Keywords

Feminism , Social realism , Gender discrimination , Industrialization , Urbanization , Globalization

1 . INTRODUCTION

The present paper aims at a deep investigation of social milieu unraveled through the contemporary globalized vision adapted in the literary criticism of the Indian English novels. For that there is a general survey of the novels in English representing the writers or the Indian English novels.  Fictional medium is really very useful to know reality of society. Social Realism in literary criticism focuses on different aspects of society which helps the common men and women uplift their lives with awareness and become good citizen. The theory of Social Realism helps deep understanding of society. Social realism as a style of writing is well known for faithful representation of social life by rejecting idealism and romanticism. The Indian English novels denote the authors’ vision and attachment with society and their attempt to create awareness among readers to uplift the status of country brothers and sisters. There lies the conception of ‘new feminism’ or ‘native feminism.’

New feminism advocates the equal worth and dignity of both sexes. It has supported the idea that men and women have different strengths, perspectives and roles. Among its basic concepts that biological rather than cultural, New Feminism holds that women should be valued in their role as child bearers, both culturally and economically

As Lawrence (1923) has stated that the novel is the bright book of human life. The novel is depiction of day to day life, custom and the contemporary time in which it is written. While reading realistic novel we see everyday life before our eyes. Literary world has accepted feminism according to its time and requirement. Literature and visual art used realistically to depict several methods in which perfect description of feminism is aimed.

2 . REALISM AND SOCIAL REALISM

Realism is mostly related with the writers of the nineteenth century in France. The France revolution has significant impact on Romantic literature. The prominent Realist novelists are Flaubert and Balzac. George Eliot has coined it in England. W. D. Howells used it in the United States of America. Realism is often associated with common places of day to day life. It mostly focuses on the life of middle and lower classes. The central figures are the outcome of social facts. Literary realism interprets reality to awaken the society. Modern criticism mostly stresses that literary realism is indirect reproduction of reality. It is systematic process which creates life like illusion of real world. It is done through the process of selecting subject matter, depiction and the style of addressing to the reader.

Social realism is the outcome of Russian revolution, Soviet Communism and Marxism. It is also inspired by the need to present critically various patterns of representation of frustration of personal and collective aspiration. The term ‘Socialists Realism’ is about exploring society how it should be, idealized. It doesn’t depict life as it is. The prominent exponents are Joseph Stalin, Maxim Gorky and Andrey Zhdanov. The term insists that all form of art should explore man’s struggle to establish better life. Socialist realism insets to the realistic artist to help downtrodden as a realistic heroic and hopeful. Socialist realism teaches all forms of experimentalism as depraved.

Social Realism is an outstanding understanding of human life.  It is kind of intellectual ability or skill to deep investigation of the nature and function of human society. The study of social realism is an intellectual probing of society and its various institution and traditions. The study of social realism focuses on individual social changes, facts relating to family, the class conflicts, marriage institution, educational standard, politics, economic diversity, religion, morality and unemployment, unrest youth, indiscipline industries, malpractices, crime and war. In realistic approach to literature the writer focuses on basic life story while depicting a piece of art. Social Realist author does not share what he thinks or believes while narrating work of art. There is less scope to personal judgment. Social realism in novel is minute depiction of life as it is. Social novels focuse on various aspects of society including gender, race, class, poverty, the plight of child labor, oppression of women. Social realism is the most handled technique to narrate the social issues.

Realism is totally different from Classism and Romanticism. The term classicism depicts life more idealized and rational that it normally is. Romanticism portrait life more sentimental, contentful and satisfied than it really is.

3 . NATIVE FEMINISM

Native feminism in India is not as aggressive as feminism in the West. It does not expect the woman to be a complete rebel and revolutionary. It expects her to fight for liberty and equality remaining well within the constraints of her society. It is a movement that fights not only for her rights, but also for her status and dignity. Women, in India, have to suffer in silence on account of male ego and superiority. This kind of research includes women’s lives, equalities, empowerment, socialization and improved status (Ghosh, 2007). The feminism strongly was connected to western feministic theory which emerges as singular and bonsai.

 However, Indian women have been always influenced by the native culture and so the nature of feminism differs.  In every activity in India, social ties help a person and the absence of them brings failure. Seldom do people carry out even the simplest tasks on their own. When a small child eats, his mother puts the food into his mouth with her own hands. When a girl brings water home from the well in pots on her head someone helps her unload the pots. A student hopes that an influential relative or friend can facilitate his college admission. Finally, a person facing death expects that relatives will conduct the proper funeral rites ensuring his own smooth passage to the next stage of existence and reaffirming social ties among mourners. (Rao Shankar, 2007)

Indian English novels based on feminism and its different aspects that depict the positions of a woman in general. A woman is portrayed as the key figure of Indian families and at the same time, she has been projected as the subject of suffering domestic slavery and suppression. The hidden thoughts, suppressed feelings and the self-realization of a woman are found in the female-oriented Indian English novels. Indian literature in English, thus, can be used as a means of social change and reform in India. Indian women writers in English have been dealing with feminine issues in their writings, especially in their novels. Feminist writers like Shashi Deshpande, Rama Mehta, Jai Nimbkar, Ruth Prawar Jhabvala,  Rohinton Mistry, Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Shashi Tharoor, Manju Kapur and Amitav Ghosh have rejected the western feminist theory including values, ideologies, beliefs and norms of living. They have their native feminism in the globalized contexts of the Indian way and attitude towards life. Not only equality, but the status expected in the family structure has been advocated. This is the native feminism propagated by the Indian English novelists.

4 . PATRIARCHY AND FEMINISM

Shashi Deshpande raising her voice against patriarchy is nothing but her feminism reflected in her novels - The Dark Holds No Terrors, Roots and Shadows, That Long Silence, A Matter of Time and other novels as well. These novels are good examples of the feministic novels dealing with the native contemporary issues and problems in a men-dominated society. By profiling feminism as the main theme of her novels, she strongly believes that the woman can march towards her empowerment only through making herself strong and confident. For that she should realize her talent and potentiality. Through self-realization she wants the woman to be emerged as a new woman. We come across the projection of the female world in which the female voice is suppressed in a male-centric Indian society. Human Relationships, a middle class Indian woman: a creature made by beliefs and superstitions, or a victimized creature, and the image of an emerging ‘New Woman’ have been the significant topics in Deshpande’s fiction.

For example, The Dark Holds No Terrors, is a tremendously powerful portrayal of the woman’s fight to survive in the callous and malignant patriarchal world that offers no easy outs to her. It is a story of Sarita who gradually realizes that there is more in the life of the female than just depending on her husband and parents, on institutions such as family, society and marriage. Unable to tolerate the marital violence imposed on her by her husband, she returns to her parental home to escape the nightmare brutality of her husband. She resolves to use her new-found truths, during her stay at her parental home, to make a better life for herself and by herself. The novel throws light on the bitter and frightening reality of human relationship, such as, husband-wife relationship, father-daughter relationship, and mother-daughter relationship. Marriage, as we know, plays a very crucial role in the life of an individual, both the male and the female.  Both Saru, in The Dark Holds No Terrors, and Indu, in Roots and Shadows, get married with a simple and natural hope to set themselves free from their caged existence at their ancestral homes. However, in their quest for freedom, ironically, they are caught in another trap in the form of marriage. Though caught in a marital trap, it is the hope in them that enables them to keep going in their lives. Old Uncle, in Roots and Shadows, rightly says: “That’s the hope that keeps us going. That makes us willing to let go finally” (Deshpande 108).

5 . SOCIAL IMBALANCE AND WOMEN STATUS

Where Shall We Go This Summer? is the novel of individualities. Sita and Raman, the urban people and the islanders represent the two zonal patterns of culture. There are certain socio-cultural learned habits and views of keeping the distance to define the personal or social behaviours. Sita and Raman lose the domestic peace, because she does not accept the urban social life pattern of behaviours. She finds herself suffocated in that socio-environment. In the social situation, she never gets to anyone. She always takes the visitors with their insularity and complacence as well as their aggression and violence. There she spends almost all her time on the balcony, smoking, looking out at the sea below it. She sits there smoking, not even looking at the sea any more, till he exclaimed, ‘Bored? How? Why? With what?’ (P.49-50).

Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance is an apt example of realistic representation of women status. He has depicted very skillfully the social imbalance and women status through the novel. He has strongly protested against traditional view towards women. He has gapped those time burning issues like motherhood, marriage, class conflicts, victimization, women empowerment, sister, women as wife. He strongly believes in women as human being and not only sex object. As a social humanist, he has exposed the atrocities of subaltern and women, poverty and women position in urban and native places. He is much interested in recording social changes and the status of women. Development in industrialization and city has considerable changes in Indian social life and status of women. The novel depicts how women try hard to get equality. The ideal example is Dina Dalal the Parsi widow. A Fine Balance depicts the world of women and their status in those time society. Mistry says   “Constitution has offered right of equality to all men and women of the country. There is not any discrimination on the basis of gender and caste. Educated women position is quite good than illiterate but gender discrimination still persists. Gender discrimination is ugly practice of our society.”

The novel has portrayal the issues of ugly treatment to women by their in laws. Like birth of girl child is not welcomed and girl child is not feed properly. On the contrary boy child is feed with enough care. It shows the insignificant status of women in the novel.  A Fine Balance is well exposition of the Dalit women. Like lower class women are more sufferer than other strata women. The novel is horrible portrait of lower class women. They are the most in pitiable condition, even they are not considering as human being.

6 . NEW WOMEN WITH THEIR MIDDLE WAY OUT

While reading the novels of Jai Nimbkar and Ruth Prawar Jhabvala we come to know that both of these novelists invite us to meditate on the complex strands of human relationship where affiliation is at stake. Jai Nimbkar’s ‘Temporary answers’ is the novel of psychological analysis of human relation. This novel is about a widow of 30 and her relations with other characters in the novel. Vineeta after her husband’s death could not form good relationship. Jai Nimbkar sketches her protagonists in such a way that they never spoil bless of their marital status. But always these new women get their middle way out to solve their problems intelligently. Very consciously she never allows her female characters to cross the boundaries socially of the plutonic relationship. Vineeta, Jyoti and Ann, the three central female protagonists of her three different novels, face all hurdles of their life very boldly and intelligently and achieve their aim to get their identity.

The relationship between the family members is most evident in almost all of Mrs. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s novels. Jhabvala portrays the family bonding which reflects the true Indian philosophy and culture in getting the family united in varied changing circumstances. In “The Nature of Passion” Lalaji’s attachment to his grandchildren is very real. Believing that children are the driving force of all the relationships he thinks, Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunt, Uncles, neighbor and servants they could be run together only on that one thread: children. In “A new Dominion”, the relationship between Asha and Sunita is beyond compassion and understanding. Mrs. Jhabvala emphasizes the impact of a warm homely environment on her protagonists. She observes that family living brings family members closer to each other implying greater social interaction and extending different familial networks of relationships.

Her writing shows her awareness of man and society in their human and moral dilemmas. She writes about Indian life. This shows her knowledge and awareness of the Indian characters, Indian family, Indian society and Indian sensibility. She has the knowledge of human heart both in its individual and universal contests, contexts along with the understanding of the social and cultural patterns and values.

7 . CONCILIATION OF WOMEN

The secrets of women in ‘Inside the Haveli’ have been exposed by Rama Mehta. Traditionally exploited, uneducated, ignorant and trapped women, early marriages, widowhood, custom-bound suffering, false decorum, so-called reputation and women merely puppets. Geeta, a new comer to haveli from the cosmopolitan Bombay adapts to the strange life situation. As the unexpected ending of the novel, we learn that Geeta seems to be revolting but compromises; a struggle between tradition and modernity continues; curiosity lasts about the Vijay-Vir Singh marriage; Bhagwat Singhji’s death produces the tragic effect; and finally, Geeta accepts whatever the haveli expects. 

Bhabani Bhattacharya has given prominence to the women characters and are not treated as inferior to men (Gupta, 2002). However, his women characters victimized in certain conditions like poverty and hunger and force to sell her body. Women of Bhattacharya are relatively passive in ‘So Many Hungers!’ ready to accept the customs, conventions and traditions in contemporary society unquestioningly but they change to rebellious in ‘He Who Rides a Tiger.’

Manju Kapur portrays the women world in her novel, ‘A Married Woman’ with feministic approach as she is a feminist writer. Astha, the protagonist is middle-class and educated woman in Delhi has children, a dutiful loving husband and all comforts. She protests against male dominance, subjugation, control over and marginalization. The issues related to middle-class and upper middle-class women in ‘Difficult Daughters’ and ‘Home’ are about the status of woman in her family and society.

8 . WOMEN SECONDARY OR INFERIOR

The feminism in the novels of Kamala Markandaya manifests through Rukmani, Nalini, Ira, Mira, Roshan, Helen, Lalitha, Mohini, Usha, Valli, etc. by focusing on the themes like maternal instinct, spirituality, modernity, urban influences, East-West conflict and feminine superiority to show the feminism in her writings as Pandey (2013) pointed. Markandaya’s Rukmani believes that her life is meaningless without husband and children whereas Ira returned back to parent’s home for her barrenness. Markandaya shows that Indian women are full of hard working, starvations, nervous and dependent on men in all respects. Therefore, they are fully engaged in survive today, trusted on fate for their sorrow and not willing to think about future. Women frightened about public critic on their relations, purity, moral, behaviour, etc. 

Indians do not accept racial and cultural mixed parentage, polygamy, remarriage, extra-marital relations, pre-marital relations, etc. even though they are educated, from upper-class and -caste and interacted with Western culture. Women of the first generation are self-bounded by tradition and rituals in contemporary society, but the next generations are ready to break it for self-identity and reliance. They are ready to rebel against bounds in her family.

There has been a gyno-critical strategy to examine the novels by contemporary Indian women novelists, namely, Arundhati Roy’s ‘The God of Small Things’, Kiran Desai’s ‘The Inheritance of Loss’ and  Manju Kapur’s ‘Difficult Daughters’. They got together traditional views with modernity like globalization, materialism, consumerism and feminism.

9 . CONCLUSION

Globalization makes us accept the new ways of living life (Datta, 2000). However, if we prefer our own views and native ideas while criticizing or judging the writings in Indian English; then globalization would not be disastrous to our culture, literature and other studies. In Globalization, people and societies are no longer restricted to geographical location. The borders of countries and distinctions of cultures become blurred, open-ended, unstable, contested and reconfigured. We have to consider the global in a local context. Partly resistance and partly acceptance of global ideology can lead to a more unified world culture. In this way, we must try to understand ourselves by interpreting us with the universal parameters.

Actually, there is no view or attitude universal towards life, since the most fundamental human concepts are community-oriented. In all of them, some racial, environmental, anthropological or ethnographical aspects play a very vital role and characterize them. We visualize our religious or spiritual faith with the aspects of nature i.e. the physical facets of the environment in which we live; our views are also formed with the native circumstances and the ancient life-values, and so we have to determine and accept them for defining and applying the concept of feminism in Indian writing in English. Therefore, we prefer Pandit Nehru’s idea of creating new India by connecting the past with the present and discovering our values and conclusions.

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Conflict of Interest

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