Exploring Female Identity: A Comparative Study of the Selected Novels of Shashi Deshpande and Mridula Garg Thesis submitted to the Central University of Punjab For the Award of Doctor of Philosophy In Comparative Literature By Nancy Supervisor Dr. Rajinder Kumar Sen Department of Languages and Comparative Literature School of Languages, Literature and Culture Central University of Punjab, Bathinda July, 2019 Declaration I declare that the thesis entitled " Exploring Female Identity: A Comparative Study of the selected novels of Shashi Deshpande and Mridula Garg,” has been prepared by me under the guidance of Dr. Rajinder Kumar Sen, Assistant Professor, Department of Languages and Comparative Literature, School of Languages, Literature and Culture, Central University of Punjab. No part of this thesis has formed the basis for the award of any degree or fellowship previously. Nancy Department of Languages and Comparative Literature School of Languages, Literature and Culture, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda ‐ 151001 Date: i Certificate I certify that Nancy has prepared her thesis entitled “Exploring Female Identity: A Comparative Study of the selected novels of Shashi Deshpande and Mridula Garg,” for the award of Ph.D. degree of the Central University of Punjab, under my guidance. She has carried out this work at the Centre for Comparative Literature, School of Languages, Literature and Culture, Central University of Punjab. Dr. Rajinder Kumar Sen Assistant Professor Department of Languages and Comparative Literature School of Languages, Literature and Culture, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda-151001 Date: ii ABSTRACT EXPLORING FEMALE IDENTITY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SELECTED NOVELS OF SHASHI DESHPANDE AND MRIDULA GARG Name of student : Nancy Registration number : CUPB/MPH-PHD/SLLC/CPL/2012-13/11 Degree for which submitted : Doctor of Philosophy Name of Supervisor : Dr.Rajinder Kumar Sen Name of Department : Languages and Comparative Literature Name of School : Languages, Literature and Culture Keywords : Alienation,Exploitation,Feminism,Female identity,Gender discrimination,and Silence etc. Female identity is a very complicated concept in the contemporary era. In addition to that, it becomes more complicated when discussed in reference to gender socialisation, violence, and exploitation. Women have been viewed and perceived within the constructed patriarchal structure of gender difference. In the domain of patriarchal culture, the woman is a social construct. The present research work tries to probe into the silences, subordination and voices of exploited women by undertaking a comparative study of the selected novels of Shashi Deshpande and Mridula Garg by using feminism as a theoretical framework. The contemporary writes are critiquing the unspoken voices to explore their exploitation in various domains. Feminism is a highly innovative concept representing a significant departure from the traditional mode of critical evaluation. In the selected novels both the writers represent the series of female characters who have exploited. They project realistically the women’s plight and exploitation in the patriarchal society. It explores how men establish their masculine power and fulfil their desire by assaulting women. Through the feminist theory, the present study tries to explore the female identity which is constructed by the socio-cultural aspect. Supervisor Nancy Dr. Rajinder Kumar Sen iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I can do all things through JESUS CHRIST who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13) As Saint Paul writes to the Church of Philippians in the HOLY BIBLE that God strengthens me. First and foremost, from the deepest core of my heart I want to express my sincere gratitude to my Lord JESUS CHRIST who gave me the courage to do such work. I am nothing without his blessings. Without His wish, this work would not have ever been completed. I Pay my homage to my supervisor Dr Rajinder Kumar, Assistant Professor, his encyclopaedic knowledge, wisdom, support and encouragement which gave me moral and intellectual strength to do my work. His easy availability and affectionate guidance are far beyond gratitude. I extend my sincere thanks to Dr.Alpna Saini HoD, Dr.Amandeep Singh, Dr.Shaila Zafar, Dr.Ramandeep Kaur, Dr. Dinesh Babu and Dr.Neetu Purohit for their acute insightful suggestions, ungrudging assistance and guidance. I am thankful to the employees of the Library and the Computer Centre, the Central University of Punjab for providing me with the opportunities and materials at various stages of this work. I acknowledge my indebtedness to my respectful parents (Mr Paul Masih and Mrs Veenus Masih). I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my family and friends without them, this work could not be possible. Last but not the least I am grateful to Mr Gulrez Masih for his deep involvement in this work helped me at every step of my life. His benevolence has throughout been a pillar of emotional support which strengthened me. Nancy iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Sr. no Content Page No 1 Female Identity: Conceptual 1-40 Understanding (Chapter-1) 2 Critiquing Female Identity in the selected 41-80 novels of Shashi Deshpande and Mridula Garg (Chapter-2) 3 Delineating the Socio-Political Construction 81-114 of Sex/Gender in the Society (Chapter-3) 4 Domestic Violence as Cause or effect on 115-141 Female Identity: Comparative study of the selected novels of Shashi Deshpande and Mridula Garg (Chapter-4) 5 Manifesting Psychoanalytical Plight of 142- 168 women: Representation from the selected texts (Chapter-5) 6 Conclusion 169- 177 7 Bibliography 178- 190 v Chapter 1 Female Identity: Conceptual Understanding Female identity is a very polemical issue in contemporary literary works. In the postmodern literature, identity has been discussed in various communities that are interrelated with sexuality, gender, race and migration. Literature has always been the site of life, social politics, inequality, domination, dispute, racism, hunger, poverty, identity or any other aspect of reality. The issue of identity has been a major issue in contemporary psychology, social theory, cultural studies and literary criticism. Many critics have described it in different perspectives like social, culture, politics, religion, etc. There have been social, political, economic and cultural developments which have helped in the construction of identity. These various developments within the twentieth century and social thought have forced attention to identity. In the social structure, society forms identities because from birth to death different roles are already set to be performed. When a child is born, gender roles are assigned to him/ her. Thus social structure, culture and patriarchy decide all the rules to be followed. Society constructs identities and in a family when a child is born parents fixe the rules for their children. In the construction of identity, these substances fabricate the ideology in the social structure for the identification of male and female. Wherein, males and females identify themselves within the cultural and societal setup. To understand female identity one needs to understand the culture, tradition, philosophy, patriarchy and ideology of that particular region. Erik Homburger Erikson a well-known German American psychologist explains the construction of identity and female identity says: Identity as a core construct for development, it is also a part of the psychological analysis, identity formation for the female needs to be understood in the broader sense that addresses the question of how one's individuality and continuity fit within the communal sense of wholeness.( qtd. in Gatobu 7) In the context of female identity Erik Erikson points out that how one's an entity forms an entire being. It is also related to gender politics and it needs 1 psychological analysis. Identity formation goes through many phases with the changing aspects of society. Amartya Sen explains elements that forms an identity that: "A person's citizenship, residence, geographic origin, gender, class, politics, profession, employment, food habits, sports, interest, taste in music, social commitments, etc. make us members of a variety of groups. Thus, Erik Erikson Emphasises in Anne kiome Gatobu‘s book Identity formation and Response to Intimate Violence emphasis: Development of the sense of self is a function of the internalised social, cultural and religious influences on the individual aspirations to identify with and attain wholeness in the society. In other words, aspects of identity formation of females may be traced to the social, cultural and religious environment which nurtures the developing child and engenders a sense of self in that child. (qtd. in Gatobu 7) Erik Erikson emphasises the impact of the social discourses on the construction of identity. He examines the socio-cultural nurturing of a child which forms the identity. Therefore, cultural ideology attaches its influences with every individual. As Hogg and Abram have defined: ―Identity is people's concepts of who they are, of what sort of people they are, and how they relate to others" (Hogg and Abram 2). Stuart Hall a well renowned British Marxist sociologist describes in his book Cultural Identity and Diaspora: Identities are about questions of using the resources of history, language and culture in the process of becoming rather than being: not who we are or where we came from, so much as what we might become, how we have been represented and how that bears on how we might represent ourselves.(3)