The Mother-Child Relationship in Contemporary Australian and Indian Poetry

Abstract

The mother-child relationship is a significant theme in modern Australian and Indian English poetry, as women have a unique role in bearing and raising children due to gender division and biological constitution. However, literature often lacks attention to women's experience of motherhood and mothering, which reflects the impact of gender on societal settings. Motherhood is a universal phenomenon that needs to be studied in a proper perspective, especially considering gender bias, as it affects women's psychological well-being and mothering performance in socio-cultural situations. This paper aims to explore the differences of gender in mother-child ties, discussing the bonds and interactions between mothers and sons and daughters, as exemplified in contemporary Australian and Indian English poetry. An overview of the poetic paradigms will be useful in studying the psychodynamics of same-gender and cross-gender affinities in a mother-child relationship. The paper focuses on the poetical expressions of motherhood and mothering, as well as children's attitudes towards mothers and vice versa.