Narratives of Resistance: Female Agency in the Fiction of Anita Rau Badami, Kavery Nambisan, and Kavita Daswani

Author: Ezhilmathi K and Dr. Kavitha A,

Published On: 2026-06-12

DOI: https://doi.org/10.70127/irjedt.vol.9.issue06.238

Contemporary Indian women's fiction has emerged as a significant literary space for exploring women's experiences, identities, and struggles within patriarchal societies. Through diverse narrative strategies, women writers challenge conventional gender roles and foreground female agency as a means of resistance against social, cultural, and familial constraints. This paper examines the representation of female agency in Anita Rau Badami's Can You Hear the Nightbird Call?, Kavery Nambisan's On Wings of Butterflies, and Kavita Daswani's For Matrimonial Purposes. By employing feminist and postcolonial perspectives, the study analyzes how women characters negotiate tradition, identity, migration, marriage, and social expectations. The paper argues that resistance in these novels is not limited to overt rebellion but also manifests through self-discovery, personal choice, and the assertion of individual autonomy. Through a comparative analysis, the study highlights how these authors portray women as active participants in shaping their destinies, thereby challenging patriarchal narratives and contributing to contemporary feminist discourse.

Keywords: Contemporary Literature, Female Agency, Feminism, Identity, Patriarchy, Resistance