“What Souls are Made of”: 4th Inter-University Student Conference at DEH
-Fairoz Anika
This year the Department of English and Humanities at ULAB hosted the grand ceremony of the “4th Inter-University Student Conference” in order to pay tribute to the 200 years of the three Bronte sisters’ namely- Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. The event was held from 21st April to 22nd April 2018. Our honorable faculty, Dr. Sohana Manzoor, Assistant Professor of DEH was the Convener of the event. The event was divided into two phases – presentations of the academic papers by eleven universities including the public and private universities namely – Dhaka University, East West University, Bangladesh University of Professionals, Jahangirnagar University, Metropolitan University of Sylhet, Brac University, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Stamford University, North South University, University of Asia Pacific, South East University and University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, and secondly, the cultural performance presented by seven teams from the same participating universities.
Most of the presenters who participated in the conference analyzed and looked deep down into the themes of various works of the Brontes, showing how their personal lives influenced their respective works. The presenters showed both the widely celebrated and otherwise neglected themes which had been seen in various works of the Bronte sisters. The Brontes were revealed in the dark, mysterious and gothic nature of humans through which the situation of women at those times was also systematically approached. Many of the presenters demonstrated how the sisters experimented with the confusing and unpredictable proclivities of humans. They also highlighted how the Brontes integrated the crucial issues of a woman being doubly tyrannized in their novels, first as the ‘secondary’ gender and then as a member of a ‘less significant’ communion. They showed how the beloved siblings were against the notion of stereotypical thoughts regarding the appearance and nature of women according to the societal standard – a recurrent motif in their writings. The much controversial idea of ‘a domesticated angel’ has also been a topic of their presentation.
The winner among the presenters was S.M Mahfuzur Rahman from Brac University and the title of his academic paper was “Exonerating Eve: Brontes’ Reversal of the Masculinist Metanarrative.” He discussed how the Brontes mainly gave importance to feminist issues and how from the ancient times women have been subjugated to the patriarchy, developing a tragic sense of primordial inferiority complex in themselves. It was also proved via multiple references that the Brontes tried to portray the triumph of their female protagonists over the male ones in order to break through the barrier which prohibits women to dignify themselves and prioritize their intellectual ability over their male counterparts.
The runner-up of the academic papers was Jacklin Bose from University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh. The title of her academic paper was, “Of Deformity and Men.” In the paper, it was discussed how the Bronte sisters showed the male characters as inferior to the female ones which conflicts with the generally conceived notion of the ideal image of any male protagonist in any other mainstream novel. In her paper, it was made clear that all the Brontes tirelessly referred to the power and oppression imposed by the patriarchal society upon women, but in parallel placement with a powerful female character. This scenario metaphorically signifies the change in society and how the victims and oppressors are interchanging their positions in respect to gender. Thus, the Bronte sisters prioritized the power of women to exceed the males in all respects for which they showed male characters as socio-economically more vulnerable compared to the female ones.
Other contestants also discussed some other important subject matters which can be seen in the works of the Brontes’. Two contestants from Metropolitan University named Shanjida Begum and Nishat Tasnim Chowdhury mentioned in their papers that Charlotte Bronte, in her work named, Jane Eyre displayed how the notion of gaining the perfect ideal beauty of a female causes a lack of confidence in oneself and how that individual has to break through that notion in order to get herself free from societal prejudices. Two other contestants from BUP named Prokrity Ahmed and Md. Ruhul Quddus emphasized the emotional and romantic feeling of two lovers in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights which contradict with the conventional beliefs of love and marriage and then compared these themes with Rabindranath Tagore’s Shesher Kobita. Another participant named Zannati Zumara from Brac University depicted the significance of the Bronte brother, Branwell in their literary works. Then, Ayesha Siddiqua Homaira from Dhaka University showed in her paper how animal imageries were used in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights to compare and contrast between humans and animals, concluding that the unique change of behavior suggests both the wild and tender nature of humans and animals as a mode of the ‘survival of the fittest.’ Another contestant from South-East University named Kamrunnahar Sayma highlighted the realistic ideas of life in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, focusing on the importance of rational and logical thoughts than romantic and idealistic expressions. Then Gulam Mawla Chowdhury from SUST reported how the idea of rejection in love can affect one’s psychology and causes a change of behavior in an individual, creating anarchy and violence in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.
The cultural function of the Bronte Conference celebrated and showed the magical literary works gifted by the Bronte sisters to the world through various dramatic and dazzling performances by students of various universities and left the audiences completely spellbound. Among the seven teams who were the performers of the culture show, the team from Dhaka University stood first and the team from the University of Asia Pacific came second. The team from Dhaka University gave a performance which was titled, “Matchbox Stories” and the team from University of Asia Pacific gave a performance titled “Jane Eyre: A Journey Towards Emancipation.” There were also other notable performances which were entertaining and enjoyable altogether. All the cultural performances mesmerized the audience which not only consisted of students, participants, judges and faculties of the university, but also various famous and respectable persons from the country. Everybody who attended the event was enthralled and fascinated seeing the performances. The atmosphere was enchanting because of the captivating stage performances and this ambiance made the people relieve the moments the Brontes offered to the world as they were.
The judges of the academic sessions were Professor Razia Sultana Roy and Professor Kashinath Roy and the judges of the cultural competition were the notable theatre personalities namely – Mr. Ataur Rahman, Ms. Afsana Mimi, and Ms. Bonna Mirza. The Chief Guest of the event was Faye Nicholas who is the Teaching Centre Manager of the British Council and she also attended the prize-giving and closing ceremony. Cash prizes were awarded to the winners of the event. Our honorable Vice Chancellor, Professor H.M. Jahirul Haque also attended the closing ceremony. The spectacular programme ended successfully with the vote of thanks from our honorable faculty and Head of DEH, Professor Dr. Shamsad Mortuza.
Though the Bronte sisters remained unrecognized for many a year, the influence of their writings can be seen in the literary works of other authors throughout the ages. Their brother, Branwell had some passive contribution behind the success of the sisters as well. In terms of employing the very concept of women empowerment and theories related to feminism, undoubtedly, the Brontes played a pioneering role. Their unique ideas are now well prevalent in the modern world and it can be said that their ideas will successfully generate even newer and better ones for the younger progenies to come in centuries. Therefore, by commemorating the 200 years of the Bronte siblings, DEH at ULAB brought the Brontes back in a new light through some brilliant academic presentations and dazzling performances.