– Kevin Birth
When women write, within the schema of texts, whether they are autobiography, biography or fiction full of dialogues, they are constantly in search of a form or a style of presentation which reflects their experience as being effective and the knowledge of their subject as grounded in the reality of specific relations. And when women write and are forced to acknowledge the ‘other’ (because they are compelled to provide only half a perspective) in their works it is clearly a violation of the innate ‘self.’ Thus when Nadeau and I decided to chart the “Roles of Women in Asia – South, South East and East Asia,” we detected in the writings the vast interplay of their senses. We thought that women writers in general are reflexively predisposed to understand the accounts of all women.[break]
In simple terms, when women write, they do it from the depth of their being. When writing on certain genres, when women writers are forced to detach themselves from their writing without addressing the complexities that make up a woman, it is to disembody the self, to mutilate it.
Bhaswor Ojha
In the vastness of women’s accounts, issues and topics, the themes are not always only based on the theology of the subordination of the feminine which tells of the notion of male superiority over female. As we survey the roles of women through the centuries we see how rich and strong these women have been as they evolved into the present and the subordination has seldom been a matter of contention that could not be resolved with a mindful hand.
The editorial review of “Roles of Women in Asia” clearly says: “As is the case with many minority groups, Western media portrayals of Asian women are often based on negative stereotypes. Erroneous, but accepted, images of this group—a result of cultural misperceptions, language barriers, and unfamiliarity with Eastern-based customs—permeate our society. Regardless, women have played an essential role throughout history, and female achievements fill Asia’s past.”
About Rayamajhi
Professor Sangita Rayamajhi, the first woman in Nepal to earn a PhD, acquired the degree in English Literature from Tribhuvan University. She later obtained a post-doctorate degree in English from the USA. She has been teaching literature for over two decades and her focus lies in women’s studies (issues in South Asia) and literature. She has published in a wide variety of arenas ranging from gender to politics and the use of language in the media.
A pioneering scholar of women’s studies in Nepal, Rayamajhi travels down the memory lane to those early schooldays at St. Mary’s when the girls in the hostel would hide beneath the quilts with a torch to read Enid Blyton and romance novels. The day scholars would smuggle the books into the school premises. One could get a novel for seven Rupees back then.
“We would save our pocket money to buy the books and then exchange them among friends when it was time to read,” she smiles.
The love for reading nurtured and grew as she continued with further studies in English. Many novels came under her course of study. As time passed by, she started getting attracted to the writings of Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou. “Beloved” and “Mercy,” she says, are some of the best books that she has read. She is also a huge fan of travel literature and biographies.
Currently Dr Rayamajhi teaches at the Asian University for Women, an American multicultural university at Dhaka. She describes teaching as a complete package of fun and challenge and feels completely at home when she is with her students. She travels to at least three countries in a year for seminars and conferences and has a number of scholarly research articles as well as creative pieces to her credit.
Writers, she believes, don’t recognize geographical boundaries. As a Nepali woman who writes, reads and teaches at a global level, she feels limited when her identity is confined to a single country or community. As Rayamajhi travels to different countries every year to attend conferences and seminars, she feels that it’s more important to be a part of an academic community and is in favor of “transnationalism” of intellectuals.
Rayamajhi’s five picks
The Female Malady by Elaine Showalter
The author focuses on the colonization of the female body. In the 1830s, menstruation used to be treated like a malady. The flow of menstrual blood was taken as something that needed to be controlled. Similarly, if a woman became too outspoken, she was considered a patient of hysteria. A woman was conveniently tagged “ill.” The book brings these issues to the forefront of discussion.
Role of Women in Asia by Katherine Nadeau and Sangita Rayamajhi
This book is a historical survey of evolution of women in Asia. It basically focuses on arenas like work, politics, culture, families and so on. It talks about marriage, divorce and even the Sati system. It covers the eras from that of Confucius till the present. It depicts how women have modernized with changing times but at the same time are maintaining their traditional aspects.
Flower Boy by Karen Roberts
This book is about the nineteenth and early twentieth century Sri Lanka. It was the time of imperial colonization. This is basically a love story that focuses on human relationships. It is also a story of societal hierarchy. It depicts the issues of master-slave relationships and the relation between the White and those colonized by them. It is also a saga of women, their status in the society and their strength as individuals.
Love Marriage Arranged Marriage by V.V. Ganeshanathan
This is a very nice and sweet story about a Tamil woman. It’s a Diaspora literature which talks about the clash and overlapping of cultures. The characters are all placed in the USA. But the story doesn’t let go of its Asian heritage as the flashbacks are all set in Sri Lanka. It’s a Tamil woman’s point of view of the Sri Lankan civil war and why they had to move out of their country and start out afresh in the USA.
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
This is another example of Diaspora literature. The protagonist moves from Bangladesh and gets married to a British citizen. It’s all about a woman’s journey of life. She is settled in a foreign country with her husband and two daughters. She even has a short affair in the course of the story but reverts to her husband eventually. She faces a lot of challenges as an Asian woman settled in Europe and the story is all about her life and issues.
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Literature and int’l drama festival to be held in Janakpur
