the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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twentreth century llterary texts by women wrlters of different countries and cultures ---- hfro-Arner~can, Amerlcan, Britlsh, Canadlan and Indian ~SSU~S, the texts selected for study are Afro-American Allce Walker's Meridian (1977) Amerlcan Brltlsh Canadlan Ton1 Morrison's ~eloved (19871 To examlne these Charlotte Perklns Gllrnan's Herland 119151 Marge Plercy's Woman On The Edge of T me (1976) Margaret Dranble's The Millstone I19651 Dorls Lesslng's The Smer Before the Dark I19731 Margaret Laurence's The Dlvlners 119741 Margaret Atwood's The Handmaad's 119861 Tale Karnala Markandaya's Nectar in a Sieve 119541 Shashl Deshpande's The Dark Holds No Terrors 11980) Although a hosc of other fernlnlst wrlters have wrltten on thls sensltlve yet challenging Issue, thls drssertatlon restricts ltself to one text each by the above authors, taklng them as representatrves of thelr mllleu.
1.2.1. The dissertation takes for ~ t s base the three phases In the evolution of women's literature - femlnlne, femlnlst and female - as formulated by Elalne Showalter the femlnlne phase belng one where women wrote In an effort to equal the literature by men, the femlnlst phase, a conscious revolt aga~nst patrlarchal norms, and the female phase relectlng both lmitatlon and revolt In favour of an autonomous l~terature (Showalter 1989 405) Allce Walker's dellneatlon of the three phases In her women characters - the suspended women, the assimilated women, and the emergent women - has a strlklng correspondence to Showalter's dlvlslons Extending both Showalter and Walker's dlvls~ons to the concept of motherhood, and uszng these dlvls~ons ldeologlcally as well as hlstorlcally, one can discern these phases In the concept of motherhood also femlrlne motherhood sponsored by the patrlarchal cultures / rellglons, femlnlst motherhood sponsored by femxrlst z!.eorlsts In general, and female motherhood sponsored ty a Seczion of recent Franco-Amerlcan theorists Added to tkese 1s the advent of technological motherhood sponsored by HI- tech reproductlve strategies adopted In recent femlrlst utopian / dystoplan texts Wlth these changlng attltcdes and approaches to lt, the lnstltutlon of motherhood 1s so polarized and problematlzed that lt becomes an area of smdy - a dlsclpllne by ltself - whlch 1s termed here as
Page 1 and 2: THE PROBLEMATICS OF MOTHERHOOD IN T
Page 3 and 4: POONAM MINOCHA Research Scholar Dep
Page 5 and 6: The hand that rocks the cradle does
Page 7 and 8: university. New Delhi; Pondicherry
Page 9 and 10: CEAPTER - 11 INTRODUCTIONS PROBLEMA
Page 11 and 12: manipulation of her self whereas Mr
Page 13 and 14: This chapter explores the major que
Page 15 and 16: and career, single parenting, ambiv
Page 17 and 18: INTRODUCTION : PROBLEllATICS OP XOT
Page 19 and 20: 3 institution of motherhood In her
Page 21: 5 aspect of the female body and 'ge
Page 25 and 26: 9 goddess with the human mother, im
Page 27 and 28: 11 example, portrays Sophie, the 'i
Page 29 and 30: harm children 13 It argues instead
Page 31 and 32: 15 fourteenth-century mother and he
Page 33 and 34: 17 Gold, The Ice Age and The Middle
Page 35 and 36: 19 1.6.2 The two American novelists
Page 37 and 38: 21 finds herself at crossroads - sh
Page 39 and 40: enmeshed in the femlnine motherhood
Page 41 and 42: 25 unrecognizable as individuals" (
Page 43 and 44: from the blologlcal to the psycho-s
Page 45 and 46: narrative point of view, structure,
Page 47 and 48: 3 1 By emphasizing the primacy of m
Page 49 and 50: TO bear a child, preferably a son,
Page 51 and 52: 35 the moral, transf0m:ng the biolo
Page 53 and 54: 37 2.2.1. Before the summer of her
Page 55 and 56: 2.2.1.3. Kate trles to Inculcate in
Page 57 and 58: sexually knowledgeable woman of the
Page 59 and 60: other hand, completely convinced by
Page 61 and 62: 2.2.2.4. Ira retalns some of her mo
Page 63 and 64: 47 2.2.2.7. Apart from Rukmani and
Page 65 and 66: malevolence of the instltutlon itse
Page 67 and 68: for her it involves both a give and
Page 69 and 70: 5 3 daughter Beloved the second tim
Page 71 and 72: 'feminist' daughter. 5 5 What one s
Page 73 and 74:
57 nurturing relationship Walker he
Page 75 and 76:
59 far preferable to rejection or i
Page 77 and 78:
lnwlcation of the ability to relate
Page 79 and 80:
63 mother After a long bout of fami
Page 81 and 82:
Her frail independence gave way to
Page 83 and 84:
male. Rich interprets Yahweh's comm
Page 85 and 86:
2.5.3. Nectar in a Sieve reiterates
Page 87 and 88:
. 71 internalization of a 'code of
Page 89 and 90:
73 Gilman's concept, therefore, is
Page 91 and 92:
to the Church in the same way as he
Page 93 and 94:
77 2.7.1. Rukmani of Nectar in a Si
Page 95 and 96:
79 The mother therefore serves as b
Page 97 and 98:
81 comprehends that Michael's wife
Page 99 and 100:
BEKINIST MOTBEICBOOD To be a good m
Page 101 and 102:
85 3.2.0. In the novels under study
Page 103 and 104:
3.3.1. In Alice Walker's Meridian,
Page 105 and 106:
As will be seen subsequently, symbo
Page 107 and 108:
91 that the daughter often recelves
Page 109 and 110:
dentity. What Elaine Showalter says
Page 111 and 112:
(1987.110) Although no resolution i
Page 113 and 114:
97 :elect it. Her obsessive remembr
Page 115 and 116:
core: "Daughter? I don't have any d
Page 117 and 118:
OD she forms with her daughters. Be
Page 119 and 120:
experience and motherhood as an ins
Page 121 and 122:
105 of the double message she recei
Page 123 and 124:
107 Jaya of That Long Silence and I
Page 125 and 126:
109 saru marries Manu mainly to bre
Page 127 and 128:
him on this account. Not withstandi
Page 129 and 130:
113 chat that Went on in the queue,
Page 131 and 132:
115 adaptability, but realizes that
Page 133 and 134:
and behavlng well and you should an
Page 135 and 136:
119 embodiment. Kate's dilemma is s
Page 137 and 138:
121 them to be childrearers once th
Page 139 and 140:
Work means getting away from home,
Page 141 and 142:
125 would probably have become some
Page 143 and 144:
127 motherhood and career only when
Page 145 and 146:
129 she does not grant =he 'father'
Page 147 and 148:
131 social construct, Gilman was wl
Page 149 and 150:
out a change ln attitude towards mo
Page 151 and 152:
135 the House' and loosening the te
Page 153 and 154:
13 7 of one's Own' is essentlal to
Page 155 and 156:
139 example that comes to mind imme
Page 157 and 158:
141 experlences a fragmentation of
Page 159 and 160:
TECHNOLOGIC& MOTEERBOOD It was part
Page 161 and 162:
145 4.1.1. This brlngs us to the qu
Page 163 and 164:
147 womb, sometimes after it has be
Page 165 and 166:
149 bodies of brain-dead pregnant w
Page 167 and 168:
151 4.2.4.1. Surrogate motherhood h
Page 169 and 170:
153 vitro gestation (IVG) which inv
Page 171 and 172:
155 pregnancy necessary? Do foetuse
Page 173 and 174:
157 prosperity of then children dep
Page 175 and 176:
159 strengthen male control over fe
Page 177 and 178:
161 chlld, while advocates of techn
Page 179 and 180:
clash with a woman's llved experlen
Page 181 and 182:
165 children and more a displacemen
Page 183 and 184:
167 w~th Adrienne Rich's stance tha
Page 185 and 186:
169 allowing women to place themsel
Page 187 and 188:
171 4.5.2 Mothering, In Mattapoiset
Page 189 and 190:
173 with a new consclousness" (Lane
Page 191 and 192:
175 subverts the existing stereotyp
Page 193 and 194:
177 when they learn from the men th
Page 195 and 196:
179 4.9.0. As Piercy's Wcrman on th
Page 197 and 198:
181 patrlarchal culture, we see her
Page 199 and 200:
THE USTEETICS OF MOTHERHOOD . Women
Page 201 and 202:
185 sees lt, the mother's voice is
Page 203 and 204:
esurrected female slave narrator's
Page 205 and 206:
189 daughter and her wrlting and wh
Page 207 and 208:
191 through the flrst person narrat
Page 209 and 210:
193 on Kate, uslng the omniscient n
Page 211 and 212:
195 story, It is also the story of
Page 213 and 214:
197 narrative of her visit to a uto
Page 215 and 216:
dominated soclety. 199 In Atwood an
Page 217 and 218:
201 buffalo" (NS 14) brlngs to ligh
Page 219 and 220:
203 going to do, just lay there and
Page 221 and 222:
205 Further, the chlldren brought u
Page 223 and 224:
everyone she knew - but it had neve
Page 225 and 226:
more my style" (SBD . 228) says Mau
Page 227 and 228:
211 trees, fountains and flowers Th
Page 229 and 230:
Quite ironically, the Commander's w
Page 231 and 232:
215 5.5.3.8. The river 1s a dominan
Page 233 and 234:
217 5.5.3.11. Morag of The Diviners
Page 235 and 236:
separation is as easy as cutting of
Page 237 and 238:
221 mixed feelings about her child.
Page 239 and 240:
223 (WET:95) and "canned childLren1
Page 241 and 242:
225 Piercy's Woman on the Edge of T
Page 243 and 244:
227 5.5.9.6. "Maternity clothes", "
Page 245 and 246:
229 warmth and shelter and at the s
Page 247 and 248:
231 prompts Terry to remark that th
Page 249 and 250:
deepest religious emotion, every fe
Page 251 and 252:
235 In Search of Our Mothers' Garde
Page 253 and 254:
237 Demeter, searching for her daug
Page 255 and 256:
239 - the ways in which feminine mo
Page 257 and 258:
241 6.2.0. A quick recapitulation o
Page 259 and 260:
243 freedom: those with an aptitude
Page 261 and 262:
considered natural, conversely ther
Page 263 and 264:
247 not relieve the mother of her r
Page 265 and 266:
249 androcentric society which repe
Page 267 and 268:
251 The Summer Before the Dark and
Page 269 and 270:
253 should orientate themselves to
Page 271 and 272:
255 The Sunmar Before the Dark and
Page 273 and 274:
257 semen, socially, ethically and
Page 275 and 276:
259 feminine motherhood allow them
Page 277 and 278:
261 for exploration, and Gloria Nay
Page 279 and 280:
SELECT BIBLIOaRAPHY PRIMARY SOWRCES
Page 281 and 282:
Budhos, Shirley 1987: The Theme of
Page 283 and 284:
Gould, Joan 1988: Spirale : A Woman
Page 285 and 286:
Mala, R. 1989: The Predicment of th
Page 287 and 288:
Rumsey, Jean P. 1990: "Constructing
Page 289:
Veevers, J.E. 1991: Continuity and
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the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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