Influence of English on Indian Women Writers

Voices from Regional Languages

This book reveals English as culture, politics, lifestyle and social change in the context of Indian women.

English as a symbol of modernity in India was first accessed by men, giving them a new image of masculinity while Indian languages were ‘feminized’—seen as meant for women.  Among upper-caste women, English was a vehicle for social reform and for lessening seclusion, invisibility and economic dependence. For the so-called lower castes, the language was aspirational, indicating emancipation and empowerment possibilities, and threatening upper-caste dominance. English formed its own language of gender and made women’s voices stronger in regional languages, which can be seen in the flowering of women’s articles, fiction, biography and letters. This book records the different ways in which women responded to the coming of English into their lives.