Gendered Silences and Narrative Resistances in Sally Morgan’s My Place and Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence

Abstract

My Place attempts a close reading of Sally Morgan’s representation of Aborigines in Australia, in the early life of Sally. It also sketches out the problematic life of Sally and her family members, which unlocks the issues of the Aboriginal people, the marginalised communities in Australia, during the history of colonisation. It determines the quest for her lost identity, besides the inhuman treatment that demonstrates the projection of Aboriginals’ past discrimination and injustices.   It also foregrounds how Sally attempts various ways to highlight the problems in her mundane family life in Australia.    It reveals the defamiliarising nature of Sally’s lost identity, transforming her from a state of ignorance to comprehension, with a sense of pride and self-esteem. That Long Silence offers a detailed analysis of the Indian writer Shashi Deshpande’s portrayal of Jaya’s intricacies and day-to-day life in patriarchal Indian society.  It also foregrounds how Shashi Deshpande, in various instances, attempts to highlight Jaya’s plights in the enigmatic, mundane existence, ranging from domestic suffering, betrayal, alienation, subjugation, acculturation and displacement. This paper concisely explores the protagonists’ empathy for society and their search for identity amid the complex mix of repressive circumstances.