Escaping from Rama: portraits of Indian women

This study examines visual, post-colonial portraits of the Indian women of the Sanskrit epics, in order to show the sociocultural, historical-ideological roots of this aesthetic. After independence, Hindu movements found in the epics a female archetype, who stands for the Hindu community. Post-colon...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Culture and religion
Main Author: Gamberi, Valentina (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis [2014]
In: Culture and religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B India / Hinduism / Sanskrit language / Epic / Woman / Postcolonialism / Bollywood / Amar Chitra Katha
RelBib Classification:AA Study of religion
AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
BK Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism
KBM Asia
NCC Social ethics
TK Recent history
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:This study examines visual, post-colonial portraits of the Indian women of the Sanskrit epics, in order to show the sociocultural, historical-ideological roots of this aesthetic. After independence, Hindu movements found in the epics a female archetype, who stands for the Hindu community. Post-colonial visual representations maintained this idealistic characterisation within a binary system, according to which women can be angelic guarantors of the social order or devilish, sexually uncontrolled creatures. This ambiguity derives from the double nature of the female principle of the world, shakti, and the visual storytelling tradition or chitrakatha. Using the same Indian storytelling tradition, female points of view have begun to criticise this nationalistic, 'male gaze'. In the graphic novel Sita's Ramayana, Rama and male activities, particularly war, are secularised and criticised as selfish by female characters, foremost of whom is Sita, a model of the devoted and pure bride or pativrata.
ISSN:1475-5610
Contains:Enthalten in: Culture and religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2014.945469