Is the Language of New Fiction Androgynous?

I am sorry to barge in like this, but Musharraf is in New York staying at the Roosevelt hotel. While he is here it is time to send him a message.

I am prepared to organize a protest against the infamous, immoral, discriminatory, and unIslamic Blasphemy law of Pakistan. As it is Applied, it is nothing more than a political insturment used for the harrassment of minorities.

One Military dictator introduced it as law, another should get rid of it.

I urge all likeminded people who live in the N.Y area to join with me within the next 48 hours. I have already spoken up against the Blasphemy law in Dawn: Letters to the Editor in the past, now its time to take action.

Please e-mail me immediately to join a coordinated protest. The moment is ripe to send a msg, while the eyes of the press are focused on New York & the U.N Millenium summit. The more people that participate, the better. If necessary, i will do it alone. I will respond immediately to all e-mails received with details.

Feel free to copy this msg, & fwd to anyone else in the N.Y area who might be interested, or repost on the web immediately.

OMAR MIRZA

knotyourcupoftea@aol.com

reply #3

However, I`d like to point out that Lahiri ... bears a strong resemblence to R.K. Narayan.

No offense intended - but R K Narayan is and always will be in a league of his own.

Hi Temporal

Aap ney kiya dukhti rag cher di. If I interact more, who will do the cleaning:)

Other work for Chowk takes up time too. Plus school, plus home, plus son. So writing for pleasure has taken the back most spot in my itenery of todos.

One day...I will be freer and Chowk will groan to see my name in the interacts! YES!!:)

Since `New Fiction` is mentioned, maybe my comment is not relevant, but I`d like to point out Sharat Chandra Chatterjee and his fiction some of which I`ve read in Hindi translation. Going solely by characterisation, in my opinion, his close attention to the complexities of the inner compulsions of his women`s thoughts and lives presents a strong contrast to his (relatively) featureless male characterisations.

Sadhana

I don`t even presume to understand everything you have said. However, I`d like to point out that Lahiri, in the story bearing the same title as the book (which is the only one I have read) bears a strong resemblence to R.K. Narayan.

Harish:

Let me recap the main question and sub-questions posed in this essay.

1: Is the language of new fiction androgynous?

2: Is there a difference between the literary taste of men and women?

3a: Can gender labels be applied to literature?

(ugh! I disliked your phrasing -- ‘.. does literature too have sex..’ forgive me! ---- how often? occasionally will do ? what is the frequency? favourite position? any racial or cultural biases? do novels go for novels only or cross pollination is preferred? somebody please stop me or I will continue to run away with this ----- slap --thud --- just slapped one hand with the other ----oh I feel better --- please ignore this gibberish!)

3b: If so do readers follow those labels in any particular order based on their genders?

Before attempting answers, this:
---will confine discussion to prose --- stories, novels only
---also limit it to English.
---will also enclave the debate to passionate writers. [This needs personal elaboration: for me all my good writers are passionate writers, with fires raging within -- fires of idealism, passion, cause, of a fervour and intensity missing in other ‘ordinary’ writers.]

So, Harish having defined my playing field, just so you understand where I am coming from my answers would be:

1: No, it cannot be. The language is the tool in the hands of the writer to vent and mould his perceptions and sensibilities and aches and pains through his/her words onto the reader. These ‘psap’s are genderless, innate and felt deep within, and transformed by the writer’s craft into vibrations felt by the reader. And since these emotions originate from the depth of the writers conscious and sub-conscious they are a true reflection of his/her person. Therefore they are not androgynous.

2: No. (Now you know why earlier I had to define my playing field!) The anguish and the intensity of the writer is felt equally by the emotional and reverberatory barometer of the reader with no regard to his/her gender. The resonance is based on perceptory and emotive sharing of the instinctual revelations between the minds of the writer and the reader.

3a: No. And --- slap ---- don’t want to start again!

3b: No. And Harlequin is not being discussed, thank you!



Saima:

Yaar, honestly, you should contribute more in the interactions.

You say, [....writers` motives for writing.... Emotional catharsis or an egoistic need?....]
Are these the only two defining motives?



regards

t

PS: Harish

interpretor ---feminity ---- and a couple of minor ones. This is a vast improvement over the last one. And how come you are not at the riposte lately?

Hi Harish

I like the fact that you questioned why women write stories in an emotionally out there way, many examples come to mind. On the other hand, why do men write the kind of novels they do.

Accepting your argument and instead of getting into the socialization theories of men and women;

I wonder if the reason could be as simple as writers` motives for writing. Emotional catharsis or an egoistic need? I remember it was Kundera in one of his books (Immortality) who said that the writer is one who wants to be immortal and writing a book is a massage for an insecure ego. My simplistic conclusion is that for women writing is/has been a refuge from oppression of class, race and gender (example the bronte sisters, elizabeth barrett browning, toni morrison etc). And for men the need is different. to be the best; immortal etc. There is greater self-awareness; chauvanistic at times e.g., Rushdie shows women as manipulative, violent, frustrated,complaining and frigid. the most powerful characters are men. that could be because of the south asian context or?

My two bits is that the question u ask is two fold: portrayal of women in modern fiction. Portrayal of women as fiercely independent does away with stereotypes of dependency and inability.

Writing style: if feminity is defined as emotional, passionionate, colourful, than what do we do with the Kunderas, ondaajte`s and nerudas of this world?

whether that is enough to call modern writing androgynous doesnt ring true. I would like to see it as more gender inclusive/less rigid boundaries etc; if gender is a social construct; then gender can be defined differently, no?:) and perhaps that is what modern fiction is doing.