Tài liệu Nonviolence gleaned from selected works of mahatma gandhi and martin luther king, jr. (sum)

Thai Nguyen University Socialist Republic of Vietnam Batangas State University Republic of Philippines LE THI THU HUONG NONVIOLENCE GLEANED FROM SELECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI AND MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. Specialty: Language and Literature Ph.D DISSERTATION SUMARY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE THAI NGUYEN, 2014 The Dissertation was completed in: THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Advisor: Maria Luisa A. Valdez, PhD Reviewer No.1: ............................................. Reviewer No.2: ............................................. Reviewer No.3: ............................................. The Dissertation will be evaluated at the State Council held at: ……………………………………………………………………….. At: hour ... date ... month ...year 2014 Dissertation can be found at the libraries: - National library of Vietnam; - Learning Resource Center - Thai Nguyen University; - Library of International Training and Development Center; - Library of Batangas State University, Philippines. 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1. BACKGROUND OF STUDY Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. are two of the world’s most famous advocates of non-violence. Both struggled and committed themselves to create a society without the use of force. In spite of all these resounding advocacies for non-violence, men continue to use force and violence as means to an end. Men did not seem to have learned as proven by the presence of violence everywhere in the world. In today’s world, people continue to die violent deaths.. In the new era of the twenty-first century, humanity must be guided by the fundamental truth that killing is never justified or acceptable - under any circumstance. Unless men realize this, unless they widely promote and deeply inculcate the understanding that violence can never be used to advocate one's ideology, they will have learned nothing from the agonizing lessons of the twentieth century. It has been said that the best way to understand human nature fully and to know a nation completely short of going into a formal study of history, psychology, and sociology, is to study literature. Through literature, people learn the innermost feelings and thoughts of people - the truest and most real part of themselves. Thus, men gain an understanding not only for others, but more importantly, of themselves and of life itself. 2 Today, the real struggle of the twenty-first century is neither between civilizations, nor between religions. It will be between violence and nonviolence. It will be between barbarity and civilization in the truest sense of the word. Gandhi’s thinking was ahead of his own time and stays alive until today. Underlying all this is Gandhi’s impregnable faith in the possibility of a radically better human future if only men will learn to trust the power of non-violent openness to others and to the deeper humanity within us all. To most people this seems impossible. But Gandhi’s great legacy is that his life has certainly shown that, with true dedication, non-violence is possible in the world as it is. The core principle explained why, for King, nonviolence was “the morally excellent way”. Dr. King’s principle and methodology of nonviolence outlined a path to social change that still holds true to this day. Also, Dr. King’s essays and speeches are characterized by wisdom. His writings harnesses profound emotional power for purposes of social action. Within the pages of these works surfaces a collection of gems, reflecting deep philosophy and unique expressions. The wisdom embodied in the selected works of Mahatma Gandhi and the selected works of Martin Luther King, Jr. could help the Vietnamese students reassess their lives and values when they become mindful of their genuine philosophical bounds. Their writings could describe habits that delineate the Vietnamese attitude towards life in general and towards specific actions in particular. 3 They may rightly be regarded as qualifiers of human acts, influencing their deep driving forces. They are conjoined in the raw materials of the social development of a Vietnamese student as a person existing in a community of people and support the efforts of nation building. With these thoughts in mind, the researcher as an English teacher at Thai Nguyen University of Education is deeply motivated to explore and undertake an analysis of how nonviolence is reflected in the selected works of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and gain honest implications on the teaching of nonviolence that may be drawn from the analysis which shall benefit Vietnamese students. 1.2. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDIES This study is an analysis of nonviolence gleaned in the selected works of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the identification of the teachings on nonviolence that may be drawn from the analysis which shall benefit Vietnam students. Specifically, the study sought answers to the following questions: 1. What is the historical root of nonviolence in India and America. 2. How is nonviolence dealt with in the selected works of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.? 3. What humanitarian issues are given focus on each of the selections? 4. What literary devices are used by the writers in projecting the humanitarian issues particularly nonviolence? 4 5. What teachings on nonviolence maybe drawn from the analysis which shall benefit Vietnamese students? 1.3. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The aptness of literary analysis as an essential part of a research study is highlighted in terms of its importance to a number of individuals. Therefore, it is vital to expound how this study is beneficial to academic managers, college instructors of literature, students of literature and linguistics sand other researchers. The academic managers can utilize this study as a frame of reference when they prepare developmental priorities, programs, projects and policies in the educational institutions to ensure that the practice of nonviolence can access the academe and spawn nonviolent-related activities in the curricula. College instructors of literature may use this analysis as one of their methodologies in teaching literature to raise students’ awareness on nonviolence and develop their students’ appreciation and sense of value in order to guide and allow them to crystallize and synthesize what philosophy of life is best to learn and to live by. Students of literature and linguistics realize the significance of nonviolence and may be inspired to treat literature as a work of art s as well as inspire them to engage in literary analysis related to nonviolent resistance Research the applications of this study’s results on the issue of school violence education in Vietnam. Research on non-violent struggle in a number of works of Viet Nam contemporary literature. 5 1.4. SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY This study analyzes the philosophy of nonviolence as embodied in the selected literary pieces of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. pointing out the events and situations which show the teachings on nonviolence that maybe drawn from the analysis that may benefit the Vietnamese students. Likewise, this paper tries to present the historical root of nonviolence in India and the United States; the humanitarian issues given focus on each of the selections, and the literary devices used by the writers in projecting the humanitarian issues particularly nonviolence. This study employed the qualitative method of research in analyzing Gandhi’s and King’s concept of nonviolence in the representative literary works chosen. Likewise, this analysis made use of the sociological and philosophical approaches as the bases for analysis. In particular, the sociological approach is supported by Teixeira’s Theory of Nonviolence, while the philosophical approach is supported by Holmes’ Theory of Nonviolence. Other approaches in literary criticism that may be employed in the analysis like the Formalist Criticism, Biographical Criticism, Historical Criticism, and Psychological Criticism are not part of this study. This paper also involved content analysis, which is a systematic technique in analyzing message content and message handling. The data analysis in this research centered on pattern seeking and the extraction of meaning from Gandhi’s and King’s selected literary narrative or image data. Much effort was focused on the task of recording data or making notes through concepts and categories; altering or creating new codes or more subtle categories; 6 linking and combining abstract concepts; extracting the essence; organizing meaning; creating theory from emerging themes; writing an understanding; and drawing conclusions. The essential features in the treatment of materials were considered by the researcher in the conduct of this study. The general rules cited by Scott (2014) as regards the seven standards a piece of literature should abide to in order to be considered literary guided in the selection of works under study. The representative literary works were analyzed The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Harijan and Young India and The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Letter from Birmingham Jail by Mahatma Gandhi and I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr. From these literatures, readers will be able to see in them the seeds of all these two writers’ most important teachings. The said selections were chosen because of their correlation with the cited themes; the humanitarian issues given focus in the selections; the literary devices which helped in unveiling their concept of nonviolence; and the teachings on nonviolence that may be drawn from the analysis. 7 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter is presented with the end view of identifying the constructs of the study. 2.1. CONCEPTUAL LITERATURE The review of the conceptual literature yields four types of constructs, which are used in the analysis and interpretation of the literary pieces dissected. These constructs include: Literature and Philosophy of Nonviolence, Mahatma Gandhi and his Significant Works, Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Significant Works, Humanitarian Issues, Literary Devices and Historical and Philosophical Approaches in Literary Criticism. 2.2. RESEARCH LITERATURE This section presents the published and unpublished researches that are related to the present study. 2.3. SYNTHEIS OF LITERATURE REVIEWED This section justifies the direct bearing of the conceptual literature to the present study followed by the presentation of the similarities and differences of the cited research literature to the present study. 2.4. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK The review of the conceptual literature yields four types of constructs, which are used in the analysis and interpretation of the literary pieces dissected. These constructs include: Literature and Philosophy of Nonviolence, Mahatma Gandhi and his Significant 8 Works, Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Significant Works, Humanitarian Issues, Literary Devices and Historical and Philosophical Approaches in Literary Criticism. 2.5. DEFINITION OF TERMS This section presents the terms defined conceptually and operationally for a better understanding and appreciation of concepts as they are used in the study. The following terms are defined: content analysis, historical approach, humanitarian issues, literary devices, nonviolence, philosophical approach, philosophy of nonviolence, selected works, teachings on nonviolence, CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter presents the research methodology in terms of the research design and treatment of the materials studied. 3.1. RESEARCH DESIGN This study employed the qualitative method of research in analyzing the tenets of nonviolence in the representative literary works chosen. According to Suter (2012), qualitative research is guided by the philosophical premise that one must consider the multiple realities experienced by the participants themselves to understand a complex phenomenon. These multiple realities experienced by the participants can be reflected in various ways, including the literary genre called letters and oratorical speeches. 9 According to Ary, et. al. (2006), human experiences take their signification from social, cultural and political influences, and are therefore incapable of being separated to the said influences. Hence, in analyzing the representative literary works, the tenet of nonviolence prevalent in India and the United States were considered. These provided substantial and significant interpretations of the author’s and characters’ motivations with regard to nonviolence. Patton (2002) pointed out that the goal of qualitative data analysis is to uncover emerging themes, patterns, concepts, insights, and understanding. Thus, this study also involved content analysis, which is a systematic technique in analyzing message content and message handling. The data analysis in this research centered on pattern seeking and the extraction of meaning from Mahatma Gandhi’s and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s selected narrative or image data. Much effort was focused on the task of recording data or making notes through concepts and categories; altering or creating new codes or more subtle categories; linking and combining abstract concepts; extracting the essence; organizing meaning; creating theory from emerging themes; writing an understanding; and drawing conclusions. 3.2.TREATMENT OF MATERIALS The essential features in the treatment of materials were considered by the researcher in the conduct of this study. To adopt a more systematic identification of selected works, several norms were adhered to. According to Stott (2014), there are 10 generally considered seven standards as regards how a piece of literature should abide to in order to be considered literary. If a piece of writing is considered “literary” this usually suggest that it is a scholarly article or classical writing that is extremely well written and is very informative. The said standards include intellectual value, spiritual value, universal appeal, permanence, suggestiveness, artistry and style. With regard to intellectual value, the worth connected to the stimulating influence of great literature was considered. The selections can help the readers understand their lives and realize truths about humanity and life in general. They likewise stimulate the readers mentally and enrich their thoughts particularly on nonviolence. In relation to spiritual value, the quality of great literature which elevates the spirit was taken into consideration during the selection process. The chosen representative literary works are thought to have an underlying moral message that can potentially make the readers better people. These moral values are often written between the lines and can help the readers become better persons. As regards universal appeal, the thought that great literature appeals to all people regardless of race, creed, nationality or beliefs was taken into consideration. The said literary pieces appeals to a range of people across different age groups, nationalities, cultures and beliefs. In connection with permanence, the quality that great literature endures was also considered. The selected prose’s and poems’ appeal 11 is lasting and they can be read again and again as each reading gives fresh delight and new insights and open new worlds of meaning and experience. With reference to suggestiveness, the value associated with the emotional power of great literature was noted. The selected literary pieces can carry many associations that lead beyond the surface meaning. The reader is left to establish what the author is suggesting and this captures the readers’ imagination by making them think about what they are reading and engaging them into the story or poem. With reference to artistry, the quality which appeals to the readers’ sense of beauty was likewise noted in the choice of representative works. The chosen works are well-written and they appeal to the readers’ creative sides with beautifully crafted phrases and sentences. Finally, relative to style, the peculiar way in which the author sees life, forms his ideas and how he expresses them were considered too. The selected literary pieces are marked with the writers’ view of the world and can put thoughts to the readers in a way they have never considered. For the purpose of this study and to give philosophical credibility, the representative following literary works were analyzed: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Harijan and Young India by Mahatma Gandhi and The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Letter from Birmingham Jail and I Have a Dream by Martin Luther 12 King, Jr. From these literatures, readers will be able to see these two writers’ most important teachings on nonviolence. Nonviolence, as espoused by Gandhi and King, spurs peace by seeking the higher authorities’ friendship, understanding, and cooperation rather than defeat and humiliation. It is a channel for awakening a sense of injustice and moral shame in the high-power parties. It overthrows justice by showing high-power parties they have more to gain by ending injustice and oppression than by maintaining them. It is aimed at creating redemption, reconciliation, and a community characterized by equal justice and mutual benefit. Advocates of nonviolence recommend it as making the means of achieving peace and the nature of the peace achieved indivisible. These letters and oratorical speeches constituted the primary and twining sources of the study. They were chosen to parallel the criteria spelled out for the purpose. These works have been taken up in critical analysis far less frequently than the Gandhi’s most popular books entitled NonViolent Resistance, Satyagraha in South Africa: The Making of Mahatma Gandhi, The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas, Hind Swaraj and Other Writings, Peace: The Words and Inspiration of Mahatma Gandhi, All Men are Brothers: Autobiographical Reflections “ and King’s most famous speeches entitled “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Acceptance Speech at Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony, Beyond Vietnam, and I've Been To The Mountaintop. 13 CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND PRESENTATION FINDINGS The results of analysis and interpretation revealed that: 4.1. Historical roots of nonviolence 4.1.1. In India Centuries before its birth, the philosophy of nonviolence was already manifested. Originally, the term used was ahimsa. Hinduism considers violence as the worst threat to human lives. Non-violence was recognized as a code of conduct, enshrined in their writings and referred to as the Upanishads. It is fascinating to delve on the Movement of ideas and how they evolve into action. Non-violence is one such idea. It was apparently conceived among a small number of forest sages of India about three thousand years ago. The Upanishads bear an account of such idea. Tirthankaras and Buddha took it up; then further enhanced it as early as 500 B.C. Hunter (1990) opined that Ahimsa or nonviolence is deeply lodged in Hinduism. According to Bondurant (1965), the term is one of the five virtues relative to accepted rules of behavior that are found in early Hindu texts. In a world where violence occupies a position in the reincarnation cycle, nonviolence lures the Hindu closer to spiritual enlightenment. 14 Shastri and Shastri’s view of the ahimsa from a Hindu perspective describes it as a theory with ethical, philosophical and religious meanings. Ahimsa is considered as a cure to the problems of violence in the world. It involves the quest for the good of humanity as well as the religious fervor for the welfare of the environment and of all living things. 4.1.2. In the United States In the United States of America, the philosophy of nonviolence originated early in the 1800's the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads were translated into English, crossed the seas and came to America, a leap of 2,000 years in time and 10,000 miles in space. There Henry David Thoreau read them, made his nonviolent protest against the war by the U.S. Government against Mexico based on the said philosophy, went to jail for his principles and wrote his Essay on the Virtue of Civil Disobedience. Yet, it wasn’t until Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. that nonviolence became a sharp sword to put a stop to social and political differences in America. 4.2. How is nonviolence dealt with in the selected works of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.? 4.2.1 How is nonviolence dealt with in the selected works of Mahatma Gandhi? Mahatma Gandhi viewed nonviolence as a philosophy of life (Mayton, 2001). To fully understand Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence, one needs to look closely at three basic principles that guided his life. These are ahimsa, satyagraha, and tapasya. All of 15 these principles were deeply embedded in his religious beliefs and permeated all he did in his personal and public life. Cultivation of this virtue of ahimsa may need long practice, even extending to several generations. Why can people not see that if the sum total of the world’s activities was destructive, it would have come to end long ago? Love, otherwise ahimsa, sustains this planet. The term satyagraha has two connotations. While satyagraha can be viewed as a political action, it also is an integral part of Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. In this context, Gandhi translates it as “holding onto truth”. Since truth was viewed as soul or spirit, Gandhi also considered satyagraha to be a truth-force or soul-force in which humans needed to strive for absolute truth on a continual basis throughout life. Tapasya involves the principle of self-suffering in that one is willing to suffer for one’s goals (Nakhre, 1982). Ahimsa and tapasya or satyagraha are the characteristics of the means to ascertain absolute truth in one’s life. Tapasya involves a willingness to accept the burden of suffering on oneself rather than one’s opponent in a conflict in order to break the cycle of violence with a minimal amount of total violence (Nakhre, 1982). 4.2.2 How is nonviolence dealt with in the selected works of Martin Luther King, Jr.? According to King, there are 6 principles of nonviolence: 1) nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. 2) nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding. 3) nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people. Nonviolence holds that evildoers are also 16 victims. 4) nonviolence holds that voluntary suffering can educate and transform 5) nonviolence chooses love instead of hate. Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as of the body. 6) nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice. 4.3. What humanitarian issues are given focus on each of the selections? 4.3.1. What humanitarian issues are given focus on the selections of Mahatma Gandhi? Humanitarian issues are given focus on each of the selections of Mahatma Gandhi include struggle Against Racial Inequality in South Africa; Struggle for Economic Justice in India; Struggle for the Abolition of the Caste System in India; Struggle Against Unfair Taxes in India; Struggle for Increased Salt Tariff; Struggle to Correct Economic Injustice in Bardgli, India; Struggle for India’s Independence. 4.3.2. What humanitarian issues are given focus on the selections of Martin Luther King,Jr? Humanitarian issues are given focus on the selections of Martin Luther King, Jr contain Struggle Against Racial Discrimination in Montgomery, United States and Struggle for Desegregation. 4.4. What literary devices are used by the writers in projecting the humanitarian issues particularly nonviolence? Rhetoric is often used as a tool by speakers who attempt to persuade or motivate an audience in certain situations; it is an art of 17 winning the soul by discourse, according to Plato. The use of logic, emotion and virtue are three most powerful elements of the art of rhetoric. These are the tools that many believe are seen in both Gandhi’s and King’s movements. Ethos is a rhetorical strategy which focuses on an appeal to ethics. It is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader. Pathos is another rhetorical scheme which centers on an appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response. Logos, on the other hand, is a rhetorical strategy which emphasizes on an appeal to logic. It is a way of persuading an audience by reason. 4.5. What teachings on nonviolence maybe drawn from the analysis which shall benefit Vietnamese students? Gandhi and Luther King’s selected works show the major philosophical principles as they pertain to nonviolence. For the Vietnamese students to understand Gandhi’s nonviolent actions, they must first understand the ideas, concepts, and values that underpin his nonviolent philosophy. By drawing out the teachings on nonviolence from the selected works, nonviolence is here defined as using force to provoke opponents into changing their beliefs and actions without intentionally harming them, but instead by exercising the transforming power of intentional self-suffering. The Vietnamese need to listen to the wisdom embodied in the writings of these nonviolent advocates. It is the intent of this study to open up a gate of wisdom to the Vietnamese people. The value of 18 these advocates’ letters and speeches will not only get deeply involved in the relationship between the wisdom of the East and West. They are the expressions of great minds that are challenging and worthy of dedication and appreciation for posterity. The researcher, thus, in faithful syntheses of the readings on man has found strength and inspiration to effect change through literary explorations and dimensions of writer who engaged in the pages. CHAPTER V SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS SUMMARY This study is an analysis of nonviolence gleaned in the selected works of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the identification of the teachings on nonviolence that maybe drawn from the analysis which shall benefit Vietnamese students. Specifically, the study sought answers to the following questions: 1. What is the historical root of nonviolence in India and America? 2. How is nonviolence dealt with in the selected works of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.? 3. What humanitarian issues are given focus on each of the selections? 4. What literary devices are used by the writers in projecting the humanitarian issues particularly nonviolence?