AIMS Journal of Research ISSN 2321 - 8487 Dr. Megha Singh Mithun Chakravarty Dr. Shampa Malhotra Shivapriya T G B. Sowjanya Dr. Shylaja S Decentering Gender and Ungendering Centre in Mahesh Dattani's On a Muggy R. Devanand Night in Mumbai Glazed with Light like Liquid Fire': The Poetry of Sharon Olds Dr. Brian Mendonca Modern Woman's Dilemma in the Poetry of Sara Teasdale Dr. Shruti Tripathi Potrait of Women Characters in the Novellas of Ruskin Bond Devashish Mishra Indian Narratives from the Gender Perspective B. Geetha Devi AIMS Peenya, BANGALORE A PREMIER INSTITUTION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA CONTENTS Gender in Relation to Race and Class in Toni Morrison's Sula 4 Dr. Megha Singh Silence Speaks Louder: Gendered Readings of Partition Women Narratives 7 Mr. Mithun Chakravarthy Women's Writings and Women's Space 16 Dr. Shampa Malhotra W(h)ere Literatures Failed: Constructing Socio, Economic and Linguistic Spaces for LGBTs 20 Shivapriya T G Naipaul's Women Characters Versus his Attitude towards Women 25 B. Sowjanya Writing Woman: Text, Context and Contestations 31 Dr. Shylaja S Decentering Gender and Ungendering Centre in Mahesh Dattani's On a Muggy Night in Mumbai 34 R. Devanand 'Glazed with Light like Liquid Fire': The Poetry of Sharon Olds 39 Dr. Brian Mendonca Modern Woman's Dilemma in the Poetry of Sara Teasdale 43 Dr. Shruti Tripathi Potrait of Women Characters in the Novellas of Ruskin Bond 47 Devashish Mishra Indian Narratives from the Gender Perspective 49 B. Geetha Devi Call of Papers (AJR) 53 AIMS JOURNAL OF RESEARCH Volume 8, Issue 2, September 2013 AIMS Journal of Research is a peer-reviewed Bi-annual publication of AIMS Centre of Research (ACR), AIMS, Peenya, Bengaluru. The journal is published in march & september, every year. The journal is multidisciplinary and aims at providing a platform to research enthusiasts and publish high-quality conceptual papers, methodological papers, surveys and case studies. Views expressed in the articles are those of respective author(s). Neither AJR or ACR, AIMS, Bengaluru is responsible for the views expressed by the author(s). Unless authorized, no part of the material published in AJR may be reproduced or stored un retrieval system or used for commercial and other purposes. Copyrights @2010 by ACRM. EDITORIAL & SUBSCRIPTION ADDRESS Chief Editor, AJR, AIMS 1st Cross, 1st Stage, Peenya Industrial Area Bengaluru-560058 Ph. No.: +91-80-28390433/28390434 Email: [email protected] RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chairperson- Dr. Kerron G Reddy Members Dr. Anjula Gurtoo, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Dr. D. Anand, Professor, Department of Management Studies, University of Mysore Dr. R. Indira, Professor of Sociology, University of Mysore Dr. Sandhya Sastry, Professor, Department of Management Studies, University of Bedfordshire, UK Dr. T. Siddaiah, Campus Director, Indian Academy Group, Bangalore Dr. R. Jayaprakash Reddy, Director - ACR, AIMS Member Secretary Dr. Kavita Desai, Registrar Academics, AIMS Chief Editor Dr. Kerron G Reddy Managing Editor Members Manu Chakravarthy, R V College of Management, Bangalore Sudarshan Reddy, Tumkur University Prof. Ramesh Raj Aiyar, Director - ACIL, AIMS 1 AJR, Vol. 8, Issue 2, September 2013 ISSN: 2321-8487 Publisher ACR, AIMS Administrave Support Mr. Gopal Reddy M Frequency Bi‐ Annual SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS INDIAN FOREIGN 1 Year INR 400 USD 50 2 Years INR 700 USD 90 5 Years INR 1600 USD 200 Demand Draft should be drawn in favour of Acharya Institute of Management & Sciences, payable at Bengaluru-560058, Karnataka, India. 2 AJR, Vol. 8, Issue 2, September 2013 ISSN: 2321-8487 EDITORIAL Dear Readers, Department of Languages-AIMS, conducted a National Conference on the theme Role of Literature: Changing Attitudes towards Gender on the 23 and 24 August 2013. The current issue focuses on some of the learnings from the conference. We thought, we fought and then we caught the face of something that we really wanted to look at. Coming up with the theme Role of Literature: Changing Attitudes towards Gender was both easy and difcult. Our ideas emerged and faded in various shades- we saw the eyes, felt the shadow, perceived the wagging tail, experienced footprints against silhouette- we saw our THOUGHT FOX. The body remained as it is but mind was agitated with thoughts, bruised with responses and uttered for peace. A sip of morning tea and the newspaper revealed lives, different and similar. It unfolded the stories of umpteen souls trapped in the violence called 'body'. Gender, to me, appeared lack of spiritual consciousness and anxiety of the physical self, to somebody else it was an existential phenomenon and to a few others it meant the world. Souls cry and laugh and respond through body…their needs, perception and performance all different. Travelling deeper only revealed that positivity was the result of deeper understanding of human nature and negative responses to the variety in gender a consequence of attitude and lack of proper thought. Mind thus plays an important role. So, there we were as our response to the fast changing society, a theme that could bring in literature and changing attitudes towards 'human beings'. Somewhere among men, women and others, we need to look for humans. Gender is as old as humanity and so is Literature. For various reasons, we lost what we had but for various reasons we are born as what we are. Whatever we are, we have to live life in its fullest form. It is not the rise of feminism that establishes the fall of masculinity or vice-versa; it is the attitude of the genders towards each other. The position of exclusion or inclusion has been depicted in various literary texts, however, it does not dene the existence of what exists. Having said this, literature has the capacity to absorb the nuances of consciousness. Wonder what would have been our reaction towards Hamlet had he been a woman; Tess a man, Heathcliff a woman, Padmini (of Hayavadana) a man? !! Mind does not have gender and gender somewhere seems to fail in understanding mind. But then, is there a man somewhere in every woman and is there a woman hidden in every man? Where mind is trained to behave stereotypically and lose its originality, body reciprocates in a different way and so does the society. At times when mind speaks what is original, conict at all levels becomes inevitable. Mind is already trained, Attitudes have already been formed- what if someone wants to be the original self and shed the mask? Schedule VII of The Companies Bill passed by both the houses of parliament recently listed a few activities which may be included by companies in their Corporate Social Responsibility Policies. One of the activities is promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women. Our conference aimed at touching upon all the relevant aspects of gender through Literature, that shape minds, lives and societies. And when we meant Gender, we did not mean only men and women. Shikhandi played a very important role in The Mahabharata, Arjuna disguised as Bruhannalla became a dance teacher…so, references from history and literature do acknowledge and acknowledge very strongly the presence of different personalities. It also raised questions on our concepts of modernity. The National Conference thus witnessed some major outcomes in problematic areas of gender, biases, equality and responses, also establishing future directions for research in different sections of the theme. We are extremely happy to receive responses from various parts of the country. The papers are as diverse in content as the various sub themes. The current issue includes the rst set of papers chosen to be published. The next set will be published in one of the upcoming issues of AJR. I thank the management of AIMS from the bottom of my heart for extending uninching support for conducting this conference. It gives me immense pleasure to see the idea come to fruition in the form of these proceedings in two parts in AJR. Trust you will enjoy the ideas presented in this issue. Truly, Editor 3 AJR, Vol. 8, Issue 2, September 2013 ISSN: 2321-8487 Gender in Relation to Race and Class in Toni Morrison's Sula Dr. Megha Singh¹ “Man can think of himself without woman. She cannot think of herself without man....She is defined and differentiated with reference to man and not he with reference to her; she is the incidental.....He is the subject, he is the Absolute ---she is the 'other'. Simon de Beauvoir, The Second Sex It is argued over and over again that men and women are born equal but the social reality is not the same. The status of women has always been marginalised. They suffered from embarrassment and wanted to defend themselves but were not empowered to do so. Though the condition of women is almost the same in the world over but when we speak of African-American women in white America, the condition is pathetic. To be black and female is to suffer from twin disadvantages of racial discrimination and pronounced gender bias. They were the victims of sexual atrocities at the hands of the white patriarchs as well as the blacks. In short, the black women in America were made victims of triple jeopardy—racism, sexism and classism. Toni Morrison, an African-American women has deeply explored this world of racism, gendered, class and national specificity. The present paper deals with the study of Morrison's novel “Sula” where primary focus is on gender, specially the individualism of the American women. The concept of gender and its relation to race and class is very much the part of the novel. The concerns of class, whether of the capitalists or the masses, rank third after gender and race.