Contours of Selfhood: Negotiating Postfeminist Identity in Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupé and Mistress

Contours of Selfhood: Negotiating Postfeminist Identity in Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupé and Mistress

Ananya Ratha and Chandramani

Abstract

The ideas of healing and recovery emerge as defining concerns in Anita Nair’s fiction, articulating the strength and vulnerability of individuals navigating the layered realities of postcolonial and patriarchal India. Through novels such as Ladies Coupé and Mistress Nair explores the intertwined processes of emotional renewal, cultural reconciliation, and the reclamation of identity. Her characters, often wounded by personal and social constraints, undertake journeys of introspection that lead to empowerment and self-awareness. Nair’s narrative world engages deeply with the intersections of gender, memory, and autonomy, revealing how the remnants of colonial thought continue to shape contemporary consciousness.