Shevantibai Nikambe, Ratanbai: A Sketch of a Bombay High Caste Hindu Young Wife

Ashish Alexander (Independent Scholar - Asia)

Ed. by Pavan Kumar Malreddy, J W Goethe University of Frankfurt
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.3.1.02: Indian Writing and Culture of the Colonial Period, 1750-1947.
Vol. editors: Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Pavan Kumar Malreddy (J W Goethe University of Frankfurt), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège), Nishi Pulugurtha (Brahmananda Keshab Chandra College)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1895

Places

India (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novella

Resources

Ratanbai: A Sketch of a Bombay High Caste Hindu Young Wife (1895) is one of the pioneering works of Indian English fiction. Despite its brevity, it is an important text in the history of Indian English literature for it forcefully underlines the need to educate girls from high-caste Hindu homes. The novella was written by the Maharashtrian social reformer Shevantibai M. Nikambe (1865–19??) who was a Christian convert from the Brahmin caste, the highest caste in the Hindu socio-religious order. The novella belongs to the earliest phase of modern Indian writing, when social reform was a primary objective of the writers. Thus it is no surprise that the focus of most such novels was the condition of women in contemporary …

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629 words

Citation: Alexander, Ashish. "Ratanbai: A Sketch of a Bombay High Caste Hindu Young Wife". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 January 2020 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39036, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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