Voices from the Margins: Kamala Das’s My Story and the Feminist Autobiographical Act

Abstract

This article examines Kamala Das’s seminal autobiography, My Story, through the lens of feminist autobiography and the concept of “voices from the margins.” Das, a trailblazing figure in Indian English literature, utilized her life narrative not merely as a personal document but as a deliberate act of literary intervention that unsettled entrenched patriarchal norms and traditional expectations of female authorship in India. By candidly recounting her experiences as a woman from Kerala’s Nair aristocracy, Das challenges the confines of female subjectivity and asserts an autonomous narrative voice that was largely absent from Indian literary discourse of the 1970s. The article contextualizes My Story within a socio-cultural milieu where women’s autobiographical writing was rare and radical, highlighting how Das’s articulation of personal desire, marital disillusionment, and societal constraints ignited both controversy and critical debate. The narrative’s bold treatment of sexuality and emotional turmoil foregrounds the pressures faced by women navigating the intersecting forces of tradition and modernity. Additionally, the article explores how Das’s autobiography serves as a critique of the marginalization of women, both spatially and symbolically, within Indian society, while also providing a platform for subsequent generations of women writers to articulate their own truths. By foregrounding the complexities and contradictions of female agency, My Story emerges as a revolutionary text that redefines the boundaries of women’s self-representation. Ultimately, the article positions Kamala Das’s autobiographical act as both an assertion of individuality and a catalyst for the ongoing reimagining of women’s literary and social identities in contemporary India.