From Myth to Visual Culture: Feminist Reinterpretations of Female Agency in Kavita Kane's Mythological Fiction

Abstract

Male heroes have traditionally been the norm in Indian mythology, leaving female voices out of the picture. Feminist mythological re-tellings of ancient myths accounts that have been featured in contemporary Indian English literature, represents a marked change. Kavita Kane is one of the leading authors of this literary movement, a unique voice given to women in the mythological universe who have been marginalized from the main stream of mythology. Her novels question the norms by foregrounding the female subjectivity, agency, resistance and identity. The paper analyses how these mythological women are reinterpreted as cultural and visual agents in the framework of feminist approach in Kavita Kane's mythological fiction. The study uses a feminist approach, a myth approach and visual culture approaches to Kanes' reconstruction of characters including Uruvi (Karnas wife), Menaka, Surpanakha, Satyavati, and Draupadi. The paper suggests that these stories restore the voices of women who have previously been excluded and that they can also be part of a wider visual culture that makes mythological figures of women the symbols of empowerment, autonomy and resistance. Kane's work reframes the role of women and reclaims them, and through them, the role of women in mythology is challenged and new ways of thinking are created about the role of women in the modern world.