Overt and Covert Resistance:
Individualized Responses to Intersectional Oppression in
Chandani Lokugé’s Turtle Nest
Syeda Faheemah¹, Dr. Promila Oinam²
ABSTRACT
Chandani Lokugé’s Turtle Nest provides an insight
into the oppressional realities faced by subaltern women in a
patriarchal society where gender and class play a key role in
shaping individual identity. In this paper an attempt is made to
critically examine the social inequalities and dominations faced by
women characters in the novel. The paper also makes an empirical
study of the reactions of the subordinates to the domination and
oppression. The intersecting social identities and systems of power
serves a force for domination against women characters. This study
explores how the characters, especially female characters resist and
navigate the intersecting systems of oppression which ultimately
highlights complex realities faced by marginalized women within the
intersecting system of social identities. Individual resentments
lead to individual resistance. The subordinates respond in unique
ways, mostly individualized. Almost all the characters in the novel
including the male characters resist differently. They resist
overtly as well as covertly. Subtle acts of defiance are displayed
by Asilin, Priya and Neela. They do not overtly challenge oppression
yet they show subtle signs of resistance. However, in the case of
Mala, she exhibits overt defiance or resistance.
Keywords: resistance, resentment, intersectionality, domination,
oppression, marginalization.
