Feminist Concerns in the Poetry of Parveen Shakir

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.

Female Fantasia in Indian English poetry, 2015

The subject of this article is to capture the voice of feminine sensibilities and confessionality in women poets and their poetry; while the article aims to select two female writers Kamala Das (1934 -2009) and Imtiaz Dharker (1954 for the abridgement of this research. Kamala Das and Imtiaz Dharker represent that part of the feminine sensibility, through their poetry, which arouses a peculiar kind of curiosity and self identification among the readers. The mystical flavour of feminine issues, that they lay bare, as well as the identities they portray brings out the complexities of being a woman. Although their works depict the predicament of the self, they also problematize the world of men and their polarized narratives. The poetic expression of fantasia by men and women are radically different; which is stylistically and thematically dissimilar because of their biological and sociological difference in the society. The male fantasia in poetry indulges in various stylistic features and shared thematic domains concerning the world of men, while female fantasia in poetry revolves around the myriad thematic articulations concerning the domestic life, societal interactions and the self of a woman. But what needs mention as a footnote, is with a very few number of published poetries by women poets, which are positively reviewed and filtered by editors (mostly male critics) coupled with the individual oeuvre of every women poet; research in this dimension becomes increasingly complex. The concept of 'fantasia' in this research, means a genre of literature -verse, which is not in a particular form, but articulated according to the unrestricted feelings of fancy by the poet, incorporating several themes, familiar or unfamiliar in nature. The modern and post modern reflection of fantasia, are coloured and opinionated on the equation between the self and the

2015

From Toru Dutt to Kamla Das and from Sarojini Naidu to Suniti Namjoshi, women writers in English display a poignant, ironic and profound collective voice against the institutional subjugation of women in the Indian society. Apart from challenging the phallogocentic discourse of Indian writings amidst the growing consciousness of female marginalization, social discrimination, sexual oppression, gender distinction and bigotry, these writers blatantly question the patriarchal territoriality, reject gender stereotyping and dismantle the oppressive social and physical segregation of the two sexes the superior, authoritative and domineering men, and the subaltern, sub human, self effacing women. Consequently, women’s struggle for freedom from the religious and social prescripts, self-identity and realization, pursuit for equity and freedom occur as recurring themes in the contemporary Indian English poetry.

University of Kurdistan, 2022

In the early twentieth century, with the rise of women's issues in the continuation of the world's feminist movements, women's literature was formed in Iran and the Arab world. Women's issues in Persian and Arabic poetry first appeared in the poems of Forough Farrokhzad and Ghada al-Samman. Later, Simin Behbahani in Persian literature and Souad al-Sabah in Arabic became famous poets in the framework of liberal feminism and gave a new interpretation of women's desires and problems. Challenging gender discrimination, they have raised the issue of human equality in a reformist and principled manner. This article has analyzed and compared the components of feminist criticism in the poetry of two poets with a descriptive-analytical method and a comparative approach. Discrimination due to misconceptions about love, marriage, and the emphasis on awareness, freedom, individual and identity independence, and changing attitudes are among the most important themes of two poets. Because of their social commonalities, beliefs, lived experiences, traditions, and similar circumstances, they have described the status and position of women with highly realistic conceptions of common themes. The critical point of view and the style of expression of both poets are non-iconoclastic and in accordance with liberal feminism. comparative literature, contemporary poetry, feminist criticism, Simin Behbahani, Souad al-Sabah.

2011

Indian poetry in English by women has undergone several phases of experimentations in terms of themes and expression in the last sixty years. Remarkable changes in domestic, professional and public spheres are responsible for the depiction of varied hues and colours of human life on the poetic canvas. A host of stylistic and thematic novelty has marked the growth of Indian poetry from its inception during colonial days down to the post-independence and post-modern periods. Increased metropolitan activities, urbane lifestyles , globalization, discotheque and café culture, hi-tech gizmos and gadgets for communication, internet along with exposure of mass media and the recent inter-disciplinary advancements in the fields like sociology, physiology, psychology and anthropology have not only broadened the mind-sets of the people but have also revolutionized the modern life and literature. The present paper is a critique of the poetry by Mamta Kalia, Sudha Iyer and Imtiaz Dharker. These three women represent three successive generations of women-poets. Mamta Kalia wrote in seventies, Sudha Iyer wrote in nineties while Imtiaz Dharker started in eighties and is still penning poetry. All these women-poets exhibit resistance towards the orthodox social and religious codes which debilitate woman's spirit and negate her identity outside the role of a mother/wife/lover. Kamala Das is indisputably the first Indian woman-poet who shocked and mesmerized readers with her highly original, confessional, uninhibited and severely introspective mode of poetic expression. Deriving inspiration from Das, the women poets started questioning the patriarchal system and began to articulate resistance and self-confidence through their writings. All the three women poets under study have marked skill in the use of language and creative expression, characterized by variations in versification, metre, line-length, syntax and use of other poetic devices. The critical appraisal of their poems includes the discussion on their innovations of style, form and technique. Mamta Kalia has published two volumes of English poems so far, namely Tribute to Papa and Other Poems (Calcutta: WW, 1970) and Poems' 78 (Calcutta: WW, 1978). To her,

Empowerment: a Creative Matter, 2013

There is a charming myth connected with the Creation of Woman by Brahma, who, in his generosity, wished to give man a companion. Having exhausted all the material in the creation of man, he borrowed several components from his bountiful creation, Nature, and made woman out of them. Hence the reference to Woman as “Prakriti”. After abortive efforts on Man’s part to adjust with the woman, Brahma rebuked him, “if you cannot live with her, neither can you live without her”. This primordial myth carries an unmistakable implication of the need for continual adjustment in Man-woman relationship. Even in these days, when so much has been said about the women’s issues etc/:, a gender-identity based study of literature has its own raison d’etre. The image of woman empowerment in Oriya literature, specifically poetry, emerges out of the existing world. The study has attempted to trace links of women empowerment in poetry. It serves a double purpose – shows which way the writer’s sensibility works and whether over the ages there has been a change in it. It also serves as a mirror to the society in which we exist. This study serves as a step in the radiating of self-awareness, self observation and self-appraisal for woman in general and as a meaningful comment on the creative effort of writers. “One peculiarity of the images of women,” says Mary Ann Fergusson,” throughout history is that social stereotypes have been reinforced by archetypes. Another way of putting this would be to say that in every age, woman has been seen primarily as mother, wife, mistress, sex object – their roles in relationship to men.” Roles outside this, i.e. woman as an achiever, leader or as a strong individual are, by and large, either non-existent or rare. They are also exceptions and represent the extra-ordinary types and not the average ones. In India too, both men and women writers have seen women in these relationships. Sociologists regard India as a traditionally male-dominated society where individual rights are subordinated to group or social role expectations. A woman’s individual self has very little recognition and self-effacement is her normal way of life. Indian woman too, as a part of that set-up has accepted it and lived with it for ages as is revealed in the works of Madhavi Dasi, Brundabati Dasi and Nishankaray Rani. By and large, in the ancient history of India, women have been deified, glorified and also regarded as myths. However, in reality, most of the times a contradictory state of affairs also existed. There was and perhaps is a duality in the projection of women in literature. Along with conventional types, there are also protesting women characters as revealed in the poems of Aparna, Sarala and Kuntala.

Forough Farrokhzad and Kishwar Naheed astonishingly share themes and issues in their poetry. They are considered as the major and the successful feminist voices in their countries. They belong to the same period, age and gender who attempted to gain a voice for their country women.A comparative study is required to measure their contribution to the feminism. This paper attempts to provide a different angle of feminism as it is intended to analyze and interpret patriarchy and objectification of women displayed in their selected poems which might help to understand their poetry better. Moreover, the paper is aimedto analyze and interpret their selected poetry as responses to the nuances and effects of patriarchy and objectification of women and to find out different shades of patriarchyandobjectification of women displayed in the selected poetry.The researchershave placed the voices and words under a microscope and found how the works release and reveal these major issues in their various forms. Keywords:Comparative Study, Forough Farrokhzad, Kishwar Naheed, patriarchy, Objectification

Akshara, No. 11-12, 2019

The present paper peeps into the poetry of Kamala Das where she mainly deals with the feminist voice and the 'women questions' of love. She talks about the unsentimental, uninhibited expression of love, sex, emotional sterility in marital relationship. She talks about the trials and tribulations of the woman who struggles hard to find a place in the male dominated society. In her poetry, she not only expresses her feminine sensibility but the unfulfilled desires lying dormant in the unconscious mind. Her candid confessional revelations give a new dimension to her poetry. She explores herself through self-introduction and self-analysis. This paper explores the female psyche where rests an anxiety to care for her 'self' and to carve a space for herself in the patriarchal society. It depicts the agony of woman's heart, her emotional insecurity and loneliness. The poetry of Kamala Das is remarkable for the woman's quest for freedom and demand for the status of a human being.

2015

Present research paper tends to do a Marxist-Feminist analysis of the selected poems of an Indian Urdu-Hindi film lyrist—Sahir Ludhianvi i . Marxism and Feminism—both deal with the issue of power relation between the powerful and the powerless, and his poetry seems to be the poetry for the oppressed class. Marxism deals with the issue of class conflict wh343asFeminismdeals with the issue of gender. The analysis of the poetry also cites the references from Ludhianvi’s biography. Besides it, the research explores that as a whole his poetry is the representative of his political ideas as a Progressive Writer , but specifically his dealing with the theme of women emancipation is remarkable. The research concludes that Ludhianvi’s representation of women is quite genuine and he does not conceal any fact from his readers. Moreover, he not only presents the gloomy picture of women being exploited in the brothels, in the palaces of the bourgeois society, and, historically, in the courts of ...

Orientalistica

This essay aims at understanding the development and struggles of a ‘female voice’ within Urdu poetic tradition through the writings of women poets of the Nineteenth century in contrast to the women poets of the twentieth-century feminist movement. The women in traditional Urdu poetry have remained a silent cruel beloved, the image offered is that of a ‘feckless beloved, endowed with heavenly beauty, reigned: fair to face, doe-eyed, dark hair, tall and willowy, a woman who vacillated from indifference, shyness and modesty to wanton cruelty. The essay is an attempt to understand the level of autonomy of the female voice in the poems of women poets through the years. To portray the development of a feminine expression in Urdu poetry the paper will be ranging from the poems of tawaifs (courtesan) of the eighteenth century like Mah Laqa Chanda, their attempts to acquire a place within the patrilineal Urdu literary tradition; the rekhti tradition where men wrote poems in a female voice, ...