialist portrayed the play's creator John Osborne as an "angry young man," the name was stretched out to every one of his peers who communicated rage at the tirelessness of class differentiations, pride in their lower-class characteristics, and contempt for anything highbrow or "fake." When Sir Laurence Olivier assumed the main part in Osborne's subsequent play, The Entertainer (1957), the Angry Young Men were recognized as the prevailing abstract power of the decade.

    Their books and plays commonly highlight a rootless, lower-center or average male hero who sees society with disdain and scornful humour and may have clashes with power in authority yet who is by the by focused in the mission for upward versatility.

    Among different scholars embraced in the term are the writers John Braine (Room at the Top, 1957) and Alan Sillitoe (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, 1958) and the dramatists Bernard Kops (The Hamlet of Stepney Green, 1956) and Arnold Wesker (Chicken Soup with Barley, 1958). Like that of the Beat development in the United States, the force of the Angry Young Men was depleted in the mid 1960s.

John Osborne

John Osborne

The writer John Osborne was the model, and his particular play Look Back in Anger (1956) stood out to a style of dramatization standing out emphatically from the sophisticated and downplayed works of Terence Rattigan that had been in design. Osborne's The Entertainer (1957) got his standing, with Laurence Olivier playing the hero Archie Rice. Osborne turned into an effective business visionary, joining forces with Tony Richardson to frame the film creation organization Woodfall. Osborne was professed to be one of the main scholarly figures of the Angry Young Men "movement". This "movement" was recognized after the Second World War as some British scholarly people started to address standard mores. Osborne communicated his own interests through his plays and could be depended upon to give controversial "angry" declarations, conveyed with a youthfulness of immaturity contrasted with restless youth.

A few pundits scorned Osborne for an absence of development in his assertions, and fuelled a discussion about his legislative issues and those of the "movement". Osborne likewise had steady and regularly sarcastic analysis of the British Left. In 1961, he unveiled features with "Letter to my Fellow Countrymen" that addressed a "damn you, England" mentality; and challenged Britain's choice to join the arms race. Osborne firmly communicated outrage at what Britain had become around then, yet additionally at what he felt it had failed to become.

• Look Back in Anger
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    Osborne's play Look Back in Anger was the fantastic abstract work that affected the idea of the Angry Young Man. He composed the play to communicate what it felt like to live in England during the 1950s. The primary issues that the Angry Young Men had were "impatience with the status quo, refusal to be co-opted by a bankrupt society, an instinctive solidarity with the lower classes". Referred to as "kitchen sink realism", artistic works started to manage lower class themes. In a long time before Osborne and different writer, less consideration had been given to writing that enlightened the treatment and living conditions experienced by the lower classes. As the Angry Young Man Movement started to express these topics, the acknowledgment of related issues were more far reaching. Osborne portrayed these issues inside his play through the eyes of his hero, Jimmy. All through the play, Jimmy was seeing "the wrong people go hungry, the wrong people be loved, the wrong people dying".

    In Britain, following the Second World War, the personal satisfaction for lower-class residents was still poor; Osborne utilized this topic to show how the territory of Britain was liable of disregard towards those that required help the most. In the play there were comparisons of educated individuals with savages, enlightening the significant distinction between classes. Alison comments on this issue while she, Jimmy and Cliff are sharing an apartment, expressing how "she felt she had been placed into a jungle". Jimmy was addressed as an embodiment of the youthful, defiant post-war age that scrutinized the state and its actions. Look Back in Anger furnished a portion of its crowd with the expectation that Osborne's work would rejuvenate the British theatre and empower it to go about as a "harbinger of the New Left".

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FLORENTINE RENAISSANCE

 "Florence is perhaps best known for being the seat of Renaissance art and rightly so: A greatest- hits collection of artists passed through its streets- Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli  and Brunelleschi among them".

~Hanya Yanagihara

The Beginning of one of the greatest movement in arts and literature was seen in the city of Florence, Italy, where the Renaissance flourished and later spread to different parts of the world. Florence is known as the cradle of Renaissance and is still preserved as a Renaissance city with the wealth of Renaissance art and architecture that remains the city's unique treasures.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN? 

Before the Renaissance period, that is during the Middle Ages, Florence was already in the process of development and new changes started taking place at that time itself. Florence first emerged as a republic in the early 12th century but there were political unrest throughout the period due to economic strife, wars, etc and soon the ' Medici family' ( who were wool merchants and bankers)came into power and they ruled Florence throughout the Renaissance period. They had a major influence on the growth of Italian Renaissance through their patronage of the arts and humanism.They would pay artists commissions for major works of art. They did not only support the art and architecture but also supported science and was heartily accepting and supporting new experiments and explorations that were happening in the country itself.  A significant amount of the art and architecture that was produced in Florence at the beginning of the Renaissance was due to the Medici family. This was a time when Florence prospered economically also, for instance , ' Florin' ( a method of currency ) was first introduced in 1252 for the Republic of Florence. The city of Florence glorified itself through the embellishment of its churches with paintings, sculptures and architecture and majorly with its tremendous growth and richness influenced other parts of Europe as well. One of the main reason that Renaissance emerged in Florence is because the city saw itself as an ideal state, where freedom was guaranteed to citizens and state supported and encouraged new artists and art forms to develop and flourish in their city. As the individuals and their interests  were taken into account by the state, the idea of ' Humanism' thrived in Florence in the 15th century, which was one of the major elements of the Renaissance period. Therefore, one can say that due to the political stability( that was achieved much later) , economic prosperity and the patronage provided to the artists led to the beginning of the Renaissance in the city of Florence.

FLORENCE AND RENAISSANCE ART

As Florence is known as the birthplace of Renaissance, the emergence of the Renaissance art can also be traced back to the city of Florence. The patronage provided by the state and the Medici family played a significant role in the growth of art and the artists as well. The ' Florence School of Painting' became the dominant style during the Renaissance where the artworks depicted more secular subject matters as compared to the previous ages.Florence gave way to many new painters, sculptors and architectures who were experimenting with the new ideas developed during the period which was a break away from the traditional Gothic ideas. Some of the Artists who contributed to the genre of Art in Florence during the Renaissance period are listed below:

• MASACCIO 

Massico was a Florentine artists who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Early Renaissance period. Masaccio probably influenced the art of painting in the Renaissance. Masaccio used light and perspective to give his figures weight and three dimensionality, a sense of being in a space rather rather than simply on a painted surface. His art eventually helped to create many of the major conceptual and stylistic foundations of western paintings. One of the masterpiece work by Masaccio is " The Holy Trinity" , painted on the wall of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. This painting depicts the crucifixion of  Christ, with the customary figures of the Virgin and St. John at the foot of the cross. The use of 3 dimensional space in this painting represents the pinnacle of Masaccio's technical mastery.

The Holy Trinity 

• BRUNELLESCHI 

Filippo Brunelleschi was an Italian architect and designer, who is considered to be a founding father of  Renaissance architecture. He is said to have rediscovered the principles of linear perspective, an artistic device that created the illusion of space by depicting converging parallel lines. His principle contribution to the Renaissance in Florence was his innovative work in constructing the massive dome for the city's cathedral, still an iconic work of Renaissance architecture.  This dome is a double shelled structure, supported by sturdy pillars. He also used herring bone for the walls to keep the dome from falling and he brought about his innovative and experimental ideas and mechanical knowledge for the construction of one of the biggest dome in the world.

Dome of the Cathedral 

• DONATELLO 

Donatello was an Italian Sculptor of the Renaissance period, whose contribution helped to develop a complete Renaissance style in sculpture. Donatello was a master of both marble and bronze and had an extensive knowledge of ancient sculpture. He also developed his own style of relief known as ' Schiacciato' , which means flattened out.  His sculpted figures were considered as the first to represent anatomy correctly and to suggest a sense of individuality. Donatello's bronze statue of ' David' is one of his famous works, which represents strength and hope for people.It depicts David with an enigmatic smile, posed with his foot on Goliath's severed head just after defeating the giant . It was the first free- standing male nude sculpture produced since antiquity and was controversial for a non-pagan, biblical figure. 

David's Bronze statue

> Besides, theses above mentioned few artists, there are many other artists who has immensely contributed to the Florentine Renaissance and whose works are still recognized as great masterpieces around the world. Piero della Francesca, an Italian painter, whose paintings are characterized by its serene humanism, its use of geometric use and perspectives.His most  famous work is the ' History of  the True cross' in the church of San Francesco. Another artists,Lorenzo Ghiberti, an Italian Renaissance sculptor, whose famous work ' The gates of Paradise' is one of  the best known Renaissance sculptor that depicts the scenes from the Old testament.

FLORENCE AND RENAISSANCE LITERATURE 

Literature was another important sphere of study that was experimented and as a result new ideologies were developed and brought into light during the Renaissance period in Florence. Most of the scholars made their contributions to the Renaissance literature by studying and revisiting the ancient classical works and re - producing it with a touch of new ideas, beliefs and perspectives.  Most of the intellectuals were interested in the concept of 'Humanism' that developed during the Renaissance period and they used the ideas of humanism in their works which allowed a space for the spectators to relate to the contemporary works. During the Renaissance period, poetry became one of the most valued forms of literature and was often accompanied by music. The genre of Drama - Tragedy and Comedy also started coming into light and created at profound impact on the Renaissance period. Some of the literary scholars who largely contributed to the Renaissance in Florence are listed below: 

• DANTE ALIGHIERI 

Dante Alighieri was one of the greatest Italian poet, writer and philosopher who through his works and philosophies contributed heavily to the growth of Renaissance in Florence and throughout Italy. Dante helped to raise the Tuscan dialect into the national literary language of Italy. He established vernacular languages as literary languages and demonstrated that great writers didn't have to use Latin and this is perhaps seen as his greatest contribution to the Renaissance. He contributed to the development of humanism and challenged the hegemonic nature of the church. Many of his ideas and themes were developed by later writers, artists and thinkers. Dante's most famous work ' The Divine Comedy' (1320) is an epic poem in which Dante imagines a journey through hell and paradise, while allegorically the poem represents the soul's journey towards God. This work was originally written in the Tuscan language and through this work Dante was able to establish the use of vernacular language, rejecting the idea of  Latin as the only language to be used in literary works.

Dante's Divine Comedy 

•FRANCESCO PETRARCA 

Francesco Petrarca, more famously known as Petrarch was one of the famous Italian scholar, poet and humanist, who is also considered as the ' Father of Humanism', a philosophy that sparked the Renaissance period. He developed the the concept of humanism, inspired by Cicero's letters that Petrarch rediscovered during the Renaissance period. Petrarch is best known for his Italian poetry, ' Rerum Vulgarium Fragmenta' ( fragments of Vernacular matters), which is a collection of 366 lyrical poems in various genres, also known as ' Canzoniere' ( Songbook) . Petrarch was an enthusiastic latin scholar, therefore, most of his works were written in latin language only, but the ' Canzoniere' was written in the vernacular language, as he believed that this particular work can be expressed precisely in the language of ordinary men only.  Petrarch's writings include well known odes to Laura ,his idealized love. His writings were also used to shape the modern Italian language. In addition to this, Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance period and became a model for lyrical poetry.

Petrarch's Canzoniere

• NICCOLÒ  MACHIAVELLI 

Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian political philosopher and statesman, who was also the secretary of the Florentine republic and one of the founding thinker of modernity. He is also known as the 'father of  modern political philosophy and political science.  One of the greatest works of Machiavelli that is still celebrated as a great political masterpiece is ' The Prince' (1532), a work which brought huge fame to Machiavelli and which is still considered as a great controversial text by many scholars and critics . In ' The Prince' Machiavelli uses the Renaissance value of humanism, targets human nature in portraying the ideal Monarchy and throughout the text he articulately examines the dynamics of humanity. He also talks about the qualities a Prince should have inorder to maintain a safe and prosperous state. Machiavelli was someone who talked about constant change and how human beings should be open to the possibility of that constant change. Through ' The prince' , Machiavelli challenges the corrupt nature of the Anglican Church, trying to free power from the religious notions and  to secularise politics. As at that period , the church and the state worked hand in hand, mostly influencing each other, Machiavelli's work received a lot of criticisms. But the work is still regarded as one of the greatest political work in the history due to Machiavelli's political philosophies and his use of Renaissance Humanism in the text.

> Besides these artists mentioned above, there are other writers as well who made their contributions to the Renaissance art in Florence. The Ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de Medici, wrote the carnival song ' The Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne ( 1490) which were written using the humanist values that were developing at the time. Another Italian writer, linguist and philosopher, Leon Battista Alberti famously wrote ' The Treatise on Architecture' where he outlines the key elements of classical architecture. 

~ DEVIKA R NAIR 

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A Language Dies Every Fourteen Days!

    One language dies every two weeks. There are about 6,800 languages on our soil, and by 2100, specialists anticipate that more than half of them will end up terminated. Numerous of these languages are not however recorded; they are passed down by one era to the following just verbally with no written record, that's in case the unused era is indeed interested. However, when a language dies, a whole culture dies with it: we lose the history, involvement and behaviour of that culture

    We all get it, the concept of imperilled, endangered and existing animal species, but we don't think about the concept of extinct languages. We don't think around human termination – we have overwhelmed the earth for so long. However, this is what precisely we are talking around here.

How so?

     Language permits speakers to express interesting concepts thoughts, emotions and ideas. Language characterizes what individuals’ conversation approximately is and how they express it. Language may be a reflection of their reality and values and rules, and I think all of us can concur that societies have exceptionally distinctive substances one to the next. Think around how your language gives voice to your culture. Everybody has listened that there are numerous words in Alaskan languages for snow; Alaskans live in a world of snow and as such, their language reflects that culture’s interaction with the environment.

    One illustration is that our language is full of phrasing and ideas around innovation. Our language is full of sports metaphors, as well. You'll be well able to envision that an African language (a long-tail language as we call them) might not have these concepts appearing up in their language.

Globally Endangered Languages

    Let’s see closer at an illustration of a misfortune of history and culture: botanical information. Innate bunch of people have cohabited with the characteristic world for thousands of a long time. Due to this, they have critical bits of knowledge into vegetation, flora and fauna, nearby topography, and biological systems. It makes sense that considering innate languages can impact therapeutic propels, medication assistance, understanding of animal behaviour, natural issues and indeed preservation of endeavours. But somebody must go learn that language and associate with the individuals: numerous of the bits of knowledge uncovered through language are not however recorded by science.

There are a few reasons why languages may die:

• Powerful communities have forced their languages on speakers of less-common languages

    Official territorial language approaches and legislative issues can impact language termination. Numerous nations have official languages of trade. Individuals familiar in that official language may generally have had more distinction. This may clarify why Europe, where there's a long history of majestic control, has less language differences than say Bolivia.

• Children learn the overwhelming language and may dismiss their chronicled one

     For illustration, the children of Basque workers to the US did not need to memorize Basque; they needed to blend in. Children in numerous societies do not learn their local and chronicled language.

• Languages are topographically disconnected from other societies and languages

     Think of the vast regions of Brazil, where inborn languages may be talked inside an awfully little tribe and not exterior of it. When that tribe recoils in estimate, there may essentially be no one to actually speak in native tongue!

• Migration

    People migrate and inculcate the foreign language as they learn it and make it a part of their life. They tend to ignore their native language and mother tongue as a result of what we may call hegemony. As for their future generations, they stay unaware of their ancestral dialect and may hear it but not recognise it anymore.

Living Languages

    On the off chance that knowing a language is knowing the culture, at this point knowing no language other than the one you talk, implies that we are separated from the abundance of other societies and less of world citizen for that.

 

-Ayesha Sana PNP

 

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