Existential Medievalism in the Social Narrative of South Asian Literature

Abstract

The ‘othering’ and ‘exiling’ of female consciousness in contemporary South Asian Literature draws its sustenance from an existential Medievalism in the literary discourse of the region, still retaining more or less the same amount of patriarchal and subaltern references. Forces that dare to defy these norms are met with criticism on all modern and postmodern platforms reigning in the aggression and discontent. Expressions of liberation are mocked and subverted, paving way to conformist and conventional powers. We can hardly claim a paradigm shift right now, unless time and relentless striving to reinstate social justice proves us wrong.