University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 04 University of Plymouth Research Theses 01 Research Theses Main Collection 2019 Birds with Wolf Hearts, a Collection of Poetry, with an Analysis of Contemporary Nepalese Women's Poetry Walsh, Eleanor http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/14293 University of Plymouth All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author's prior consent. BIRDS WITH WOLF HEARTS, A COLLECTION OF POETRY, WITH AN ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY NEPALESE WOMEN’S POETRY by ELEANOR WALSH A thesis submitted to the University of Plymouth in partial fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Humanities and Performing Arts March 2019 Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my supervisors Anthony Caleshu, Min Wild and Mandy Bloomfield, for their tireless effort with this project, as well as great ideas, feedback, and guidance. The research for this thesis was supported by the Roland Levinsky Scholarship fund and the Santander Scholarship Program. I’m so grateful for their assistance, without which such extensive fieldwork could never have taken place. I would also like to thank Keshab Sigdel at Tribhuvan University for all his suggestions, guidance and encouragement, and to Pilgrim Books in Kathmandu, for unearthing all of the texts that I requested. Enormous gratitude to Adrian Markle, for his keen eye for editing, valuable suggestions and unwavering support, and to my parents for their support, for being great proof readers and for letting me rack up a huge phone bill calling Nepal. A nod of profound respect goes to Pranika Koyu, a great writer and a wonderful feminist, for sharing so much of her insight with me – not just on Nepalese poetry but on all aspects of my research into women’s lives in Nepal. Spilling mouthfuls of gratitude also to Sanket Shrestha, Nischal Neupane, Nasala Chitrakar and Yukta Bajracharya, for all their help and guidance in learning about Nepalese literature and for their feedback over the years on my own creative work. A special Namaste too to Mira Rai, who for years has inspired me so fiercely. Sincere appreciation also to Quixote’s Cove in Jawalakhel for hosting our poetry talks and workshops, and for providing us with a workspace. Similarly, to Panchakanya Vidya Mandir School and Unique Academy in Chitwan for collaborating so keenly with me in holding English classes, literacy programs and women’s community meetings, and to Raj and Salim Shah at Woodrock in Bagmara, for the use of their buildings and facilities. My dear friends in Chitwan who should be acknowledged are too many to mention, so numerous are the people who gave me guidance and advice, not to mention their hospitality. I could never have gained such a detailed and intimate familiarity with Tharu culture if it hadn’t been for Behafy Mahato and her family. They showed such willingness and patience in teaching me the knowledge that went into this thesis. I was treated as a member of their family – a real privilege and the authenticity of this thesis is owed entirely to them. Particular thanks to Behafy’s son, Anil Mahato, for his help with Tharu translation and fieldwork around Chitwan. Similarly, to the Khanal family in Gothauli: in the vastness of Nepal and immensity of years, it took a special kind of fortune for me to end up in their village and in their home. Their friendship and kindness will never be forgotten. A nod of great respect to Bidur Poudel and Ujjwal Kunwar, and to Suresh Lama, Bibek Basel and Rajendra bhai, who shared their homes with me often over the years and showed me immense loyalty. The months of research following the earthquake would have been tough without them. And finally, to my dear Manish Khanal, for teaching me so much and for being the very best of company. It will forever be my greatest joy to know him. Author’s Declaration Page At no time during the registration for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy has the author been registered for any other University award without prior agreement of the Doctoral College Quality Sub-Committee. Work submitted for this research degree at the University of Plymouth has not formed part of any other degree either at the University of Plymouth or at another establishment. This study was financed with the aid of a studentship form the Roland Levinsky Scholarship and the Santander Seed Fund. The following external institutions were visited for consultation purposes: Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu Word count of main body of thesis: 86044 Signed ……Eleanor Walsh ….. Date …… 28/05/19 …… Birds with Wolf Hearts, a Collection of Poetry, with an Analysis of Contemporary Nepalese Women’s Poetry By Eleanor Walsh Abstract This thesis is comprised of a collation of women’s poetry from Nepal and its contextualising material, and a creative element which is poetry of my own responding to that work. The critical introduction argues that contemporary women’s poetry expresses female experiences and exposes a movement in women’s rights in Nepal that has previously gone unrecognised. The analysis demonstrates how women’s poetry has been used to form new communities, both literary and political, and is a summons to social action, as it recognises the marginalisation of women in literature that has historically been overwhelmingly ignored. In a country where female characters have been either omitted from literature or presented as uneducated, domestic and passive, contemporary work by women offers a literary counterpoise, in which balance is redressed. As a contribution to feminist rhetoric as well as poetry, the creative element of the thesis contains a collection of poems set in Nepal which respond to the traditions and tropes utilised in the poetry by Nepali women. Though they are written from my Western perspective, these poems acknowledge and explore the poetic devices used by some of these female Nepali writers, experimenting with characterisation, metaphor, structure and language in a way that is being popularised in Nepali poetry as it deviates from its traditional forms and becomes diversified. Thesis advisors: Anthony Caleshu, Min Wild and Mandy Bloomfield Contents Introduction 5 Literature Review 6 Hinduism and Women in Nepal 28 History & Style of Nepali Poetry 34 Introduction to the Poems 53 Critical Analysis of Poems 86 Commentary on Creative Practice 161 ‘Birds with Wolf Hearts’ 187 Ethics Discussion 242 Bibliography 244 Appendix 255 7 Introduction The purpose of this thesis is to curate contemporary poetry by Nepali women, to analyse its themes, and to provide a creative response to the poetry. There will be a specific emphasis on diversity previously unseen in Nepalese literature, with a focus on pluralising voices: poems translated from endangered Nepalese languages, poems by women from low-castes and deprived regions, and translated oral poetry – and an effort to ensure that the poetry used here does not represent only the literate and educated minority. There has been a clear absence of scholarly interest in contemporary poetry in English (or translated to English) by women in Nepal: female writers are included only in a tokenistic way in anthologies, and are rarely considered to have the same credibility as their male peers. Analysis of Nepali poetry tends to focus on a specific type of poet: high-caste, well-educated men from Kathmandu, often from historically significant families. In a country where social status is directly linked to the reception of a writer’s work, the poetry of low-caste women from remote parts of Nepal is still fighting – at a disadvantage – to gain recognition, especially as Nepali women’s poetry exposes an aspect of Nepali culture that many deny even exists: they write of domestic oppression, the pressure to marry, and a society that devalues them at almost every stage of their lives. The creative collection, Birds with Wolf Hearts, responds to both the poetry by Nepali women and my experience living in Chitwan, Nepal. The poetry brings together the techniques and influences of Nepali poetry along with inspiration from the life and culture in Chitwan to create a collection that privileges characters and narrative speakers seldom seen in Nepali literature. It replaces the subservient, silent characters of mute housewives and obedient daughters with more genuine speakers who reflect the authentic characteristics of Nepali women’s poetry and the villages where I lived. 8 Literature Review In order to appropriately contextualise this thesis and to ground its claims in the appropriate academic arenas, it is necessary to draw in research and theories from a number of avenues. There has been little scholarly interest specifically in Nepali protest poetry, and even less academic research into poetry by Nepali women. My Nepali language skills are proficient for certain things, like oral translation, and I have an extensive vocabulary that is similar to much of the content of rural spoken poetry. However, to learn to read in multiple Brahmi scripts and to the standard of comprehension required for academic texts, as would be required to engage with Nepalese academic resources, would take longer than the length of the fieldwork. For this reason, the bibliography is exclusively Anglophone in its content.