Politics of Maternity: contesting motherhood in select contemporary narratives

Abstract

The socio-cultural context of the twenty-first century with its heterogeneous discourses resonates with the challenges of traditional ideologies of motherhood in the face of contemporary cultural, physical, emotional and psychological perspectives of the same initiated by the reality of experiences encountered by women at the altar of the glorified concepts of motherhood. In this state of affairs, this thesis intends to make an analysis of the representation of motherhood in selected texts which include A Married Woman and Custody by Manju Kapur, A Life’s Work: On Becoming a Mother by Rachel Cusk, Making Babies: Stumbling into Motherhood by Anne Enright, My Wild and Sleepless Nights: A Mother’s Story by Clover Stroud, The Panic Years: Dates, Doubts and the Mother of All Decisions by Nell Frizzell and Motherhood by Sheila Heti. The thesis is divided into four chapters, namely, “Juxtaposing Patriarchy and Motherhood”, “Delineating Mothering and Making Babies”, “Cantankerous Tales of Flux and Panic” and “Incessant Wrestling with Motherhood” apart from the introduction and conclusion. Within the purview of multiple perspectives and theoretical assumptions, this work attempts to position women on a pedestal free of biological determinism. This study honours the biological potential of women to become mothers and simultaneously considers that biological attributes alone should not mark the destiny of women. It proposes that acceptance or rejection of motherhood should be considered an individual’s choice and the social mindset should be broad enough to respect it as an individual’s right.