Vocalising the Concerns of South Asian Women: A Gynocentric Critique of the Novels of Bapsi Sidhwa

Abstract The present paper through a study of the selected novels of Bapsi Sidhwa tries to vocalise the nature of the subjection of women in postcolonial South Asia, a space marked by a history of gender based violence or exploitation, sexual stereotyping, and gender roles. Bapsi Sidhwa through her novels tries to combat this attitude of society towards women. Sidhwa presents a gynocentric critique of the South Asian society in her novels. Most of her fictional work is devoted to the analysis and dissection of the structures of traditional patriarchal cultures, as well as the colonial or nationalistic endeavours that collude to subjugate women in the postcolonial South Asia. Keywords: Bapsi Sidhwa, gynocentric, feminism, sexual stereotyping, fiction