An Analytical Study of Resistance against Cultural Violence in the Poetry of Kamala Das

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Brijesh Kumar

Abstract

Matthew Arnold defines culture as, “a pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world; and through this knowledge, turning a stream of fresh and free thought upon our own stock notions and habits” (Wikipedia). Unfortunately, this dynamic picture of culture has never been possessed in true sense; because the history of culture, since the formation of organized societies anywhere in the world, has been the history of cultural domination and suppression. The proponents of cultural values find their own culture better than those of others. They spread and impose these values in the name of truth with the help of ideological and repressive state apparatus. India has been maintaining its patriarchal culture since centuries; and women have been made the worst victims of it. Women, because of the dominance of these men-centric societal rules and norms, are pushed to periphery and forced to live the life of a second-class citizen. Some women have raised their voices against these atrocities and defied to obey the illogical patriarchal rules. Kamla Das, a vocal Indian poetess who herself has been a victim of such binary cultural norms, has expressed her egalitarian thoughts in many of her poems. She writes freely about the needs and desires of women and finds patriarchal society responsible behind the maldevelopment of its society in general and women in particular.

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How to Cite
Brijesh Kumar. “An Analytical Study of Resistance Against Cultural Violence in the Poetry of Kamala Das”. The Creative Launcher, vol. 2, no. 3, Aug. 2017, pp. 501-7, https://www.thecreativelauncher.com/index.php/tcl/article/view/572.
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Research Articles

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