Intersectional Feminist Representation in Select Indian English Picturebooks for Children – A Critical Analysis

Intersectional Feminist Representation in Select Indian English Picturebooks for Children – A Critical Analysis

B. Sai Harshitha* and Sowmya Srinivasan

Doctoral Research Scholar, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India ** Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract

Children’s literature can potentially influence and shape the growing sensibilities of young minds. Hence, it must adapt to the evolving social and cultural conditions to teach young readers responsibility, sensitivity, and inclusivity. In this context, children’s literature in India concerns the prevailing conversation about raising awareness of gender biases and promoting inclusive mindsets. Contemporary children’s books, especially picturebooks, attempt to bring about change through positive and powerful narratives that break gender barriers. For this purpose, three picturebooks, namely Kamla Bhasin’s Girls Want Azadi, Sowmya Rajendran’s Wings to Fly, and The Weightlifting Princess, have been consciously chosen owing to their contemporariness and thematic semblance. The article reviews the female protagonists and their multiple identities constructed amid injustice and discrimination in the narratives. It uses textual analysis as the research method for unearthing the connotations and denotations present in the chosen picturebooks. By highlighting the Indian depictions of gender-based discrimination, these picturebooks create a space for dialogue among child readers that traverse beyond the boundaries of social and cultural taboos. Keywords: Gender equality, empowered girl child, Indian Children’s Literature in English, Picturebooks