Revisiting Begum RokeyaSakhawat Hossain and Understanding Indian Feminism

Abstract

Patriarchy has ensured that the account of women is ignored and rarified before entering history which has been a male preserve, telling stories of men for men. (Black and Macraild 140) In context of historiography of colonial India too, the representation of women as passive and lacking feminist consciousness seems to be a result of this Foucauldian paradigm of discourse. (Selden et al 189) However, post-structural probing into the historical discourses is bringing forth many micro-narratives which have been ignored by the dominant ideology.Looking back at late colonial period of India, this study sets to situate Rokeya, a visionary feminist who remained unrecognized in mainstream Indian historiography, particularly in the teleology of Indian feminist discourses. (Sarkar 80) Bringing in the cross textual references and micronarratives , the study would question the male hegemony, societal silence or ignorance, government apathy, etc. while highlighting the need for the re-appraisal of such a marginalized body of literature that existed in early India. With its interdisciplinary approach, the study will undertake a postmodern probe into the realm of emergent women s writing vis a vis women s position in early Indian society. newline