A Life of the ‘Other’ and a Story of the ‘Self’: Shivarani Devi in "Premcand ghar me͂"

Abstract

A Life of the ‘Other’ and a Story of the ‘Self’: Shivarani Devi in "Premcand ghar me͂" This paper will deal with Shivarani Devi’s (1890–1976) Premcand ghar mẽ, a literary memoir-cum-biography of her husband Premchand, a pioneer of Hindi literature. The book has already been extensively discussed in previous studies as a mirror held up to Premchand, revealing all his dynamism as a writer, intellectual and householder. Against this backdrop, this article attempts to delve more deeply into Shivarani Devi’s own intimate space within the household. It will discuss the ‘self’ that Shivarani Devi necessarily lays bare while portraying her husband, the ‘other’. It will analyse the narrated self of Shivarani Devi within the domesticity that she defines as ghar.

Keywords

• Hindi autobiography
• Shivarani Devi
• Premchand
• Premcand ghar mẽ
• self-image
• Women’s Studies