Shafana Shaffi
Assistant Professor, Department of English, T.K.M. College of Arts and Science, Kollam, Kerala. ORCID: 0000-0001-9337-1449. Email: shafanashaffi11@gmail.com
Volume 12, Number 3, 2020 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n3.08
Abstract
This paper aims to study narratives by two Indian Muslim women – the formidable Begums of Bhopal – who travelled to Mecca for pilgrimage in the latter half of the nineteenth and the early decade of the twentieth century. It attempts to trace the notions of imperialism and femininity that guide the women narrators and study as to how these personal narratives fit into the larger framework of colonial enterprise without intending to do so. Also by adopting a unique style that was at once in compliance with power structures like imperialism but that which resisted others like patriarchy, the Begums’ succeeded in fashioning their narratives as a powerful tool to portray their selves as faithful subjects of the Raj and who were also the rightful rulers of Bhopal. The texts, by bearing in mind the intended audience and the expected reception, are as much the products of the time as they are of the author’s personal intentions.
Keywords: travel, pilgrimage narratives, colonialism, Western male narratives, femininity, Other