Tahmima Anam’ın A Golden Age ve Roma Tearne’nin Bone China Eserlerinde Kadınlar ve Ulusal Anlatı

Abstract

This article aims to discuss gendered parameters
 of national identity and collective memory in contemporary South Asian women’s
 writing. Tahmima Anam’s A Golden Age
 (2007) and Roma Tearne’s Bone China
 (2010), in this context, represent the positive transformation of women’s roles
 in the public and private spheres, as well as the understanding of femininity
 and masculinity in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh during the independence war. In the
 reproduction of national identity, there is an emphasis on the significance of
 privatised domestic space, women’s involvement in the national struggle, and a
 feminised collective memory in historically male-constructed nations. In A Golden Age, despite her traditional
 gender roles and controversial national identity, Rehana becomes a defender of
 Bangladesh due to her altering political views, while her daughter, Maya,
 symbolises the progressive role of a new generation of women in the movement.
 In Bone China, besides civil war and
 resistance, immigration enforces a loss of collective identity, whilst women’s
 domestic and public lives are subject to profound change. The two novels
 promise hope for the transformation of women’s roles and status, and emphasise
 the significance of women’s narratives and collective memory in the
 preservation of national identity.