Treatment of Women in Nadine Gordimer’s My Son’s Story

Abstract

It is believed that the concept of feminism oscillated from time to time, and place to place. Feminism in literature is essentially concerned with representation of women in the society. It has explored that plight of women in the male oriented society in which women have to be dumb and bear the pangs of misery like humility, mental exploitation, sexual harassment, marital rape, honour killing etc. In this way, feminist consciousness has provided a new awareness of women’s role in modern complex world. Feminist scholars aim at forgoing a new identity for women. The African novelists use myths, legend and proverbs for making the people aware of their heritage and history. This has created a sense of history in which in the minds of people and generated a critical perspective to know the past, evaluate the present and visualize the future. The novelists have played the ancient role of the narrators who have not only transmitted legends, myths, and the collective wisdom through their oral narratives, but also used narratives as the focal points of social harmony. The African novelists believe in Social integration and resent the neo-colonial approach to subdue native culture. Nadine Gordimer has exposed the traumas and tensions of apartheid in South Africa. So, her novels mark a swift in her focus from a concern with the role of whites in polarized society. In this paper, I shall be looking at the ways in which women are represented in Nadine Gordimer’s texts. Gordimer has questioned women’s inherited identity and created women protagonists who have tried to display rounded characters. Thus, her works create and awareness of the way in which women’s identity has been constructed.