SHALMALEE PALEKAR

    This paper discusses under-mapped territories in the discursive formations of postcolonial cultural productions, especially within the framework of Indian women's writing and feminism. These spaces can be the source of aporia because they seek to establish and contribute to a dialogue that is situated beyond debilitating models of nationalism, manicheanism, and even hybridity. As a means of pointing to these spaces, I have translated and analysed the poetry of a Marathi^[i] poet—Prabha Ganorkar—in order to discuss how her oeuvre falls outside prescribed models of postcolonial literatures and, therefore, meets and creates invisible barriers.

           
    Closely linked to this, is the issue of translation and its place in contemporary literature in India and postcolonial studies. I argue that translation theory and practice is important today more than ever, as it is the basis of comparative literary study across multiple cultures. Postcolonial studies are fundamentally comparative and they inject a needed awareness of cultural politics into translation studies. Translation, on the other hand, highlights some of the weaknesses of postcolonial studies, especially regarding the issue of referentiality versus mediation.

    Rather than attempting to craft an overarching theory of postcolonial feminism articulating a 'definitive' postcolonial feminist enterprise, this paper seeks to delineate the specifics of this middle-class writer in relation to her particular social context. Thus, the need for new interpretive models of postcolonial literary/cultural productions is asserted. These models might incorporate various media in an attempt to interpret cultures.  I have sometimes used unusual sources such as private discussions, amateur audiotapes, videos of theatre performances, and textbooks on Marathi literature to support my assertions and launch my arguments because of the lack of text-related commentary and critical material.

    Broadly speaking, most of the male poets post-World War Two and of later generations wrote highly politicised and socially relevant poetry. They wrote existential poetry exploring the meaninglessness of lower/middle-class urban life, of petty, often weak men leading monotonous, mundane, small lives, of the loss of religious tolerance, and of riots and violence. This 'tradition' filters into Ganorkar up to a point, but there are crucial differences in her poetic concerns that I will demonstrate further in the paper.

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[i] Marathi is one of the many languages of India. It is widely spoken in and around Mumbai (formerly Bombay), especially in the state of Maharashtra.

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