Women Characters and Systematic Discrimination in Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting: A Study in Cultural Psychoanalysis
Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of English
Abstract
The major objective of this study is to analyze the culture-based discrimination
against women in the Indian society and the American society that is portrayed in the novel
Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai. In the novel, the males discriminate their female
counterparts systematically or institutionally because their cultural practices are deeply rooted
in the society. In the study, the novel is interpreted from the perspective of cultural
psychoanalysis. In this novel, in particular, this kind of discrimination is related to the
psychological suffering of women in both societies. The study concluded that, through her
novel, Desai has portrayed the women characters as domesticated secondary beings, or
systematically discriminated entities. The portrayal of women characters like Uma, Anamika
and other women characters signifies how the patriarchy is prevalent everywhere regardless
of culture or place. The patriarchal societies put men on a higher position while women on
the lower rank. So the patriarchal system, also considered an institutionalized social structure,
frequently disadvantages women psychologically, socially and economically.
Description
Keywords
Cultural psychoanalysis, Discrimination