Women’s Resistance to Subjecti fi cati on in The Guide by Narayan (1958) and “Sunset Coast” by Sakkarawarthi (2022)

Abstract

The bind between women and the nati on they belong to has historically revealed a dynamic and contenti ous nexus. Bound within a dialecti cal relati onship, women are deemed the nati on embodied and subjected to its att endant suff erings, whilst simultaneously being burdened with the task of reproducing the nati onalist rhetoric that they themselves have no hand in penning. In such a context, this study undertakes a discussion on the confi gurati on of female subjecti vity through The Guide by R.K. Narayan and “Sunset Coast ‘’ by Sakkarawarthi, situated in postcolonial India and Tamil separati st war era Sri Lanka, respecti vely. Moreover, it examines and evinces the diff ering ways in which women overtly and covertly assert agency within the circumscripti ve bounds of patriarchal nati onalism. In elucidati ng the narrati ves of women striving for autonomy, this essay contends that these two texts functi on as discourses of resistance to androcentric nati onalism.