POSTCOLONIAL FEMINISM AND MANIPURI WOMEN’S POETRY: A READING OF ARAMBAM ONGBI MEMCHOUBI’S POETRY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i1.2024.1213Keywords:
Post-Colonial Feminism, Women's Writing, Meitei, Indigenous, WomenAbstract [English]
Memchoubi’s conceptualisation of the indigenous Meitei woman is rooted deep in history and tradition, vastly differing from Eurocentric constructs of womanhood. The paper will focus on select poems of Manipuri poet Arambam Ongbi Memchoubi where she revisits the folklore, myths, and legends of the Meiteis, interspersing them with a resounding call for the creation of a new world. Through a close examination of the poems, the paper will also highlight the ways in which the poet critiques established norms and attempts to reclaim lost agency by rewriting dominant patriarchal narratives. In the process, her poetry seeks to redefine the image of the indigenous Meitei woman by firmly rejecting essentialist definitions of womanhood. Memchoubi’s poetry foregrounds this difference from ‘first world’ womanhood, thereby reinforcing the view that women are real material subjects of their histories. The paper will thus critically examine the poems and will also address the broader implications of women poets’ acts to forge new worlds through their verse.
References
Arambam, O. M. (1990). Androgi Mei (1st ed.). Arambam Samarendra.
Arambam, O. M. (2003a). Eigi Palem Nungsibi. In Manipuri Sahityada Nupee-gee Khonjen: An Anthology of Women’s Writing (20th Century) in Manipur (p. 155). Sahitya Akademi.
Arambam, O. M. (2003b). Introduction. In Manipuri Sahityada Nupee-gee Khonjen: An Anthology of Women’s Writing (20th Century) in Manipur (pp. 7–17). Sahitya Akademi.
Arambam, O. M. (2003c). Nonggoubi. In Manipuri Sahityada Nupee-gee Khonjen: An Anthology of Women’s Writing (20th Century) in Manipur (p. 149). Sahitya Akademi.
Arambam, O. M. (2003d). Nongthangleima. In Manipuri Sahityada Nupee-gee Khonjen: An Anthology of Women’s Writing (20th Century) in Manipur (p. 151). Sahitya Akademi.
Arambam, O. M. (2003e). Paamjadre. In Manipuri Sahityada Nupee-gee Khonjen: An Anthology of Women’s Writing (20th Century) in Manipur (p. 152). Sahitya Akademi.
Arambam, O. M. (2007). The Indigenous Meitei Women. Quarterly Journal, V(23), 1–18.
Chongtham, M. (2013). The Early Period. In A History of Manipuri Literature (3rd ed., p. 83).
Chungkham, S. (2007). Gender Construction in the Meetei Society. Quarterly Journal, V(23), 32–44.
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1). https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8
Lorde, A. (2018). The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House. Penguin Random House UK.
McLeod, J. (2000). Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester University Press.
Meetei, R. (2005). Manipuri Samaj Amasung Sahityada Feminism: A Book of Criticism on Manipuri. NR Publications.
Mohanty, C. T. (1984). Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses. Boundary 2, 12/13, 333–358. https://doi.org/10.2307/302821 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/302821
Nahakpam, A. (2022). Athoibi Ima. In Nongthangleima Amasung Taibang (pp. 113–143). LEIKOL.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Gurumayum Deepika
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
With the licence CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author.
It is not necessary to ask for further permission from the author or journal board.
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
