NEXT ISSUE (2015) VOLUME – 6 LITERATURE OF NEW MILLENNIUM The deadline for Submission of Article is 15 March, 2015. The final decision will be taken by Board of Editors. For more details please visit www.illuminatenglish.co.in NEERU TANDON PROF EIKO OHIRA (JAPAN) Chief-Editor Guest Editor (2015) [email protected] [email protected] DEDICATED TO OUR PERENNIAL INSPIRATION YUGPURUSH BARRISTER NARENDRAJEET SINGH Illuminati ISSN-2229-4341 A Transnational Journal of Literature, Language and Culture Studies Dr. Neeru Tandon Chief-Editor [email protected] Phone: 09839121088 List of Life Members 1. Dr. Archana Singh 27. Dr. Mahandra Singh 2. Dr. Anshul Chandra 28. Dr. Jaya Kapoor 3. Dr. Anjita Singh 29. Dr. Divya N. 4. Dr. Ankita Shukla 30. Dr. Preeti Tiwari 5. Dr. Chaya Jain 31. Ms. Kavisha Viz 6. Dr. Kavita Shukla 32. Dr. Aparna Sundaram 7. Dr. Kalikinkar Pattanaik 33. Dr. Chitra Thrivikraman Nair 8. Dr. Kumkum Ray 34. Dr. Panchali Mukherjee 9. Dr. Lalima Bajpai 35. Dr. Gharge Sunita Sunil 10. Dr. Nivedita Tandon 36. Dr. Smita Das 11. Dr. Neeru Tandon 37. Prof. Noriko Kubota 12. Dr. Neeta Nagaich 38. Dr. Madhumita Ganguli 13. Dr. Nidhi Arora 39. Ms. Kratika Nanda 14. Dr. Priya Shrivastava 40. Dr. Sandhya Villayalath 15. Dr. R.P. Pradhan 41. Dr. Ashna Fatima 16. Dr. Reshu Shukla 42. Dr. Seema Nigam 17. Dr. Supriya Shukla 43. Dr. Ranjana 18. Dr. Shaminaz Shaikh 44. Dr. Aparajita Shukla 19. Dr. Shyam Singh 45. Dr. Savita Gupta 20. Prof. Manisha Pandey 46. Dr. Bushra 21. Prof. Usha Jain 47. Dr. Rashmi Dubey 22. Prof. Eiko Ohira (Japan) 48. Dr. Smita Jha 23. Ms. Sonali Kapoor 49. Dr. B. Barman 24. Dr. Anita Bhela 50. Dr. B.D. Pandey 25. Dr. Chandra Mouli 51. Dr. Rashmi Singh 26. Dr. Geeta Sharma vi Institutions 1. Maharaja Harishchandra P.G. College, Moradabad 2. Mahila Mahavidyalaya P.G. College, Kanpur 3. Mahatma Gandhi Memorial P.G. College, Sambhal Muradabad 4. Vikramajit Singh Sanatan Dharma College, Kanpur 5. D.G. College, Kanpur 6. Juhari Devi Girls P.G. College, Kanpur 7. B. Raghunath Arts, Commerce and Science College Parbhani, Maharashtra 8. Ram Lal Anand College, New Delhi Illuminati A Transnational Journal of Literature, Language and Culture Studies Volume 5 • 2014-15 Contents Introduction 1 Neeru Tandon Feminist Theoretical Models: Questions from the Indian Context 7 Anita Singh Gender, Disability and the Postcolonial Nexus 17 Pushpa Naidu Parekh Gendered Re-visioning and a New Poetics: Feminist Cultural Practice from North East India 36 Debashree Dattaray Complex Growths: Ice-Candy-Man and Sisterhood 47 Eiko Ohira (Japan) Culture, Patriarchy and Religion with Reference to Indian Feminism: Autobiographical Musings of Sarah Aboobackar 60 Ambika G. Mallya Politics of Child-bearing in Ismat Chughtai’s “Touch-Me-Not” (Chooi Mui) and “Two Hands” (Do Haath)72 Tanvi Sharma Feminism: Against a Rebuttal of Desire 84 Bandna K. Burman Islamic Feminism in Kamal Amrohi’s Razia Sultan 89 Panchali Mukherjee and Shila Mukherjee From Coziness through Confusion to Reconciliation: The Journey of Das’ Women 100 Sandhya V. and Harini Jayaraman Feminism and Feminist Discourse in the Writings of Dé and Gokhale 111 Preeti Tiwari viii Feminism in India: A Study of Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence 122 Aarti Verma and Rashmi Singh Sultana’s Dream: “Ladyland” Amidst Nationalist “Tradition” and Colonial “Modernity” 133 Paromita Bose Within and Beyond ‘Women’s Studies’ 139 Aratrika Das My Little Boat 146 Mariam Karim INTERVIEWS: Neeru Tandon in Conversation with Sarojini Sahoo 152 Neeru Tandon INTERVIEWS: Anita Singh in Conversation with V. Padma ‘Mangai’ 165 Anita Singh An Interview with Sarah Joseph 177 Niyathi R. Krishna and Smita Jha BOOK REVIEW: The Clear Voice of Women in Post-Independence Indian Theatre 182 Edited by Laxmi Subramanyam, Reviewed by Jaya Kapoor BOOK REVIEW: Metaphors of Conquest 186 Edited by Rizio Yohannan Raj, Reviewed by Jaydeep Sarangi BOOK REVIEW: Youth Voteology 2014 189 Written by Vasundhara Singh, Reviewed by Neeru Tandon POEM: Homeless Born 192 KumKum Ray POEM: I am a Woman 195 Aparna Sundaram POEM: Alesha’s Confession 197 Shanta Acharya POEM: Nirbhaya 200 Shanta Acharya Contributors 202 1 Introduction Neeru Tandon From Editor’s Desk Psyche of Indian Women : An odyssey incomplete…….. “ONE is not born, but rather becomes a woman. No biological, psychological, or economic fate determines the figure that the human female presents in society; it is civilization as a whole that produces this creature, intermediate between male and eunuch, which is described as feminine” (Simone, 295). “I define feminism as a mode of existence in which the woman is free of the dependence syndrome. There is dependence syndrome whether it is husband, father, the community or a religious group. When women will free themselves of the dependence syndrome and lead a normal life, my idea of feminism materializes.” —Chaman Nahal THE above quoted two sentences from The Second Sex and the views of Chaman Nahal inspired me to take up Feminism in India as a topic for discussion. Feminism in India has meant different things for most of us. It has been bandied on all fronts, taken up by activists and debated on theoretical grounds too. From the theoretical perspective “feminism observes gender in its relation to power, both at the level of face-to-face interaction and reflexivity within a social structure at large.” Putting it in a layman’s ILLUMINATI VOLUME 5 • 2014-15 2 Introduction language feminism is not (and never has been) about female superiority or taking away the rights of men. It’s about EQUALITY. It’s not just about voting rights or getting jobs. It’s about the way women are treated in everyday life. A man is always right in being an individual but a woman is always called imitator of man when she tries to be an individual rather than a woman. Sometimes she is identified through several relations but she never owns her identity. Even today woman is also reliant, though her situation has changed a lot in the contemporary world but even then she is addressed as the second sex in the society. Women in general are particularly affected by social and cultural changes in postmodern consumerist societies, and their bodies and images are the main loci of “commoditization” in the discourses of body care, dieting, keeping fit and ageing. In a consumer culture, bodies are the focus of normative discourses (‘be slim’, ‘be young’, ‘be good looking’). Although the discriminatory treatment of women in language and discourse was intricately related to the discursive treatment of men as the representative of the human species ‘par excellence’, nevertheless feminist linguists chose to target changes to female terms, expressions, forms and structures. This was in line with feminist values and principles which sought to empower women and to define women without reference to men, and not surprisingly the primary agents of change in this process were, and still are, women. Feminist thought has a rich history and the current, ‘third wave’, emphasizes the concepts of globalization, post colonialism, post- structuralism and postmodernism. Feminism in India is a set of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for Indian women. It is the pursuit of women’s rights within the society of India. The history of feminism in India can be divided into three phases: the first phase, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, initiated when male European colonists began to speak out against the social evils of Sati; the second phase, from 1915 to Indian independence, when Gandhi incorporated women’s movements into the Quit India movement and independent women’s organisations began to emerge; and finally, the third phase, post-independence, which has focused on fair treatment of women at home after marriage, in the work force and right to political parity—(wiki). There have been intense debates within the Indian women’s movements about the relationship between Western and Indian feminisms. Many Indian feminists simultaneously claim a specific “Indian” sensitivity as ILLUMINATI VOLUME 5 • 2014-15 Introduction 3 well as an international feminist solidarity with groups and individuals worldwide. While comparing I often come across people who say that feminism in the UK or US has become redundant; there seems to be an idea that just because, yes, some women have jobs, equality, freedom and identity of their own; everyone should feel fulfilled and as though feminism is something that can be, and has been, completed. Done and dusted. No more work to do there. What about India? Here too a good number of women can be seen doing jobs and managing both home and workplace efficiently. They still face a lot of discrimination and still the F word Feminism is scary for most of them. Indian woman has been worshipped for her altruistic love, fidelity, dedication, care and nurturance not only of her child but of the whole society. She has equal rights to the man or even more than him by the mercy of the legislators to save these creatures to be abolished but even at the present time they are not considered as equal sexes in forming a society. I don’t deny that even in India the scenario of feminism has been completely changed; the main concern has been shifted to present woman as an individual and recognizing her identity as an individual rather than a wife, mother and the accumulator of home only. She is undoubtedly all of these and these are certainly essential parts of her life but all these expectations, duties that either are adopted by her willingly or were imposed on her by the others; her individuality, her sense of freedom as an individual was lost somewhere.