Mythological Retellings as Feminist Revision: Reclaiming Women’s Voices in Contemporary Indian Literature

Abstract

There has been a marked change in the portrayal of women in Indian literature in the modern era, particularly reinterpretation of the epic tales using feminist perspective. The paper attempts to analyse the mythological retellings as a feminist revision which takes up the issue of reclaiming the female voices that have been forgotten in The Ramayana and The Mahabharata and confronting the representation of the female in a patriarchal manner. The study, based on selected works by Chitra Banerji Divakaruni, Kavita Kane, Pratibha Ray and Volga, examines how the characters - Draupadi, Sita, Urmila, Surpanakha and Uruvi - are reconstructed as independent characters with emotional complexity and moral agency. The paper will use a qualitative approach that involves close reading and comparison of texts to examine the process of the transformation of traditional narratives, utilizing feminist literary theory and the revisionist mythmaking process. Specific focus is placed on the narrative voice, the subjectivity of the female and her autonomy, resistance, marriage and the reinterpretation of the pre-existing gender roles. The analysis focuses on the use of alternative viewpoints, the use of reconstructed experience and narrative experimentation by contemporary writers as a way to challenge the authority of male-dominated epic traditions. It also analyses the shortcomings of feminist revision including the continued use of traditional romantic perspectives, expectations, and the lack of a satisfactory treatment of caste marginalised women. The study claims that besides making women’s voice visible in narratives, it is imperative to acknowledge their ability to question the established values, and to have an active voice in the narrative.