INDIAN LITERARY FEMINISM: THE RISE OF NEW WOMEN IN INDIAN FICTION

Abstract

Post-colonial women writers of India started a new era of writing that focused on contemporary women, exploring the psychological and sociological strains of their lives. These writers started creating characters that no longer fitted in the age-old establishments of the society. These women were not the secondary characters in their story, fixed in rigid stereotypes bound to their role. Writers such as Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Kamala Markandaya, Arundhati Roy and Anita Nair, amongst many others, started creating female characters that searched for individuality and voice. Their emotional and psychological quest to find an identity gave a trigger to what we can now call Indian Literary Feminism. These characters mirrored the society, the challenges of modern women who are conflicting between traditional limitations and modernity. It can then, be seen as a movement taken up by diverse women who wanted to look within themselves, become aware of the injustices, the internalised oppression and resist it in their own manner. This essay aims to look at the selected works of three prominent writers, Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande and Anita Nair, through the novels, Where Shall We Go This Summer, That Long Silence and Ladies Coupe` respectively. These works echo the voices of urban Indian women in modern India who are stuck in relationships and responsibilities that are chosen for them by the society. They set off on a journey to find a voice, their freedom from expectations and limitations. Through their characters we will uncover what Indian feminism signifies and how modern Indian novelists achieve it.