Sketching Contested Terrains Gender in the Works of Kamala Das

Abstract

Although gender has already become one of the most contesting sites in academic debates across different Humanities disciplines, there is one glaring lacuna in the academic discussions on gender, especially in literary circles it continues to be anchored on patriarchy and the marginalization of newlinewomen in patriarchal power-grids. It cannot be denied that patriarchal subjugation of women is still an academically valid issue to discuss; however, that alone does not constitute feminine experiences. In Indian English Literature, this line of one-sided discussions is more prevalent and newlinemany of the brilliant female voices in the field have been conveniently pigeon-holed within this framework. Kamala Das, arguably, the most versatile and daring female voice in Indian Literature, has, surely, been a victim of this literary compartmentalization. A sensitive reading of her works can bring out the variety of experiences pertaining to feminine subjectivity that she infuses with newlinequaint imagination. This research stems from the conviction that her works deserve a better critical perspective one that takes into account the diverse creative imagination that they celebrate. It is in this context that this thesis reads the works of Kamala Das in the light of the theoretical deliberations on gender by Julia Kristeva, Judith Butler, Helene Cixous, and Luce Irigaray gender theorists who paid attention to the psychic subtleties of being a woman. The Poststructuralist newlineapproach towards the theorization of gender which they initiated challenged the stability of the very category of gender by redefining it as an outcome of a series of cultural and social regulatory practices. Through a revisionist reading of Lacanian Psychoanalysis they strove to establish gender as a fluid psychic and cultural space which is dynamic enough to bring forth multiple and to some extent contradictory ontologies. Through a close reading of the works of Kamala Das, this thesis brings out alternate ways of being feminine which can be seen as a conscious..