Demythologizing Motherhood: A Postcolonial Feminist Reading of Maternal Ambivalence in Avni Doshi's Burnt Sugar

Avni Doshi's Burnt Sugar offers one of the most compelling contemporary literary explorations of motherhood in Indian English literature. By portraying the emotionally turbulent relationship between Tara and Antara, the novel dismantles long-standing cultural myths that associate motherhood exclusively with unconditional love, sacrifice, and personal fulfillment. Instead, Doshi presents motherhood as a multifaceted experience shaped by trauma, memory, psychological conflict, and social expectations. This study demonstrates that maternal ambivalence constitutes the central thematic concern of the novel. Tara's contradictory emotions reflect not individual inadequacy but the emotional consequences of patriarchal systems that demand complete self-sacrifice from women while denying them opportunities for personal autonomy. Through feminist literary criticism, the analysis reveals how motherhood functions as a socially constructed institution that regulates female identity and reinforces gender hierarchies. The postcolonial perspective further illustrates that these expectations remain deeply connected to historical and cultural narratives that continue to shape contemporary Indian society. The psychological analysis highlights the intergenerational transmission of trauma, showing how unresolved emotional wounds influence successive mother-daughter relationships. Doshi's fragmented narrative structure and symbolic imagery effectively represent the instability of memory and identity, reinforcing the novel's central argument that motherhood cannot be reduced to simplistic moral categories. Instead, it emerges as an evolving negotiation between personal desire, cultural obligation, and emotional inheritance. The findings of this study also open possibilities for future research. Comparative analyses with other contemporary Indian women novelists, interdisciplinary studies incorporating trauma psychology and medical humanities, and investigations into memory, ageing, and female subjectivity could further expand scholarly understanding of maternal representation in modern literature. As debates surrounding gender, family, and identity continue to evolve, Burnt Sugar remains an important literary text that encourages readers to rethink motherhood beyond inherited cultural myths and toward a more inclusive understanding of women's lived realities.

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