Female Victimization: The Issue of Female Infanticide in Children’s Literature and the Indian Society

Abstract

Children’s literature is one of the chief vehicles contributing to development of gender identity in children. It can be read as an important socio-cultural and socio-political document. This article examines the gender issue of female infanticide and the representation of gender relations in Ranjit Lal’s ‘Crossword Best Children’s Book Award’ winner Faces in the Water. The study focuses on the correlation between the societal gender issue and childhood. The narrative is analysed using an interdisciplinary approach to the aspect of gender issue addressed in the text in relation to Indian society and studies made in social sciences. Also, the prevalence of the serious gender issues in the realistic narratives and the position of children as readers of narratives with serious gender issues is analyzed