FROM SILENCE TO SELFHOOD: RECLAIMING WOMEN’S VOICES IN INDIAN MYTHOLOGICAL RETELLINGS BY CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNIAND KAVITA KANÉ

International Journal of Computer Science (IJCS) Published by SK Research Group of Companies (SKRGC)

Abstract

The classical Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, have traditionally functioned as monumental repositories of patriarchal dharma, wherein female characters are frequently relegated to the periphery serving as catalysts for male heroism, passive victims of dynastic ambition, or flat archetypes of virtue and vice. This paper examines the phenomenon of feminist revisionist mythmaking in contemporary Indian English literature, focusing on the works of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Kavita Kané. By analyzing Divakaruni’s The Palace of Illusions and The Forest of Enchantments, alongside Kané’s Sita’s Sister and Lanka’s Princess, this study explores how these authors dismantle the androcentric architecture of the epics. The paper argues that Divakaruni and Kané do not merely retell the myths; they epistemologically shift the narrative locus from the male epicenter to the female margins. Through this subversion, silenced and vilified women such as Urmila, Surpanakha, Sita, and Draupadi reclaim their narrative agency, transforming from passive objects of epic history into the active, articulate subjects of their own destinies. Ultimately, this study demonstrates how modern mythological fiction serves as a crucial site for interrogating contemporary gender politics and dismantling systemic patriarchal erasure.

References

1. Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee. The Forest of Enchantments. HarperCollins Publishers India, 2019.
2. ———. The Palace of Illusions. Picador, 2008.
3. Kane, Kavita. Lanka’s Princess. Rupa Publications, 2017.
4. ———. Sita’s Sister. Rupa Publications, 2014.
5. Kishwar, Madhu. “Yes to Sita, No to Ram: The Continuing Hold of Sita on Popular Imagination in India.” Manushi, no. 98, 1997, pp. 20–31.
6. Rich, Adrienne. “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision.” College English, vol. 34, no. 1, 1972, pp. 18–30.

Keywords

Classical Indian epics, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Kavita Kané, Mythological fiction, Traditional