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Indian Cinema: Making Departure from the Stereotypical Presentation of Women in Nuptial
Get PDFIn the late 20th and 21st century various movements took place which challenged the stereotypical notions of gender in society. #MeToo movement gave a momentum to the society where people started talking about any kind of violence, sexual assault and harassment against women. Many government policies and laws were framed and implemented to provide equal opportunities to women in every field. Vishakha Guidelines and Internal Complains Committee are made mandatory at work place and education institutions to assure a safe and healthy environment for females. Now the issues brushed under the carpet for long have been brought into light. Issues which were considered taboo even to talk about are now discussed on public forums and academia, penned down in literature and projected in media and cinema. Women and their concerns and point of views found space in popular cinema and were acclaimed too by the critics as well as spectators. Bollywood has made deviations from the stereotypical portrayal of women and broke the silence on issues like sexual consent and female sexuality. It also showed the role of woman in marriage and how it’s changing with woman becoming economically independent and realizing her real worth. The present paper will deliberate on the institution of marriage and the role of woman in it in the Indian society especially in the context of Indian cinema. It will discuss recent Indian cinema which came with stories in which decision-making power has been exercised by women in a nuptial and consent of a girl in a marriage has been considered. Gender roles in a marriage will also be analysed which has been shown deviating from the stereotypical notion especially in the movies Ki & Ka and Tumahari Sulu. It will include the movies which have at the centre the idea that the courage of a woman can put a full stop to the deep-rooted patriarchy of centuries in our society. The paper will include only popular cinema made in Hindi language film industry known as Bollywood in the last decade like Dil Dhadkane Do, Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Secret Superstar, Parched and Tumhari Sulu
Patriarchy and Inequality in Bharti Kirchner’s Sharmila’s Book and Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries
Get PDFLiterature produced by men was a prejudiced one and focused mainly on the might of men and feebleness of female members. This was resisted by women writers and they started shattering the prejudiced views of men and gave a proper solution to it. Moreover, they violated the sanctities of women as mere service renders and broke the stereotyped images of women as the classical Sita or Kannagi who were projected as submissive partners having no identity of their own. It is only through the writings of women writers, the real identity of the women was recognized and they became equal partners at home and in the society. This awakening was highly instrumental in turning the dark pages of the history of literature and spread brightness and happiness everywhere. At present, gender inequality has gained global attraction and this has resulted in the production of vast literature
A Critique of Twentieth Century Feminist Criticism
Get PDFFeminist criticism arose in response to developments in the field of the feminist movement. Many thinkers such as John Stuart Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft raised their voice against the injustice done to women in every sphere of life. As this gained momentum throughout the world, feminist also awakened to the depiction and representation of women in literature which is one of the influential medium of socialization and culture. They argued that woman and womanhood are not biological facts but are given social constructs. One is not born a woman, but becomes one through culture and socialization. At first, feminist criticism was reactionary in the nature in the sense that they exposed stereotypical images of women in the literature. These images of women were promulgated by the male writers. These images of women were what men think of women. Gradually, feminist criticism moved from this phase to more constructive work. They unearthed many women writers that were either suppressed or neglected by the male literary tradition. In this way, they created a separate literary tradition of women writers. Feminist critics divided this tradition in such phases as feminine phase, feminist phase and female phase. They also studied the problems faced by female creative writers. They used theories from post-structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis to study the nature of female creativity. They also realized that there is an innate difference between male and female modes of writing. Feminist critics also exposed the sexiest nature of man-made language. They also exposed phallic centrism of much of the western literary theory and criticism. They also started to study the language used by the women writers. Simon De Beauvoir, Virginia Woolf, Elaine Showalter and Juliet Mitchell are some of the feminist critics discussed in this paper
Rejuvenating Karayala: An Endangered Folk Theatrical Form of Himachal Pradesh
Get PDFThis paper deals with karayala, a folk theatrical form of Himachal Pradesh. This form is basically a ritual, performed in the name of a local deity called Biju/Bijeshwar. It is a night long ritual consisting of minimum three and maximum four episodes (swaangs) and each one is followed by a musical interlude comprising singing and dancing. Karyala is an impromptu theatrical form. There are no women actors and only men play female roles. Surprisingly, till date women are not allowed to play female roles. It deals with range of themes and most of them aim at reforming society by employing techniques like mimicry, caricature, satire, paradox, pun and word play. The paper seeks to introduce karayala to larger audience. In the crisis of the present context and particularly owing to onslaught of media multiplicity, we have lost karayala’s past as none for a long while cared to document it due to urbanization, people’s indifference and media charged environment that has threatened its existence. At present it is alive in people’s memory and is necessitated by rituals to avert divine wrath; nevertheless, its space stands largely invaded by media today. The future of this folk theatrical form seems bleak unless we take effective measures to revive/ retrieve it
Scrutiny of Self in Arun Joshi’s The Strange Case of Billy Biswas
Get PDFAn Outstanding novelist of human predicament, Arun Joshi is ranked with the great masters of contemporary Indian fiction in English. He believes that reality lies within the consciousness of isolated individuals. As he is the great writer of psychological perception, he envisions the inner crisis of the modern man in his five novels. In particular, his second novel The Strange Case of Billy Biswas is the apple of his eye. It portrays the story of the protagonist who is dragged by the mysterious world of the tribal society. The protagonist, Billy’s strange quest leads him to leave his position as the sole inheritor of a wealthy family and lead to live a natural life. There is no comfort in his American life as well as in his marital life too. Further, the story visualises Billy’s quest for individualism and self-identity at the cost of leaving materialistic world. This paper focuses on the clashes between the civilised world and the primitive one as well as it looks at the root of the protagonist Billy’s quest for the self
East-West Dichotomy in Orhan Pamuk’s The White Castle
Get PDFOrhan Pamuk’s The White Castle is a historical novel that is set during the Ottoman reign. The novel presents the metaphysical opposition of East and West, self and the other, intuition and reason, mysticism, science and global and local, and the recurring issues of conflict of civilization, identity crisis, and cultural variations. Orhan Pamuk as a postmodern writer tries to bridge the gap between the East and the West through his writings. Although Turkey is at the backdrop in most of his novels, the treatment of themes is universal. The paper proposes the theory of Orientalism by Edward Said, which represents the encounter and treatment of the "Orient." The concept of identity expressed by Pamuk in his wide range of novels also can be related to the “Orient” and “Occident.” The culture of the East has always been portrayed as the binary opposite of Europe in history and fiction. The loss of identity of the East reflected in the works of Pamuk is an outcome of the clash between East and Europe, further leading to chaotic contexts and dilemmatic protagonists. Individuals unable to choose between the traditional self and the fashionable West mourn the lost identity of a country and their self
Silent Struggles: Women in Salma’s The Hour Past Midnight
Get PDFThe paper intends to analyse the heroic lives of Muslim women, who are oppressed in the name of culture, tradition, and religion through a textual analysis of the novel The Hour Past Midnight, written by the Tamil writer Salma and translated by Lakshmi Holmstrom. The paper explores the struggles faced by the hero(in)es in the novel. Originally written in Tamil, and entitled Irandaam Jaamathin Kadhai, the novel depicts the challenging lives of Muslim women living in a cloistered space. The novel narrates the incidents in the lives of Rabia, her mother Zohra; Rahima, Wahida, Firdaus, Mumtaz, Farida and some other women of the neighbourhood. All of them are victims of the misogynist and patriarchal mind-set of their community. Some of these women stay silent, and endure every kind of pain and suffering with extreme patience and resilience. Others choose to defy the norms which are set for them and live on their terms. They stand up for their individuality, rights, and dignity. Each of these women, nonetheless, demonstrates heroic courage, fortitude, resilience, and resistance. By facing the predicament of their lives boldly, and by challenging the patriarchal institutions, these characters demonstrate that each of them is an individual full of potential
Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R. K. Narayan: The Polemics of Myth making and Influence of Gandhi
Get PDFThe present paper represents the three triumvirs of Indian English novel at the critical juncture of the early twentieth century when Gandhian thoughts and polemics were influential throughout India. The paper seeks to explore how under Gandhian presence–both physical as well as metaphorical, these three novelists attempted to explore the myths and mythical narratives of Indian civilization and culture to manifest the ‘collective unconscious’ of the Indian sensibilities. Furthermore, it also tries to understand the polemics of myth-making in the context of post-colonial politics and writing. The nationalist culture of the early twentieth century and the contribution of these writers are being explored to analyze how their narratives are national allegories
Beyond Borders: A Critical Study of Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Get PDFThis paper explores the crossing of borders in Mohsin Hamid’s award-winning novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. It is an effort to showcase the way Hamid breaks the set ideals and constructions that have been reigning in literature for decades. It attempts to show the transnational journey of the protagonist, Changez from Lahore to the US and his return to his country. The paper depicts the failure of American society to stick to its moral values. Moreover, it portrays the mistreatment Muslims go through after September 11
Marxist Feminism: An Analysis on Class Structure and Position of Women in Malayalam movie -“Chemmeen”
Get PDFThe Malayalam film industry, prominently known as “Mollywood,” is one of the fast-changing faces in Indian cinema. This paper tries to examine one of the Malayalam movies, Chemeen, through the lens of Marxist Feminism. The primary text chosen for the study is the movie, Chemeen, an adaptation of Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai’s novel with the same name. The story revolves around the lives of Karuthamma and Pareekutt, lovers whose life cannot be led together because of the strong influence of caste and class in their society. This is one of the liberal texts in Malayalam Literature narrating the Kerala fishing community’s lives, customs, traditions, and beliefs. The research paper’s primary focus will be on society’s hierarchy through the reflection of Mollywood cinema, the stereotyping of certain characters based on their class and caste, the aftermath of marriage, and the domineering male-centric society female fellowships through deities