Reweaving Womanhood, Claiming Dignity: Sudha's Ambivalent Emancipation in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Sister of My Heart
Jennifer Flora Garrett
Academia and Society, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2025.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6025/aas/2025/12/1/35-42
Link: https://www.dline.info/aas/fulltext/v12n1/aasv12n1_3.pdf
Abstract:
Modern Indian fiction in English has explored the inner lives, struggles, and
aspirations of women, highlighting their quest for recognition and dignity within
family and society. This paper examines Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's novel Sister
of My Heart, focusing on Sudha's journey toward autonomy and selfhood.
Divakaruni portrays women negotiating tradition, familial obligations, and
personal freedom, within both Indian and diasporic contexts. Sudha's experiences emphasise resilience, self-assertion, and the pursuit of a meaningful
existence. The study also examines how Divakaruni integrates cultural nostalgia,
folklore, and Bengali linguistic markers, while questioning whether these cultural
anchors suffice for women negotiating transnational and patriarchal spaces.