The Evolution of Feminist Perspectives in Indian English Literature: An Analysis of Arundhati Roy's “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness”

• Author(s): Dr. Rashmi G. H
• Paper ID: 1707269
• Page: 835-847
• Published Date: 30-09-2024
• Published In: Iconic Research And Engineering Journals
• Publisher: IRE Journals
• e-ISSN: 2456-8880
• Volume/Issue: Volume 8 Issue 3 September-2024

Abstract

The evolution of feminist perspectives in Indian English literature has been shaped by a dynamic interplay of historical, cultural, and socio-political factors, and Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017) serves as a pivotal text that encapsulates the complexities of feminist thought in contemporary Indian literature by engaging with themes of gender fluidity, caste oppression, political violence, and subaltern resistance, as this novel expands upon the traditional feminist discourse in Indian English fiction by presenting a fragmented narrative structure that mirrors the fractured realities of marginalized individuals, particularly Anjum, a transgender woman who defies rigid gender binaries, thereby challenging the heteronormative framework that has long dominated literary representations of women and gender minorities, which marks a significant shift in feminist literary analysis by incorporating an intersectional approach that moves beyond Western-centric feminism to address the layered oppression stemming from caste hierarchies, religious fundamentalism, and state-sanctioned violence, drawing from postcolonial feminist theory and subaltern studies to interrogate how power operates at the intersections of gender, caste, and nationality, thus echoing the works of theorists like Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Chandra Talpade Mohanty in critiquing the limitations of mainstream feminist movements that often exclude the voices of the most marginalized, while also engaging in an intertextual dialogue with earlier feminist writings in Indian English literature, such as those of Kamala Das, Anita Desai, and Mahasweta Devi, who similarly deconstructed gender norms but within the more confined spaces of domestic and nationalist struggles, thereby positioning Roy’s work as a postmodern feminist critique that redefines the contours of Indian feminist fiction by embedding resistance within the very fabric of the narrative structure, using polyphonic voices, shifting temporalities, and non-linear storytelling to mirror the chaos of contemporary socio-political realities, all while illustrating that the feminist movement in Indian literature has transitioned from the singular concerns of gendered oppression to a more fluid, inclusive, and intersectional discourse, wherein the idea of utopia, as suggested in the novel’s title, is perpetually deferred yet actively imagined through the collective struggles of the oppressed, making The Ministry of Utmost Happiness an essential text for understanding the evolving feminist consciousness in Indian English literature within the broader context of postcolonial, queer, and intersectional feminist theory.

Keywords

Feminist Perspectives in Indian English Literature, Intersectionality and Gender Fluidity, Postcolonial Feminism, Subaltern Resistance and Caste Oppression, Arundhati Roy and Contemporary Feminist Fiction, Narrative Fragmentation and Polyphonic Storytelling

Citations

IRE Journals:
Dr. Rashmi G. H "The Evolution of Feminist Perspectives in Indian English Literature: An Analysis of Arundhati Roy's “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness”" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals Volume 8 Issue 3 2024 Page 835-847

IEEE:
Dr. Rashmi G. H "The Evolution of Feminist Perspectives in Indian English Literature: An Analysis of Arundhati Roy's “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness”" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals, 8(3)