A Life of the ‘Other’ and a Story of the ‘Self’: Shivarani Devi in "Premcand ghar me͂"

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.20.2018.02.07

Keywords:

Hindi autobiography, Shivarani Devi, Premchand, Premcand ghar mẽ, self-image, Women’s Studies, Indian Women’s autobiography, 20th century Indian Women

Abstract

A Life of the ‘Other’ and a Story of the ‘Self’: Shivarani Devi in "Premcand ghar me͂"

This paper will deal with Shivarani Devi’s (1890–1976) Premcand ghar mẽ, a literary memoir-cum-biography of her husband Premchand, a pioneer of Hindi literature. The book has already been extensively discussed in previous studies as a mirror held up to Premchand, revealing all his dynamism as a writer, intellectual and householder. Against this backdrop, this article attempts to delve more deeply into Shivarani Devi’s own intimate space within the household. It will discuss the ‘self’ that Shivarani Devi necessarily lays bare while portraying her husband, the ‘other’. It will analyse the narrated self of Shivarani Devi within the domesticity that she defines as ghar.

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References

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Published

2018-12-31

How to Cite

Chudal, Alaka Atreya. 2018. “A Life of the ‘Other’ and a Story of the ‘Self’: Shivarani Devi in ‘Premcand Ghar me͂’”. Cracow Indological Studies 20 (2):145-62. https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.20.2018.02.07.