Evoking Ethos through Life Writing

An autobiography focuses on individual life while being firmly located in social experiences. The socio-cultural realities of the time aptly find an expression in the autobiographies written by women. Based on memory, experience and identity, women narrators reproduce the cultural modes of self-narration. Autobiographies play a significant role in bringing out cultural criticism and social change; a change in which women find their individual identity. The feminine sensibility arising due to the depiction of these memories is remarkable, presenting Indian ethos, values, and cultural background. Rapid developments in the fields of science, technology, economics and urbanization have affected modern societies immensely, both positively and negatively. Portrayal of Indian tradition, heritage, conventions, customs and festivals form an integral part of the two autobiographies written by Nayantara Sahgal: Prison and Chocolate Cake and From Fear Set Free. This depiction becomes a symbol through which the reader comes to know about her pride in the Indian ethos and respect for Indian culture. The present paper tries to prob how Sahgal’s two remarkable autobiographies invoke posterities to feel dignity and delight in age old Indian ethos and how Sahgal commemorates Indian heritage

Biography · Criticism · Depiction · Dignity · Ethos · Narrative · Prison · Sensibility · Autobiographical and Biographical Writing · Cultural Identity and Representation · South Asian Studies and Diaspora