• TRANSNATIONAL FEMINISM IN MANJU KAPUR’S DIFFICULT DAUGHTERS: A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE Muneer

  DOI:DOI:18.A003.aarf.J14I01.010759

Hussain Ganaie and Dr. Rajinder Singh Ahluwalia

Abstract: This paper offers a critical re-reading of Difficult Daughters by Manju Kapur through the framework of transnational feminism, situating the narrative within the intersecting contexts of colonial modernity, nationalist discourse and gendered subjectivity in pre- and post-Partition India. The novel foregrounds the life of Virmati, whose struggle for education, autonomy and emotional fulfillment unfolds against the rigid expectations of a patriarchal Punjabi family and the socio-political upheavals of the Indian independence movement. Drawing on the theoretical insights of Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Kimberlé Crenshaw and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, this study examines how Kapur destabilizes universalist and Eurocentric feminist assumptions by foregrounding the specificity of women’s lived experiences shaped by colonial history, class, caste and cultural norms. The paper highlights how Virmati’s subjectivity is constituted through multiple, overlapping structures of power, thereby exemplifying the concept of intersectionality and revealing the limitations of singular feminist narratives. Furthermore, the analysis explores how the novel interrogates the binaries of tradition and modernity, home and nation, and personal desire versus collective duty, illustrating the complexities of female agency in a transnational and postcolonial context. Ultimately, this paper argues that Difficult Daughters contributes to transnational feminist discourse by articulating a localized yet globally resonant critique of gender oppression, emphasizing the need for historically grounded, culturally specific and intersectional approaches to understanding women’s struggles across borders.