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

Thai Nguyen University Batangas State University Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of Philippines LE THI THU HUONG NONVIOLENCE GLEANED FROM SELECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI AN

Thai Nguyen University Batangas State University

Socialist Republic of Vietnam 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

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

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

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

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?

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 violent resistance

non-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

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;

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

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

Works, Martin Luther King, Jr and his Significant Works, Humanitarian Issues, Literary Devices and Historical and Philosophical Approaches in Literary Criticism

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

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

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

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