A Mythopoeic Interpretation of Kavita Kane’s Ahalya’s Awakening

Abstract

Myths are ancient stories that were created by early civilizations to make sense of things happening in the natural world around them. They serve as a connecting cord between the past and the present. Even though the stories are ancient, they’re still considered important today as they represent a country’s culture and legacy. Many writers of the present age rewrite mythical stories giving them a different shade and perspective, keeping the old story as the base. By doing so, they create their own myths which in other words can be termed as mythopoeia or myth-making. Keeping the original characters from the tales, the writers revise and reproduce the stories in a new dimension and fictionalize mythology so that it appeals to the modern age. One such writer is Kavita Kane who writes novels in feminist perspectives and gives importance to the minor female characters in mythology. Her novel Ahalya’s Awakening has many mythopoeic elements like reinterpretation of the stone curse, giving voice to the voiceless, giving importance to Ahalya’s personal desires and intellectual aspirations and critiquing the patriarchal society. This paper intends to interpret Kavita Kane’s Ahalya’s Awakening through the lens of Mythopoeia.