Reimaging Sita in the Forest of Enchantments: A Study of Revisionist Mythmaking

Abstract

Abstract: The paper, ‘Reimaging Sita in The Forest of Enchantments: A Study of Revisionist Mythmaking,’ evolves from the awareness that the discourse of mythology is always androcentric in nature in which the central characters are constructed in a way to glorify and idolize male hegemony and masculine prowess. Female representations in androcentric myths are misogynist in nature and are always distorted by male perspectives and preferences.  Revision of patriarchal myths from female perspective exposes the strategically concealed misogynist elements in androcentric myths. The study seeks to analyse how Revisionist Mythmaking, at its best, is exemplified in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel, The Forest of Enchantments (2019). She reworks Valmiki’s epic Ramayana from a feminist critical perspective and effectively uses the technique of Revisionist Mythmaking to resist the patriarchal strategy of side-lining and silencing women. The paper critically analyses how the novelist portrays the character of Sita in a female perspective, unlike in the epic. It also presents how the novelist gives voice to the neglected female characters in Ramayana, thereby filling the gaps and silences of an androcentric epic. Hence, the study explores the possibilities of Revisionist Mythmaking in the process of redefining female identity.