LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 18:1 January 2018
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

Language in India www.languageinindia.com is included in the UGC Approved List of Journals. Serial Number 49042.


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Sophocles’ Antigone and Sathanar’s Manimekalai -
Pioneers in Social Feminism

Dr. D. Gnanasekaran



Abstract

Comparative Literature looks beyond regional and national borders. Propelled by this premise, this article seeks to bring regional literatures to a larger audience as they project a collective image of Indian consciousness in terms of its culture and ethos. The study here employs a correspondence between the protagonist of an ancient Greek work, Antigone by Sophocles and that of an ancient Tamil work, Manimekalai, a post-Sangam text and one of the early major epics written by the Buddhist poet, Mudurai Kulavanikar Sathanar in the sixth century according to Paula Richman. They thus belong to a fairly remote period when society was exclusively patriarchal in outlook and function. The two protagonists represent the populace of their periods, take “out-of-tune” decisions, and exhibit extraordinary courage and self-thinking. Much ahead of their times, their nature anticipates the tendencies of modern women who have now gained enormous freedom and distinct individuality.

Keywords: Antigone, Manimekalai, Comparative Literature – social feminism – regional literature – thematic universals

Social Feminism

Social feminism is a branch of feminism that focuses upon both the public and private spheres of a woman's life and argues that liberation can only be achieved by working to end both the religious and cultural sources of women's oppression. According to Dietz, “Women who do not venture beyond the family or participate in practices beyond mothering cannot attain an adequate understanding of the way politics determines their own lives.” She further says that women should have “a distinctly political consciousness steeped in a commitment to democratic values, participatory citizenship, and egalitarianism” (59).


This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.



Dr. D. Gnanasekaran
Former Professor and Head
Department of English
K. M. (Govt.) Centre for PG Studies & Research
Puducherry
India
dgsekar52@gmail.com


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