7.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The researcher has followed the library as a main source for the research
purpose. Researcher has made all positive efforts to analyse the texts and verify the
factsmentioned there in. During the phase of the research, the researcher has gone through the
regional text as well as the English text as the primary source.Whenever it is possible,researcher
has referred the available reviews and literature as secondary source.

A comparative study of all these womenwriters is without bias. An autobiography as a

literary form is also studied. During research, the women writers under the study and other
famous personalities of the feminist literature are analysed.

8. UTILITY AND RELEVANCE

The present research has enormous social relevance and utility. It offers an opportunity to
study the lives of women in the country particularly, the educated women and their personal
struggle against hostile circumstances. It spreads across inter-disciplinaryreference to sociology,
history,psychology and religions exist in the country.The study will encourage the further
research on cultural background and study of rational issues raised by them in their
autobiographies. The present study is very much relevant as the approach to feministic literature
and riseof feminism in India and abroad.

9. LIMITATIONS

The present research has certain limitations. It is a study, which concentrates mainly on
autobiographies of women writings in India. It is in-depth representation of the female gender. It
has linguistic boundaries. The study remain confined to afew women writers whose experiences
may not cover the total problems of Indian women at large. These autobiographies are
representative of women literature. This is a sample survey on feministic approaches in
literatures in their respective languages. The researcher has attempted to study the prominent
writers viz. Amrita Pritam, KamalaDas, Shobha De, Laxmi Bai Tilak and Urmila Pawar. The
selection of these women writer‟s isbased on region and religion from four languages. They are
Punjabi, Malayalam Marathi and English.

10. SCHEME OF CHAPTERRIZATION

The following is the chapter design:

CHAPTER 1
FEMINISM IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT
The chapter highlights the detailed design of the study comprising of brief
introduction on the various aspectsof the study, for example Concept of feminism, feminismin
India and women writers in Indian English fiction. It also covers post-independence women
writers writing in English. As EMForster observes, in his novel „A Passage to India‟‟ and defines
feminism in the Indian context, “an interesting aspect of the modernIndian enlighten has been the
creative release of the feminine sensibility”. 33Women in modern India have not only sharedthe
exciting but important responsibility. The feminine sensibility has achieved and imaginative self-
efficiency which merits recognition in spite of its relatively late manifestations. InIndianEnglish,
fiction women continue to occupy a place of importance and significance for more than one
reason. It projects responses of more than half of humanity and reflects a consciousness
constructed by gender. Women‟s writing has questioned the existing viewpoints, which are
essentially patriarchal and traditional. Several highly talented women novelists including Kamala
Markandaya, Anita Desai, Nayantara Sahgal, Attia Hosain, Santha Rama Rau, and Shashi
Deshpande have enriched Indian fiction. They wrote of Indian women, their conflicts and
predicaments against the background of contemporary India. In their writings, they have
analysed the socio-cultural mode and values that have given Indian women their images and their
role towardsthem and the society. The changing content has placed these women writers in an
inevitable position.

CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF FAMOUS AUTOBIOGRAPHIES BY WOMEN IN INDIA
 This chapter reviews the writings on the women autobiographies by the scholars
and the different aspects they have observed in their critical studies of the individual writers .The
attempt is being made, in the present research to find out the sensibility of these women writers
from the feminist literary point of view. The most important study of south Asian studies like
Taslima Nasserin‟s Amar Meyebela‟, ShobhaNarayan‟s Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with
Recipes, 2003 and Nayantara Sahagal‟sPrison and Chocolate Cake, 1954.

CHAPTER 3
INDIAN WOMEN WRITERS IN GENERAL-A STUDY

This chapter deals with the women writers writing in Indian English fiction. Feminism, in
the Indian writings in English has entered in an effective manner as, Indian women writers have
questioned the age-old patriarchal domination. The post-independence writers like, Arun Joshi,
Anita Desai, Kamala Markandaya and Ruth PrawarJhabvala voice forth the human predicament
vis-a-vis the negative social forces that, subverts man‟s progress. She occupies a unique
position as a writer. She mainly illustrates the internal drama of the human life in her fiction.

CHAPTER 4
KAMALA DAS ‘MY STORY’

The noted poet of Malayalam literature and Indian English poetry has made here
shocking confessional statements in her autobiography „My story‟,from her childhood days at
Malabar, her early anddistortedmarriage, her love affairs, her illness and her poetic writings.She
has written first in instalments to a magazine, and later published it as an exciting autobiography.
What we get is the feminine sensibility, feminine spirit and the desperation of feminine
sensibility for its expression in the language, which is not hers.Shri Iyanger R.S. observes “when
she writes male/female body, female hungers, beat sorry breasts or stood nude in front the glass
it was considered a far cry ….fiercely feminine sensibility that does without inhibitions to,
articulate the hurts it has received in an insensitive largely man made world‟‟.34
CHAPTER 5
AMRITA PRITAM-‘RASIDI TICKET’

Amrita, a well-known Punjabi poet migrated from Pakistan at the age of 16, at
the time of partition from Lahore has written her autobiography at the age of 58, in Punjabi as
„Rasidi Ticket‟ and was translated by Krishna Gorovara in English as „ The Revenue Stamp‟

In her autobiography, she reflects her Punjabi culture through her childhood life
of undivided Punjab, her mother‟s death, early marriage, her father‟s strict and discipline attitude
and her love for Sahir Ludhianvi, the noted poet of Hindi films. she has written her short stories
and poems in Punjabi language. She depicts everything with anode of confirmation and her
sensibility is showing her mark in each of her sentences of the autobiography. TheRevenue
Stamp isa mirror for her experiencesand affirmation of the life .She lived as a woman and as a
poet, known as a „Goddess ofDefiance‟. Amrita Pritam is among the early women poets of post-
independence era of India, writing mainly inPunjabi, Hindi, andUrdu. Her autobiography The
Revenue Stamp is her stamp on the cognitive life-vision of awoman, who has unusual feminine
dignity andsensitivity. TheRevenue Stamp reflects her rebellious ideas, it is an expression of
romantic mind and the sufferings of women in her, and it is a manifestation of her spiritual life,
through the experiences of the physical world.

CHAPTER 6
LAXMIBAI TILAK-‘SMRUTI CHITRE’

Laxmibai Tilak has born and brought up in a Brahmin family and has not
achieved any formal education in the school, but learned with the help of her husband Narayan
Tilak. In the present autobiography, she has presented growth and history of MarathiSahitya. Her
life after becoming a Christian and period she has spent after conversion into Christianity. She
has performed social and help- age role among the poorest of the poor. She has often adopted
homeless children and rendered service to the community. The greatness of this autobiography is
that it was not written by Laxmibai herself but she has narrated to her son Devdatt, who had
published this autobiography at a later stage of her life.

CHAPTER 7
URMILA PAWAR-‘ AAYADAN’

Here, Urmila Pawar as a Dalit literary personality has given us a true and realistic
picture of her family, community and surroundings. She has also given examples of caste, blind
faith and rituals performed by most backward Mahar community of Ratnagiri district of
Maharashtra.

She has given an account of her development through dire poverty,education,

marriage and government job. She is accepting the influence of Dr.BabasahebAmbedkar‟s
movement, and Women‟s liberation. She is shocked with her son‟s sudden death, conflict with
husband and rituals of community.

CHAPTER 8
SHOBHA DE-‘ SELECTIVE MEMORIES: STORIES OF MY LIFE’

Shobha De, born in Maharasrtrian conservative family, has developed herself as a

rebellion and proved herself as a prominent media personality. She narrates in her
autobiography, her memories of childhood days, college education at Xavier‟s, Mumbai and her
initial modelling career. She has performed as an editor of Stardust with NariHira. She has also
included in her autobiography, her children, hersecond marriage and the most important is about
the celebrity world of her life span. InPresent autobiography, she has kept an unbiased stand for
all her activities and the vicissitudes of her identity crisis at the middle age. Comparativelyshe
has a sophisticated life than the other four women writers dealt in the present study.

CHAPTER 9
COMPARATIVE STUDY OFTHE WOMEN WRITERS
 This chapter discusses the family background, education, marriage life, cultural
background and the writing style of the women writers. These autobiographies are reflecting
similarities and sharp differences in their development from linguistics, racial and cultural
developments. Most of these women writers have not enjoyed smooth marital relationships due
to one or other reasons, but they have taken care of their children on their own. They have
proved their potential in their respective literary fields. The message of the feminist sensibility
for the women in general and struggle they faced in life will provide women in the country and
feminist in general an inspiration.

CHAPTER 10
CONCLUSION

This chapter summarises the findings and the conclusion of the study. The five
women writers with sharp linguistic, cultural and geographical environment represented the
problems and painful stories of Indian women from 19th century until date. However, they have
not shared the contemporary time of the history, the problems of patriarchal society, treatment
to women, broken marriages and the identity crises are remained the same.

All the women writers have common family problems and circumstances but they
could project Indianculture, its meaning and values. They have their limitations but the lampsof
feminism they have lighten that has provided many women organisations to undertake the issues
of poor, weaker and orphan women of the society. Their fight is against patriarchal society
andwrong rituals; they could bring to the notice of the people for a change. These women writers
will provide inspiration to the future generation in their fight against the established norms set by
patriarchy.