Examining Cultural Space and Gender Embodiment in Tagore’s The Home and The World

Khushi; Manjari Johri

Authors

Khushi Amity School of Languages, Amity University, Lucknow https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9402-331X
Manjari Johri Assistant Professor, Amity School of Languages, Amity University, Lucknow

Abstract

Aims: The paper examines the concepts of ‘masculinity’, ‘femininity’, and ‘embodiment’ within the context of gender studies. It also analyzes how Tagore employs the spatial metaphors of ‘home’ and ‘world’ to investigate gender embodiment and the constraints on individual agency within the nationalist discourse.

Methodology: The methodology includes a close reading of the text in the historical backdrop of the Swadeshi Movement. The concept of “embodiment” is also used to comment on the evolving consciousness of characters due to the shared experience with cultural settings.

Outcome: Through this paper, it can be claimed that identities are constructed and shaped by external factors. Though cultural space determines the roles that individuals pick in each social situation, it is up to one’s personal choice to exercise autonomy and agency or to conform and tread the beaten path.

Conclusion: The characters of Bimla, Sandip and Nikhil are studied through the lens of gender studies to understand how each of them embodies gender roles differently and how their embodiment is shaped by the cultural space each of them occupies. Nikhil resists the ideals of hegemonic masculinity, while Bimala finds autonomy as she withstands the patriarchal grounds.

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Author Biography

Khushi, Amity School of Languages, Amity University, Lucknow

Khushi is a dedicated scholar currently pursuing her Master of Arts in English Literature at Amity University. With a keen intellectual curiosity and a meticulous approach to literary analysis, she engages deeply with diverse literary traditions, exploring complex themes such as morality, identity, and cultural transformation.

Dr. Manjari Johri is an Assistant Professor at Amity School of Languages, Amity University Lucknow. She has twenty-five years of teaching experience. Dr Johri earned her PhD from the University of Lucknow in 2009. She is keenly interested in teaching drama and poetry and is inclined towards feminist writing and theory. She has published papers in renowned journals and edited volumes, including, Literature, Language and Communication: An Essential Trident, The Mind of the Director for Ministry of Culture, Government of India, a major project undertaken by Late Prof. Raj Bisaria, Padmashree. She worked with Late Prof. Bisaria as a Research Assistant for Tagore National Fellowship on the title Shakespeare’s Indian Summer. Other areas of interest include world drama and its theatrical adaptations, Gender Studies, and Women’s Studies, Masculinities and Cultural Studies.