Use of Magical Realism to portrait Female with Mysticism and Exoticism by Chitra Banerjee

In an oriental story, Divakaruni subverts traditional depictions of Asian American women and is critical of all types of dictatorial control. By doing so, Divakaruni examines both the portrayal of Indian-American women and how they respond to power relationships. In her gendered discourse of immigrant experience, she transcended the fundamental binary opposition between colonizer and colonized. In her meticulously written tale, Divakaruni accomplishes what most diasporic literature strives for, the provision of narrative motifs that encourage deeper critical inquiry into the interrelationship of discourses on minorities, gender, and globalization. Since literature generates discourse, Divakaruni must be attentively studied. She brings back to life the long-forgotten Indian mythology, belief, traditions, culture, and even dreams, all of which are essential to the present and are, in fact, merely a synthesis of them all in magical realism. As the story continues, the dreamlike quality fades, and the more realistic aspects take center stage. In her works, Divakaruni alters and reimagines classic Indian mythology. Her studies included the plight of migrants as well as Bengali folk tales, Indian mythology, eastern mysticism, and eastern philosophy. The protagonist, who socially and culturally positions herself as an immigrant Indian, does not acclimate to or assimilate into the culture of the people around her but adjusts to it by modification rather than radical self-transformation. Through magical realism, Divakaruni was successful in critically constructing the gender-determined ethos. By using magical realism in the creation of her protagonist as a metaphor, she subverts stereotypical depictions of women. Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Demystification of Narrative by Wendy Faris is a significant addition to recognizing women writers' propensity for magical realism in this setting, both as a narrative method and a literary genre.

Asian American novelists: A bio-bibliographical critical sourcebook. (2000). Choice Reviews Online, 37(11), 37-5983-37–5983. https://doi.org/10.5860/CHOICE.37-5983 Bhardwaj, R. (n.d.). Exoticism as Evasion in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Queen of Dreams. 9. Borg Barthet, S. (2009). Shared Waters: Soundings in Postcolonial Literatures. BRILL. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789042027671 Divakaruni, C. B. (2005). The conch bearer (1st Aladdin Paperbacks ed). Aladdin Paperbacks. Divakaruni, C. B. (2013). Oleander girl (1st Simon & Schuster hardcover ed). Simon & Schuster. Jahan, H. (2003). Colonial Woes in Post-Colonial Writing: Chitra Divakaruni’s Immigrant Narratives. South Asian Review, 24(2), 149–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/02759527.2003.11932306 Lamor, L. (n.d.). Fractured Identity—The Jagged Path of Diaspora in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices. 92. McPHERSON, K. (2007). Excavating Waves and Winds of (Ex)Change: A Study of Maritime Trade in Early Bengal - By SHANAJ HUSNE JAHAN: REVIEWS. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 36(2), 440–441. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-9270.2007.163_9.x Merlin, L., & Divakaruni, C. B. (1998). The Mistress of Spices. World Literature Today, 72(1), 207. https://doi.org/10.2307/40153724 Mortensen, C. H. (2006). Fairy Tales and Feminism: New Approaches (review). Marvels & Tales, 20(1), 124–127. https://doi.org/10.1353/mat.2006.0015 Nagajothi, K. (2015). Desires and Conflicts in Female Bonding in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Novels: Sister of My Heart and Vine of Desire. 16. Rahman, S. (2005). Resisting women: Orientalism, diaspora, and gender. UMI. Rajan, G. (2002). Chitra Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices. Meridians, 2(2), 215–236. https://doi.org/10.1215/15366936-2.2.215 Revathi, R. R., & Sivakumar, D. K. (2021). Rudiments of Magical Realism in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices. 5. Sanga, J. C. (Ed.). (2003). South Asian novelists in English: An A-to-Z guide. Greenwood Press.