a transdisciplinary biannual research journal Vol. 2 Issue 2 July 2015 Postgraduate Department of English Manjeri, Malappuram, Kerala. www.kahmunityenglish.in/journals/singularities/ Chief Editor P. K. Babu., Ph. D Associate Professor & Head Postgraduate Dept. of English KAHM Unity Women's College, Manjeri. Members: Dr. K. K. Kunhammad, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Studies in English, Kannur University Mammad. N, Asst. Professor, Dept of English, Govt. College, Malappuram. Dr. Priya. K. Nair, Asst. Professor, Dept. of English, St. Teresa's College, Eranakulam. Aswathi. M . P., Asst. Professor, Dept of English, KAHM Unity Women's College, Manjeri. Advisory Editors: Dr. V. C. Haris School of Letters, M.G. University Kottayam Dr. M. V. Narayanan, Assoc. Professor, Dept of English, University of Calicut. Editor's Note The Singularities is into its fourth issue since it was launched in the January 2014 as a transdisciplinary biannual research Journal. The team of teachers at the English Department of KAHM Unity Women's College, Manjeri, has ensured that the Journal is issued promptly within the time frame we have set for the Journal. Not only have we stuck to the mission, but we have contributed to building writing skill and awareness to Research Writing organising workshops and training sessions in quality writing. The current issue with its core on Film, Women and Literature, carries a range of articles connecting the theme at various nodes. The surge of interest in Films and Women seems to offer a lot to complement each other. There appears to be a lot of interest in Cinema but it seems this is slow in getting translated fully into quality writing from the youngsters. Though we have explorations which indicate the young intellectual trajectories that offer lot of enthusiasm and vigour thought, some of the input, stuck at thematic speculations, we were able to break free with the nudges and prompts. It delights us to add that the next copy will be the International Conference issue with Power as the theme. P. K. Babu., Ph. D Chief Editor Contents 1. Kazeem. H. Fola 7 - 14 Entrenching the Status Quo: The Idea of Immunity In The Yoruba Cultural Experience 2. Dr. Kunhammad. K. K. 15 - 19 The Rhetoric of Disease : J. G. Farrell's Troubles and the Eclipse of Empire 3. Sahdev Luhar 20 - 33 Departments of English and Literary Syllabi: Notes on Cultural Reproduction 4. Vishaka Venkat 34 - 40 A Feminist Inception in Disney Movies: A Move Away from Hegemonic Masculinity? 5. Srividya. S. 41 - 45 (Un)faithful Adaptations: the Road from Udakapola to Thoovanathumbikal 6. Teresa J Heloise 46 - 50 Myriad Man's Vision of the New Woman 7. Shivshankar Rajmohan A. K. 51 - 57 Redefining the Homosexual Discourse: A Reading of Yukio Mishima's Confessions of a Mask 8. Shahina Mol A. K. 58 - 61 (In)Appropriate Femininity and Popular Media: Reading the Performative Identities in Recent Malayalam Film Songs 9. Sajna. P. 62 - 67 Exploring the Biafran Experience in Chimamanda NgoziAdichie's Half of a Yellow Sun 10. Rukhaya. M. K. 68 - 72 Reduplication of Diaspora in Gauri Shinde's English Vinglish 11. Poornima. S. Unni 73 - 81 A Discourse on Egalitarian “New” Indian Woman of Salam Namaste and Ta Ra Rum Pum 12. Jouhar. K. 82 - 85 The Poetics of Pain: Reading Achanurangatha Veedu in the light of Trauma Theory 13. Duna Liss Tom 86 - 90 Rhetoric, Metaphor and Performance: An Analysis of Sarah Joseph's Aathi 14. Ajayi, Olawale Taju 91 - 103 Contemporary Nigerian Poetry in English: Context and Form 15. Ramesh.V. K. 104 - 107 Moyin Kutty Vaidyar: The Poetic Genius in Arabi-Malayalam 16. Dr. Arunlal. K. 108 - 115 Dr. Sunitha Srinivas. C. Memetic Carnival: Indian Commercial Cinema and Cultural Genetic Phenomena Kazeem. H. Fola Entrenching the Status Quo: The Idea of Immunity in The Yoruba Cultural Experience Abstract: Every people the world over is distinctly defined by the ownership of a distinct culture which comprises a set of practices. A people and its culture also presupposes governance which is itself a function of class whose interest(s) is sub served by the laws and ordinances of the land. The thrust of this paper is the examination of the forms of immunity (protection) around the Royalty in the traditional Yoruba society and the implications on the socio- political structures, bearing in mind that the Yoruba nation located within the defunct Oyo Empire, in the present South-West Nigeria had variously experienced both absolute and non- absolute monarchical regimes in her history. This paper concludes that whatever system of government practiced in a place is primarily a function of the culture of the people. By a similar token, the instruments for sustaining such system must also have been sanctioned by them and so jealously guarded so that a once admired heritage of a people is not disparaged. Keywords: Empire, Immunity, Protection, Yoruba, Monarchy. Introduction To properly understand the making and the running of societies, either ancient or modern, we must first understand the social contract concept. The arguments of such philosophers as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are invaluable in this regard. While this theory could be considered as modernistic in time and presentation, the manner it has facilitated our understanding of history, or better-still, precedence cannot be over- emphasized. The social contract theory is very important to the understanding of the establishment of states and the nature of their control. Of importance in this connection is the relationships among the constituent components on the one hand and on the other, the rights and privileges available for the people to enjoy (which must not discountenance their limitations) as well. Indeed, from Thomas Hobbes' postulations in Leviathan, John Locke's arguments in Two Treatises on Government, to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's treatise- Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality among Men, 'society' just as the name implies was a creation of social consensus. In other words, the state came into existence following agreement by people to surrender themselves to a central authority which they vested with some far- reaching powers. Fundamentally, having invested authority in a given body, the powers to make laws, of adjudication, and, enforcement thereof have been transferred. Such body of person(s) whose the power of the state to make laws for the protection of the people is reposed, would naturally, possess the ability to extend the law to spell out his/her own self protection and preservation. This indeed is the argument for the emergence and subsistence of immunity in governance. Kazim. H. Fola, Department of English, O.O.U, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria 7 Singularities Vol.2 Issue 2 July 2015 ISSN 2348 – 3369 Empire and the Imperative of Immunity Empire is a rather difficult concept to define. This is because of the more sweeping metaphorical usage of the term (Scheidel 2006: 2). Therefore, the term has been variously misappropriated to underpin other such political expressions as “republic”, “hegemony”, “city-states” and the likes. Noticeable within the realm of the foregoing description is the use of empire to denote a large-scale business enterprise (i.e. a transnational corporation). In its strictly politically narrow definition which reflects its original Latin source- “imperium” (power, authority), empire is '…a state that is endowed with particular properties'. The term 'state' may require further clarification to differentiate it from some unconventional unions. It is, as used here, …a differentiated set of institutions and personnel, embodying centrality, in the sense that the political relations radiate outwards from a center to a cover territorially demarcated area, over which it claims a monopoly of binding and permanent rule-making, backed up by physical violence. (Weber 1978: 56) Another definition which exemplifies traits different from the above in the manner it emphasizes the dual elements of 'hierarchy' and 'heterogeneity' is that of Michael Doyle which sees empire as, …a relationship, formal or informal in which one state controls the effective political sovereignty of another political; …a system of interaction between two political entities, one of which, the dominant metropole, exerts political control over the internal and external policy- the effective sovereignty- of the other, the subordinate periphery . (1986: 45, 12) Most indirect rule systems find expression within the context above. This is the system under which the imperial powers, most especially Britain, held most African countries such as Nigeria and Ghana during the colonial era. This system was characterized by the use of elites of the colonies (kings, chiefs and some influential but greedy personalities) to run the day-to-day administration of their areas. They make decisions on sundry matters while vital political decisions of sensitive nature are left to the 'final authority' of the empire capital. Another fundamentally important definition of empire is that of Stephen Howe. It is so described because of the manner it incorporates hierarchy and cultural diversity. To Howe, empire is, …a large, composite, multi-ethnic or multinational political unit, usually created by conquest, and divided between dominant center and subordinate, sometimes far distant, peripheries. (2002: 30) While it could be affirmed that center-periphery category is basic to the determination of empire, same cannot be said about cultural diversity. This is in the sense that while cultural diversity is consequential to conquest, it is not a precondition for the making of empire. It is not all empires that are established by the act of conquest. Otherwise, empires whose domination was not predicated on war, for example, may find easy classification impossible. In discussing empire therefore, the de-facto leadership must not be mistaken. Such leadership may be variously named as king, queen, emperor, empress or an oligarchy. 8 Kazeem.