The Present Book Seeks To Study The Feminist Perspective In Shashi Deshpande S Novels. It Reveals Deshpande S Sincerity And Ability In Voicing The Concerns Of The Urban Educated Middle-Class Woman. Trapped Between Tradition And Modernity, Her Sensitive Heroines Are Fully Conscious Of Being Victims Of Gross Gender Discrimination Prevalent In A Conservative Male-Dominated Society. A Culture-Specific Approach Has Been Adopted To Unravel Shashi Deshpande S Pragmatic Resolution Related To The Modern Indian Woman S Beleaguered Existence. The Book, It Is Hoped, Will Make A Rich Contribution To Women S Studies.

About the book The book is a compact and authoritative study of the female characters in Deshpande's novels from psychoanalytical point of view using mainly Karen Horney's theory of neurosis and the theories of a few other Western feminist theorists and feminist psychoanalysts such as Carol Gilligan, Virginia Woolf, Nancy Chodorow, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Juliet Mitchell, Luce Irigaray, Helene Cixous and Julia Kristeva. These theories attempt to trace the causes of conflicts and neuroses in women, their coping strategies, their self-analyses and their journey towards reconciliation when they start articulating their individual urge and asserting their selves not only as daughters, wives and mothers but also as autonomous and self-actualized women. Thorough in content, stimulating in approach, here is an invaluable companion to Deshpande's texts.

Shashi Deshpande is one of the most fascinating writers in the genre of Indian English writing to have addressed problems and issues related to women and society, breaking the traditional image of a woman as a daughter, wife or mother, exploring the inner psychological conflicts of a woman and making her women characters emerge as self-dependent individuals with a space of one’s own. Through her bunch of wonderful novels Shashi Deshpande aims to highlight that everyone in this society should be treated as equals, as human beings; there should not be any compartmentalization on the basis of gender. Women should be given equal opportunity and weightage at par with men. This is possible only when women are independent in truest sense and they hold self-reliance and self-esteem. As a writer of human beings in general and women in particular, Shashi Deshpande has wonderfully considered all these aspects in her writings with her ingenious narrative skill and creative spirit. This book has attempted to explore the journey of Deshpande’s protagonists in quest of an exclusive identity, which has the essence of individuality and self-confidence and which make them stand apart from the stereotypical tags given by traditional patriarchal society. Amidst hindrances and oppressions of various kinds how Deshpande’s women characters come out of their shell to carve a niche for themselves by utilizing their potential and willpower has formed the crux of the book. Comprehensive and analytical in nature, the present book would prove an asset to students of English literature.

After The Pioneer Works By Scholars Such As Naik, Narasimhaiah And Mukherjee, And The Thirty Years Of Silence Which Followed Their Ground-Breaking Achievements, The Companion Appears On The Scene Striving To Reinvigorate The Tradition Of Panoramic Studies Of Indian Literature In English. In The Intervening Period, Indian Fiction In English Has Become Of Paramount Importance In The Wide Context Of Postcolonial Studies: An Emergent Crop Of Novelists Belonging To The So-Called New Generation Has Colourfully Paved The Way Towards New Artistic Horizons, Re-Interpreting Western-Derived Literary Models With Inventive Approaches. Complementary To Their Role There Is The Articulate Presence Of A Host Of Indian Scholars Who In Recent Years Have Significantly Influenced The Course Of This Analysis And Have Vitally Contributed To Enlarging Its Scope Well Beyond The Original Boundaries Of Studies In Literary Criticism.The Companion, Therefore, Addresses The Exigencies Of Critics, Teachers And Students Alike All Those Who Need To Find Quick Points Of Reference In This Wide Field Of Studies By Relying On A Team Of Authoritative Collaborators And Specialists From All Over The World. Great Care Was Taken Not Only In Selecting Collaborators On The Basis Of Their Specialisation But Also Taking Into Account Their Cultural Background In Relation To The Author They Were To Discuss. The Book In Fact Has Been Organised To Have What Have Been Deemed To Be The Most Representative Authors In Indian Fiction Discussed In An Essay-Long Chapter Each, Structured To Highlight Crucial Points Such As Biographical Details, Novels And Critical Reception. Each Chapter Includes A Final Bibliography Complete With Primary And Secondary Sources, Enabling The Scholar To Have Immediate Orientation On Various Specific Topics. Finally, The Book Has An Innovative Section, With Synopses Of Novels, Planned To Allow Our Readers To Immediately Place The Authors Analysed Within The Panorama Of Indian Fiction In English. The Over 400 Synopses Included Principally Introduce Works Written By The Novelists Discussed At Length In The Previous Chapters But, Along With Them, It Is Also Possible To Find Summaries Of Works By Authors Who, Although Contributing In A Significant Way To The Development Of Forms And Techniques, Do Not Feature In The First Part.

New Perspectives On Indian English Writings Is A Collection Of Thirty-Eight Research Papers On Various Fictionists, Dramatists And Poets Of Indian Origin. These Papers, Contributed By Scholars And Teachers Of Repute, Study In Depth The Major Works Of The Pioneers As Well As Emerging Indian Authors, Writing In English. The Writers Included In This Volume Are Kamala Markandaya, Jhumpa Lahiri, Shashi Deshpande, Nayantara Sahgal, Girish Karnad, Manju Kapur, Bharati Mukherjee, R.K. Narayan, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Gita Mehta, Kamala Das, Nissim Ezekiel, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala And Many Others. The Wide Range Of The Authors, Covered In This Volume, Makes It Useful For Researchers, Teachers And Postgraduate Students, Studying In Various Universities Of India.

Contributed articles presented at a seminar hosted by Andhra University on 20th century women authors from India.