Beena Agarwal

Short Stories of Shashi Deshpande: A Feminist Interpretation

Kaushik, Abha Shukla, Short Stories of Shashi Deshpande’s A Feminist Interpretation, Jaipur: Book Enclave, 2010 Price : Rs. 650

Abha Shukla Kaushik’s exclusive study on the shorter fiction of of Shashi Deshpande published from Book Enclave Jaipur, bearing the title Short Stories of Shashi Deshpande: A Feminist Interpretation is the first full length study on the various dimensions of the dynamics of feminine sensibility constructed within the shorter fiction of Shashi Deshpande. It is an analytical socio-psychological study of the complexities of Indian womanhood, presented within the canvas of about five dozen short stories of Shashi Deshpande. Classified in seven chapters, it presents a comprehensive spectrum of various feminine roles and challenges against the conventions of patriarchy. The first chapter of the book is highly informative presenting details of author’s profile along with the appraisal of the growth of tradition of art of short story writing in Indian English fiction. The two dimensions of female role namely mother and daughter are analyzed in an unconventional and realistic manner beyond the traditional idealism existing in mother and daughter relationship. The dynamism of the vision of Shashi Deshpande in the construction of female images with the unconditional acceptance of female images breaking the curse of marginality is exceptional. In the chapter four, the author has made serious investigation of the socio-economic paradigms responsible to determine the psyche of woman in Indian society. The binary existing in man and woman relationship is primarily responsible for imbalance in man and woman relationship. The exiting and shifting paradigms of man and women relationship in its varied forms, from socio-psychological point of view have been analyzed in the chapter fifth of the book. The exclusive analysis of the myths as the major determinant of feminine consciousness is a distinction of the volume. The author has tried to justify that the traditional interpretations of myths are not the ultimate truth to determine the position of woman in the social construct. In her analysis Dr. Kaushik has tried to justify that each woman retains her own autonomy of self to construct the images of life beyond the stereotype images of silence and subjugation.

The approach undertaken in this volume manifests the profundity, originality and richness of exceptional intellectual acumen. The chapters are well organized. It is my faith that the volume will be of great importance to all those scholars and researchers who will pursue their studies on the writings of Shashi Deshpande. It will also be a torch to the writing of the other women writers who have chosen shorter fiction as a medium as the expression of their sensibility.