Question

Kamala Das is credited 'to have created a more honest,revelatory, confessional poetry by Indian women--- discuss

Answer 1

Answer:

Abstract

Many critics from India, such as Ramesh Kumar Gupta, C. Santhosh Kumar, A.

Selvalakshmi, Z. F. Molvi, describe the poetry of Kamala Das as being unusual, while the

poet believes that she writes with ‘candour’ about her experiences of womanhood. Speaking

of her poetry as ‘unusual’ is an expected reader’s response to poems written in the

confessional mode that transgress accepted norms of tradition, conventions and culture in her

society. Confessional constitutes an interesting dimension of women’s writing, in which the

poets uncover confidentialities that bond her private and public spheres together. This paper

is an investigation into the poetry of Kamala Das (1934-2009), the prolific Indian woman

writer of the twentieth century to explicate confessional elements in her poetry. Das borrows

this style of writing from her contemporary American writers and employs it as a means of

articulation, negotiation and resistance through projecting the self.

Keywords: English Poetry, Indian Writing, Women Writers, Confessional Mode

1. Introduction

…O man, O selfish being, [shameless] do not say [my] poem is a cause for shame have you

ever known that in this cage the space is narrow and narrow?

Say not [my] poem [is] sin…let me have a chalice of this sin and shame...O man throw away

the account of your reputation disgrace has offered me a giddy enjoyment…

Extract from “Rebellion” by F. Farrokhzad [1]

Lines quoted above, composed by the Iranian writer, Forough Farrokhzad, can be used as a

proper frame of reference for this paper. The epigraph implies a major concern of women,

namely the lack of space which has both physical and mental implications. “Rebellion” is a

strong defence of poetry written by Farrokhzad in which she overtly protests against the

traditional role allotted to women, namely domesticity. In this poem, she condemns the

stereotype that refers her poems as “sin” and forbids women from writing. This is the

common plague faced by many women writers including Kamala Das that male members of

their families – a father figure in the above poem- think of their writing as sin. Nonetheless,

the writer is not interested to give up her choice of writing poetry. This is reflected in the line

she informs her interest to “have a chalice of this sin and shame.” Furthermore, the same line

can be interpreted as a declaration of her identity as a writer who wants to break the narrow

space by articulating, interrogating and resisting man-made stereotypes and inequalities.

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