Marginalized women and their stories form an interesting counter-discourse
within the predominant literary discourse of Indian literature. The memoirs
chosen for analysis in this paper are narratives of women whose reality places
them in an unenviable position where they have to struggle against their own families and
community as well as the larger society in order to create their own identities. The process
of self-actualization is fraught with difficulty in the case of both these women. Exploring
their selfhood by transcending the roles prescribed by society is not an easy task for both
these individuals. For Baby, it involves stepping outside the domestic confines of her
existence, especially the role of a wife. Prioritizing her maternal self, ironically, launches
her in her journey of selfhood. As her memoir progresses, her maternal subjectivity ultimately
evolves into positive sense of selfhood. For Revathi, the struggle is a more difficult one as
the process of self-actualization involves asserting her own sexuality which is a far cry
from the normative masculinity which society expects out of her (since she was born as
a man). Her struggle is therefore twofold: it first involves her declaration of her femininity
and later her struggle to be recognized as a transgender woman in her family. Contrary to
Baby, she tries to fit into the conventional roles of women in society but ultimately finds
her destiny in being a social activist. Thus, Baby and Revathi’s memoirs comprise an
attempt to articulate the hybrid identities of Indian women in the 21st century.
The texts that I have chosen feature protagonists who have chosen the medium of the
memoir to articulate their stories of survival and their attempt to overcome their
marginalization and construct their own identity through a difficult process of adjustment
with the community and the society to which they belong. Although novels like Vikas
Swarup’s Q&A and Arvind Adiga’s White Tiger have protagonists who survive oppression
and various kinds of impediments to achieve their own happy ending, Baby’s story
(A Life Less Ordinary) and Revathi’s story (The Truth About Me) document the
intersecting natures of marginalization prevalent in India much more faithfully as they are
works of non-fiction. As individuals both of them have to construct their own independent
identity but true to their Indian origins this quest is more about an attempt to find acceptance
within a particular community and sometimes in order to create a safe space for themselves
they also go to the extent of choosing an alternative community/family to supplant their
original biological one. Allen Cypher in ‘Being Marginalized’ has defined the phenomenon
of people being pushed to the margins in the following manner. |
