Women,Poetry and Empowerment

Indian women writers have significant contribution in Indian English Writings. Indian literary scene has witnessed a tremendous change as far as women writers’ role. Women writings are concerned with the status of women in India. The ups and downs in these writers’ life have emphasized much upon the socio-cultural and psychological aspects. Women’s literature in Indian English Studies presents many women characters as role models or as silenced voices. This research paper takes into account the Indian women writers’ perspective of women’s world. For the study the following works have been selected - the novel Cry, the Peacock which explores the sociological state of the protagonist, Maya. She reflects internal conflicting realities of her psyche in de-motivational or subversive terms. The novel is concerned with a modern new woman’s rejection of her priorities and subsequently her failure on account of her meaninglessness in her thoughts, choices and deeds. The novel The God of Small Things portrays the politics of caste/gender and its effects on the marginalized, deprived woman in context of informalization and feminization of labour, her body and her ‘Self’. Manjula Padmanabhan’s play Harvest delves deep inside the pains, anguish of the poverty-stricken family that falls victim to the commoditization of the Third World body; while it also visualizes the futuristic approach of woman to counter the machines that may likely to govern human body in modern times. The Selected Poems of Kamala Das represent the wishes, aspirations, individuality, ambiguity and frustration. She is concerned with the women’s status in the men’s world. This research paper will attempt to find insights into the subjective experiences expressed in the writings, and same will be investigated as a source of self-discovery of these authors and their creative urge to find their space in public sphere. Other aspects such as - woman’s subjugated past, their voice breaking the silence, resisting the patriarchy and finding a female tradition and their imagined stereo- typed image will also be discussed. Keywords: Indian English Literary Studies, Women Writers, Gender-autonomy, Discriminatory doctrines

If the twentieth century afforded great change due to wars and decolonization, a great deal of the twenty-first century’s upheaval comes from globalization and technology on one hand and a new kind of warfare labelled terrorism on the other. The purpose of the research is to examine against the backdrop of this development, to what extent the image or construct of a woman has changed in India for readers, particularly by studying the way it has been depicted in the writing of Indian women authors. The fact that recently these authors have received international acclaim in the form of awards makes it even more important to understand how readers all over the world and India perceive the image of an Indian woman. In short how are Indian women being positioned? The texts studied are: The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, who is a second generation immigrant; The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, a first generation immigrant; Ladies Coupé by Anita Nair and Difficult Daughters by Manju Kapur, both of whom are Indian nationals residing in India with a certain amount of western education, the latter being a ‘traditional’ intellectual. The last chapter deals with the ‘organic’ intellectual focussing particularly on two contrasting short stories—“The Hunt” and “Statue” by Mahasweta Devi. However, to substantiate the hypothesis and for the purposes of comparison, the study also takes a brief look at other novels by Arundhati Roy, Sudha Murty, Lalithambika Antherjanam, Sharmila Rege, Baby Halder and P. Sivakami, keeping in mind that many of these works are translations. The approach adopted is a close reading of the texts focussing on the female characters, themes and attitudes. On this basis, the theoretical approach adopted is the writer’s interpretation of Hegel’s master-slave dialectics and Fanon’s reinterpretation of the same, Freud’s love-hate binaries, Gramsci’s differentiation between the ‘traditional’ intellectual and ‘organic’ intellectual and Spivak’s vision regarding the role of the humanities. According to Hegel, consciousness does not exist in isolation but is always dependent on another for a sense of selfhood. As there is injustice and an imbalance of power in this world, the two consciousnesses engaged with each other will assume the roles of master and slave with respect to each other. The injustice inevitably results in a struggle for selfhood on the part of the slave; one way this selfhood can be attained is through recognition of the slave’s labour. A defining emotion in this relationship is fear and it is only by overcoming fear that the slave can break free. The ultimate fear is that of death. In addition to the instinct for domination, Freud does not see the true self as one entity but as in Marx, it is a balance between contradictory forces and in this case the dialectic is between Eros—the love instinct, and Thanatos—the death one. For Antonio Gramsci, a solution or an instrument of change is the ‘organic’ intellectual. The purpose of an intellectual is not to be “specialised” but to become “directive” that is one who is political and driven to bring about change. However, in the face of globalization and the crisis that it brings with inequality, war and terrorism, according to Spivak, hope is available through education in the humanities, for it is through the humanities that one can bring about “the empowerment of an informed imagination” (Spivak, “Righting Wrongs” 2). The aim of the research is to try and understand whether western education helps to envision a new-age woman, whom this study defines as self-reliant, able to question roles and norms society has set for her, thinks independently and uses her own free will to choose to live life for herself rather than be subservient to the needs of her husband and family, or is this education an impediment. Thus in addition to intellectual and economic independence, she must be emotionally independent as well. It must be stressed that this concept of new-age is an ideal which is strived for but never actualized because it is dynamic and constantly changing over space and time. Also one must be wary of the tendency to generalize women who vary on the basis of geography, race, economics, caste and so on. The thesis statement explored is that although in some cases western educated Indian women may ostensibly live more liberated lives, the characters or images of women in the novels by the selected writers are more circumscribed as women. Another concern of the study is the difference between lived and written reality. A questionnaire based on the movie The Namesake taken by a community of informed readers in Pune indicated that in reality the image of the woman may have changed on the page but not in the minds of women and hence paradoxically in reality the concept of ‘new-age’ is a myth. The key women protagonists analysed are Ashima and Moushumi from The Namesake; Sai, her grandmother Nimi and her mother along with Noni and Lola in The Inheritance of Loss; Akhila and her companions in the coupé in the novel Ladies Coupé and Mary in ‘The Hunt’ and Dulali in ‘Statues’. The research hopes to indicate, that the most revolutionary change in the image is captured in the characters drawn by the Indian woman who is an ‘organic’ intellectual. By working intimately with the subaltern, she is aware of the urgency for change unlike a more privileged woman. She functions as a “permanent persuader” who is an instrument of change. Thus perhaps one answer to the conundrum could be that the writing of the ‘organic’ intellectual has the potential to capture one of the myriad images of a new-age Indian woman. As for a definite final one, perhaps it can never be found as it will always be dynamically changing and evolving and hopefully aspiring towards an ideal concept akin to the one defined by the study

International Journal of Research in Engineering, IT and Social Sciences, 2019

A woman is a dawn of light where all the darkness disappears. She is the sun that enlightens everyone and beholds the ability to vanish all the fear that grows in darkness of mind. Women are essentially the origin of life. No one can cast a doubt on the substantiality of women that they are the ultimate creators of this very existence. The woman strengthens the foundation of family as a mother, daughter, sister, and wife embracing everyone with the unconditional love. If allowed to grow their potential they not only enhance a women's world as writers, entrepreneurs, mystics, painters, counselors, scientists but can also provide a better vision to the men's world. The following paper highlights the transformation of women from the Vedic ages to the Contemporary Era.

Indian Imagination of Jayanta Mahapatra, 2006

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2023

This research paper explores the portrayal of women in Indian literature through a comparative analysis of the works of Tagore, R.K. Narayan, and Anita Desai. Using a qualitative research design and a thematic approach to analysis, this study examines the portrayal of female characters, their roles and relationships in the selected works. The paper provides a critical review of the literature on the portrayal of women in Indian literature and identifies gaps in the literature, which this study seeks to address. The findings of this study reveal that the works of Tagore, R.K. Narayan, and Anita Desai depict women in diverse roles and explore themes such as gender, identity, power, and agency. Furthermore, the comparative analysis of the works highlights similarities and differences in the portrayal of women and reveals the influence of cultural and historical contexts. This study contributes to the understanding of the portrayal of women in Indian literature and provides insights into the challenges and opportunities for promoting gender equality in literature and society.

CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research - Zenodo, 2022

The Indian women writers tried to mold their authority in a male-dominated situation as best as it is possible to them. They know very well that it is a very difficult path. As that the women had to break through years of male dominance. Taboos and beliefs had heavily saturated society. Literature has witnessed the roles of women evolving through the ages, but until recent times, most of the Published writers were men and the Interpretation of women in literature was without a doubt biased. A lot of it must be blamed on the fact that in the ancient world. Women writers have interpreted the recurring female experiences in their writings, and it affected the cultural and language patterns of Indian literature. They expressed the role and position of women through their writings in English. The main areas that have been considered in this research paper include, the role of women in the field of English literature. Women have been a ground where different ideological and various socioculture and political movements have been communicated and redefined and manifested themselves they have been using this ground and turning it towards their own gain.

People belonging to literature have always been an important part of the society and Indian women are not an exception. The Indian literature landscape has never been shaped equally by both genders, with the male perspective dominating. However, women India broke all the barriers and left their mark on Indian literature. The women in India have made notable contribution to literature, and their contribution is well appreciated in all literary circles. Traditionally, the work of Indian Women Writers has been undervalued due to patriarchal assumptions about the superior worth of male. The work of the women writers has not been given its due importance in the past, most probably due to male chauvinism. In the past, the basic subject matter of women writers was the feelings of a woman while she is confined in the walls of a house, while the main authors used to write on vibrant themes. So the work of male authors was able to collect more praise from the reade

Women And Diversity, 2021

The study of Indian literature is till date considered a marginal area among interdisciplinary studies in India. However, scholars from social sciences have recently set their attention towards this discipline with an enhanced interest. This unprecedented step has in turn enlarged the scope of the discourse on literary forms, traditions, texts and languages. If we focus on problematizing the ‘literariness’ of texts as the paradigm shift ushered in by social scientists of the last decade, interestingly we are going to dig the roots of Indian literary history. The present study proposes to explore and rethink the role of Indian women in the making of an identity in Indian literature by giving it a new dimension which is personal as well political, individual as well as social, and, historical as well as modern. The encounter with the west served as a catalyst for the novel form and we find many women-centred novels where protagonists are powerful women and the authors, whether male or female, equally stand for feminine spirit in their works since the beginning of 19th century in India. The voice of Indian women writers not only came to deal with social and cultural issues but also grappled with historical, psychological, philosophical and much more as their themes around mankind. How this voice of resistance turned out to be a process of metamorphosis which proved pivotal in the history of Indian novel writing by women and about women? Who were the pillars that laid the foundation of this change and what urged them to create a space for themselves? The paper attempts to probe into these and a few similar issues with a view to throw light on the significant contribution made by Indian women writers who were successful to carve a niche for themselves.

Chanchal Hooda

Today we can see many women working at various departments. They are considered capable to do any work. But before a century what was the condition of women? Were they allowed to do jobs instead of household chores? Were they equally treated to men? Were they quite confident? I think all these questions have a very simple and a pet answer and that is "No". Not only in our Indian society but also in the whole world the condition of women was worst. And to some extent, it still exists in some places of this so called digitalized country. But at many places the condition of women has improved a lot. They are doing extremely well with their skills and potential in every field of life. Even they are joining the forces too. They don't want to be seated at home. What are the factors behind these changes in our Indian society? There might have been so many factors and among these factors it is English literature of course that created a lot of opportunities to women to prove themselves at different levels. I, with the help of this article, will try to bring the light on the role of English literature in improving as well as upgrading Indian women's condition. Literature is the best way to highlight any issue or reiterate any position. It presents the problems existing in the society so that people become aware of the existing problems and take the suitable step to bring reformation in the society. There are so many examples that show how various writers, poets, dramatists, playwrights and novelists have brought reformation. If we compare the condition of women between the earlier ages and this age, we will find that women are contributing their share in the development of various disciplines. In Bollywood also we notice now-a-days that women are playing the lead roles instead of submissive and suppressed roles. They are seen entering late night dinner party, having drinks, working in night shift and so on. It is true that our history records a number of instances of outstanding women like so on who accomplished great feats in the spheres of literature, art, philosophy, administration and even warfare. These are the names of great Indian women. Other names are, Jahanara Begum-the partisan of Shikoh, Roshan Ara-the partisan of Aurangzeb and Jija Bai, the mother of Shivaji, etc. Jija Bai is considered typical of Indian womanhood. We can add a few names also to the list. However, these women belonged to the royal and aristocratic families of society and hence were free from the  Assistant Professor of English, UIET, Maharshi Dayanand University Rohtak

Abstract Women and literature are closely related to each other because it requires a lot of artistic creativity to be good at literature and women are too good when it comes to artistic creativity. Women novelists from India are the one to add a new dimension to the English literature of India. Obviously, the current Indian English literature is due to the effort of many prolific writers. At the time, when novels were not so popular in the world of literature, women writers in India used to create lyrics for songs, write short stories, and small plays too. Profound literary personalities believe that women writers were the one who supported the old tradition of narrating tales in India. In between the 19th century, more women became English writers, and as the time went on, women writers were able to inculcate the emotions of ladies in their writings. This had a great impact on the language patterns of Indian literature. Women writers introduced new styles in Indian writing, and such novels have become very popular among the Indian readers these days

Draupadi established form of women from the great Indian classic Mahabharata has got its significance narratives and characterization of a women lead by five warriors of called Pandus and the story of Draupadi of ancient oppressive male chauvinist society has been transformed into a new shape, but not much different, by Mahasweta Devi. Since then Draupadi has found a place of strong incarnation in the contemporary world of dominance to react and counterattack on the rigid values of deep rooted male authorized society of India. Mahasweta Devi needs no introduction but her influence over the society through her writing and socio-political actives drawn a major impact noting her literary works like Hajar Churashir Maa, Rudaali, Jhansir Rani, Old Woman, The Breast Stories, Aranyer Adhikar and list goes on to hinder upon the existing status of women. Devi's breath left her mortal body minus life in July 2016 which is marked as coming end of an era of resistance and presentation of every corner of the lives around; but most specifically out of her innumerous works, Draupadi made her absence felt when a play was staged in a department of English in centrally funded university in north of India in the milieu of tension prevails on the border with neighbor country. The fact is many of the Devi's works has been adapted on big and small screens like Sunghursh, Rudaali, Hazaar Chaurasi KI Maa, Ullas and may more but this issue of stage adaptation of Draupadi, short story, has turned into storm for the people who staged the play. This paper tries to locate the differences between imagined realities in literature of the society and the real consciousness of male centered domain towards the perception of human lives associated with women.

International Journal of Humanities in Technical Education, 2020

This paper attempts to examine the issues of feminism in India and the position of women in the Indian society in the light of Kamala Das’s poetry. Post-Independence, Indian women writers have exhibited a strong sense of freedom and self-dependence of thought and action in their works. Kamala Das’s poetry is a symbol of reliance, intellectual freedom and empowerment of Indian women. This is an endeavour to analyse how Kamala Das redefines womanhood in her poetry through the use of concrete imagery, symbols and her crisp and novel ideas about women, their position in a male-dominated Indian society and many other issues surrounding her and many other women of the country. Key-words: Feminism, Womanhood, Kamala Das, Poetry, Indian Writing in English.

2012

Indian writing in English is a relatively-recent phenomena, as far as literature goes. Though one can trace such writers in India to a century back, Indian writing in English has come into force only in the last couple of decades or so. Some of these writers have achieved worldwide fame, some national, and others perhaps have to be content with a more constricted circle. The very definition of the adjective Indian here is hazy. Many of these writers neither live in India, nor are Indian citizens. To get around this haziness, I will cast my net as wide as possible and include all those writers who are related to India be it by origin, or the subject of their writings—whether they admit it or not, whether they like it or not!Indian women novelists have been portraying women in various manifestations. But recently, the remarkable range of India’s most accomplished women writers of post colonial strand has brought a tremendous change in the trend of depicting women characters. Women wri...

International Journal of Development Research, 2021

The strongest and most prominent feminist voices are known in their countries as Kishwar Naheed and Kamala wijeratne, in their poetry, they convey thoughts and issues remarkably about the social status and identity of women in society. This paper is trying to Provide a distinctly feminist perspective like how women identify themselves as a mother, daughter, and wife and she is struggling a lot in society under the name of religion. If power is in the hands of women they lead their life without fear. The biological and social roles of humans are the same but sometimes it is changed because gender is different than sex. Women's identity in society depends on their gender expression, dress, religion, language, and behavior. The object of this paper is to understand and analyze the selected poems of Kishwar Naheed and Kamala Wijeratne whether they are capable of bringing in a new perception of the common experience of women in Pakistan and Srilanka.