Academic literature on the topic 'Nepali literature (English)'

Nepalese English is a new version of Standard English which is developed due to the effect of the Worlds Englishes. When the English language is expanded, the consequence has been seen in the use of English according to the socio-cultural context of the countries. The use of English either in spoken or written form is also seen differently from the Standard English in Nepal. To uncover this change in the use of English in Nepal, I studied two fictions (novels) written by two Nepalese literary figures in English based on qualitative analysis of the authors’ practice in the use of Nepalese English in writing fiction and found that there is the influence of Nepalese socio-cultural, socio-political, social norms and values in English literature. The finding also illustrated that Nepalese words (characters, location, kinship and taboos terms) are making their entries, complete sentences in Nepali are written, English suffixes are being attached to Nepalese words and vice versa, the word order of English is changed in Nepalese English (Nenglish), the literal translation of Nepalese proverbs are being introduced in English literature. The practice of writing English literature using Nepalese English is being extended to create its own features in English language which leads to develop Nepalese English as a separate variety in the field of language study.

Medical humanities (MH) modules have been conducted for first year students at KIST Medical College, Lalitpur, Nepal for the last four years. Literature excerpts are widely used in MH programs in developed nations. In Nepal English language literature excerpts had been used previously in two modules. Problems noted were difficulty in comprehending the excerpts and relating them to the Nepalese scenario. The MH module for the 2011 intake was conducted from December 2011 to March 2012. The present study was conducted in the third week of March to obtain student perceptions about use of literature excerpts and suggestions for further improvement using a questionnaire. Literature excerpts used in the module dealt with Nepal and health-related topics. Sixty-eight of the 80 students (85%) participated in the study. The majority were male, self-financing and from urban areas. Respondents felt the excerpts introduced them to different aspects of the medical profession, prepared them for future practice, and underscored the importance of understanding the patients’ feelings. The literature excerpts with which they could identify the most and the least were noted. There were no differences in median enjoyment and effectiveness scores of the literature excerpts according to subgroups of respondents. The suggested benefits of using literature in medical education were similar to those reported previously. Most respondents were able to appreciate the English language excerpts. They felt that Nepali language excerpts and those by Nepali writers could also be included. The findings would be of interest to educators in other developing nations introducing MH modules.

This paper analyzes some of the poems from Laxmi Pd. Devkota’s Bhikhari, one of the popular compilations of Nepali poetry. Devkota is primarily a humanist poet. He is also the leading Nepali poet who popularized Romantic poetry in Nepali literature. In Bhikhari, Devkota seems more like a ‘romantic humanist’. The paper tries to trace the root of ‘humanism’ in general, and how English Romantic poets accommodated it in their Romantic philosophy later in the 19th century. In short, humanism believes that individuals have everything they need to grow and develop to their fullest potential. This article is a reading of Devkota’s some of the poems from his collection Bhikhari from the perspective of humanism.

Abstract This paper presents the relationship among Nepal’s linguistic diversity, multilingualism, and democratic practices by bringing into ideas from the global north and global south. The guiding question for exploring this relationship is, “why is Nepal’s linguistic diversity being squeezed despite the formulation of democratic and inclusive language policies that intended to promote multilingualism?”. To investigate this concern, qualitative data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with two purposively selected high-profile people working in the capacity of language policymaking in the state agencies. In Nepal, although democracy promoted awareness towards the issue of language rights and the need of preservation and promotion of minority languages, the narrowing of multilingual diversity continued in practice. This study concluded that democracy allowed neoliberal ideologies to penetrate sociolinguistic spaces and put greater emphasis on English and Nepali. While there is an intertwined relationship between linguistic diversity, democracy, and multilingualism, the ongoing democratic practices have become counterproductive in maintaining the linguistic diversity leading to the marginalization of minority and lesser-known languages. Also, despite ample literature documenting linguistic diversity as a resource and opportunity, the notions of ‘linguistic diversity’ and ‘multilingualism’ were utilized merely as political agendas and issues of critical discourses which have left negligible impact on changing the conventionalized practices of linguistic domination of Nepali and English. Therefore, we question the co-existence of diversity and democracy and claim that democracy alone does not necessarily contribute to the protection of linguistic diversity. In line with this concept, democratic practices could even be counterproductive in the promotion and protection of linguistic diversity. Our findings suggest future interventions about essentializing the use of minority languages in education and governance, alongside democracy providing the fertile grounds for policy pitches to address micro problems in maintaining multilingualism within a democracy.

The stages or the periods of the English literature have several transitions regarding the development of the English language from the old period to the modern period of the literature. The revolution is the development journey of every period of English literature including novels, poetry, prose, theatres, and many others. There were the gradual transitions of imaginative freedom and the exuberant gaiety of renaissance to artificial cheer. The periods are not so much exclusive and absolute in their timeframes and they often overlap. These phases were characterized by certain literary movements and literary figures of English literature. The English language has become the most spoken language globally and it is spoken around 90 countries as the official language or the semi-official language. It is believed that in the world over a billion people are learning English currently and it is the most remarkable thing and aspect that the spread of the English language globally has been the extent in every part of the countries. The increase in the development of the English language helps in communicating to the people in other parts of the countries, easy to travel, developing the television and radio sector as there are different types of English language is mixed. The new and innovative words have been borrowed from different countries such as German, French, Arabic, Nepali, even Spanish for hanging and developing and by these thousands of new innovative words are arriving every month and every year. By this, the English language and the English literature is going on developing day by day and upgrading.

Laxmi Prasad Devkota is simply hailed as the Mahakavi in Nepal that means he is the greatest poet of Nepal. He had a romantic inclination that a reader may easily notice while going through his writings. Of course, he had an immense knowledge of the romantic tradition of the West but at the same time he was a great scholar of English, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Nepali literature. Due to his vast range of knowledge, he has been able to draw numerous mythologies from various places and use them in his writings. But he is not just a taker of foreign myths because he even twisted them at many places. He was very playful of his subject matters and styles. Another interesting thing about Devkota is that his writings do not just take and break foreign myths; he also makes new myths in his own way. This is why this paper argues that Devkota is a taker, breaker, and a maker of myths.

Rediscovering the past to build a secure future is better realized by understanding the role of history in policy making. Today, while Nepal’s national security policies remain silent about the geopolitical threats, it is timely to rediscover the guidelines on national security strategies introduced in Divya Upadesh, a Divine Counsel of the Great King Prithivi Narayan Shah. Currently, Nepal inability in escaping the geostrategic challenge of accommodating the interest of major powers is explicitly visible in the fiasco created by the Nepali political parties in the context of Nepal’s uncertainty over US-sponsored MCC project, which is today perceived in Nepal as hostile to China-led BRI. Historically, Nepal has successfully balanced its two Gulliverian neighbors. But, today, Nepal is not in a position to evade the repercussions triggered by Sino-Indian rivalry at the regional front and Sino-US strategic competition at the global level. On the backdrop of their conflicting interest—strategic, security, economic—Kathmandu faces the geostrategic challenges of accommodating the interest of major powers. Although Nepal’s integrated foreign policy of 2020 mentions of the changed geopolitical context, pragmatic policy recommendations, as indicated by foreign policy behavior, are missing. Constitutional guidelines on Nepal’s foreign policy and national security alone are not sufficient. Thus, drawing lessons from history could be of help to formulate the national security strategies in order to better cope with the external threats. The rationale behind considering Divya Upadesh is to make Nepali policy makers realize that the national security strategies and policies that Nepal adopted in a usual/normal context won’t be able to fulfill the requirements of the uncertain strategic milieu against the backdrop of a ‘new Cold War’ brewing between the United States and China. In the late 18th century when P.N Shah was introducing a comprehensive national security policy for the first time, the external environment wasn’t much favorable. After his death, however, instead of paying heed to his guidelines, expansionism ended up to territorial loss, adventurism led to Himalayan wars, appeasement led to increasing British influence in Nepal. After 1950, guidelines in Divya Upadesh have been more confined to history books and classrooms lectures. While Nepal lionizes its act of balancing India and China though the policy of non-alignment and equidistance, foreign and security policy makers never paid attention to reinvent the lesson for the same. Thus, this qualitative study recuperates the relevance of effective balancing as advocated by PN Shah in addressing the challenges surfaced while accommodating the interests of major powers. Most of the available literature on Divya Upadesh are either translated English versions, or limited to the analysis of the unification process. The relevance of an intersection of foreign policy and national security in Divya Upadesh is not unveiled by any of the available literature. Apprehending the same research gap, this study explores the contemporary significance of Divya Upadesh while devising the national security policies and strategies. Firstly, the contemporary challenges to Nepal’s national security prompted by Kathmandu’s struggle in accommodation of the interest of major powers is discussed; secondly, the policy of ‘balancing’ counseled by Prithivi Narayan Shah is emphasized as an apt and relevant in dealing with the contemporary challenges emanating from the neighborhood and beyond. Thirdly, “meticulous diplomacy,” is highlighted to offer economic shape to the act of balancing. Finally, it has been realized how studying history means studying causes, and as such, turning the pages of Divya Upadesh, policy makers discover the causes of Nepal’s failure in accommodating the interest of major powers.

AbstractIntroductionThe Nepal earthquake of 2015 was a major disaster that exacted an enormous toll on human lives and caused extensive damage to the infrastructure of the region. Similar to other developing countries, Nepal has a network of community health workers (CHWs; known as female community health volunteers [FCHVs]) that was in place prior to the earthquake and continues to function to improve maternal and child health. These FCHVs and other community members were responsible, by default, for providing the first wave of assistance after the earthquake.Hypothesis/ProblemCommunity health workers such as FCHVs could be used to provide formal relief services in the event of an emergency, but there is a paucity of evidence-based literature on how to best utilize them in disaster risk reduction, preparedness, and response. Data are needed to further characterize the roles that this cadre has played in past disasters and what strategies can be implemented to better incorporate them into future emergency management.MethodsIn March 2016, key-informant interviews, FCHV interviews, and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in Nepali health facilities using semi-structured guides. The audio-recorded data were obtained with the assistance of a translator (Nepali-English), transcribed verbatim in English, and coded by two independent researchers (manually and with NVivo 11 Pro software [QSR International; Melbourne, Australia]).ResultsAcross seven different regions, 14 interviews with FCHVs, two FGDs with community women, and three key-informant interviews were conducted. Four major themes emerged around the topic of FCHVs and the 2015 earthquake: (1) community care and rapport between FCHVs and local residents; (2) emergency response of FCHVs in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake; (3) training requested to improve the FCHVs’ ability to manage disasters; and (4) interaction with relief organizations and how to create collaborations that provide aid relief more effectively.ConclusionsThe FCHVs in Nepal provided multiple services to their communities in the aftermath of the earthquake, largely without any specific training or instruction. Proper preparation, in addition to improved collaboration with aid agencies, could increase the capacity of FCHVs to respond in the event of a future disaster. The information gained from this study of the FCHV experience in the Nepal earthquake could be used to inform risk reduction and emergency management policies for CHWs in various settings worldwide.FredricksK, DinhH, KusiM, YogalC, KarmacharyaBM, BurkeTF, NelsonBD. Community health workers and disasters: lessons learned from the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(6):604–609.

The use of literature in language teaching is still contentious though literature occupies limited space in the language syllabi. The language teachers assume that literature has less contribution to language teaching, believing that literary materials are challenging to handle in the classroom. However, I believe that literary materials are rich in content and have the creative language use to contribute to language teaching. In this juncture, this study analyzes the use of literature in English language teaching in general and the pedagogical approaches to be practiced in particular by using qualitative and analytical research design. For this purpose, the three texts of literature: Katherine Mansfield’s “The Garden Party” (story), Kamala Das’s “An Introduction” (poem), and Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard (drama) have been used as the primary texts to design the activities under three levels of interaction. These literary texts are analyzed to show the use and pedagogy of literature in language teaching. The study concludes that literature in language teaching contributes to the language development and aesthetic purpose. Exploring the literary texts involves students in (preliminary) interaction to draw the information of the text for conceptualization. Likewise, the activities under reading between the lines inculcate different skills in students such as discussing, analyzing, exploring and characterizing; and literary texts in beyond the text section involve students in aesthetic purpose-based activities in which students apply the critical lenses and create their own texts. This study provides many language teachers with insights to handle literary texts more effectively to sharpen students’ language, inferential and intellectual skills.