Literary Druid
A Peer-Reviewed International Journal of English Language and Literature
Volume- 4, Issue- 3, August-2022
1. Postmodern Feminism in Sudha Murty’s Mahashweta and Gently falls the Bakula
Mrs. R. Ananthalakshmi, Assistant Professor of English
N.M.S. Sermathai Vasan College for Women Madurai – 12.
Abstract
Postmodern Feminism is an amalgamation of postmodern ideas and feminism. This theory declines to extend one elucidation for this striking theory to confirm the code. Postmodern feminists never give importance to all the feminist ideas that give a distinct clarification for women’s maltreatment and there are no biological differences among the critics. Sudha is a famous writer in Kannada and the English language. She is also a philanthropist and a distinguished leader in the computer sector. She is credited with the most respected Padma Shri award for her social work and the notable R.K.Narayan award for her literary works in the year 2006. She has also received the Lifetime Achievement award for her talent. Sudha Murty’s novels Mahashweta and Gently falls the Bakula give a grand picture of the mental and physical agonies of the female protagonists. Mahashweta tells about the superstitious beliefs and sufferings of Anupama and later how she created a new happy life for herself. Gently falls the Bakula portrays the protagonist who was trapped in a loveless and sophisticated life. Both of them discuss the sufferings of women in society and their incarnation into a brave and strong minds to face tribulations in their individual life. The protagonists of her novels are ordinary women who effectively handle extraordinary responsibilities and problems and emerge as new beings with western education and culture. Hence, this article decodes the thirst for knowledge in women and the anxieties in women’s life that make a way for a new feminine literary tradition known as Postmodern Feminism.
Kerwords: Postmodern Feminism, Sudha Murty, Mahashweta, Gently falls the Bakula.
2. A Sketch of Life: A Reading of Rasasundari Devi's Amar Jiban
Dr. Aswathy,, Assistant Professor in English, MES KEVEEYAM College, Valanchery, Malappuram, Affliated to the University of Calicut, Kerala.
Abstract
In the history of every women’s writing, there is a tale of struggle, sacrifice and self-discovery. Writing about one’s life seems to be interesting but it becomes so astonishing when a nineteenth century woman in India had experimented it. Life writing has recently attained the attention of scholars from various disciplines and it has gone out various changes. Life writing is a narrative account of one’s life and it is a self-conscious autobiographical writing. This paper tries to read a few chapters from Rasasundari Devi’s Autobiography Amar Jiban (My Life).It is so curious to know about the life of an uneducated woman, who wrote an autobiography in Bengali and got her work published. The paper discusses the socio political situation existed in Pre Independent India and how Rasasundari Devi had overcome all those challenges to achieve her dream. Her voice is the voice of a subdued female. The process of writing her life made her to realize her self. The book is a reflection of all taboos that hinder the growth and self-development of women. Amar Jiban is a singular literary effort by a woman to bring her identity in the public sphere. Unlike other famous autobiographies by men, Rasasundari Devi’s is entirely different as it portrays her original sketch of life and she is a representative of the whole community of subdued women. This paper analyses her work from a feminist lens.
Keywords: Life writing, Private life, Self-narration, Women education.
3. The Subjugation of Muslim Women as ‘other’ in Qaisra Shahraz’s
The Holy Woman
Daniya Mumtaz & Jasmeen Kaur, Research Scholars, School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Sharda University, Greater Noida.
Abstract
The research probes the anguish of Muslim women through the character Zarri Bano from “The Holy Woman” which represents the socially constructed norms under the name of religion to supply assured directions to women. The study scrutinizes the patriarchal norms that govern cultural and religious practices to maintain male hegemony in Pakistani society. It also depicts the role of women and their objectification in the society of Pakistan. The research examines how women’s stature is confined to the role of mother and daughter in Pakistani society, however, when they detract from the established standards, their bodies are forced into slavery and identities are disfigured by power mechanisms. Patriarchy uses a range of methods to control and vanquish women, particularly comparing honour and dignity with a woman's body and trusting chastity as the ultimate good. The study targets to determine how Zarri Bano survives social and sexual domination by opposing the existing norms under the name of culture and religion. Simon de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex initiates to analyze the tussle between women and the society where a woman is subjugated as ‘other’ taking into consideration the theory of gender and sex.
Keywords: Muslim women, Suppression, Sexuality, Patriarchy, Marginalization.
4. Gender Consciousness in Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupe’
Dr. B. Kavya, Lecturer in English, SKR Boys Govt. PU College,
KR.Nagar, Mysuru, Karnataka.
Abstract
The paper is a study on gender-specific issues about the patriarchal society. Anita Nair is a well-known Indian Feminist writer in English. She became popular through her novels A Better Man, Mistress and Lessons in Forgetting. “Ladie’s Coupe’” (2001) is a story of Akhila who is travelling alone to Kanyakumari for the first time and communicates with other five ladies in a ladies' compartment. These five ladies Sheela Vasudevan, Prabha Devi, Janaki Prabhakar, Margaret Paulraj and Marikolanth reveal their stories to Akhila which teaches her to determine a life of her own. Being a spinster she was always haunted by a question ‘can a woman live herself’? and finally, she finds answer to this. Hence, this paper pursues to ponder over the glimpses of gender consciousness found in the novel “Ladies Coupe’".
Keywords: Gender Roles, Feminism, Patriarchy.
5. Sensing the Unheeded Cries of Men in Bama’s Sangati
Ms N. Tharani, Assistant Professor, Department of English Literature, Nyruthi Arts and Science College, Annur, Coimbatore.
Abstract
Literature, being an influential medium of communication transfers feelings, emotions and the strong viewpoint of a writer to society and reliably aligns human life. It progresses the everyday essential abilities that life requires which may regularly contain great and terrible encounters. Dalit Literature in India usually portrays men and women characters as poignant and pathetic creatures that are peeved and dominated by upper caste men and women. Concerning the affliction of women, Dalit writers represent women as sympathetic characters who are tortured by society. At the same time, the agony of Dalit men in Dalit Literature has less focus and is not considered by the critics. For instance, Velutha in “The God of Small Things” and Kochuraman in “Kocharethi” who experienced different sorts of perennial problems in their lives because of their caste is being left unnoticed by focusing on women’s issues. Bama, a promising Dalit writer is seen as a representative of all the Dalits, especially in Tamilnadu. Her language is informal and also colloquial in style through which she brings out the plights of the people belonging to the Dalit community Her “Sangati” talks about unheard archives of men and women of Dalit people. Through this work, Bama attempts to bob back the bifold persecution of Dalit women. Not only from the feministic point of view, but Bama also concentrates on the male victimization that leads the character to attain traumatization. Men’s agony is usually hidden in this community as they are portrayed as the characters that show their emotional rage and affect with humiliation. The researcher tries to prove that it is not only the women who suffer in the Dalit community but also the men whose agony and cries are hidden and unheeded.
Keywords: Bama, Sangati, Upper-caste Dominance, Traumatization, Emotional Rage.