Writing From Within: Women, Folklore, and the Fiction of Sudhindra Nath Ghose

Abstract

A yellow-brown pamphlet brooding in one of the files kept at the British Library carries the names of the authors and the books published by Michael Joseph. It snobbishly displays the photographs of the writers along with their names. The centre of that yellowish page contains the name of Sudhindranath Ghose, but where is his image? Sudhin Ghose, a wellknown author during his time, subsequently vanished from the literary scene. He was a successful author during the mid-twentieth century, but later was “silenced”. In this paper, I look at the reasons for the marginalization and subsequent silencing of a popular author. I particularly, argue that Ghose’s engagement with the women-centric folklore considered as “obscene” led to the marginalization of the author from the literary canon.