Abstract
For centuries, classical myths have been celebrated as models of excellence. Initially, the study of myths was undertaken to understand culture by only being mindful of the fixed literal meaning of the text. In this context, the ancient myth of the Ramayan in India stood as a monolithic structure unquestioned since time immemorial. However, in modern times, when the deconstruction philosophy of Derrida rejects the idea of a fixed meaning as conveyed by a text, the latent meaning of the text arises to the surface. With the emergence of feminism, the unheard voices of canonical texts are brought to the limelight through the contemporary mode of mythic fiction. The mythic fictions undertaken for study—The Forest of Enchantments, Sita-Warrior of Mithila, and The Liberation of Sita—highlight myriad ways of deconstructing the character of Sita and other subaltern female characters who were initially construed under the androcentric dictates of the classical literary canon. Hence, feminist deconstruction of mythology by mythic fiction deconstructs age-old cultural axioms.
TopIntroduction
It is a common faith that myths shape society and social behaviour. It is believed that apart from setting a moral set of laws they also offer a religious experience. A collection of myths creates mythology and when fiction is loosely based on mythology and uses mythological archetypes, it then assumes the shape of mythic fiction. Fiction provides its magical elements from myths to the contemporary world and provides a new experience to the readers through mythic fiction. In modern times, myths are rarely acknowledged in their original form; instead, they are interpreted, re-interpreted, de-codified, and modified to become acceptable to modern readers. The present study deals with the concept of deconstructing the Indian myth of Ramayan through mythic fiction in the Indian context.
Myth Embeds in a Culture
Plato was the first to use the word 'mythologia' for collecting, making, and studying cultural myths. Myth is inherently related to varied cultures and humans of the world. Myths are presently known to us by the quality that they had transcended from oral tradition to written form. The rational study of myth was favoured by Enlightenment philosophy in the West in the 18th century. For Jung, myth and religion have traditionally worked in tandem. Religion has preserved myth, and myth has sustained religion. The heart of religion for Jung is neither belief nor practice, but experience and myth which provide the best entrée to the experience of God, which means the unconscious (Segal,1999, p. 90). Jung propounds that myths are encrypted. Myths use symbols that are indirect and are a medium for conveying archetypes. His theory of archetypes states that almost identical images occur in myths across the world and the human psyche rests upon certain inherited motifs called archetypes. He calls archetypes 'mythological motifs' and 'mythologems' which are found within many myths. Archetypes are universal themes that appear irrespective of space, time, or person. So, myth is a symbolic demonstration of archetypes and every myth is replete with archetypes.
For Northrop Frye, mythology is the underlying structure present in a text. He differs from Jung on the concept of an archetype because for him it is a recurring pattern and he does not emphasize the collective unconscious. According to him, archetypes are symbols that occur repetitively in literature like that of a hero, mother and creator which symbolize universal human experience. According to Frye, the classic works go back to these archetypes, and this is what distinguishes a great work from an average one. The function of archetypal criticism is to identify these archetypes because they give a deeper meaning to the text. In his Anatomy of Criticism (1957), Frye also defines ‘ideology’ as a ‘structure of social authority’ which imposes its version of traditional mythology. He states, “An ideology starts by providing its own version to form and enforce a social contract. An ideology is thus applied mythology, and its adaptation of myths are ones that, when we are inside an ideological structure, we must believe, or say we believe” (Dobson, 2005, p.3). Ideology lays trust in acceptable choices only while other perspectives are denounced as unacceptable. Frye believes in the supremacy of mythology over ideology because archetypal myth is the only constant while ideology dispels with time.
Roland Barthe, in Mythologies (1957), states that the purpose of a myth is to change history into nature. While ancients perceive myths as fables of gods and heroes, to Barthe myths are connected with the ideologies of that time. Myth is a potent tool that can inverse or transform ideologies to define a society. According to Barthe, myth transforms social and historical fundamentals into natural and universal truths. To him, myth is a comprehensive metaphor that helps to identify the self in culture.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Subaltern: The term was coined by Antonio Gramsci, notably through his work on cultural hegemony. The concept identifies the groups that are excluded from a society's established institutions and thus denied a right to raise their voice in their society. In India, the concept shot to prominence with Gayatri Spivak’s “Can the Subaltern Speak?”. She is of the view that patriarchy creates subaltern women whose voices “cannot be heard or read”. The concept is utilized in mythic fiction to voice the aphonic female characters of Indian myths.
Ecofeminism: In 1974, French feminist Francoise d' Eaubonne minted the term 'ecoféminisme' where she called upon women to lead an ecological revolution to save the planet. Ecofeminism is a movement that employs feminist principles to ecological issues. Ecofeminism is a social awakening of women to uphold a war against a patriarchal society that is causing injury to them and the environment. Ecofeminists examine a close connection between women and nature.
Surpanakha: Surpanakha was the fourth child of Asur king Vishravas and queen Kaikesi of Lanka. She was the youngest of four siblings and Ravan, Kumbhkaran and Vibhishan were her elder brothers. Being a girl child, she was the unwanted one in the family, and because of her dark colour and repulsive looks, she was given a hideous name. Surpanakha means one having nails spread like sieves or one that is as hard as nails. Volga and Chitra Banerjee find beauty in her ugliness.
Ahalya: Ahalya, the wife of Sage Gautam, was enticed by Lord Indra, disguised as her husband and on being caught in the act of intimacy Ahalya was cursed by her elderly husband to turn into a rock. Bearing the sun, rain and wind, her only salvation lies when Rama would touch her with his feet. Canonical texts stress the punishment inflicted on her for her infidelity but Volga tries to reason out her stone-like silence.
Ramayan: The Hindu epic Ramayan, meaning the journey of Lord Ram, composed around 2CBC to 2AD by Sage Valmiki, is a legend of Lord Ram of Ayodhya. He was banished from Ayodhya along with Sita and Lakshman for fourteen years at the behest of his stepmother Kaikeyi. As a dutiful son, he spent his banishment days at Panchbati where Sita remains just a shadow to her Lord throughout his adventures outside Ayodhya.
Sita: In the nineteenth century, Raja Ravi Varma's paintings greatly impacted the masses regarding the depiction of Hindu gods and deities. Through his canvas, he was successful in creating a prototype of an Indian goddess like Sita who is docile, obedient and in despair to be rescued. Also, Amar Chitra Katha founded in 1967, a graphic narrative series of Indian epics and myths, propagated an image of Sita as one having fair skin, long hair and a sari-clad woman. Amish Tripathi on the other hand paints a warrior-like fearless image of Sita.
Avatar: The word’s literal meaning is descent or to make one’s appearance. In Hinduism, the concept of an avatar refers to an incarnation of a deity in human or animal form to annihilate evil from the world. It stands for new incarnations, embodiments of the archetype often in association with Lord Vishnu. Ram is considered to be one of the avatars of Vishnu. However, Amish Tripathi uses the term to signify Sita to deviate from the traditional telling of Ramayan.
Renuka: Renuka was the wife of the famous sage Jamdagini and the mother of Parshurama. Once while returning from a bath, carrying a pot of unbaked pot, she saw king Citraratha sporting in water with his wife. This turned on in her a fleeting desire for the sport as well and just then the pot broke soaking her. Her soaked body symbolizes her erotic wetness. On returning home, sage Jamdagini noticed her wet condition and concluded that she had committed a sin and hence was adulterous. So, he ordered his son Parshurama to behead his wife for the mere act of looking at a man making love to his wife. However, Volga tries to unearth the reason for decapitation.
Sakhi Tradition: The word Sakhi is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Sakshi’ which means a witness to an event. In Indian mythology, sakhi is an important accomplice to the heroine. Sakhi can be a female friend, a companion, a devotee or a sister. The dedication of a sakhi is epitomized through the dedicated love of gopi's for Lord Krishna. In Hindu mythology, the sakhi tradition is a representation of selfless love. Particularly famous in Benaras, the sakhi tradition represents a woman-woman emotional bond marking a seal of the authority of a woman in a relationship unlike any of her other familial bonds.