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The Inevitable Hardship Journey of Women in Shashi Deshpande’s Small Remedies
Get PDFThis article explores the poignant depiction of the hardships faced by women in Shashi Deshpande’s novel Small Remedies. Through an in-depth analysis of the characters, narrative, and plot, the researcher underscores how Deshpande skillfully exposes the societal structures that lead to gender inequality in Indian society. Each individual in the world has experienced some form of hardship. There are wounds which cannot be mended or forgotten. Majority of a girl’s life will be suffering, which will follow her around like a bad dream. When kids don’t get the love they need, they feel worthless and a lot of them end up drifting away from their families and becoming rebellious adults. In order to get what they want out of life, they need to be directed, motivated and encouraged both by family and society. Women learn to approach the world more cautiously as a result of their painful experiences. They crave for their parents’ attention and love while they are young. This study examines the impact of hardship and trauma on Savitribai and her daughter Munni in Shashi Deshpande’s Small Remedies. The degree to which the pain disrupts one’s life differs from person to person. The novelist consistently uses her characters to show the range of emotions that arise when living in a patriarchal society, including anguish, wrath, misery, disappointment and distress. Most of her protagonists are lonely introverts. This study emphasises the characters’ disappointments and the childhood trauma that has left an indelible mark on their adulthood. This paper ultimately sheds light on Deshpande’s narrative as a critique of patriarchal society, emphasizing the need for women’s emancipation and self-determination. It offers readers an interpretative lens to understand the novel's thematic richness, its representation of gender dynamics in a traditional Indian context, and its call for reformative societal change
Religion in Begum Rokeya’s Literature: Resemblance with the Marxist Narrative
Get PDFAgainst the dark background of the social exclusion of women, especially Muslim women, Begum Rokeya, the pioneer of women’s emancipation in Bengal, British India in the early 20th century, stood with her enlightenment like a beacon and pushed her way for women’s emancipation from the depths of misery. She lived in a society shrouded by blind religious beliefs and practices where women were deprived of rights and freedom, and were repressed and oppressed in the name of religion. Despite her prevailing leanings toward religious beliefs and practices, she found that a powerful obstacle to women’s freedom stemmed from the misinterpretation of culturally biased religious norms, notions and intentions. She was a strong advocate for the emancipation of the society and especially women of her time. She eloquently expressed her opinion with regard to religious rituals, prevailing sentiments and general public psyche in practice that hindered the progress and emancipation of women as well as the society. Her opinions, propositions, criticisms, and activisms in this regard surprisingly resembled to a great extent that of the predominant Marxist views. In this article, her views and opinions on the dissemination and practice of religious teachings and rituals in the context of the marginalization of women as well as society have been examined and compared with that of the Marxist thoughts, especially those on religion through textual analysis and Marxist allusions
Consciousness of Religion, Mythology and Spirituality: A Study of Prof. Vikas Sharma’s Novel I.A.S. Today
Get PDFLiterature expresses the perceptions, feelings and desires of a writer. Indian English writers have predominantly been culturally conscious of religion. Religion and literature give peace to suffering humanity. I.A.S. Today is a novel written by Prof. Vikas Sharma. This research article delves into the intricate layering of religious, mythological, and spiritual themes present in Prof. Vikas Sharma’s novel I.A.S. Today. Sharma, a prominent figure in contemporary literature, weaves a tale that juxtaposes the bureaucratic life of the Indian Administrative Service (I.A.S.) with profound reflections on India’s rich tapestry of religious and mythological narratives. At the heart of the study is an analysis of how Sharma’s characters navigate the complex moral and spiritual terrain, influenced by ancient tales and modern-day challenges. The narrative isn’t merely a portrayal of administrative life; it becomes a mirror to society, reflecting deeply rooted beliefs, cultural norms, and the internal conflicts individuals face when trying to reconcile their professional and personal aspirations with spiritual growth. Drawing from primary textual references and contextualizing them with classical Indian myths, the article underscores the ways in which the protagonist’s journey in the bureaucratic labyrinth is symbolic of a larger cosmic journey. Sharma’s work raises questions about dharma (duty), karma (action), and moksha (liberation) in the face of modern challenges. Various characters of this novel are influenced by the teachings given in Indian scriptures like The Srimad Bhagvadgita, The Upanishads and The Ramayana. They try to shape themselves by following the teachings and look for the right aim of human life. This paper aims to study the spiritual wisdom given in this novel which will open the right path for present generation. Furthermore, the research highlights Sharma’s innovative approach to storytelling, melding the real with the mythical. Through meticulous character analysis and plot dissection, the article reveals how the novel acts as a conduit for introducing contemporary readers to age-old philosophical questions. By doing so, Sharma not only offers a commentary on the state of present-day bureaucracy but also delves into timeless existential queries. Through this analysis, the article establishes Sharma’s novel as a significant contribution to Indian literature, bridging the ancient and the modern, the mundane, and the spiritual
The Power of Laughter: A Study of the Comedies of Badal Sircar
Get PDFComedy, unlike tragedy, is often overlooked as a lower form of art and less important. But comedy plays crucial role in entertaining as well as making people aware of real-life issues. Badal Sircar (1925-2011) is a widely recognized playwright of post-independence Indian theatre. While there is much scholastic focus and discussion on his absurd dramas and Third Theatre plays, his comedies have been mostly overlooked and have rarely drawn critical attention. By filling this gap in existing literature, the present research establishes the significance and value of Sircar’s comedies. It analyses situational pure comedies as well as black comedies from both the proscenium and the non-proscenium phases, namely Solution X, Boro Pisima, Shanibar, Ram Shyam Jadu, Ballabhpurer Rupkatha, Kabikahini, Bichitranushthan, Jadi Ar Ekbar, Abu Hossain, Hattamalar Oparey, Bagalacharit-manas, and Khat Mat Kring. While giving relief to the daily routines of the audience, Sircar presents serious matters in non-serious ways that simultaneously compel them to think about the surrounding worlds and grave issues (capitalist exploitation, corrupt politicians and hypocritical nature of political parties, dowry deaths, nuclear holocaust, unemployment, middle class aspirations and frustration in life, Brahmans-Dalits conflict, social changes, etc.). The study asserts that comedy cannot be merely dismissed as a non-serious art having no social purpose, but it can prove itself to be a powerful tool in raising socio-political awareness
Modernism-context and Overlooked Literary Manifestations
Get PDFThe following paper discusses the emergence and characteristics of modernism, a dominant trend in art and culture that emerged in the late 19th century. Modernism encompasses various aspects of culture, including high art, criticism, city planning, and more. In literature, modernism represents a reaction against the conventions of realist narrative, moving away from traditional storytelling and embracing new techniques such as interior monologue and showing instead of telling. The research explores the debate on whether modernism has come to an end. Critics argue that it ended around 1930, while others disagree, pointing to the continued emergence of literary studies on modernism and its influence on various literary theories. The concept of modernism is discussed in an interdisciplinary context, encompassing various artistic currents, including symbolism, impressionism, expressionism, and more. The paper also touches upon the development of modernism in different art forms like visual arts, music, and architecture, and its influence on the concept of the “Bauhaus” movement. Furthermore, the paper discusses the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement centered in Harlem, New York, during the early 20th century. It highlights prominent figures of the movement, such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Richard Bruce Nugent, who expressed African American life and culture through various forms of art. The impact of mass culture on modernism is also explored, with references to Mathew Arnold’s concept of culture and anarchy and F.R. Leavis’ criticism of mass civilization and its effect on authentic feeling and responsible thinking. Overall, the paper provides and overview of modernism’s multifaceted nature, its influence on various art forms, and its interaction with societal and cultural shifts during the 20th century
Psycho-Analysis of Indian Woman in the Novels of Kamala Markandaya
Get PDFKamala Markandaya, as a follower of Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Dorothy Richardson, and Henry James, delves deep into the inner workings of her characters to reveal their passions, goals, obsessions, pains, and struggles. Their life on Tuesday or Wednesday is not what it was on Monday or Sunday as various impressions come to their mind from all sides everyday. Chari, Ghosh, Sarojini, Dandekar, Rukmani, Nalini, Helen, Clinton, and others feel worried when they think about the past, the present, and the future. For the most part their previous events torment them and they have an existence of misery and hopelessness. While some impressions are trivial, others are as sharp as steel. As a novelist, she is highly conscious of the form and structure of each novel and hence avoids all useless impressions so as to give order and shape to the novel. She analyses her characters deeply, goes deep down into the inner workings of their mind and emotions. She brings out the struggle going on their mind. Her characters are reflective in nature. They suffer silently the arrows of pain and sufferings thrown by fate on their way. Markandaya displays some of her characters’ obsessions and agonies. She also puts them through travails and difficulties. The characters also go through the journey of attachment and detachment. Almost every aspect of human nature and emotions has been dealt with very minutely by Kamala Markandaya in her novels. Sometimes, she criticizes her characters too for their drawback. Her treatment of her characters is objective, fair, detached and unbiased
Exploring the Traces of Humanism: An Investigation into Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook
Get PDFThis research article dwells upon the exploration of the various colours of humanism as reflected most impressively in Doris Lessing’s most famous novel, The Golden Notebook. During her long-spanning literary career, she did receive a very deep impression and motivation from her contemporary female-writers such as Mary Wollstone Craft, Kate Millet, Elain Showalter, Simone de Beauvoir and Virginia Woolf and some others. Like all these feminist-writers, she too was very deeply concerned with the mental harassment, rape-violence and the sexual exploitation of the females in the existing phallocentric society. She too accelerated the movement of feminism even in the contemporary period. Being a woman, she could understand much better the issues and the problems of the females. Thus, through her novels, she has very strongly advocated for the equality, liberty and fraternity to the females without any kind of gender-discrimination. She is not an object of sexual gratification, confined to the domestic activities, but rather she has her oven self-esteem, love and honour. She cannot lose her self-esteem at any cost. By dint of her novels, she very strongly raised her voices against gender-discrimination, social injustice, sexual exploitation, mental torture and misconduct being committed to the females. In her most famous novel, The Golden Notebook, she happens to introduce the two lady characters– Anna and Molly, living together in a London flat in 1957 in their free and independent life-style. These intermittent narrative frames four huge sections dedicated to Anna’s notebooks of the 1950’s,’ a black notebook dealing with the African experience, out of which, she has written her only novel; the red for politics – the decline and fall of the communist myth; blue a record of free relations with men, and of rosy dreams and sessions with her analyst; yellow in which she takes up stories; mostly drafts of a novel in which ‘Ella’ re-enacts a large part of Anna’s experience. In all this, what it means to be ‘free women’ is very thoroughly articulated and worked out. The question of living “lives like men” poses an illusion within the narrative. Despite Anna’s engagement in a sexual relationship with the same liberty as a man, it inevitably culminates in an undesirable dependency. This aspect alongside the overwhelming freedom of choice that stifles her literary endeavors, the unchecked freedom permitted by the world’s irresponsible state, and the paradoxical liberty of a woman obsessed with the notion of integrity, who is fatefully bound to navigate randomly to discern the significance of her actions, collectively construct the novel’s intricate framework. Despite the evident complexity, the novel’s most remarkable attribute does not lie in its profound or original difficulty. Contrarily, it resonates a compelling conviction of closely mirroring actual experiences. Within this realistic depiction, the anticipated concerns of a mid-twentieth-century writer organically find their respective positions, enhancing the authenticity and relatability of the narrative. It is simply an exceptional documentation of the experience of female autonomy and responsibility in connection to men and other women. It illustrates the endeavor to achieve self-reconciliation regarding these relationships, as well as issues of writing and politics. The document’s distinctiveness is highlighted by its unwavering honesty and extensive scope, providing a unique exploration of these multifaceted dimensions. It has got a very wide range of interest among the readers. Thus, it remains as a sort of the book that determines the way people think about themselves
Common Readers and the Singularity of Literature: A View on Derek Attridge’s Analysis of the Process of Reading
Get PDFReading is a complex process. It mostly aims at getting at the most accurate meaning of a text, but it is not always easy. Because what is the accurate meaning is something very tough to decide. A text has various qualities which nearly all need to be analysed to come closer to a complete meaning. It needs expertise and attention while reading any text. On the other hand, the process of reading itself has various aspects to look at. For example, a reader always has more than one perspective available to analyse and interpret a text. And it is necessary that a text is read and analysed using these different perspectives, so that the meaning one gets after such a reading is not narrow or obscure. Specially the reading of a literary text needs some extra attention. Here, the language is mostly minutely used, and there are qualities which are different and mostly superior to other common texts. At the same time, sometimes, the kind of meaning which is produced also depends on the reader. A common reader without expertise may come up with some simple meaning. But, at the same time, a scholarly reader may come up with some complex meaning of the same text. Thus, there is always a possibility that the same text may have different meanings by different authors. The present paper focuses on the common readers’ reading of the texts and the different kinds and stages of reading as put forth by Derek Attridge in his works The Work of Literature and The Singularity of Literature, respectively. Common readers read the texts differently from the way the scholarly readers read them. Then, how far is it possible and necessary to take all readers as just readers and make some general comments on the reading process as a whole? It is a fact that based on the cultural and educational backgrounds, different people respond to the same text differently, and their respective responses should be respected as they all are readers, after all, who have the freedom to comment and interpret. The present paper tries to analyse this inclusivity in Attridge’s arguments as far as the process of reading is concerned
The Role of Language in Shaping Identity in Indian Literature: A Critical Study
Get PDFIn India’s cultural tapestry, which is diverse and multifaceted with a strong literary tradition, language and identity are intertwined. The deep connection between language and identity in Indian literature is explored in this critical study, which provides insights into how language functions as a potent tool in the creation, preservation, and alteration of both individual and collective identities in the Indian setting. This study investigates the crucial function of language in forming, developing, and reflecting the identities of the people of India, drawing on a wide range of Indian literary works. Undoubtedly, one of the most challenging procedures in life is learning a language other than one’s native tongue. It is a startlingly drawn-out experience that is reliant on mental, emotional, and physical factors. The second language learners should alternate between thinking of themselves as first-language speakers and second-language learners, which forces them to consider how they “identify” themselves. Teachers no longer just play a supporting role in the global education system. The idea of identity is one of the most recent topics that is being researched widely across the world
Literacy and Liberation in Baby Halder’s A Life Less Ordinary
Get PDFAutobiographical narratives offer a platform for marginalised voices to express their experiences. A Life Less Ordinary, translated into English in 2006, portrays the life experiences of Baby Halder and sheds light on the experiences of Dalit women. Born into a poverty-stricken family, Halder is forced into marriage and motherhood — a reflection of the expectations imposed on women in her community. The title of the memoir underlines the remarkable journey of a marginalised woman who is anything but ordinary. Due to adverse circumstances, Halder was compelled to leave her home and venture out in search of employment. Becoming a domestic worker helped her earn a living. Her book takes us on a turbulent journey from a childhood in a broken family to being forced into marriage at the tender age of twelve, enduring an abusive husband, and ultimately defying societal norms by leaving him and starting work outside her household. According to Ranajit Guha’s definition of the subaltern, Baby Halder embodies three “attributes of subordination”: gender, caste, and poverty. Halder’s wish to fill the gap left in her formal education motivated her to read and write her life story. This paper explores how literacy opens up opportunities for knowledge, self-discovery, and critical thinking, enabling her to question and challenge the norms that once defined her life. It showcases how education can bring about transformation in the life of a marginalised woman striving for personal and social liberation