Challenging the Traditional Gender Roles in Pradeep Nepal’s Novel 21 st Century's Sumnima

Abstract

his research work has studied Pradeep Nepal's novel, 21 st Century's Sumnima as a novel that projects the dynamic and courageous woman to resist the traditional gender roles, based on patriarchal ideology which is conventional, blind and biased. Pradeep Nepal has demonstrated a strong woman who is versatile with daring and revolutionary spirit against the biased concepts of patriarchal ideology. The gendered ideology is operating as the hegemony, which is the internalized concept of man as superior and woman as inferior. So, to deconstruct it, women consciousness and their resisting activities and behaviors are highly advocated in the novel by portraying a strong woman character, Sumnima. Sumnima is a rebellious lady who is much concerned about the women value and emancipation to subvert the male hegemonic supremacy existing in the society. She has crossed through the vicissitudes of life and has attained the strong conception of maturity. Thus, Sumnima is the symbolic representation of feminine strength and power.