REPRSENTATIONS OF GENDER AND WOMEN’S IDENTITIES IN POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE
REPRSENTATIONS OF GENDER AND WOMEN’S IDENTITIES IN POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims to explore the cultural markings of femininity and masculinity by analysing representations of gender in two contemporary post-colonial novels: Chinua Achebe’s “Anthills of the Savannah” (1987) and Rohinton Mistry’s “A Fine Balance” (1995). Written a decade apart and rooted in cultures dominated by the binary opposition male power/female weakness, both novels try to break with traditional thought and bring to the fore strong, assertive female characters who strive to preserve their independence. I demonstrate that Beatrice Okoh and Dina Dalal, the main female characters in the above mentioned novels, are constructed as foils to African and Indian stereotypical representations of gender.

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