Bridging Cultures: A Comparative Study of Female Agency in African and Indian Women’s Novels

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative literary analysis of female agency in African and Indian women’s novels, highlighting how women writers from these regions challenge patriarchal structures and reclaim female subjectivity. Drawing on selected works by authors such as Buchi Emecheta, Chimamanda Adichie, Mahasweta Devi, and Kamala Das, the study examines thematic concerns including gender roles, resistance, identity, and the tension between tradition and modernity. The analysis reveals both convergences and divergences in narrative strategies, socio-cultural contexts, and feminist articulations. Using feminist literary theory and postcolonial criticism as frameworks, the research underscores how these authors employ literature not just as artistic expression but as political resistance, offering counter-narratives to dominant patriarchal and colonial discourses. The study concludes that African and Indian women writers serve as cultural agents who not only document but actively shape feminist consciousness in their respective societies.