The Cryptic Communication Function of Anagrams in Specific Literary Contexts

Cletus Okuguni, Chidinma Okuguni, Roseline Adewuyi — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0700

The concept of anagrams as a form of cryptic communication has not gained much currency of usage in our contemporary world, particularly in the global South. Apart from its usage as a pastime in leisure and entertainment activities in games and puzzles, its usage has not transcended these pedantic forms and formats into more professional communicative utilities. This study is interested in investigating the communicative forms and formats inherent in the use of anagrams, especially in cryptic communication. It also hopes to emphasise the historical use of such cryptic systems as anagrams, secret codes, and underground symbolic and literary forms of communication, deliberate misinformation, disinformation and propaganda in our contemporary world. The study is nestled within the “Diffusion of Innovations theory” of mass media, which traces how people adopt a new idea or practice based on the available information. The study avers that much utility is inherent in the adoption of a cryptic communication system that can be derived from anagrams and other forms and systems of discreet, secret or crypto-communication, both for deific, ritualistic, medical, psycho-therapeutic, civilian and militaristic uses.

Female Oppositional Gaze in Scopic Regime: A Case Study of Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Fangyun Guo — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0700

In the conventional scholarship surrounding Thomas Hardy’s works, Tess is commonly perceived as an object of desire for the male gaze, as well as a victim of the sexual politics of her time. This research addresses this critical issue from a (post-)feminist perspective, with a particular focus on the dimension of the female oppositional gaze. The aim is to explore the defiant gaze strategy that Tess employs when confronted with Alec, a representative of the male Scopic Regime, and to elucidate its profound implications. Through an inquiry into Tess’s use of both external anti-gaze techniques and spiritual insight as means of resistance against the abuser’s attempts at alienation, this essay argues that Tess effectively dissolves, impedes, and ultimately thwarts the abuser’s will to conquer, thus inducing a sense of counter-alienation regarding sexual politics. Consequently, Tess’s oppositional gaze not only contributes to the development of a unique Scopic Regime among British women but also assists in constructing a special visual poetics in the Victorian era.

International Journal of English and Comparative Literary Studies

The Cryptic Communication Function of Anagrams in Specific Literary Contexts

Female Oppositional Gaze in Scopic Regime: A Case Study of Tess of the d’Urbervilles