Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Present : 600 B.C. to the Early Twentieth Century (Women Writing in India)

By Lalita K., Susie J. Tharu, K Lalita

Book Overview

These ground-breaking collections offer 200 texts from eleven languages, never before available in English or as a collection, along with a new reading of cultural history that draws on contemporary... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0044408730
• ISBN13: 9780044408734
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Pandora Press (an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers)
• Length: 539 Pages
• Weight: 1.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.5" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

An invaluable work in South Asian Studies

This is a fantastic anthology of women's writings across a broad spectrum of Indian history - well chosen and edited, with an engaging and thoughtful introductory essay. I assign this book to provide some of the primary documents for my undergraduate Gender in South Asia course. Students, in particular, will find the text clear and easy to use. The only drawbacks of the work are the near absence of writings representing the Mughal period, the 18th century, and the early 19th century, but this is partly because women's writings from this period are difficult to locate or (and this is perhaps the greatest problem) pinned down in obscure books and journal articles by copyright restrictions. Nevertheless, this anthology will not disappoint, and is well worth the cost, providing excellent breadth of material and value for money.

Incredible

I have ordered these books because I found them at a house I was visiting in Austin. An Indian couple generously invited me into their home to see these books after they found out I was interested in women's history. I was particularly impressed with the writings of the woman, Tarabai. She wrote a feminist treatise in 1873, excerpted in this anthology, which reminds me of a poem, Hombres Necios, written by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz in the seventeenth century. It also called to mind the work by Matilda Joslyn Gage in the U.S. a few years later, 1893--Woman, Church and State. Tarabai's words are so brilliant and inspiring. Fantastic! Our women's movement has a much longer history and a more global representation than I ever learned about in any of my schooling.

The most amazing collection of talented writers!

Virginia Woolf created the persona of Shakespeare's sister - an equally talented writer whose creativity was stifled under the rigid Elizabethan society. Her Indian counterpart could be called Tagore's sister. Actually, Rabindranath Tagore did have an older sister, Swarnakumari Devi, who became an accomplished writer and journalist in her lifetime. However, rather than being patronized so often, had she received the same encouragement and support as her younger brother, she may have reached an equivalent level of international acclaim today. Editors Tharu and Lalita's anthology is an excellent collection of works by women who throughout Indian history have rarely been encouraged express themselves. Male critics have often ignored women's writing or have been condescending. Until the 20th century, female literacy in India has seldom been advocated. This book captures the development of women as writers in India, from early 6th century Buddhist nuns to the social reformers of the 20th century. Devotional writing provided a safe outlet for the Indian woman, and the bhakti (devotion) movement began in south India in the 8th century, and moved north through Maharastra, Gujarat and Rajasthan by the 16th century. A bhakti poet could express her feelings under the guise of religion, surpassing caste and gender barriers. For example, romanticism and eroticism is acceptable through the lovers Lord Krishna and Radha. Another acceptable method was to invoke the inspiration of Krishna, as Tarigonda Venkamamba (19th century Telugu) did before she imagined Lord Vishnu as her husband. A woman of a low caste, normally forbidden to read the scriptures, could create her own religious songs by attributing it to divine inspiration. Atukuri Molla, from a Telugu artisan caste in the early 16th century, actually revised the Hindu epic, Ramayana. She produced 138 slokas (verses) in six sections within five days, and Molla Ramayanam depicts the story from Sita's point of view. Like most women writers, she was apologetic about herself, "I am no scholar . . . " and said divine powers had given her this voice. A particular mark of the bhakti writer is the ankita - the author's name embedded in the text. An example is Mirabai, a 16th century Gujarati and Hindi writer, whose songs and poems are legendary today. *"Mira is the servant of her beloved Giridhar (Krishna) And she cares nothing that people mock her." (p. 93) Although there are no reliable manuscripts, Mirabai's songs have survived thanks to their lyrics and strong rhythm. Tharu and Lalita have definitely broadened the scope of women's writing in India by embracing the folk song. India has a rich oral tradition of singing at weddings, lullabies, and during house and field work. There is also a stronger collection of songs about with intense statements about childbirth and mistreatment by in-laws and husbands. In this collection, the readers can witness th

NEVER-BEFORE-IN-ENGLISH PIECES BY INDIAN WOMEN

This book was a major find for me, since I'm Indian-American and most fiction I read in college was by white male American and European authors. It's great to have a book like this one and its companion volume. Many of the pieces have never before been translated into English. For example, there is a version of the Ramayana, one of the major Indian epics, written by a Telugu woman, parts of which are translated here. Women Writing in India is great for curling up with in the evenings, and is a wonderful resource (the ONLY resource, as far as I can tell) for Indian women writers through the ages. Buy it now!