Volume-I, Issue-IV, May 2025
Novel Insights A Peer-Reviewed Quarterly Multidisciplinary Research Journal |
| Volume-I, Issue-IV, May, 2025 |
The Perennial Denial and Tormented Self: Delineation of Transwomen’s Struggle for Space and Social Validity in Megha Majumdar’s ‘A Burning’ Auro Prasad Parida, Research Scholar, Fakir Mohan University, Balasore, Odisha, India Email: auroprasadparida@gmail.com |
Received: 11.05.2025 | Accepted: 14.05.2025 | Published Online: 31.05.2025 |
Page No: 251-260 | DOI: 10.69655/novelinsights.vol.1.issue.04W.027 | |
Abstract | ||
Indian English
Literature has seen various representations in the past few years and the remarkable
progress it has made in reflecting the society and its way of living is to be acknowledged.
Literature has always been a cornerstone in not only reflecting, sharing the
point of views of different stakeholders of the society. The elites as well as the
underprivileged find a space in the literature. Literature has been
recognizing, establishing and acknowledging their identity, their thoughts,
aspirations, thus making the society more inclusive in nature. Indian
literature with its multiple languages, cultures and rich thinkers and
visionaries brings a nuanced understanding of the dispossessed, disadvantaged
groups, their needs, contributions to the society. The third gender is also
represented by Indian literature. Third gender has been previously represented
in classical Indian epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. But concerning the
contemporary times, there has been a dearth of talks and discussion on third
gender and their roles in the society. Third gender, a community encounters
unforeseen pains, pressures, humiliations and mistreatment. They are socially
excluded and struggle for a space to speak up as a stakeholder of the society.
They are ignored, misunderstood and criminalized and labelled as useless to the
society. Their marginalization knows no limits as most of the times they are
not considered as human beings. They struggle for a space to stand and raise
their voice as they do not conform to the binary genders. The society fails to
grant them positions of respect and give them acceptance. In the
heteronormative world they are ignored and marginalized which makes their life
meaningless. There has been many autobiographies, memoirs and non-fiction
writings but Megha Majumdar’s novel ‘A Burning’ is perhaps the first
Indian fiction to have a transgender woman as a main character and she gives
her a central place in this narrative. Here, transwomen are portrayed more
empathetically and their struggle for space, dreams and success makes this
literary piece a unique one. Far from the stereotypical description, here
Majumdar brings a freshness to this character with his unique ways of fighting
and succeeding. The transwoman Lovely, who wants to become a film actress in
Bollywood makes a statement that she is not worthless, rather by her talent she
can reach anywhere. The main objective of the paper is to demonstrate the
transwoman’s struggle for basic human rights, social standing and the impact of
social marginalization on their mental condition and personhood. Keywords: Transgender,
India English Literature, Third Gender Narratives, Marginalization | ||