Women and the Romance of the Word: 19th Century Contexts in Bengal

(Hardback)

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The book examines the emergence of a new female subjectivity in 19th century Bengal through the life narratives of four women writers and gives a comprehensive account of each. This book provides the interrelationships between textuality, a historical context of cultural and epistemological shifts as the Bengali intelligentsia of the time advocated greater rights for women, class, which determined choice for the women agents, new educational policies which led to the founding of Bethune School in 1849, and the work of British women educationists like Annette Ackroyd and Mary Carpenter for womens education. The book provides a comprehensive insight into the socio-political and cultural history of Bengal of the late 19th century. The book postulates an interesting analysis of autobiography as a Romantic genre, examining its intersections with gender and its relevance to the cultural and literary landscape. It draws attention to the gendered difference and obvious power misbalance between mens autobiographies, designated atmacharit and womens autobiographies, devalued as only reminiscences, and categorized as smritikatha, narratives based on memory and therefore lacking critical value.

Author Bio

Sreemati Mukherjee is a Professor in the Department of Performing Arts at Presidency University. Kolkata. Her areas of specialization are narrative theory, feminist theory and criticism, postcolonial theory, East-West dramatic theories, and 19th century musical forms of Bengal.