• Namasvee Munshi

Indian mythological stories have been male centric with scattered stories of mythical female characters who have strong personality and narratives but their roles have been limited to how the male gaze perceived them to be. The focus on the perspective of ‘non-male’ characters from the stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata has been a comparatively recent development. As the sensibility of the times evolved, so did the work of writers. It was a much-needed development to rework stories of strong characters like Sita, Draupadi, Ahalya, Kunti, Urmila, Satyavati, Shikhandi and Mandodari. ‘Disturbed by the sudden realization that women had invariably been represented in stereotypical ways by a literary heritage that claimed universality, feminist critics turned to women authors for alternative images of women.’ (Tharu and Lalita 13) The observation made by Susie Tharu and K. Lalitha in their 1991 work applies to Indian mythological fiction as well. Contemporary authors have brought the intellect, wisdom, strength and sensitivity to the attention of the readers, who had only been told of their purity, chastity and unconditional devotion to their husbands in the earlier renditions. The paper will focus on an important matter of analysing the change that Kané and Divakaruni have brought in female narratives through their works and its implication on current and future tradition of women’s writing in India.

Divakaruni, Gynocentric Narrative, Indian mythology, Kané, Women’s writing, Reinterpretation

"Analysing The Role Of Women-Centric Narratives From Mythological Fiction Of Kane And Divakaruni ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 5, page no.d629-d632, May-2023, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2305384.pdf

"Analysing The Role Of Women-Centric Narratives From Mythological Fiction Of Kane And Divakaruni ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 5, page no. ppd629-d632, May-2023, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2305384.pdf