Third World Women‘’s Writing: An Overview

Women’s writing in the present world have made a deep impact on the social and cultural ambience. It is perceived as an individual entity, making women’s consciousness, experiences and values primary in the act of reading. The struggles of women and the difficulties they face in the oppressive mechanical society are well reflected in the literary writings, especially in the writings of women authors. Emergence of women’s literature is an outcry of a group of people who have remained suppressed, disregarded and abandoned under patriarchy and vested political groups. Woman has been the focus of many literary works down the centuries. In an age of development and flux in every field, one cannot easily ignore half the population. In a post-colonial context, whether African, Caribbean or South Asian, English language carries with it a whole history of patriarchal myths and symbols whether originally instituted by the colonial power or later by primarily male-dominated movements towards nationalism and independence.  There are obviously parallels between the experiences of women’s oppression in previously colonized territories or the Third World countries and women’s oppression worldwide. Contemporary women writers through their fiction have chosen to talk back, moving from silence into speech and standing for the oppressed, the colonised, the exploited and those who stand and struggle side by side, a gesture of defiance that heals, that makes new life and new growth possible. The focus of this paper is on the comparative study of Third World Women’s Writing in an attempt to examine the female condition of women in fictional works of Third World countries especially African literature and Indian literature. &nbsp