Contemporary Women's Writing in India

Description

The word doyennes signifies the various expressions of female, feminine, and feminist aspects of contemporary literature in India, through multiple theoretical frameworks. Contemporary Women's Writing in India is an edited collection dealing with a range of these issues set in the society of Indian culture. Indian women's literature is still a fertile ground for critical enquiry. There are three sections in the collection: Section I deals with specific instances in history, historical constructions, and representations of gender. Section II offers a varied spectrum of feminist critical discourse on contemporary Indian women's writing, intersecting with the frameworks of post-colonial theory, deconstruction, perspectives on race and ethnicity, and eco-feminism. Section III touches upon the notion of the woman's body and psyche through the varied perspectives of psychoanalysis, feminism, and post-feminism. By thoroughly exploring a range of issues, Contemporary Women's Writing promises to take the reader by the hand, and journey through the unfamiliar but refreshing landscape of women's literature in India. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction DWELLING IN THE ARCHIVE: HISTORICAL REPRESENTATIONS Herstory Producing Nation Where is “Home”? Scar(r)ed Women Caught in the Crossfire of History REFLECTIONS ON FEMINISM: CRITICAL DISCOURSES ON SELECT DOYENNES Assertion of “Self” Deconstructing the Stereotypes The Alienated Self Between Silence and Scream Negotiating with Pluralities Identity Crises in Namita Gokhale’s TRANSFERENCES: INTERROGATING WOMEN’S BODIES AND PSYCHES Psychological Explorations Mahari Then and Now Feminism and the Gendered Body in Sarah Aboobackar’s “Sahana” Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Bibliography Index About the Editors and Contributors