نویسی و نمایه سازی است که فرایند سازماندهی، ذخیره و بازیابی اطلاعات را تسهیل نموده، سرعت می بخشد. (فتاحی، 79)

 

ارزیابی کیفیت نمایه سازی همیشه نقش مهمی در پیشرفت و توسعه نظام های اطلاع رسانی داشته است. این ارزیابی معیاری برای اقتصادی بودن نظام اطلاع رسانی است. اگر این ارزیابی در مراحل اولیه ایجاد یک نظام اطلاع رسانی انجام شود بسیار مفید و اقتصادی است، زیرا در دراز مدت تجدید نظر در چنین امری بسیار مشکل و هزینه بر است. بنابراین معیارهای ارزیابی مطمئنی باید تهیه کرد و در همان ابتدای کار، نظام را از نظر نمایه سازی ارزیابی کرد. (فاگمن، 1374)

 

 

 

 

علاوه بر این در چند دهه اخیر نظام های ذخیره و بازیابی اطلاعات برای از میان برداشتن نارسایی ها و معایب موجود در واژگان طبیعی اقدام به کنترل واژگان یا مستندسازی نموده اند. نقش کنترل واژگان به هنگام ذخیره اطلاعات، انطباق واژه های در نظر گرفته شده با استانداردهاست که به منظور فهم روابط موجود میان واژه ها و یکسان سازی آنها صورت می گیرد. (فتاحی، 79)

 

در دانشگاههای مختلف کشور هر ساله اطلاعات بسیاری در قالبهای مختلف از جمله پایان نامه ها و طرح های تحقیقاتی تولید می شود. این منابع از نظر ماهیت پژوهشی و بکر بودن ارزش اطلاعاتی زیادی دارند که به منظور دسترس پذیر ساختن هر چه بیشتر آنها، این دسته از منابع اطلاعاتی در انواع مختلف بانکهای اطلاعاتی، نمایه شده و مورد استفاده کاربران قرار می گیرد. از آنجا که نمایه و نمایه سازی در بازیابی اطلاعات از اهمیت چشمگیری برخوردار است، توجه به کیفیت و ارزیابی آن و ارائه معیارها و استانداردها، همواره مورد توجه محققان این حوزه بوده است. هدف از نمایه سازی، تسهیل در بازیابی رکوردها یا مدارک است. اصولاً پیشرفت امور آموزشی، فرهنگی و اقتصادی، بدون نمایه سازی صحیح اطلاعات غیرممکن است و هر نظام اطلاع رسانی بدون وجود نمایه ای مناسب، با شکست روبرو می شود. از این رو اهمیت ارزیابی آن آشکار می شود.

 

• بیان مسأله

با توجه به کاربرد وسیع نمایه سازی در فعالیت های پژوهشی و نقش آن در بازیابی اطلاعات، مستند بودن آن عنصری لازم و ضروری است که در صورت عدم مستندسازی واژه های نمایه ای، مشکلات بسیاری در بازیابی اطلاعات وجود خواهد داشت.

 

مستندسازی نمایه ها فواید بسیاری دارد از آن جمله می توان به : ایجاد نظم در آنچه می تواند در وضعیت دیگری هرج و مرج تلقی شود، تضمین ثبات، رسیدن به درجه قابل قبولی از تعالی و ارتقاء خدمات مؤثر اشاره کرد. تمایل به بهبود کیفیت به تنهایی موجب ایجاد نظم نمی شود، بلکه احساس ضرورت و شناخت نیازها نیز در ایجاد و بکارگیری مستندها حائز اهمیت است. مستندکردن نمایه ها، هزینه ها را کاهش می دهد و اجرای آن می تواند از دوباره کاری ها بکاهد. برای مثال نمایه سازی مدارک اگر مستند شود می تواند یک بار انجام شده و کار هماهنگی میان مراکز مختلف را تسهیل کند. همچنین مستندسازی نمایه ها باعث ثبات و سازگاری در استفاده از نظام های واژگانی می شود. اگر مستندسازی در نظام نمایه سازی رعایت شود و استفاده کنندگان از نمایه ها با این مستندها آشنا شوند، مشکلات جستجو و بازیابی آنها کاهش می یابد. از دیدگاه نظری مقایسه نمایه ها با مستندهای منتشرشده، بهترین راه ارزیابی آنهاست. (تیموری خانی، 84)

متن کامل پایان نامه مقطع کارشناسی ارشد رشته : زبان انگلیسی

 

 

 

عنوان پایان نامه رشته زبان انگلیسی: A Bakhtinian Reading of Donald Barthelme’s Snow White

 

Islamic Azad University–Central Tehran Branch

 

Department of Postgraduate Studies

 

 

 

Title:

 

 

 

A Bakhtinian Reading of Donald Barthelme’s Snow White

 

 

 

A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Postgraduate Studies as a Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of MA in English Literature

 

Supervisor:

 

Dr. Alireza Anushirvani

 

 

 

Examiners:

 

Dr. Kian Soheil

 

Dr. Razieh Eslamieh

 

 

 

Summer 2014

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Abstract:

The present dissertation seeks to critically investigatethe multiplicity of voices in Donald Barthelme’s Snow White according to Bakhtin’s premises of polyphony and dialogism. In Bakhtinian point of view, literary discourse is polyphonic, a combination of multiple voices of equal authority. This is defined in terms of his own concept of dialogism, the explicit or implicit dialogue of differently situated voices. As a result, there is a close relation between the two notions to the degree that polyphony is considered as a characteristic of dialogism. This is suggested by Donald Barthelme in his comic parable of Snow White (1967), in which the diversity of discourses, expressed through the dialogues, paves the way for polyphonic enterprise. Although the story is told from the first person point of view, almost the entire novel is conceived through dialogues, which the characters are engaged in both with themselves and other characters. This leads the various discourses to be heard equally. Investigating these discourses and the ideologies they represent through the polyphonic voices expressed in dialogic activities provides the backboneof the present dissertation.

 

Key Words: Polyphony, Discourse,Voice, Dialogue, Bakhtin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents:

 

Dedication. i

Acknowledgement: ii

Abstract iii

Table of Contents. iv

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION.. 1

1.1. General Overview.. 1

1.2. Statement of the Problem.. 6

1.3. Objectives and Significance of the Study. 9

1.3.1. Significance of the Study. 9

1.3.2. Purpose of the Study. 9

1.3.3. Research Questions. 10

1.4. Review of literature. 10

1.5. Materials and Methodology. 18

1.5.1. Definition of Key Terms. 18

1.6. Organization of the Study. 21

 

CHAPTER TWO

BAKHTIN; WORKS and IDEAS. 23

2.1. Toward a Philosophy of the Act 24

2.1.1. Self and other 25

2.2. Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics. 27

2.2.1. Polyphony. 28

2.3. Carnival in Dostoevsky and Rabelais. 33

2.4. The Dialogic Imagination. 40

2.4.1. Dialogism.. 41

2.4.2. Heteroglossia. 44

2.4.3. Hybridization. 48

2.4.4. Chronotope. 50

 

CHAPTER THREE

3.1. Barthelme’s Art of Story-Telling. 53

3.1.2. Barthelme and Postmodernism.. 57

3.1.3. Disregard of Conventionality. 59

3.2. Why Bakhtin?. 72

 

CHAPTER FOUR

SNOW WHITE; A DIALOGIC CONSTRUCT. 78

4.1. Barthelme’s Dialogic Enterprise. 80

4.1.1. Artistic Representation of Language. 80

4.1.2. Multiplicity of Voices. 84

4.1.3. Multiplicity of Discourses. 86

4.1.4. Multiplicity of Documents. 92

4.1.5. Other Dialogic Techniques. 100

4.1.6. The Carnivalesque. 104

 

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION.. 109

5.1. Summing Up. 109

5.2. Findings. 118

5.3. Suggestions for Further Research. 120

 

Bibliography. 124

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.1. General Overview

Donald Barthelme, an American author, novelist, editor, journalist and professorwas born in Philadelphia in 1931, deep in the deep Depression. He spent much of his early career in journalism till a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1967 paved the way for his first novel, Snow White (1967). Soon after, he was considered one of the masters of post-war fiction working outside the realistic tradition to satirize American life. He continued teaching and writing fictions until his death in 1989.

Although Barthelme isnever known as a science-fiction writer, he has created works which are included in the Avant-Garde of cyberpunk. His world combines Samuel Beckett’s nihilism with the ecstasy of Richard Bratigan’s surrealism. Nothing is absolutely true or false in his stories. He is a philosophical author who combines existentialism with post-modernism. He does not explicitly admit his debt to these schools in the themes and contexts of his works. However, his innovative and organic style reveals his close relation to Barth, Sartre, Foucault and Derrida.

Many critics have not appreciated Barthelme’s writing due to its rejection of traditional forms and its unusual nature. Others have dubbed it extremely modern and individualistic. Come Back, Dr.Caligari, the collection of his early stories published in 1964, is acclaimed as an innovation in short story form in which he has continued his success with Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural acts (1968). Later on, Barthelmecontinued to write over a hundred more short stories many of which are revised and reprinted in Sixty Stories (1981), Forty Stories (1987) and, posthumously, Flying to America (2007). As a huge success, Sixty Storiesbrought him a PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction. He also won a National Book Award in 1972 for his children’s book, The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine; or, the Hithering Thithering Djinn. Additionally, he has produced four novels in his typical fragmentary style: Snow White (1967), The Dead Father (1975), Paradise (1986), and The King (1990, posthumous).

Barthelme’s style and thought are products of twentieth century torment. The observation of absurdity lurking beneath the surface of most conventional customs becomesthe fuel for his creative fire. He is not only praised as disciplined but also judged as meaningless. His fragmented verbal collage surrounded in constant skepticism and irony has introduced him as a postmodernist writer. Furthermore, this fragmentation partly shapes his formal originality as the narrator in “See the Moon?” states: “Fragments are the only forms I trust”(Barthelme, UnspeakablePractices,UnnaturalActs 160). Joyce Carol Oates also comments on the same notion: “This from a writer of arguable genius whose works reflect what he himself must feel, in book after book, that his brain is all fragments . . . just like everything else” (63).

Barthelme’s first novel, Snow White, is a parody based upon both Grimm’s fairytale of Snow White and Disney’s version of the story. It displays both his avoidance of the formalism of his predecessors and his innovation in voice and style. Familiar characters of childhood have been taken away to be replaced with psychologically complex paradigms of postmodernist satire. Moreover, Barthelme’s clear-cut exploration of grotesque highlighted with an extraordinary humor encounters us with the irrational world of everyday life.

Barthelme brings the fairytale story up to date. Snow White lives with Kevin, Edward, Hubert, Henry, Clem and Dan, whooccupy themselves by washing the buildings and tending the vats where they make Chinese baby food. However, they are challenged by various problems to the point that even the President is worried about them. Bill, the leader of the men, is withdrawn as his ambitions would not come true. Eventually, he is judged to be guilty and punished to death by hanging primarily because of the sin of vatricide. On the other hand, Snow White awaits a prince and takes Paul, the artist as the prince figure. Jane, whose lover is Hogo de bergerac, is the wicked stepmother figure. Hogo falls for Snow White and Jane prepares a poisoned Gibson to kill her. But, Paul drinks the beverageinstead and dies. Snow White mourns Paul, though there’s nothing in it for her. Dan, the practical man is the new leader and the heroes depart in search of a new principle: Heigh-ho.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin (1895-1975), although achieving fame posthumously, has been considered one of the most influential theorists of the twentieth century. From 1960s in which Bakhtin was introduced to the West, his writings on a variety of subjects have inspired works in a number of various traditions. His influence has grown enormously not only in literary criticism but also in disciplines as diverse as history, anthropology, linguistics, sociology and philosophy. Furthermore, his studies mainly on dialogue and discourse has changed the way we read texts, both literary and cultural.

Bakhtin’s life was concurrently associated with the vicissitudes of the October Revolution of Russia. In addition, Russian Formalism with which Bakhtin had close connections came to exist simultaneously. He was just the writer of an eccentric book on Fyodor Dostoevsky during his lifetime. The most part of his writings were published and soon translated into English in his last years and after his life. Subsequently, he has been recognized as a major thinker concerned with questions of language, society, culture, time and ethics.

Though his intellectual development should not be merely explained by Neo-Kantianism, Bakhtin’s starting points are in this tradition. This philosophical orientation which seeks to go back to Kant,is in part a reaction against positivism and empiricism of the nineteenth-century. It mainly focuses on the activity of the consciousness and argues that consciousness is not a blank sheet to reflect the external world. On the other hand, consciousness has its own independent forms to apprehend and explain the world outside. Bakhtin’s main interest in this traditionis in the way he argues the relationship between self and other, I and Thou, through these general questions.

Bakhtin, in his early writings, argues that it is in the unavoidable relationship with others that our sense of self and the other is constituted. In this respect, the aesthetic art has been considered as the highest form of human interaction. Therefore, it is the expression of a relationship not the outcome of an isolated consciousness. This can be best understood in what Simon Dentith quotes from Bakhtin:

 

Contrary to ‘expressive’ aesthetics, however, form is not pure expression of the hero and his life, but an expression which, in giving expression to the hero, also expresses the moment of form. . . . Aesthetic form is founded and validated from within the other—the author, as the author’s creative reaction to the hero and his life. (12)

 

Accordingly, all of Bakhtin’s writing is situated in a fundamental context in which artistic form and meaning are dialogically shaped between people. It has been best explained in his seminal work, Problems of Dostoyevsky’s Poetics (1984), in which he introduces three major premises. First is the concept of unfinalizability. He argues that individual people cannot be finally and completely explained and labeled. Thus, one should respect the possibility that a person is capable of change. Second is the intertwined relationship of the self and others. He argues that just as there is no isolated utterance, for it always only occurs between people, there is no possibility of isolated consciousness which is equally intersubjective. Thirdis the concept of polyphony, which is of great significance to the present study. It can be best described as the plurality of independent and unmerged voices and consciousnesses. In a polyphonic novel, the voice of the characters are granted full and equal authority to the degree that there is an unfinished dialogue between the voice of the narrator and those of the characters. Furthermore, dialogue is considered reliable insofar as it represents an engagement in which the discourses of self and other go through each other.

For Bakhtin, our experience of the world does not occur in a single shared language, but in a various overlapping and often conflicting versions of that language. This multiplicity of languages, or heteroglossia, is only implicitly present when any one of them is used. In addition, any utterance is only meaningful in its relation with various other languages with which it is in dialogue. Thus, the way meaning is constructed out of contending languages within any culture is the focus of dialogics. However, culture intends to unify these languages within an official and unitary language which is overturned by the unofficial, unheard voices coming from the anonymous areas of society. In Bakhtinian viewpoint, this overturning is called carnivalization after the model of folk energy release in medieval carnival.

متن کامل پایان نامه مقطع کارشناسی ارشد رشته :زبان انگلیسی

 

گرایش :مترجمی

 

عنوان : پایان نامه رشته زبان انگلیسی:بکارگیری رویکرد تحلیل انتقادی گفتمان به منظور نشان دادن فرهنگ و تفکرات حاکم بر متون سیاسی ترجمه شده- بررسی موردی ترجمه کتاب سرکوب امید نوشته ویلیام بلوم ترجمه عبدالرضا هوشنگ مهدوی و کتاب همه مردان شاه نوشته استیون کینزر ترجمه شهریار خواجیان

 

 

دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی

 

واحد تهران مرکزی

 

دانشکده­ی زبان­های خارجی- گروه زبان انگلیسی

 

پایان­نامه برای دریافت درجه­ی کارشناسی ارشد (M.A)

 

گرایش: مترجمی

 

 

 

عنوان:

 

بکارگیری رویکرد تحلیل انتقادی گفتمان به منظور نشان دادن فرهنگ و تفکرات حاکم بر متون سیاسی ترجمه شده- بررسی موردی ترجمه کتاب سرکوب امید نوشته ویلیام بلوم ترجمه عبدالرضا هوشنگ مهدوی و کتاب همه مردان شاه نوشته استیون کینزر ترجمه شهریار خواجیان

 

 

 

استاد راهنما:

 

دکتر هاجر خان­محمد

 

استاد مشاور:

 

دکتر مسعود مطهری

 

 

 

تابستان 1392

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تکه هایی از متن پایان نامه به عنوان نمونه :

(ممکن است هنگام انتقال از فایل اصلی به داخل سایت بعضی متون به هم بریزد یا بعضی نمادها و اشکال درج نشود ولی در فایل دانلودی همه چیز مرتب و کامل است)

Abstract

Translation, as a social and linguistic phenomenon, had been investigated from various viewpoints by scholars with

 

 different backgrounds. This research aims at investigating the ideological impacts of the process of translation and its consequences on the representation of ideologies and cultures. In pursuing this goal, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was found to be an accommodating tool. The theoretical structure of this research is based upon Fairclough’s framework (1989, 1995) which is employed by Dr. Farahzad in Translation Criticism (2007). The corpus used for analysis in this research consists of two books and their corresponding Persian translations: the first book is Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions since World War ΙΙ by William Blum (2003) translated by Abdorreza Houshang Mahdavi as ” . “سرکوب امید، دخالت­های نظامی آمریکا و سازمان سیا از جنگ جهانی دوم به بعد”  The second book is All the Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer (2003) translated by Shahryar Khavvajian and entitled “”همه مردان شاه، کودتای آمریکایی 28 مرداد و ریشه­های ترور در خاور میانه. Examining both texts and their translations from two perspectives of microlevel and macrolevel in chapter 4 illuminated the fact that both translators employed different devices to change the ideological positioning of the source texts and deviate the readers from the route they might have taken through reading the ST toward the one they presumed it was more ideologically efficient regarding the community the books were translated for.

 

  

 

TABLE OF CONTENT

Introduction

Review of the Related Literature

Methodology

Results and Discussions

Conclusion

 

 

 

List of Tables and Images

Tables:

Images

 

 

 

 

List of Abbreviations:

CDA: Critical Discourse Analysis

CL: Critical Linguistics

ST: Source Text

TS: Translation Studies

TT: Target Text

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER I

Introduction

 

• General Overview

Translation has been practiced from the very beginning of the human history. In Perez’s words “it is as old as human kind”(2003: 10). Translation has also been discussed from various viewpoints such as linguistic, philosophical, social, and many more. The reason is that the act of translation is involved in more than language and it always takes place in the cultural and political systems and in the history.

Translation studies (TS) owes its development more than anything else to James S. Holmes whose prominent essay, ”the name and nature of translation studies” , was lectured at the Third International Congress of Applied Linguistics in Copenhagen in 1972 (Monday 2001: 10). Since then many aspects of translation, from linguistic to hermeneutic, to philosophical and political have been continually scrutinized. Although most of the first attempts focused on linguistic aspects as the only way to investigate translation, nowadays there are many more tools at hand for researchers to conduct their investigations on the phenomenon of translation. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which tries ” to read the traces and effects of power in language and discourse, in text and syntax’ (Hodge & Kress, 1993: 153) is one of these tools.

Perez reflects the idea of CDA scholars when states ” all language use is ideological” (2003: 4), and since translation, as a linguistic and social phenomenon, is carried out on language use it can be a manifestation of ideological encounters too. It is worth mentioning in passing that Fairclough believes (1995: 7) discourse is defined as language use in social practices. On the other hand, Fawcett (1998) demonstrates that ”translation, simply because of its existence, has always been ideological” (cited in Perez, 2003: 107).

Translation has been discussed from social and philosophical viewpoints too. In this regard, translation as a ”representation” of another text and a way through which texts are distributed is in need of more investigation. Simon believes “with the cultural turn in translation studies we can now define translation as the dynamics of culture representation” or “as a tangible representation of a secondary or mediated relationship to reality” (1996: 137). Niranjana, a postcolonial writer, in her seminal book Sitting Translation (1992: 10) argues that colonial forces have used translation as a tool to misrepresent oriental colonized subjects and cultures. This point confirms the profound impact of translation on culture.

1.2 statement of the problem

This research makes use of a method based on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to investigate the effects of the process of translation on representation of source texts and their authors’ ideological position. The present study takes two political works into consideration. The first book under scrutiny is William Blum’s Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions since World War ΙΙ (2003) which is a history book on covert CIA operations and U.S. military interference during the second half of the 20th century. This controversial book is translated by Hushang Mahdavi entitled .”سرکوب امید” This research endeavors to have a microscopic analysis of Blum’s critical vantage points presented in the translated text. In fact, it tries to probe the delineation of his ideas and trace his ideological stands transmitted via language in the present translation. The second part revolves around the close analysis of Stephen Kinzer’s All the Shah’s Men: an American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror (2003). Kinzer, an American journalist, discusses the 1953 Iranian coup d’état backed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in which Mohammed Mossadegh, Iran’s prime minister was overthrown. This book translated by Shahryar Khavajian being given the title of .”همه مردان شاه”  Setting up these political works as the established corpus of the present study, the researcher uses CDA to investigate the ideological impacts of the process of translation. With recourse to this critical translation approach, the researcher tries to find out how translation changes or modifies the ideological status of translated texts and consequently represents the source texts’ authors and cultures differently.

متن کامل پایان نامه مقطع کارشناسی ارشد رشته :زبان انگلیسی

 

 

 

عنوان : پایان نامه رشته زبان انگلیسی بررسی اختلاط تعلیم و تربیت انتقادی در میان معلمان قبل از خدمت مرد و زن EFL: ارتباط بین سطح مهارت ها و نگرش نسبت به تعلیم و تربیت انتقادی

 

دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی

 

 واحد بین الملل قشم

 

 

 

پایان نامه برای اخذ درجه کارشناسی ارشد (MA.A)

 

برای رشته آموزش زبان انگلیسی (TEFL)

 

 

 

 

 

بررسی اختلاط تعلیم و تربیت انتقادی در میان معلمان قبل از خدمت مرد و زن EFL: ارتباط بین سطح مهارت ها و نگرش نسبت به تعلیم و تربیت انتقادی

 

 

 

 

 

استاد راهنما :

 

جناب آقای دکتر کربلایی

 

 

 

تابستان 1393

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چكیده فارسی:

پژوهش حاضر دست به بررسی اختلاط تعلیم و تربیت انتقادی در میان معلمان مرد و زنقبل از خدمت  EFLزد تا از سود درک ارزش  کیفیت و منافع ELT در نگرش های انتقادی بهرمند شود. بنابراین، ارتباط سطح مهارت، جنسیت، و نگرش نسبت به آموزش انتقادی برآورد شد. شرکت کنندگان در این مطالعه 120 معلم قبل از خدمت ایرانی بودند. سطوح مهارت تمام شرکت کنندگان مرد و زن با آزمون IELTS سنجدیده شد. جهت مقایسه دو گروه، گروه مرد تشکیل شده بود از 30 تن با نمره ایلتس 6 و 30 مرد با نمره 5  و همینطور گروه زنان تشکیل شده بود از 30 تن با نمره 6 و 30 تن با نمره 5 . پرسشنامه نگرش تعلیم و تربیت انتقادی قابل اعتماد و معتبر استفاده شده است، و آن از طریق یک روش گام به گام با اطمینان با پایایى0.93 توسعه داده شده است. یافته ها نشان داد که تفاوت جنسی می تواند برارتباط نگرش معلمان قبل از خدمت EFL نسبت به آموزش انتقادی تاثیر تاثیر گذار باشد. همچنین، میانگین نگرش تعلیم و تربیت انتقادی در میان گروه مردان بیشتر از گروه زنان است. بنابراین، تفاوت جنس می تواند راه مطالعه یک معلم در فرهنگ و جامعه زبان آموزانش را با توجه به CP تغییر دهد. با این حال، سطح مهارت معلمان تاثیری بر ارتباط با نگرش CP نمی گذارد. همچنین، این قابل توجه است که یک معلم در کلاس درس (در رابطه با  (مسئول موضوع و دانش خود از طریق تعامل با فراگیران است، بنابراین اگر این امر درست باشد، بهبود سطح مهارت معلمان قبل از خدمت قابل توجه خواهد بود، اما یافته های حال حاضر بااین ادعا مخالف هستند که، معلمان قبل از خدمت و یا معلم کلاسی (با توجه به نگرش انتقادی تعلیم و تربیت) لازم نیستند که به عنوان مثال به سطح زبان انگلیسی خیلی بالای برای کمک به دانش آموزان خود را در پردازش زبان رسیده باشند.

ABSTRACT

The present studied incorporation of Critical Pedagogy among EFL pre-service teachers to offer advantages for understanding the worth of ELT distinguishing qualities and interests of critical attitudes; therefore, the correlation between proficiency levels, sexes, and attitudes toward critical pedagogy was estimated. The participants in this study were 120 Iranian pre-service teachers. All of the male and female participants’ proficiency levels were tested by IELTS. For the reason of comparing the two groups, Male Group had 30 participants with band score 6 and 30 ones with band score 5, and Female Group had 30 participants with band score 6 and 30 ones with band score 5. A reliable and valid Critical Pedagogy Attitude Questionnaire is used, and it was developed through a step-wise procedure with a reliability of 0.93 (Pishvaei & Kasaian, 2013). Findings presented that sex difference can affect the correlation of EFL pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward critical pedagogy. Also, the Critical Pedagogy Attitude mean among male group is greater than female group. Thus, sex difference could change the way a teacher study their learners’ culture and society with respect to CP. However, preservice teachers’ proficiency level did not affect its relation with CP attitude. Also, it is noticeable to mention that a classroom teacher, in relation with CP, has to be responsible for his subject and knowledge through interaction with learners, so if it is true, improving the proficiency level of preservice teacher will be significant, but the present findings present the opposite claim; that is, preservice teachers or teacher, with respect to Critical Pedagogy, do not need to be so knowledgeable, with respect to English language, to help their students in language processing, for example.

 

Key words: Critical Pedagogy, Pre-service teacher

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract                                                                                                                             III

Acknowledgments                                                                                                              IV

Dedication                                                                                                                           V

Table of Contents                                                                                                               VI

List of Tables                                                                                                                       IX

 

CHAPTER I: Background and Purpose                                                                            1

1.0. Overview                                                                                                                     2

1.1. Statement of the Problem                                                                                           7

1.2. Significance of the Study                                                                                           8

1.3. Purpose of the Study                                                                                                  8

1.4. Research Questions                                                                                                    9

1.5. Research Hypotheses                                                                                                 9

1.6. Definition of Keywords                                                                                              10

1.7. Limitation and Delimitation of the Study                                                                  10

 

CHAPTER II: Review of the Related Literature                                                              12

2.0. Overview                                                                                                                     13

2.1. Critical Pedagogy                                                                                                        13

2.1.1. Pedagogical Approach in Critical Pedagogy                                                    16

2.1.2. Critical Pedagogy and Educational Process                                                     21

2.1.3. Critical Pedagogy and the Teachers’ Role                                                        24

2.1.4. Critical Pedagogy and Teacher Success                                                           27

2.1.5. Curriculum in CP                                                                                              30

2.2. Pre-service teacher                                                                                                      31

2.2.1. The difficult and stimulating tasks of pre-service teacher training                   33

2.2.2. Advancing ELT teachers for future and Critical Pedagogy                             35

 

CHAPTER III: Methodology                                                                                         41

3.0. Overview                                                                                                                     42

3.1. Setting and Participants                                                                                              42

3.2. Instruments                                                                                                                 43

3.2.1. Critical Pedagogy Attitude Questionnaire                                                       43

3.2.2IELTS (International English Language Testing System)                                  45

3.3. Procedure                                                                                                                    45

3.3.1. Data Collection                                                                                                 45

3.3.2. Data Analysis                                                                                                    46

3.4. Ethical Considerations                                                                                                46

 

CHAPTER IV: Results and Discussion                                                                              48

4.0. Overview                                                                                                                     49

4.1. Main Results                                                                                                               49

4.2. Discussion                                                                                                                   54

 

 

CHAPTER V: Conclusion and Recommendations                                                           57

5.0. Overview                                                                                                                     58

5.1. Summary                                                                                                                     58

5.2. Brief Overview of the Findings                                                                                  59

5.3. Theoretical and Pedagogical Implications                                                                  60

5.4. Suggestions for Further Research                                                                               61

REFERENCES                                                                                                                    62

 

APPENDIXES                                                                                                                      74

Appendix A: Critical Pedagogy Attitude Questionnaire                                                      75

Appendix B: The Female Group with IELTS Band Score 6                                                77

Appendix C: The Female Group with IELTS Band Score 5                                                79

Appendix D: The Female Group with IELTS Band Score 6                                                            81

Appendix E: The Female Group with IELTS Band Score 5                                                 82

 

 

 

 

 

List of Tables

Table 3.1: Participants’ Characteristics                                                                                   44

Table 3.2: Reliability Coefficient                                                                                            44

Table 4.1: Stastistical Description Critical Pedagogy Attitude Questionnaire and total Band Scores, 6 and 5, of IELTS proficiency test                                                                               49

Table 4.2: One Sample Kolmogorov- Smirnov Test                                                               50

Table 4.3: Group Statistics between IELTS Band Scores                                                      51

Table 4.4: Independent Samples T-Test between Critical Pedagogy Attitude Questionnaire and total Band Scores, 6 and 5, of IELTS proficiency test                                                    51

Table 4.5: Group Statistics between Male Group and Female Group                                    52

Table 4.6: Independent Samples T-Test between Critical Pedagogy Attitude Questionnaire and Gender Difference                                                                                                                               52

Table 4.7: Effect Size                                                                                                             53

Table 5.1: The Brief Overview of All Independent Samples Test                                        60

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER I

Introduction

1.1. Overview

Freire (1970) Critical Pedagogy can be analyzed in many fields of study.

In this respect, Critical Pedagogy (CP) announced to be the way to analyze, education including English Language Teaching (ELT), a new dimension, which has the interaction of social and political elements to holds the view which education is not impartial, and it both affects and is affected by the social and political elements (Freire, 1970).

Critical pedagogy tries to face students with more aims of education to make autonomous students; it is stated that learners acquire their own voice to participate critically in their own processing; that is, confident learners are capable of critiquing learning problems and begin to seek even instruction in their classrooms _what will we have to act in a society in the future?(Freire, 1970).

Recently, ELT researchers try to administer the view of CP to study language learning and acquisition; that is, they are looking for utilizing this social and political theory in assisting teaching as a component of education.

Therefore, they are starting to understand the sociopolitical elements with the represent of the critical viewpoint many scholars in ELT industry as uncovering the hidden aim of scholars’ thoughts and ideologies (Freire, 1970).

Critical theory is interested in the concepts of human beings and the relations between them such as cultural, economic, political, and the power to influence people’s behavior or course of events (Freire, 1973).

Through enabling convert of life requirements, a philosopher of critical theory agrees on satisfying free oppressed members of a race religion or culture (Freire, 1973).

Also, according to Freire (1970), utilizing the body of bases belonging to critical subjects is the main source in language teaching and learning.

Thus, Pre-service teacher education may take advantage of Critical Pedagogy to provide professional ELT teachers before the real actual teaching (Schon, 1996).

A main disclosure during such critical education theory can be the practical section of a course of study when the pre-service teachers are trained to face their students’ critical thoughts within multiple school settings (beginning to

 

 advanced courses) (Schon, 1996).

According to Schon(1996), the pre-service teachers will be had the chance to improve their skills through classroom curriculum, teaching lessons, and lesson plans to allow Critical Pedagogy is run.

Therefore, this consoled and vital aspect is the main component of any course, such as ELT courses, to be assigned in curriculums.

Also, because of the viewpoint of critical pedagogy, teachers are capable of bearing the task of questioning the inappropriate curriculums to assist their own learners in language processing, for example (Canagarajah, 1999).

According to Hall (1995), socio-historical and political elements are parts of ELT components which are related to the theory of language learning and teaching in social characteristics of learners.

It seems that Critical Pedagogy is able to gain the momentum to come from a huge amount of experiment to create conditions to help learners in recent years. In spite of acquiring multiple researchers in this area from the past and recent years, it seems that a few papers could target the main and vital characters of Critical Pedagogy in ELT.

Thus, the present study tries to bright a major theme in CP including teacher, for example, in CP. However, Okazaki (2005) argued that classrooms are far removed from conditions which deal with historical and social aspects.

Critical theory face the view of a society in which people require to control political, economic, and cultural aspects of their lives(Kincheloe, 2005).

Critical Pedagogy may be the approach to assist language teachers, for example, to concern the power of learners’ relations with the processed language and their society which they live. Critical Pedagogy (CP) is a start to deal with in a certain way of language teaching and learning.

Kincheloe (2005) believed that converting connections between people or groups of abilities which are depressing leads to depression among the people. CP seeks to give human qualities to learning (Kincheloe, 2005).

Likewise, according to Kincheloe (2005), advocates of critical theory assume that these aims are satisfied only through liberating unsuccessful learners to empower their abilities to change their educational conditions.

The main assumption of Critical Pedagogy is with criticizing the educational context in societies. As Gor (2005) puts it, the main goals of Critical Pedagogy are conscious raising and rejecting any signs of discrimination against people in any field.

Therefore, this theory seeks to help unsuccessful learners, for example, to save them from being objects of acquisition to subjects of their own autonomy in learning.

With this respect, learners are able to change their societies via appropriate education; that is, it is done through problem solving, surveying the problematic subjects in learners’ lives, and developing a critical awareness to assist learners to improve their educational conditions because it is important to take appropriate actions to structure and equitable society (Gor, 2005). Thus, it is crystal clear that Critical Pedagogy face any inappropriate dominations with the goal of assisting unsuccessful people to achieve their demands.

Moreover, “language learning theory, and teaching should focus on larger socio-historical and political forces which reside in the social identities of people who use them” (as cited in Aliakbari1 & Faraji, 2011, p. 78). However, Okazaki (2005) claimed that most teachers ignore historical and social conditions of their classrooms.

According to Okazaki (2005), as a consequence, researchers advocating examining socio-historical and political aspects of language learning (Benesch, 2001; Canagarajah, 1999, 2002; Morgan 1998). They recommended an optional access – critical pedagogy- which some researchers mentioned it.

It may be the main organ of language pedagogy (Aliakbari1 & Faraji, 2011). It is wondered to see that Critical Pedagogy has increased in impetus recently; therefore, some substantiation come from a lot of researches about CP to accept this claim.

Byean (2011) claimed that Critical Pedagogy mainly supports teachers to investigate English language in relation to the historical and cultural issues.

However, English teachers must understand ELT with more judgmental minds; furthermore, Critical Pedagogy may encourage English teachers to obtainthe role of English to clarify how ELT is affected with the procreation of social unfairness in distinctive backgrounds (Byean, 2011).

In fact, critical theory was the point of commencement for Critical Pedagogy (Aliakbari1 & Faraji, 2011).

The main interest of Critical Pedagogy is the act of giving an evaluation of good and bad qualities for schooling in an economic system based on competition between businesses and societies (Aliakbari1 & Faraji, 2011).

Moreover, the main purposes of Critical Pedagogy “are awareness raising and rejection of violation and discrimination against people” (as cited in Aliakbari1 & Faraji, 2011, p. 77).

According to Freire (1973), Critical Pedagogy is similar to critical theory, that is, it seeks to convert depression members of a race religion or culture to maintain them “from being objects of education to the subjects of their own autonomy and emancipation” (as cited in Aliakbari1 & Faraji, 2011, p. 77).

Therefore, language learners can be able to maintain converting their fellowships “through emancipatory education” (as cited in Aliakbari1 & Faraji, 2011, p. 77).

Also, some language teaching researchers believed “through problem posing education and questioning the problematic issues in learners’ lives, students learn to think critically and develop a critical consciousness which help them to improve their life conditions and to take necessary actions to build an equitable society” (Aliakbari1 & Faraji, 2011, p. 77).

Therefore, Critical Pedagogy stimulates any frameworks of dominion, suppression and subjugation with the purpose of decreasing depression.

Kissing-Styles (2003) mentioned that Critical Pedagogy is an instructive reactionto unfairness relations in instructive places where people are confined and treated.

Also, Byean (2011) claimed that Critical Pedagogy mainly supports teachers to investigate English language in relation to the historical and cultural issues.

However, English teachers must understand ELT with more judgmental minds; furthermore, Critical Pedagogy may encourage English teachers to obtainthe role of English to clarify how ELT is affected with the procreation of social unfairness in distinctive backgrounds (Byean, 2011).

 

1.1. Statement of the problem

Nowadays, Iranian people are interested in learning at least one foreign language to maintain their relationships to the world wide village.

Meanwhile, there has been an increasing inclination among language researchers with the involvement of CP all around the world. The outbreak involvements of CP affect all branches of studies in language pedagogy.

Also, “critical perspectives towards ELT industry and the role of English in the world are immersing worldwide” (Pishvaei & Kasaian, 2013, p. 60).

Therefore, ELT researchers should concern about their obligations of distinguishing the issue ofconcealed particular parts or features of EFL equipment, and supplies needed for English learning such as English teachers.

By concerning the vital role of English teachers and the outgrown interest of Iranian people toward English learning in a country with the Islamic regulations and policies, ones can understand the necessity of reliable and valid documents to judge the worth or quality of Iranian ELT characteristics and interests of a critical attitude. The researchers, therefore, took this important issue into concern.

That is, In the light of the attempts to refine structure of books and writings on this particular subject, Critical pedagogy, and the absence and deficiency of a valid and reliable critical pedagogy thought in the context of Iran, this study is an effect to develop and validate a research to influence community’s critical attitude towards the critical ELT.

 

این پژوهش ساختار و شکل گیری فردیت اجتماعی را درگلچینی از داستان های کوتاه کرت وانگات بررسی میکند.در این رابطه٬ پژوهش گر بر آن شد تا از تئوری پست مدرن ژان فرانسوا لیوتارد برای بررسی نظام قدرتمند اقتصادی عصر پست مدرن سود جوید. در واقع٬ لیوتارد و دیگر فیلسوفان برجسته مکتب پست مدرن بر این باورند که انسان به شدت تحت تاثیر سلطه نظام سرمایه داری است. در تئوری پست مدرن انسان به عنوان موجودی وابسته٬ متغیر٬ پذیرنده و منفعل تعریف شده است. او یک جزء کوچک در نظام جهانی سرمایه داری است که منافع آن از طریق بهره کشی از انسان ها تامین میشود. پژوهش گر تئوری لیوتارد را بر داستانهای کوتاه تاناسفر٬ مجموعه٬ شهر غنی کوچک فقیر٬ سوقاتی٬ سفر جالی راجرز٬ عروس سفارشی و 2ب ر20ب از مجموعه داستان انفیه دان باگومبو پیاده کرد. همه داستان های کوتاه فضای اجتماعی پس از جنگ جهانی دوم که با شکوفایی اقتصاد سرمایه داری جهانی همراه بود را روایت میکنند. پژوهش گر به این نتیجه دست یافت که در داستان های کوتاه انتخاب شده سرمایه داری فراصنعتی نهادها و ابزارهای اجتماعی مشروعی چون دانش و واقعیت را تولید میکند و با استفاده از آن ها رفتار هنجاری٬ معیارها و ارزش های رایج را در متن جامعه به اجرا میگذارد. سرمایه داری فعالیت های اجتماعی را با فرآیندهای هم جنس سازی و همگانی سازی اداره میکند؛ بنابراین٬ برای مسیردهی به برهم کنش های اجتماعی بازی های زبانی و کلان روایت ها را تولید میکند. علاوه بر آن٬ فردیت اجتماعی محصول نظام قدرت است. خود اجنماعی پست مدرن در ارتباطات شکل میگیرد. او به طرز اجتناب ناپذیری متاثر از شرکت در فعالیت های اجتماعی مشروع است. او ناگزیر از فراگیری گونه های مشروع گفتمان برای ایفای نقش کارآمد است. از این رو در خلال فعالیت های اجتماعی او به طور تدریجی به سمتی که در جهت منافع قدرت است هدایت میشود.

واژگان کلیدی: سرمایه داری٬ قدرت٬ بازی زبانی٬ کلان روایت٬ فردیت اجتماعی٬ قابلیت اجرایی

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents

Abstract

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1. General Background

1.2. The Argument

1.2.1. Research Questions

1.3. Literature Review

1.4. Thesis Outline

1.5. Methodology and Approach

1.6. Motivation and Delimitation

1.7. Definition of Key Terms

Chapter 2: The Postmodern Theory of Jean-François Lyotard

2.1. Jean-François Lyotard

2.2. The Postmodernist Movement

2.3. Early Marxist Activities

2.4. The Pragmatics of Knowledge

2.5. Modern Criteria of Legitimation

              2.6. Postmodern Criteria of Legitimation

2.7. The development of Capitalist System

2.8. The Semiotics and the Linguistic Based Culture

2.9. The Postmodern Self (Social Subject)

2.10. The Complementary Approaches of Baudrillard and Foucault

Chapter 3: Language Games

3.1. Studying Capitalism, Power, Language Game and Reality in “Thanasphere”

3.1.1 Synopsis

3.1.2 Commentary

3.2. Studying Capitalism, Reality, Language Game and Power in “Souvenir”

3.2.1 Synopsis

3.2.2 Commentary

3.3. Studying Language Game, Power, Capitalism and Alienation in “The Cruise

of the Jolly Roger”

3.3.1 Synopsis

3.3.2 Commentary

3.4. Studying Capitalism, Disciplinary Power, Language Game and Reality in

“2BR02B”

3.4.1 Synopsis

3.4.2 Commentary

Chapter 4: Grand Narratives

4.1. Studying Grand Narrative, Capitalism and Social Class in “The Package”

4.1.1 Synopsis

4.1.2 Commentary

4.2. Studying Grand Narrative, Capitalism and Performativity in “Poor Little Rich

Town”

4.2.1. Synopsis

4.2.2. Commentary

4.3. Studying Grand Narrative, Capitalism and Commodity in “Custom-Made

Bride”

4.3.1. Synopsis

4.3.2. Commentary

Chapter 5: Conclusion

5.1. Summary

5.2. Findings

5.3. Suggestions for Further Research

Works Cited

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One

                                           Introduction

 

 

1.1. General Background

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922-2007) is renowned as a prominent American novelist and essayist. Vonnegut was one of the celebrated writers of post-World War ΙΙ in American literature. He defined himself as an atheist, agnostic and freethinker. The significant characteristic of his writing career is that for the most part in his works he combined satiric social observation and black comedy; also, he utilized surrealist and imaginary elements.

Several of his novels included science fiction themes. Actually, Vonnegut made use of the elements of science fiction and metafiction to direct the reader’s attention to the more serious issues associated with ethics and politics. His simple writing style is deceptive since it misleads the reader from perceiving the tense and unspeakable agony of the

 

 individual’s life in the twentieth century.

As a postmodern writer, in his writing Vonnegut employs some specific features; that is, the disorder in the narrative events and disruption of time or mixing past, present and future, blending of different genres, drawing the pictures, symbols or designs in the text, vicious circles and paranoia. In his works the limerick, humorous and jokes are entangled to narrate the serious facts that are really happened in Vonnegut’s lifetime.

The crucial event in Vonnegut’s life which had a profound influence on him and consequently on his writing career could be the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, by Allied armies in 1945, a horrifying happening he witnessed personally as a young captive of war. His understanding in Dresden laid the grounds for his greatest novel Slaughterhouse-Five published in 1969 as an obvious attack on the terrors of war in Vietnam, racial turmoil and cultural and social cataclysm.

Accordingly, there is linkage between Vonnegut’s life and works. War, genocide, environmental determinism, atomic bomb and technological advancement were all engendered in the postmodern epoch. He disapproved the technological science and the political economy. Common themes in Vonnegut’s works consist of the dehumanization resulted by the improvement of technology, Sexuality, fierceness, hopelessness, bewilderment, alienation, insecurity and depression.

Vonnegut was a humanist. He maintained that in the postmodern era the human being is a hapless, lonely, bewildered and desperate victim; he is robbed of his identity and integrity to transform to a totally dependent social subject. In an alien world organized by machines, the individual tries to cope with the forces beyond his control. In his novels Vonnegut compassionately praised the characters who refuse to surrender to despair and defeat.

Vonnegut’s remarkable works are Player Piano (1952), Sirens of Titan (1959), Cat’s Cradle (1963), Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), and Breakfast of Champions (1973). Galápagos (1985), Bluebeard (1987), Hocus Pocus (1990) and Timequake (1997). On the Whole, Vonnegut is the author of 14 novels and nearly 50 short stories, in addition to plentiful essays, autobiographical pieces, and plays. A number of his works have been transformed into television or film-as an adaptations- and he caused distinction to some of these with cameo role appearances.

This research is going to concentrate on seven short stories written by Vonnegut in the collection, Bagombo Snuff Box. The researcher chose to work on “Thanasphere”, “The Package”, “Poor Little Rich Town”, “Souvenir”, “The Cruise of the Jolly Roger”, “Custom-Made Bride”, and “2BR02B”. In these short stories the postmodern world after the Second World War- is depicted. The concepts which impact on the constitution and formation of the social subject in the postmodern philosophy of Jean-François Lyotard (1925-98) will be discussed by the researcher.

From the above-mentioned fictions, “Thanasphere” and “2BR02B” narrate the circumstances in advanced societies regulated by the technological knowledge. “Souvenir” and “The Cruise of Jolly Roger” deal with the events of World War ΙΙ straightforwardly. “The Package”, “Poor Little Rich Town” and “Custom-Made Bride” depict the social milieu in the American capitalist system. What inspired the researcher to undertake this study is that the entire short stories illustrate the helpless individuals entangled in the coercive environment caused by global capitalism.

In “Thanasphere”, Vonnegut shatters the borderline between the living and dead. He questions the legitimacy of the scientific knowledge since in the capitalist system this form of knowledge is deemed as ubiquitous and infallible; however, in the story some unexpected events take place that cannot be subsumed within the scientific knowledge. It happens that an astronaut as a player deviates the rules of the dominant language game as he communicates with the ghosts of the dead.

The researcher focuses on the reaction of the characters toward this so called illegitimate move of the astronaut; that the people in authority easily condemn him to be inefficient; therefore, they call him idiot and ignore him. Also, the nature of reality or truth in the postmodern world is going to be analyzed by the researcher since in this story the heads of power hide the new discovery and publicize a make-believe reality in order to maintain their legitimacy.

“2BR02B” narrates the far future where there is a boom in the science of medicine. The population of earth has increased enormously because the technology of health care has improved considerably; so that the dangers threatening physical health and soundness have been eradicated entirely. Government exerts strict control on the population. It even encourages people to die voluntarily and make room for others. Likewise, the nature of power in the postmodern period will be analyzed. The individuals in the story challenge a disciplinary kind of power system which invades the very personal territories of the citizens. It advocates suicide and self-sacrificing as a value practiced by the efficient social subject.

“Souvenir” narrates the bewilderment of language games in the wartime and how by the shift of power the dominant language game of German Nazi loses its legitimacy; hence, the individual experiences the contradicting situation in which the proficiency as a value fluctuates constantly. Duo to the improvement of technology, the production of the military machines brings about mass destruction and annihilation of the human being. The soldiers are the defenseless victims of the absurd war. Vonnegut pinpoints to the irrationality of the war when in the story on the day that the war ended still the soldiers were killed by the military vehicles.

“The Cruise of the Jolly Roger” also deals with the post-war circumstances. In this fiction the researcher foregrounds the disparity between the two dissimilar language games practiced in the army and in the public. It portrays the life of a retired army officer who leaves the army where he reckoned as his home; accordingly, the veteran faces the unknown civilian world where he was far from for many years. Encountering the new civil society, he experiences a deep feeling of estrangement and detachment.

The protagonist desperately identifies himself as an inefficient civilian among others whose language game he is strange to. In many places of this short story, Vonnegut implies the sense of alienation experienced by many veterans of the Second World War.  Once being a veteran of the same war, he became familiar with the suffering; consequently, he could vividly narrate the situation of the soldiers who survived the war and came back home as an outsider who had difficulty conforming to the new setting.

The story in “The Package” revolves around the wealthy and extravagant life style of the Americans. After the Second World War America succeeded in achieving the global economic dominance thanks to the technological advancement; therefore, the American society experienced the higher standards of living. It transformed to a rich and consumer society. The amalgamation of the social strata and the mixture of high culture and low culture advocated by the postmodernists facilitated the process.

“The Package” portrays one day in life of a nouveau-rich couple whom tries to fix themselves to their social class. They try to emulate the language game of the affluent class but they cannot perform efficiently; for that reason, they get upset. Vonnegut in this short story indicates the absurd economic-based life in the capitalist society according to which the value of the individual is estimated by the objects and materials that he possesses.

“The Poor Little Rich Town” narrates the traditional life style in a village which is disturbed when the perverted technological progress comes in. Apparently, in this story Vonnegut indirectly alludes to the post-industrial capitalism that swept the world after the Second World War. The global economy subjected the other countries in the world to its homogenizing policy. Likewise, the story contrasts the pre-modern (primitive) and modern culture.

Lyotard and other postmodernist philosophers condemned modernity and lauded the premodern or primitive communities. The researcher studies how in “The Poor Little Rich Town” the arrival of progress degrades the former social bond and the individuals nearly lose their custom and background owning to the fact that they are regarded as no longer legitimated. The new system harms the social relations, warmth and friendship as well; instead, it engenders animosity and distance.

“Custom-Made Bride” deals with the objectification of the human being in the economic-based system of capitalism. The researcher studies one of the grand narratives legitimated by the capitalist system; that is fashion. In the system of production the social subject is personalized to follow the fashion. In such society the individual must be up-to-date; as a consequence, he consumes more and more product.

The story narrates the life of a genius and artist who represents postmodern aesthetic taste. He designs his wife according to the latest fashion but he pays no attention to her feelings and opinions. The woman at last protests to her subjection in view of the fact that her identity is lost; she is degraded to function as a pleasure commodity. The events in the story stand for the condition of the social subject in the capitalist system that is personalized to serve the interests of the market-driven economy.