About the Author Dr. Devendra Pratap Singh is presently working as Associate Professor in Nirankari Baba Gurbachan Singh Memorial College, Sohna (Gurugram) in the Department of English. He started his primary education from his native village Bhadila in Sultanpur, U.P. Later on, he graduated from the University of Delhi, Delhi and did his post-graduation and research work leading to Ph.D. from Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Awadh University, Faizabad, U.P. He has more than 20 years of teaching experience during which he contributed many research papers in academic journals. He has also presented many papers in International and National Conferences. He has also participated actively in Orientation and Faculty Development Programs. He has also published a book named Kamala Markanda and Arun Joshi: A Comparative Study of Themes in their Novels with ISBN 978-81-8329-417-1 in 2011. He also acts as an external subject expert for syllabus designing and review committee in various Universities. He has always been a key member of various College committees and worked for the welfare of students.
Foreword Martha Nussbaum, a noted American philosopher and a lyrical writer having keen interest in feminism pointed out that, "woman in much of the world lack support for fundamental functions of human life." Around the globe, even today, women are less well nourished, less healthy, less literate with still less likely to have professional and technical education than men, but, more vulnerable to all kinds of violence and sexual abuse. Science establishes logical reasoning behind the natural phenomena and is also applicable in our lives. As the synchronization between the two wheels of a motorbike is better only when they are properly balanced and the air pressure in them is equal, similarly, this very balance carries to our lives where men and women if treated equally can embark to a prosperous, healthy and stabilized society. The gap between men and women got so much intensified that the continuous subjugation of women led to a point where they had to voice their concern which took a shape of Feminism.
The Feminist movement started with a very strong vision but later on got divided into different branches, and the main gravitating force got lost. The book Carving Herself: Harbouring Feministic Concerns is an effort in this very direction to trace out all those factors which have been keeping men and women away from this balance. In every era, the problems and situations of women differ from the previous one.
Preface Carving Herself: Harbouring Feministic Concerns is an effort to discuss and analyze the situation, problem, condition and status of co-human being who has commonly been treated as a dusty back number. Carving Herself" is a sturdy term that signifies the endeavor of women which can be observed in the society as paradigm shift but is yet to be accorded in the annals of history. Though primarily this work is intended for the literarian, we hope the book may be of some interest to hoi polloi also as the study deals with an indispensable term 'feminism'. The matrix of male domination altered with the passage of time as women ventured into the public realm in different streams. Women writers like Simon de Beauvoir, Aphra Behn, Virginia Woolf, Margery Kempe, Jane Agnes, Mary Wollstonecraft, Emily Dickinson, Margaret Atwood, Doris Lessing, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Kamala Markanda etc. gained popularity for signifying the emergence of female power in their writings. This collection of chapters is a way to foreground how women would be equal participants during ongoing and coming time. It further showcases that male and female are the co-members of society. The balance between them, in terms of ratio, rights, freedom etc. would lead to the harmonization in the society.
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
