Humanism and Culture in the novels Manju Kapu...

Humanism and Culture in the novels Manju Kapur's ‘Difficult daughters’ and Anjana Appachana's ‘Listening now’

Author Name : Arun V

ABSTRACT

The literary movements in today’s contemporary works imbibed prominentlyon the transfiguration of cultural elements and its underlying complexities. This sudden transformation in cultural value has a direct influence over humanism. This relationship is craftily woven and expressed in a subtle and artistic manner in the novels: Manju Kapur’s ‘Difficult Daughters’ and Anjana Apachanna’s ‘Listening Now’. Both novels are the perfect epitome in expressing such themes, as the stories reflect the lives of individuals belonging under typical middle class families who are slammed between the cultural values and the quest for self-identity.

As the stories were elegantly written by two of the eminent contemporary women novelists: Manju Kapur and Anjana Appachana, the paper critically examines and explores the thematic representation of ‘Humanism’ and ‘culture’, and also on how the contemporary world has transpired protagonists’ lives:  Virmathiand Padma.The novels reveal the reality of contemporary Indian people and their livelihood, as they were witnessing socio-political and cultural transformations up close.

Keywords:Humanism, Culture, contemporary works, socio-political transformation, women novelists.