"The Only Thing I Know How to Do": An Interview with Mahasweta Devi

Madhurima Chakraborty

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Indian Women Novelists in English: Art and Vision

Dipak Giri

Vishwabharati Research Centre, Latur, India, 2018

The book Indian Women Novelists in English: Art and Vision is a volume of twenty five research articles on contemporary Indian women novelists and their works ranging from Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Manju Kapur, Shobhaa De, Meena Alexander, Githa Hariharan, Arundhati Roy to the younger generation of novelists Anita Nair, Kiran Desai and Jhumpa Lahiri along with two less explored novelists Rita Garg and Nayeema Mahjoor. Three regional writers- Sarah Joseph, Qurratulain Hyder and Mahasweta Devi are also part of this volume, though their write-ups are in regional languages, yet their translated works in English have earned wide popularity. The volume with its diversity of topics will instill knowledge into the critical minds and open many unopened doors from where many unexplored regions of knowledge will be revisited.

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Translation of 'Devi', in M. Asaduddin (ed.), Stories on Women by Premchand, New Delhi: Penguin, 2018.

Shailendra Kumar Singh

teaches in the Department of English at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Her specialization is in the area of literature, cinema and culture studies. Presently, she is working on an Indian Council of Social Science Research project on the Muslim question in Bengali and Malayalam cinema.

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How the poetry of Anamika, winner of the Hindi Sahitya Akademi award for 2020, challenges patriarchy-Rekha Sethi (Scroll

Rekha Sethi

Scroll, 2021

Anamika has won the Sahitya Akademi award for the year 2020 for her poetry collection Tokri mein Digant: Therigatha 2014. She is a celebrated feminist poet writing in Hindi. I use the word "feminist" deliberately, because Anamika's corpus of literary works has given a powerful voice to the women's cause. Feminist studies across the globe have celebrated the emergence of women writers in the literary canon, which has actually changed the optics. When lived experiences are shared by women through their writings, it empowers them to rip apart the social, political, economic and familial structures which have always denied them the right of being equals and made them feel subjugated. Anamika has been writing for a long time but her poetry made significant inroads in the feminist discourse during the '90s. The decade witnessed important turns of events in Indian society. With the global wave of economic liberalisation, society started to open up. Women began to stake their claim in the national equity.

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An Exploration of Contemporary Indian Women Writers

Hemangi Patil

Beginning from the Sangam period till the present day, women writings have contributed much to the growth of literature and have presented issues highlighting a women's world. However the success of women writings is highly acclaimed that it has won international recognition.Indian women's fiction is dealing with multiple issues concerning self and society. Trapped in a socio-cultural milieu women suffer inwardly, hence much of women's writing is primarily a critique of social justice and equality in a patriarchal society. Today fiction by women writers contributes a major segment of the contemporary Indian writing in English. Contemporary women's fiction is a challenge to master narratives. It focuses on "differences that make a difference" to women in dominant masculine culture. It is also significant that women writers have not simply been confined to the private realm but have moved beyond it. It provides insight, a wealth of understanding, reservoirs o...

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QUESTIONING NOVELTY IN LITERATURE: MAHASWETA DEVI

VEDA'S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE [JOELL]

VEDA PUBLICATIONS, 2022

Mahasweta Devi enlightens the literature of the downtrodden people. She thinks that the history of India should be rewritten. It is only the history of the people from the main stream of the society. The new history should be written focusing on the backward people. Throughout her life she makes documentation for the tribal people in her writings and activism. She writes and fights for the establishment of the rights for the Indian subaltern people. She thinks writing in a novel way. She dreams of a new society-a society for the underprivileged society.

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“Tyranny to Triumph: The Emancipation of Women in Select Short Stories of Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee.

VIDHYAVATHI PRASATH

Indian Scholar, 2017

Rediscovering identity has become inevitable in the present socio-political scenario. The recent diasporic studies no more discusses the issues of "identity loss" or "culture loss" or "loss of roots" as something that is aching; rather it propagates to rediscover the marginalised self with all its limitations and thereby strive to gain emancipation and empowerment. Recreating from being to becoming-will lead the marginalised to the centre thus attempting to assimilate into the mainstream. The trial will be harder but it is within oneself; to recreate the identity to fit the survival. It has now become a must to have an "alternate identity" as said by Jhumpa Lahiri in her debut novel The Namesake. "Biological identity" will always remain within and that can never go out of the skin. "The real important things can never change" (The Maid Servant Story 111). But to have an "other identity" is also essentially important. However it is a great challenge to acquire other identity and adapt to that identity. But to overcome the challenge is presently becoming easier. Earlier strategies of survival were too complicated. But now besides contradictions, assimilating to the new identities is becoming easier. Of course there are lot of struggles in imbibing. With the by product of gender issues it becomes a double challenge for women to recreate or rediscover their alternate identities. To answer these issues Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee; works act as an emblem against oppression of women besides discussing the issues of rootless, migration and identity. Her works draw attention to issues of marginalization against the illusory echo of recurring reality and a self-constructing self. Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee's works, particular the collection of short stories from Arranged marriage; chosen for the present study, exemplarily advocates the need for every woman to create her own space; fix her own identity and have her own choice to determine how her life should be. Thus this paper is an attempt to find out how women can re-fix their role; evaluate their latent potential; retrieve for a rebirth and eventually evolve to emancipate by shaking their tyrannies to shape their triumph.

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Literary Herald Revisiting 1960s and 1970s: A Selected Reading of the Female Voices of Bengal

Biplab Chakraborty

2017

The society and literature of Bengal underwent many changes in Independent India. The socio-political changes brought along with it changes in the world of Bengal literature as well. This paper would restrict its discussion on the Bengali society as reflected in its literature in the two tumultuous decades of 1960s and 1970s by discussing some of the selected writings of female authors of the decade. The paper will attempt to discuss on the following ideas: 1. The position of women in the socio-political decades of the 1960s and 1970s. 2. Selected reading and discussions of the writings of Mahasweta Devi, Pratibha Basu, Nabanita Deb Sen and Kabita Singha [and their distinguishing approach towards the decade] 3. The reason behind the distinctive approach of the four female authors towards the similar decade. 4. To find whether these writers were able to provide any new direction to literature during their period.

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Introduction The Voice of Indian Women Novelists and their Status in the Contemporary Indian English Literature -A Critical Study

Editorial Department

Indian women writers in English have made the most significant contribution in the field of the English novel. Indian novel has grown considerably in bulk variety, and maturity. The development of Indian novel follows certain definite patterns, and it is not difficult to trace its gradual progression from the imitative stage to the realistic to the Psychological to the experimental stage. In the growth and development of Indian English novel, the 1980s occupy a unique position. During this period, some very promising women novelists published their first works. Some old masters also came out with works, which show that their creative powers have been intact all along. It is during the eighties that Indian women novelists earned unheard of honours and distinctions not only in India but also in abroad. The works by these Indian women novelists, like third generation women novelists, speak eloquently about their originality and unprecedented inventiveness. Indian English literature is now a reality, which cannot be ignored. During the recent decades, it has attracted a widespread interest both in India and abroad. What began as a "hot-house plant" has now attained a luxuriant growth, branching off in several directions. The Indian women writers have made the most remarkable contribution to the sphere of fiction, which as Mulk Raj Anand says, has "come to stay as part of world literature." An idea of the true potential of this form of literature in India can be had by comparing the early novels by Indians with the recent arrivals in the same field of literary creation. However, Indian writing in English in the Contemporary literary Scenario enjoys equal status with the literatures of the other Countries. Especially Indian women writers have made their voice heard around the World in the Abstract: Feminist writings were of crucial interest to the Post-colonial discourse for two major reasons. First, both patriarchy and imperialism could be seen to exert different forms of domination over those subordinate to them. Because of this, it was important for the experiences of women under the patriarchal influence to come out to the forefront and expose the undue cruelty be held on them by men. It was necessary for the women to oppose this male dominance over them. We observe that women continued to define the borders of the community, class and race. They tried to exert feminism through their works. Though the Indian women writers try to depict the women as strong and focused in their vision to succeed in lives, they were, however, ablest to succeed in their lives only in the space allotted to them by the men. However, the Feminist writers tried to stamp their authority in a male dominated environment as best as it is possible to them. It was a very difficult path, as the women had to break through years of male dominance, taboos and beliefs that had heavily impregnated the society. In addition, critics argued that colonialism operated very differently for women and for men. This was so because women were subjected to both general discrimination as colonial subjects and specific discrimination as women addressed as 'double colonization.

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THE STUDY OF BHARATI MUKHERJEE’S WIFEAS A DIASPORIC WRITING

SMART M O V E S J O U R N A L IJELLH

Indian Diasporic writings help in many ways and is apowerful network connecting the entire globe.Diasporic literature helps in the circulation of informationand in solving many problems too. If we looked the diasporic literature in anoptimistic way, it helpsin creating goodwill, a cordial relationship and in spreading values, virtues and universalpeace

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