Writers reflect on feminist literature of India at Sahtiya Akademi's literary conference

New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) Noted writers and scholars at Sahitya Akademi's literary conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre on Friday reflected upon the topic of 'Feminist Literature of India: New Grounds'.

The session led by Odia writer Pratibha Ray saw participation of writers Anamika, Anuja Chandramouli, Mahua Maji, Nidhi Kulpati, Preeti Shenoy and Thamizhachi Thangapandian.

Tamil writer Thangapandian emphasised the need to focus on regional feminism while admiring the western feminist icons for their fights for women's rights.

"You can’t just take western feminism and then put it as a ready made feminism for the regional feminism. I have always advocated for regional feminism because we have a very peculiar problem of caste which is not fully relatable or being understandable by the westerners.

"Of course we have always admired all those feminists who have fought for our right for everything. We admire them and we get all those basic principles from them, but I feel that the core principle of feminism is still existing in the rural folklore and the lived experiences of my sisterhood," the Lok Sabha MP from South Chennai said.

She added that in the Dravidian context there has been a long tradition of feminist voices.

"...which has actually paved the way for women to express themselves freely. The Tamil language has long been a site of cultural pride and political assertion. I am proud to be a Tamil poet which has its proud linguistic and cultural legacy of 2,500 years," Thangapandian said.

English writer Anuja Chandramouli noted that feminist literature has deeply influenced the cultural landscape by breaking centuries of silence and censorship.

"In many parts of the world feminism is still considered a bad word and in 2025 we still need to clarify that feminism is humanism. It was always about equal rights for everybody, it is not about giving unfair advantage to one gender or the other. It is about setting right social evil, it is about finding peaceful resolution to the battle of the sexes which has gone on for ages," she said.

The "Arjuna" author said that the readers and writers of today need to engage more with the issues of the day.

"Poets like Andal, Karaikkal Ammaiyar, Mahadevi akka, Bangalore Nagarathnamma, there are so many artistes who have done so much for this cause. They fought for education for women because it is knowledge which gives us freedom to truly be. We have addressed issues like child marriage. We fought for the rights of widows but there are still areas which can use improvement, we are still fighting a good fight," Chandramouli said.

She also dwelled upon the issue of "feminist rage", which is great for "grabbing eyeballs" but the creators of art should be more responsible.

"...because it is such a corrosive emotion, it destroys indiscriminately. As a Bharatanatyam dancer we talk about navrasa. And 'raudra' is very different from 'veera' which is courage. Raudra or anger is the sum total of all fears and insecurities, it comes from a place of weakness. It gives the impression of empowerment but without being empowering, which is why I feel feminist literature in this day and age should let the strength shine through and we need not glorify toxic rage," she said.

While Hindi writer and MP Mahua Maji explored women's expressionist and creative writing in Hindi literature, highlighting key aspects of feminism, Hindi poet and writer Anamika said that that Indian feminist literature is pushing boundaries and redefining relationships "Feminist writers all over the world and especially in India have snapped the hierarchy not between the folklore, the mythology and history, but also the hierarchy between the personal and political, cosmic and commonplace, macro and micro, home and the world, sacred and profane. All these binaries were a product of a society which believes in hierarchy," Anamika said.

English writer Preeti Shenoy said that "through writing, women reclaim power, unleash a quiet revolution that grows with every word and every voice, challenging the status quo and inspiring change". PTI MAH MAH RB RB