RE-NEGOTIATING THE TRADITIONAL ROLE: WOMAN IN THE BLACK HILL OF MAMANG DAI

Author Name: Papiya Ghosh

Volume/Issue: 02/09

Country: India

DOI NO.: 08.2020-25662434 DOI Link: https://www.doi-ds.org/doilink/03.2022-54164937/UIJIR

Affiliation:

Research Scholar, Tripura University, English Department, Agartala, Tripura, India

ABSTRACT

It is believed that Sexism operates at different levels of social structure to acculturate the inhabitants of the society according to its own ideologies. These rigid norms and rules contribute in the development of stereotypes, taboos and traditions. Sexist social structure propagates women to be inferior to men to serve its functional aspects. Situating within the lexicons and ontology of the women liberationists and feminists, this paper aims to assess The Black Hill of Mamang Dai that portrays the socio-political as well as the cultural status of women of the indigenous Adi community of Arunachal Pradesh. many such instances where we find the female characters either performing some works those are considered to be their duty to maintain the functional structure of the society or else being mere objects or scapegoats in the hands of men. In the novel we also find the association of some adjectives such as “uncontrollable”, “daring” and verbs- “whistling”, “climbing” as mal-fitted for an Adi girl. These words sharply speak of the sanctified role of a female to be played and which is surely different than the role of the male section of the society. This paper further, attempts to focus on how sisterhood and the active participation of men can contribute in the process of the re-negotiation of the phallus-centric social structure and cultural perceptions of women.

Key words: Sexism, Women, Culture, Negotiation, Agency