Reclaiming the Epic from the
Margins: Gender, Voice, and Feminist Revision in Sita's
Ramayana
Dr. Komal Vinayak Tujare
ABSTRACT
Mythological narratives have
historically functioned as repositories of cultural values,
preserving and transmitting social norms across generations. Among
these narratives, the Ramayana occupies a central position within
South Asian cultural consciousness. Yet, the canonical tradition has
largely privileged masculine heroism, political duty, and martial
glory. It often relegates female experience to the margins of the
epic imagination. Samhita Arni's Sita's Ramayana (2011), illustrated
by Moyna Chitrakar, challenges this patriarchal orientation through
a radical retelling of the epic from Sita's perspective. This paper
examines how Arni's adaptation reconfigures the ancient myth by
foregrounding female subjectivity, interrogating patriarchal
constructions of honour and exposing the gendered consequences of
war. It redefines agency through resistance rather than obedience.
Drawing upon the theoretical insights of Simone de Beauvoir, Judith
Butler, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, bell hooks, and Chandra Talpade
Mohanty, the study analyses the text's narrative strategies,
characterization, thematic concerns, and visual aesthetics. It
argues that Sita's Ramayana transforms an epic of masculine conquest
into a feminist meditation on suffering, survival, solidarity and
self-determination. The text thereby creates a distinctly
contemporary intervention within the long tradition of Ramayana
retellings.
Keywords: Feminist Mythology; Ramayana Retellings; Gender Studies;
Sita's Ramayana; Graphic Narrative; Feminist Revisionism.
