Traversing Gendered Margins through the Lens of Mother-Daughter Relationship: A Reading of Krishna Sobti's Listen, Girl! and Geetanjali Shree's Tomb Of Sand

Abstract


 
 
 
 This paper seeks to examine the obfuscating yet definitive and detrimental presence of patriarchal control and gendered realities in family dynamics through an analysis of Krishna Sobti's Ai Ladki (Listen Girl!) and Geetanjali Shree's Ret Samadhi (Tomb of Sand). These two fictional texts can help to understand the intricate relationship between gender, identity, and other cultural constructs within the context of Indian literature in Translation through a close examination of the power dynamics and social norms underlying the family system as portrayed in these narratives. The objective is to investigate these complex interplays so as to locate the position and subjectivity of Indian women in specific contexts and relationships. Both texts map the space of the historically victimized female subject and further explore the possibility of alternative subjectivities within the framework of Indian feminism. The paper is divided into three sections, each of which foregrounds the importance of equal representation of all genders as well as individuals from the periphery, making inclusivity the central theme. The first section explores the distinct fields of literary and cultural translation and their contribution to the making of “Women's Writings” within the expansive framework of “Indian Literature,” highlighting the often-overlooked status of women writers and translators and their invaluable contributions to shaping and amplifying the voices of Indian women relegated to obscurity due to the burden of being both women and Indian. The second section sheds light on the strong and intense presence of women writers in indigenous languages and their considerable impact on the wider literary landscape. The third section probes the chosen literary works as specimens of “ecriture feminine” (to use the term coined by Helene Cixous).