The Paradigm shift from Conventional Mythology to the Vortex of Feminist ideology in Githa Hariharan’s The Thousand Faces of the Night

Abstract

Githa Hariharan (born in 1954) is primarily known for her novel, The Thousand Faces of Night. She won the Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best First Novel. But here she reveals herself as a master of the short narrative as well. The second published literary works of the renowned Indian English writer, The Art of Dying (1993) won wide applause for its relevant and bold theme. She is also a social activist who portrays social issues in her literary works. She belongs to the new generation of Indian writers who have earned greater visibility and readership for Indian English Literature. As a writer she is preoccupied with human condition which to her is the pre-requisite and the essence of creative writing in general and of literature in particular. Apparently, she chooses a small space for almost all her novels but endeavors to enlarge the limited space to such an extent that it becomes an elaborate presentation of human condition. Hariharan believes in inclusiveness, which extends and broadens an individual's social horizon. She thinks that writers have a socio‑political responsibility as well.