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Myth Revisionism and the Reclamation of Lost Voices: a Critique of Recontextualization of Stereotypes in Selected Literary Texts Parvathy B.M

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Myth Revisionism and the Reclamation of Lost Voices: a Critique of Recontextualization of Stereotypes in Selected Literary Texts Parvathy B.M www.ijhssr.com International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Review (IJHSSR); Vol. 1, Issue 2; July 2021 E-ISSN 2582-9106 Myth Revisionism and the Reclamation of Lost Voices: A Critique of Recontextualization of Stereotypes in Selected Literary Texts Parvathy B.M. Department of English, Sree Narayana College, Kollam University of Kerala E-mail: [email protected] Abstract In the present scenario characterized by highly evolved postmodern advancements, myths and mythology astonishingly continue to replenish the aesthetic fundamentals of Indian culture. Indian Mythology, whose wide panorama spreads over the mighty epics The Ramayana and The Mahabharata, still moulds the base upon which human psyche is constructed. Myth Revisionism, the most influential trend in the postmodern literature, aims at foregrounding the concealed elements of the mythical literary artefacts, casting them the shades of contemporary relevance. This paper titled “Myth Revisionism and the Reclamation of Lost Voices- A Critique of Recontextualization of Stereotypes in Select Literary Texts”, embarks upon the analysis of the various approaches adopted by the stream of myth revisionism to centralize the marginalized characters in the epics so as to salvage their muted voices, with reference to The Palace of Illusions and The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Karna’s Wife: The Outcast’s Queen by Kavita Kane and The Liberation of Sita by P.Lalitha Kumari. The Palace of Illusions revolutionizes the character of Draupadi attributing her a chivalric self to explore the unexplored. The Forest of Enchantments offers a feministic reinterpretation of the epic The Ramayana, from the point of view of Sita. Karna’s Wife: The Outcast’s Queen creates a fictional character Uruvi (Karna’s wife) who retells the story of Karna with her adamant voice and The Liberation of Sita is a sojourn through the life of Sita who attains the lessons of self- reliance, self-realization and independence through her meetings with Shurpanaka, Ahalya, Renuka and her sister Urmila. Keywords: Myth Revisionism, Recontextualization, Patriarchy, Gender, Stereotypes. Contribution/Originality: This study tries to recontextualize the stereotypes in selected 73 www.ijhssr.com International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Review (IJHSSR); Vol. 1, Issue 2; July 2021 E-ISSN 2582-9106 literary texts. It mainly focuses on myth revisionism and the reclamation of lost voices. Introduction Literature that manifests the wide spectrum of human life expanding the horizon of human vision occupies a higher pedestal among the other streams of knowledge. It’s the fictional quality of Literature which facilitates the readers to see the unseen and feel the unfelt, that raised the popularity of Literature. Myth and Mythology, that represent the rich culture of the ancient and bygone eras, still continue to shape and influence the Indian psyche, especially through the tales and characters of the mighty epics – The Ramayana and The Mahabharata. In Myths of Light Joseph Campbell exemplifies: “Mythology is composed by poets out of their insights and realizations. Mythologies are not invented; they are found. You can no more tell us what your dream is going to be tonight than we can invent a myth. Myths come from the mystical region of essential experience” (5). A reader of Indian English fiction is no less surprised to find a whole range of fiction – retelling and even going to the bold limits of revisionist narratives and chancing upon amazing discoveries of unvoiced characters from the golden pages of the much celebrated Indian myths. This is what that contributes to the highly proliferating popularity of the genre of Myth Revisionism in this postmodern era. The Indian Mythology has hardly given a say and space to the women, marginalizing them to the periphery. Writers of Myth Revisionism, especially Feminist Revisionist Mythology strives hard to retell the ancient literary artefacts from the perspectives of the subsided women, recontextualizing the events and happenings, centralizing their agonies and aspirations. It is astonishing to find revisionist literary practitioners questioning the plots of myths and legends that had, for ages remained out of reach of scathing criticism. The revisionist tendencies in literature also incorporates waves of revivalism for, it brings to light the myths and legends which would have been otherwise forgotten in the fast pace of a technology driven global world. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Palace of Illusions revolutionizes the character of Draupadi from The Mahabharata, perceiving the events in the epic through the eyes of Draupadi, attributing her a chivalric self. Unlike in Vyasa’s Mahabharata, Divakaruni’s 74 www.ijhssr.com International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Review (IJHSSR); Vol. 1, Issue 2; July 2021 E-ISSN 2582-9106 Draupadi is presented as a woman with powerful voice who questions all the confinements of patriarchy and gender stereotypes. The novelist, in the backdrop of the ancient era, recontextualizes the entire incidents, casting a feministic outlook for the same. Draupadi establishes the independence of her identity calling herself “Panchaali” and she discards her name Draupadi (which means the daughter of the King Drupad). Unlike in the epic, she rejects all the gender stereotypes putting forth her strong desire to follow the lessons of her brother, which dealt with the laws of governance, which were strictly adhered to women and restricted for women. Rather than portraying Draupadi as the cause behind the Kurukshetra war, the reason behind the destruction of Purus, she is represented as a victim of hegemonic patriarchal traditions who strives hard to break away from the confinements of male dominance. According to the gender stereotype women are “angel of the house” and men arethe bread winners, those who defy the stereotype are regarded as the other (Konar, 2021). A striking aspect of Draupadi’s chivalric nature is brought to the forefront with her strong resentment towards the objectification of women in the Swayamvar. She expresses her intense distaste towards Kunti’s decision to be the wife of the five Pandava brothers, which offers a revolutionist revival of Draupadi, who muted herself and was made a puppet in the hands of her husbands in the epic. The unclothing of Draupadi is another instance in the novel, where Divakaruni sets the character of Draupadi in fire. Consumed by intense anger and desire for revenge, Draupadi takes a fatal oath. This provides an intense, aggressive establishment of Draupadi’s determination and chivalry as a woman. Devdutt Pattanaik in his Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of The Mahabharata observes: “The unclothing of Draupadi is not merely the unclothing of a woman, it represents the collapse of a civilization, the move from field to forest, from Gauri to Kali when Dharma is abandoned” (75). Through the protagonist Draupadi, the author tries to revise the stereotypes concerning gender, caste, class, power and so on. All-through the novel, the author focuses on maintaining the revisionist overtones without losing the chivalry attributed to her protagonist. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, in the novel The Palace of Illusions, raises Draupadi to a higher pedestal, casting her not only the role of a mythological figure, but 75 www.ijhssr.com International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Review (IJHSSR); Vol. 1, Issue 2; July 2021 E-ISSN 2582-9106 the epitome of female tenacity demolishing the foundations of patriarchy. The Forest of Enchantments which serves to be the next successful revisionist artefact of Divakaruni, revives Sita from The Ramayana as a revolutionary heroine who sets the patriarchal conventions at fire, with her chivalric questions against the injustices done to her. Unlike in the epic, Sita in the novel is a representative of the contemporary woman who yearns for self-discovery and an independent identity of herself. The unjustifiable patriarchal events in the epic are questioned by Sita in this novel, foregrounding her unseen aspirations and agonies which were not given a say and space in the misogynistic epic. The events of The Ramayana are perceived through the eyes of Sita and it serves to be the feminist reinterpretation of The Ramayana, dismantling the gender stereotypes of the ancient mythology and thereby reinvents the character of Sita. The novel represents Sita as a woman who is well taught in martial arts and the laws of governance and not as a shadow of her husband. When she gets abducted by Ravan in the novel, under the Asoka tree she equips herself practising the steps of martial arts to rescue herself and she doesn’t yearn for her husband to come and save her. The novel dismantles the notions of chastity that's closely wound with a woman’s identity. Divakaruni urges Sita to voice against her husband's concept of patriarchal culture which forces him to doubt her purity as a wife, since she was left within the palace of Ravan. A man's perception of considering his wife as a possession, a mere sexual object gets foregrounded when Rama demands his brother to banish Sita, as his royal power demands so. Divakaruni at this occasion shuts the door at the face of the misogynistic culture with Sita's voice. This deconstructs the pativrata culture in the epic that forced Sita to mute herself in the situations which demanded her adamant voice. The novel raises Sita to a higher pedestal not only by making sure her protest against the atrocities against women at the present but also her attempts to prevent the same in future from the part of her sons. She takes up the courage to raise her children to be the representatives of an egalitarian society where a woman gets equally respected as a man. To her sons she says: “I’ll teach you what you need to know, be good human beings, so that you’ll never do to a woman what your father has done to me” ( 317).
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