The Inner Courtyard: Poems by Shilalolitha (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781974108725)

Shilalolitha, in her introduction to her anthology of poems titled Panjaranni Nene, Pakshini Nenecompares herself to a grain of sand in the literary field and describes her poetry as the poetic letters born out of her search for herself. It is this passion for writing and this search for her self as well as women like her that we see in her poetry. Her pen name comes from the writer she admires, whose real name was Revathidevi, who succumbed to the societal pressures despite her vehement protest against the normative structures and traditions. That inspiration is reflected throughout her poetry whether it is in titles or themes or language of the poems. Her re-naming herself after a poet who rebelled against the patriarchal hegemonies in her life and writings and who burned down to ashes in the flames of her rebellion stands for Shilalolitha's search for herself. As a writer she has experimented with many genres, including the epistolary mode, columns, literary criticism, book reviews and others. All her writings revolve around women's experiences. Hers is one of the most powerful women's voices in Telugu who have been writing relentlessly with an undaunted spirit to topple all forms of patriarchy and hegemony in society and literature. She has been part of feminist movement and literature in Telugu from the 1980s. Her poems range from declaration of her identity as a woman to questioning the patriarchy and subverting the oppression by walking out of it. Although her main focus in her writings is on the woman, Shilalolitha deftly capture the other patterns of discrimination manifest through categories such as caste, class, religion, region, language and many others. She does not miss the interconnectedness of these identities. Her scope perceptively extends to contemporary developments, be it the Gujarat carnage or bloodshed in Hyderabad or agitation in any other place and any other time. This place, that is space, also becomes pivotal as Shilalolitha's poetry keeps shifting between home and outside by locating the woman in the centre. While she chooses to represent all women's experience in her voice, she also locates herself in the midst of or in the place of many women whose experiences have always been trivialised and ignored by the mainstream/malestream society. This volume of Shilalolitha's poetry in English translation has thirty poems in all, selected from her three volumes of poetry. These thirty poems represent different moods and themes. The book begins with a short poem where the writer proclaims that her address is her poetry and ends with a poem that is brilliantly titled as "Finally, It' Me". This assertive declaration culminates in self-discovery in relation to the larger world. Like AbburiChayadevi's fiction, Shilalolitha's poetry raises questions that sound mild and constrained by tradition. She questions the inequalities, violence and hypocrisy in gender roles and relations. Her questions prove to be powerful enough to shake the foundations of the normative society. One of the very powerful images that she uses repeatedly in her poetry is home. Her home represents the domestic turbulence and unveils the hollowness of the ideal image of a home. As an idea, a space, a site and a belonging, home is the centre of crucial discussions in the feminist discourse. Shilalolitha presents all these dimensions of home in her poetry especially in relation to women.

Author: Shila Lolitha
ISBN-10: 1974108724
ISBN-13: 9781974108725
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 09/13/2017
Pages: 90
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.29lbs
Size: 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.19d