Narratives of Selfhood: Female Authors and the Historical Evolution of Indian English Literature

Abstract

Research paper will focus on how the story of being Indian has changed over time in the literary works of prominent Indian women writers, where the oppression experienced has been internalized to empowered multifaceted identities. Based on the postcolonial feminist theory, intersectionality, and narrative identity, the paper will examine several major texts in the various historic periods: Kamala Das, her confessional autobiography My Story (1976), the first text offering vocal disobedience to patriarchal restrictions, and bodily autonomy; Anita Desai, her introspective novels, including Clear Light of Day (1980) and Fire on the Mountain (1977); Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (1997) which intertwines personal fragmentation with caste and gender violence in postcolonial society; and diaspora writings by Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies, 1999) and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (The Mistress of Spices, 1997), which portray hybrid, transnational selfhood amid cultural displacement and globalization. The thematic analysis highlights the bargaining of tradition and modernity, intersectional effects of caste, class, and religion, and new methods, such as stream-of-consciousness, non-linear narrative structure and autobiography, are the subject of thematic analysis. Although it has come with its share of obstacles including publishing bias, censorship, negativity of the society and criticism of English-medium elitism, these are stories that have added value to Indian English works, boosted its popularity in the world and inspired new voices. The results highlight the significance of the feminist discussion of feminist works authored by female writers in the development of feminist discourse, the reconceptualization of cultural identity in postcolonial India, and the contribution of the feminist discourse in the Global South to feminist discourse on agency and resistance. The paper sums up these changing tales of selfhood as being mirrors and drivers of socio-cultural changes, enabling women and altering literary canons.