Investigation of the individual and feminist cultural memory in the epistolary biography of Anadibai Joshee by Meera Kosambi

Abstract

“Memory studies is an interdisciplinary field and Literature serves as one of the media of cultural memory as history, art and other forms of media”, said Astrid Erll. According to Maurice Halbwachs, there exists no individual memory but a collective memory. Our memory is the product of the personal individual experiences informed by societal practices. This study involves investigating the letters of Anadibai Joshee, the first woman doctor of India to understand the role of cultural memory in the sensitization of the female gender during her times. “Fragmented Feminism: Life and letters of Anadibai Joshee” written by the sociologist Meera Kosambi is an epistolary biographical fiction and it acts as the site of memory to understand the socio-political and cultural impact on the upper class Hindu brahmin women during the nineteenth century. Also, the memories and reflections of Anadibai Joshee stand as a medium to understand the sexist and Gender biases during her time.