TRANSCULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF WIDOWHOOD: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MAXIM GORKY’S MOTHER & BAPSI SIDHWA’S WATER

Abstract

This study discovers the idea of transcultural widowhood through a comparative analysis of Maxim Gorky’s Mother (Russia) and Bapsi Sidhwa’s Water (India). The term transcultural widowhood reveals different societal oppression, identities and resistance across boundaries in the lives of widows. By comparing these two narratives, this study shows how both the writers create widows into culturally different but thematically connected worlds of marginalization and empowerment. The study reveals although the texts emerge from different cultural and social settings but both employ characters, and narrative techniques that highlight the universal struggle of widows and their ultimate transformation. Finally, the analysis of transcultural widowhood enriches readers understanding of cross-cultural female oppressions along human experiences and builds connections between different literary traditions. Applying “Feminism without Borders” by Chandra Talpante Mohanty as a theoretical framework the analysis moves beyond Eurocentric or monolithic understanding of oppression on how race, class, political, religious systems intersect to constitute the specific realities of widowhood across cultures. This theoretical approach contributes to a deeper understanding of the universal and particular dimensions of women’s marginalization, offering understandings into the difficulties of gendered social hierarchies and the potential for solidarity across cultural boundaries.