Core Versus Periphery: Dynamics of Personhood Over the Life-Course for a Gujarati Hindu Woman

Abstract

Popular conceptions of Hindu Indian womanhood suggest that these women are best conceptualized within a network of social roles. These conceptions, for the large part, are based on ideological descriptions or normative patterns, depict Indian women as a homogeneous group, and are relatively static. Conceptualized within the framework of existential philosophy, in this article we explore an urban middle-class Hindu woman’s conceptions of herself and the notion of change. Using the metaphor of a tree, she describes her existence in terms of two main components: one that represents the core and the other that constitutes the periphery. She perceives family roles at the periphery, while considering her soul as the center of her existence, which organizes various roles into an integrated whole. Both individuality and connectivity are integrated in her depiction of Hindu Indian womanhood with their relative emphasis changing over the life-course. This narrative, along with our analysis and broader discussion of problems with research on personhood, suggests the need to expand the theoretical and methodological focus to obtain a more complete understanding of personhood in collectivist cultures.