(Ebook) The Memory Makers: Women Autobiographers of Odisha by Supriya Prasanta ISBN 9789361286353, 9361286358

(Ebook) The Memory Makers: Women Autobiographers of Odisha by Supriya Prasanta ISBN 9789361286353, 9361286358

It brings excerpts from twenty Odia women's autobiographies in English translation along with a critical introduction. Back in nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the world of women remained more or less confined within the four walls of the house in Odisha as elsewhere in British India. A very early marriage, household chores, pregnancy, looking after children, observing rituals and fasts and following the societal code of conduct unquestioningly summarised women’s lives. For women like them, to quote V.S. Naipaul, “ambition, if the word could be used, was a series of negatives, not to be unmarried, not to be childless, not to be an undutiful daughter, sister, wife, mother, widow.” Change entered this world slowly and often painfully, and women who responded to it and let it reshape their lives, took hesitant steps and embarked upon a difficult, endless voyage. The personal narratives included here illustrate how the issues women faced when they engaged themselves with their intimate and social surroundings were more complex and nuanced as it has been commonly held. They invite us to have a peep into their psyche in their moments of unselfconsciousness. What is often overlooked in general discussions is the assessment of personal temperament of individuals when they are part of a larger reality. When their natural tendencies are taken into consideration, while some excerpts in this book help reinforce established ideas of mainstream women’s history, others challenge a number of assumptions and offer alternative perspectives. By focusing on great periods of transformation, they offer valuable perspectives gained through their gendered experience and counter reductionist conclusions.