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Manavar, Twinkle B., 2009, The Feminist Approach and the Fictional World of
Nayantara Sahgal: A Critical Study, thesis PhD, Saurashtra University

http://etheses.saurashtrauniversity.edu/id/eprint/126

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© The Author
THE FEMI(cid:8)IST APPROACH A(cid:8)D THE FICTIO(cid:8)AL
WORLD OF (cid:8)AYA(cid:8)TARA SAHGAL:
A CRITICAL STUDY

A
DISSERTATIO(cid:8)
SUBMITTED TO THE
SAURASHTRA U(cid:8)IVERSITY, RAJKOT

FOR THE AWARD OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

I(cid:8)
E(cid:8)GLISH

SUBMITTED BY:
Ms. TWI(cid:18)KLE B. MA(cid:18)AVAR
Research Scholar
Smt. S. H. Gardi Institute of English
& Comparative Literary Studies
Saurashtra University
RAJKOT-360 005

SUPERVISED BY:
Dr. JAYDIPSI(cid:18)H K. DODIYA
Associate Professor
Smt. S. H. Gardi Institute of English
& Comparative Literary Studies
Saurashtra University
RAJKOT-360 005

2009
STATEME(cid:6)T U(cid:6)DER U(cid:6)I. O. Ph.D. 7
________________________________________________________

I hereby declare that the work embodied in my thesis entitled as
THE FEMI(cid:6)IST APPROACH A(cid:6)D THE FICTIO(cid:6)AL WORLD
OF (cid:6)AYA(cid:6)TARA SAHGAL: A CRITICAL STUDY, prepared for
Ph.D. Degree has not been submitted for any other degree of this
University or any other University on any previous occasion.
And to the best of my knowledge, no work has been reported on
the above subject.
And the work presented in this thesis is original and wherever
references have been made to the work of others, they have been
clearly indicated as such and the source of information is included in
the bibliography.

SUBMITTED BY: SUPERVISED BY:

Ms. TWI(cid:8)KLE B. MA(cid:8)AVAR Dr. JAYDIPSI(cid:8)H K. DODIYA
Research Scholar Associate Professor
Smt. S.H. Gardi Inst. of English Smt. S.H. Gardi Inst. of English
& Comp. Literary Studies, & Comp. Literary Studies,
Saurashtra University, Saurashtra University,
RAJKOT-360 005. RAJKOT-360 005.
CO(cid:3)TE(cid:3)TS
________________________________________________________

ACK(cid:6)OWLEDGEME(cid:6)TS i-iii

CHAPTER I:
I(cid:6)TRODUCTIO(cid:6) 01

CHAPTER II:
FEMI(cid:6)ISM 38

CHAPTER III:
SOCIO-POLITICAL CO(cid:6)CER(cid:6)S
I(cid:6) THE (cid:6)OVELS OF SAHGAL 78

CHAPTER IV:
SAHGAL’S WOME(cid:6):
A FEMI(cid:6)IST APPROACH 141

CHAPTER V:
CO(cid:6)CLUSIO(cid:6) 201

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 213
i
AAAACCCCKKKKNNNNOOOOWWWWLLLLEEEEDDDDGGGGEEEEMMMMEEEENNNNTTTTSSSS
________________________________________________________

It gives me immense pleasure to express my deep sense of
regards to my research guide, Dr. Jaydipsinh K. Dodiya,
Associate Professor, Smt. S. H. Gardi Institute of English &
Comparative Literary Studies, Saurashtra University, Rajkot,
who has guided and helped me at each and every stage of my
research work. I am extremely thankful to him for his profound
knowledge, kind co-operation, sincere encouragement and
inspiring discussions throughout the progress of this work.
I am highly indebted to Dr. Kamal Mehta, Head, Smt. S.
H. Gardi Institute of English & Comparative Literary Studies,
Saurashtra University, Rajkot and other faculty members –
Prof. A. K. Singh, Dr. S. M. Mukherjee and Dr. R. B. Zala for
their valuable and fruitful suggestions and helping me at
proper time during my work.
I am sincerely thankful to Principal Dr. R. R. Kalariya
and all the faculties of Smt. K. S. N. Kansagara Mahila
ii
College, Rajkot as well as Principal Dr. N. M. Kanani and the
faculties of Shri J. H. Bhalodia Women’s College, Rajkot.
I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to
Prof. M. B. Roy, Dr. Fatima Sugarwala, Dr. Soniya
Sapowadia, Prof. Jyotiben Dhameliya and Dr. Krishna Daiya
for their suggestions and timely help during my work.
I am also grateful to Mr. N. N. Soni, Librarian,
Saurashtra University, Rajkot for the help and co-operation
during my work.
I am not less indebted to the different libraries: The
Library of the Department of English as well as the University
Central Library and the Academic Staff College Library of
Saurashtra University, Rajkot, the Library of Gujarat
University, Ahmedabad and the Library of S. P. University, V.
V. Nagar for providing necessary study materials pertaining to
the dissertation.
I owe my deep gratitude to my respected, worthy and
beloved father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-
in-law Dr. Jamanbhai Bhalodia and sister-in-law for their
blessings and encouragement.
iii
I have no words to express my sense of gratitude towards
my husband, Dr. Jayant A. Bhalodia, Assistant professor,
Department of Physics, Saurashtra University, Rajkot for his
whole-hearted co-operation, high inspiration and constant help
at each and every stage during the course of my study. Without
his constant encouragement and support, this study would not
have been possible.
I also record with pleasure my sincere thanks to Ramesh,
Hitesh, Nisha, Shirish, Keena, Mital and Priya.
Last but not the least, I would like to mention my most
special note of sweet love to my beloved little son, Rhythm for
sacrificing the pleasure of my love during this work. Without
his support, this dissertation would not have seen the light of
the day.

((((MMMMssss.... TTTTwwwwiiiinnnnkkkklllleeee BBBB.... MMMMaaaannnnaaaavvvvaaaarrrr))))
Place: Rajkot
Date: 24th December 2009.
1
CHAPTER – I

I(cid:11)TRODUCTIO(cid:11)
________________________________________________________

I

During almost six decades of post-colonial history of Indian
English fiction, a wide variety of novelists has emerged focusing
attention on a multitude of social, economic, political, religious and
spiritual issues faced by three coinciding periods of human experience.
India as a subject matter of literary writing is uniquely placed because
within a period of half a century it witnessed diversified upheavals and
tremors caused by the coexistence of post-colonial nostalgia, the new
colonial awareness as well as the post-modernist revivalism.
Interestingly, the women novelists have been at the core of all literary
writings of this phase. With the turn of the century the Indian English
women novelists have surpassed their male counterparts outnumbering
them quantitatively as well as by maintaining a high standard of
literary writing, equally applauded in India and abroad, experimenting
boldly with not only technique but also by incorporating tabooed
subject matters in their novels and short stories.
Indian writing in English has gained immense popularity and
recognition in the last two decades of the 20th century. From Raja Rao
to Salman Rushdie, the fictional writers have concentrated on
changing societal patterns, transformation of values, and on the
individual’s predicament in a society in transition. Rapid
2
industrialization, scientific revolutions and upsurge of information
technologies, have all led to a devaluation of ethics and crumbling of
culture. Indian writers have constantly tried to adapt themselves to the
changing scenario. The seed of Indian Writing in English was sown
during the period of the British rule in India. Gradually, there emerged
a few talented writers of this living and evolving literary genre, who
could lift this form to international status and universal recognition.
The three names usually mentioned in the literary circles in this
context are Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan and Raja Rao. They are
known as ‘The Big Three’, an epithet coined by the noted English
critic William Walsh. Raja Rao, Mulk Raj Anand and R. K. Narayan
in their own inimitable style adopted the English language to serve
their purpose. The credit of bringing a name and reputation to Indo-
English fiction goes to them. These three innovative writers have
brought world recognition to the new genre namely Indian-English
fiction.
While considering Indian-English literature, one can perceive
‘Indianness’ in Indian Writing in English. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar
states, “What makes Indo-Anglian literature an Indian literature and
not just a ramshackle outhouse of English literature is the quality of its
‘Indianness’ in the choice of its subjects, in the texture of thought and
play of sentiment, in the organization of material and in the creative
use of language.”1 Whereas Meenakshi Mukherjee observes,
“Whatever be the language in which it is written, a novel by an Indian
writer demands direct involvement in values and experiences which
2
are valid in the Indian context.” What the Indian critics expect in
3
Indian Writing in English is only a feel of the shared experience of the
tradition, culture and heritage which they have in common with the
writer.
The themes of the Indo-English fiction are the problems of
social, domestic and sex. The most prominent technique of narration
in the Indo-English fiction is the stream of consciousness narrative.
Mulk Raj Anand introduced this technique in the Indo-English fiction.
Raja Rao adopted the autobiographical form of narration. The
phenomenon of mulk Raj Anand owes directly to the depression of the
thirties and to India’s quest for national identity. It should be easy
enough to dismiss Anand as a mere social realist. The portrayal of
middle-class life in R. K. Narayan’s novels is realistic and authentic.
The ‘Big Three’ are followed by other distinguished writers like
Manohar Malgonkar, Khushwant Singh, Bhabani Bhattacharya and
Balachandra Rajan.
In the galaxy of Indian novelists in English, Indian women
writers too shine luminously like their male counterparts by their
significant contribution to enrichment of Indian English novels.
Though women writers attempted their hands at this new genre as
early as 1879. Indian women novelists in English constitute a
significant group. Fiction by women writers constitutes a major
segment of the contemporary Indian writing in English. It provides
insights, a wealth of understanding, a reservoir of meanings and a
basis of discussion. In Indian novelists in English, women writers like
R. P. Jhabvala, Nayantara Sahgal, Kamala Markandaya, Anita Desai,
Shashi Deshpande, Arundhati Roy, Shobha De, Bharati Mukherjee,