Socio Cultural Interpretations of the Genered Selves in the Select Novels of Thrity Umrigar

Abstract

This thesis Socio Cultural Interpretations of the Gendered Selves in the newlineselect novels of Thrity Umrigar attempts to study the impact of society and culture on newlinethe individuals, which in turn affects the formations of their gender roles. Thrity newlineUmrigar is an eminent Diasporic writer who focuses on the social and cultural impact newlineon the genders. She sheds light on how society and culture play a major role in shaping newlinethe genders and how they perceive themselves and finally the formation of the gender newlineroles. newlineThrity Umrigar shed light on the stereotyping and the impact of society and newlineculture on the genders. She breaks many taboos with her writing from the portrayal of newlinemale and female characters and how their views change with the change in socio newlinecultural setup. Umrigar through her characters in the novel shows though they all share newlinesimilar socio cultural setup the impact of the family and friends mould each gender newlinedifferently, which in turn influence their choices in the future. newlineThe study is limited to select five novels namely The Space Between Us, newlineBombay Time, The Secret Between Us, The Story Hour and If Today be Sweet. Thrity newlineUmrigar through these novels brings to light the impact of the society and culture in the newlinegenders, she shows how their upbringing affect their choices as genders and how they newlineperceive and view the society around them and how they behave and interact with newlineothers. newlineThrity Umrigar shows through her characters how their socio cultural, moulds newlinethem as individuals and how their gendered selves are altered in the progress of the newlinenovels. She also brings to light that society and culture are constantly changing, how newlinethese changes are perceived and accepted by the characters through the novels. She newlinealso shows how the changes in the geographical setting affect the characters differently newlineby contrasting the characters with their views and ideologies, about how they view newlinesociety and the culture they were brought up in. newline