Humanising the Dehumanised: Kavita Kané’s reconstruction of the Great Epic

Mahabharata, one of the two grand epics of Hinduism exerts immense influence in Indian Culture. They occupy a significant space in cultural epistemology and discourse. However, they have been predominantly handled by male authors, through whose writings we often find women marginalised to a subservi...

Descrizione completa

Salvato in:  
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori: Chakraborty, Shirshendu (Autore) ; Basu, Srabani (Autore)
Tipo di documento: Elettronico Articolo
Lingua:Inglese
Verificare la disponibilità: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Pubblicazione: 2025
In: Feminist theology
Anno: 2025, Volume: 34, Fascicolo: 1, Pagine: 19-35
Notazioni IxTheo:BK Induismo; Giainismo; Sikhismo
FD Teologia contestuale
KBM Asia
Altre parole chiave:B Patriarchy
B Kavita Kané
B Gender Equality
B gynocriticism
B mythic symbolisation
B Mahabharata
B dehumanisation
B Objectification
Accesso online: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Descrizione
Riepilogo:Mahabharata, one of the two grand epics of Hinduism exerts immense influence in Indian Culture. They occupy a significant space in cultural epistemology and discourse. However, they have been predominantly handled by male authors, through whose writings we often find women marginalised to a subservient position, which posits them in the lower strata of the Indian socio-cultural hierarchy. Consequently, such women characters are seen being dehumanised through objectification within this narrative. In fact, such treatment often infiltrates itself into stereotypical notions pertaining to gender roles. In recent years, however, there has been a surge of mythological reimagination of these epics, with focus on marginalised female characters who are barely highlighted in the grand narratives established by the said epics. This reimagination provides a new historicist approach to the historically present patriarchy within these narratives. This paper aims to closely investigate instances of such dehumanisation through three books of Kavita Kané: Karna’s Wife: The Outcast Queen (2013), Menaka’s Choice (2015), The Fisher Queen’s Dynasty (2017). Through her work we revisit the epic narrative to study and comprehend their socio-cultural impacts. And examine how Kavita Kané’s re-imagination can act as an effective tool to amend such subjugation and can be a site for a discursive change.
ISSN:1745-5189
Comprende:Enthalten in: Feminist theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/09667350251362701