New Women in Selected Indian Chick Lit Novels: From Stereotypical Roles towards Modernity

Abstract

Abstract: Women in India have had a challenging time developing in a male subjugated society, class and caste systems. But within time, women have become educated, emancipated and independent. In the era of globalization and change, Women are no longer confined to the walls of a house. They have become cognizant of the need to be modern and new woman. The image of woman in literature in recent decades as presented by Indian English writers is different from that past. The journey of women smashing the stereotypical roles and stepping ahead towards modernity and ‘new woman’ has been depicted by several Chick Lit writers in their writings. Being a Subgenre of Chick Lit, Indian Chick Lit is a genre of fiction written for and advertised to young women, particularly solitary and employed women in their twenties and thirties. This new genre has appeared as a different tendency especially for the young independent employed women who are struggling hard to find a space for themselves in the twenty first century. This paper highlights the journey of women from stereotypical roles towards modernity. It elucidates how the protagonists in Indian Chick Lit novels smash the stereotypes of self-sacrificing and self-effacing roles of women discussing the novels Piece of Cake by Swati Kaushal and and Salaam, Paris by Kavita Daswani. These leading characters of selected Indian chick lit novels are at great pains to get themselves free from the stereotypical and traditional roles