Contemporary Global Aspirations of Women Writers
Contemporary Global Aspirations of Women Writers
Submitted by: Gayatri Ahuja
The main objective of this paper is to trace the evolution of democratic aspirations of women writers, making it imperative to look at the contemporary world of literature, to incorporate viewpoints of young women writers as an attempt to comprehend the change in society; an amalgamation of Western and South Asian opinions. With the assumption that contemporary women writers belonging to both worlds, now, have grown more familiar with works of ‘The Other’, with the necessary exposure attributed to the role played by social media in the 21st century, as well as the assumptions that there is an increase in interaction and awareness, a sense of empowerment in using own’s own name when writing about social, political, economic and global affairs, and a shift in the literary narrative from social events to more personal accounts; this paper acknowledges the change in the pattern of writing and publishing work by young women writers in today’s world.
Background of Feminist Literature; An Introduction
Feminist Literature has consistently been described as an eclectic of women’s demands for equality in the social, political, economic and global spheres; the Western perspective dominating the narrative in the Post-Democratic era. Linda Gordon’s description of “Feminism is an analysis of women's subordination for the purpose of figuring out to change it deserves a mention”; being incorporated in Indian feminist literature as a definition, or the several mentions of Virginia Wolfe as an inspiration or the reference to her opinion “A purely feminine mind is dangerous”, gives relevance to the very concept of South Asian women writers referring to the work of women writers from the West, as a starting point of their own narrative and experiences. Literature of the Feminist movement stems out of the beginning of the movement itself; Mary Wollstone Craft publishing 'The Vindication of The Rights of Women'. Ian McCormick’s “Women’s Writing and Feminism: An Introduction” emphasises on the feminist movement creating an opportunity for women to reconstruct reality, to redefine male dominated spheres in society with their own experiences and opinions on matters that impact society as a whole. Although South Asian feminist literary writers attempt to do the same in their own context, their narrative is overshadowed by the contributions of the West; a dichotomy of ideas and research is noticed.
Despite the Western feminist perspective gaining recognition, there are various instances of women writers acquiring masculine pen names when it came to literature meant solely for leisure or entertainment purposes; some revered novelists being Charlotte Brontë as Currer, Mary Ann Evans as George Elliot. Publishing houses and the literary world being dominated by males gave rise to women writers acknowledging the male privilege that existed within a name, gaining marginal benefit out of using the same in delivering stories meant for leisure with an influence of social events. The essence of their narrative, although being diluted by the patriarchal standards of literature, also highlighted upon by Louisa May Alcott in the popular classic “Little Women”; gave a marginal sense of achievement upon delivering the feminist viewpoint, recognised later, as an inspiration to the growing feminist writers of the Western and South Asian worlds, alike. South Asian women writers reclaiming their narratives; Toru Dutt describing sacrifices of women by patriarchal norms or Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain talking about the liberation of women in society, placed significance on the notion of social events being at the forefront of feminist literature in the South Asian context.
Contemporary Feminist Literature
Contemporary aspirations of young women writers revolve around their personal experiences, unlike traditional feminist writers; the target audience not only being women readers as an attempt to relate to shared experiences, but more so, an audience to cater to the concept of “writing” as a mode of self-expression of individual identity. Women writers take to publishing blogs or articles, leading their own narratives while creating an ambit for discourse beyond their own societies, while also writing for recognition of talent or simply leisure. Lang Leav’s “The Universe of Us” focusing solely on her emotions and stories of personal attachment, or Rainbow Rowell using a pen name not to mask her feminine identity, but to express an innovative, unique identity while describing the impact of social norms on youth in fiction; the evolution of aspirations of young writers is to be noted.
Young women writers drawing inspiration from contemporary work of feminists as compared to traditional ones, exploring the experiences of writers from other societies, as well as engaging with like-minded peers on social media sites, gaining exposure to diverse cultural viewpoints, despite a sense of unrelatability; empowers women writers to redefine their narrative and reclaim literature in an environment where their work on social, political, economic and global subject matters convince their target audience into acknowledging female perspectives in male-dominated spheres, as well as simultaneously recognising that social events may not be at the forefront of their narratives, being replaced by personal accounts.
Method and Material
A survey by the method of Snowball sampling involved reaching out to contacts to get in touch with samples from North America, Europe and South Asia; the main areas of study. A set of ten samples each; North America and Europe being combined as the study of the Western Perspective and South Asian perspective for comparison, were asked a series of questions with reference to the assumptions of the research.
The age group was 16-25 year old women writers, to highlight aspirations and opinions of women writers in the present era, and the participants represented the following countries: South Asian perspective included India, Indonesia and Singapore, the Western perspective being represented by samples from Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom from Europe and the United States of America and Canada from North America.
A few samples were asked to take part in a discussion with reference to “Literature by Women Writers and their personal aspirations”, as an attempt to gather further insight to comprehend the nature of expectations and aspirations young women writers have, with emphasis on the role and influence of social media in shaping their identities as writers.
Analysis
The First question, “Would you prefer a woman’s perspective over a man’s, when reading or studying articles or works on politics, global affairs, economics, historical experiences etc?”, explores the notion of women writers taking control of their narratives and redefining male-dominated spheres in society.
The Second question, “When/If you write, would you prefer using a masculine pen name if your work is made public?”, explores the evolution of women writers reclaiming literary spaces.
The Third question, “When/If you publish your work or make it public, does attaching your own name to the piece give you a sense of empowerment?”, expands on the concept of women writers gaining a sense of empowerment when making their work and opinions public.
The Fourth question, “For leisure reading, do you often refer to works by women authors belonging to nationalities other than yours?”, the objective was to explore the notion of recognition of “The Other” literature on a global level.
The Fifth question, “Would you prioritise reading/referring to works by Asian women writers over Western ones in terms of understanding core concepts of any global movement?”, was to comprehend the evolution of the narrative of global movements being dominated by the Western perspectives.
The Sixth question, “In a scenario where you cannot relate to any accounts of personal experiences belonging to women writers of other nationalities, would you be open to reading them?”, was another attempt to understand the increase in awareness with regard to work by women writers present in societies other than the individual.
The Seventh question, “When/If you write, is the piece more personal or does it include your views on social affairs/events?”, the respondents had the choice to choose from their personal or social events, as an attempt to understand which aspect has a higher impact on their work.
The Eighth question, “Has social media played a major role in shaping your identity as a writer or exposed you to literary work by women writers?”, enables one to study the extent of the influence social media has on the writing of young women, as well as the role it plays in exposing them to other feminist work.
The Ninth question, “Do you engage with other writers or readers outside your country or region on social media?”, attempts to study to nature of interaction between women writers on a global level by the means of social media.
The Tenth question, “When/If you write, would you make your work public or publish it on social media?”, explores the idea of women writers feeling confident enough to make their work public.
The Eleventh question, “Is your writing impacted or influenced in a positive or negative manner by the work of women available on social media?”, enables one to study the influence feminist work has on the opinions or writing process of new women writers.
The last question, “In a scenario where you make your writing public, would you prefer an audience of both men and women or are you satisfied with a targeted audience of women?”, attempts to trace the evolution of feminist work being targeted towards women audiences who could relate to or shared the writer’s living experiences.
Discussion and Results
A few respondents volunteered to have their names and opinions be included in the research, and were asked to provide their views on the concepts of the role of social media in developing their identity as a writer, the evolution of higher interaction between writers from the Western and South Asian perspective and the contemporary aspirations of women writers.
Demmi, aged 20 from the United States of America, spoke about how social media impacted her writing by providing her with the platform to make her work public, leading to her gaining insightful feedback; leading to the development of her skills as a writer. She mentioned how this was mostly possible due to the higher level of engagement writers have, resulting in her not only receiving comments on her work by writers from other countries, but also made her more aware about the experiences other writers have, that are different from hers.
Rhia, aged 18 from Singapore, spoke about her aspirations being extremely different than that of women writers who existed in the 20th century. She spoke about her work being influenced by her personal experiences and her imagination, which she chose to prioritise over her social, political, economic experiences, and how her work is not targeted towards solely women but people of all genders, as she wished to display her writing talent and not her opinion.
Anna, aged 19 from the Netherlands, described how social media gave her more exposure to work by feminist writers across the globe, and how she was able to draw a comparison to the social, economic, political set up in her own country and how this has impacted her narrative while writing; helping her to acknowledge her privilege as well as making her realise the significance of women writers being in control of their own narratives, especially in male-dominated spheres.
This research was able to reaffirm the assumptions made with reference to the evolution of the contemporary aspirations of young women writers, due to the influence of social media and emphasised on higher interaction between the Western and South Asian perspective, tracing the growth of the feminist discourse across all male-dominated spheres, with a more unified and global outlook in the 21st Century.
Bibliography
Mccormick, Ian Women's Writing and Feminism: An Introduction
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