Demonstration of Political Consciousness by Two Iconic Feminists, Begum Rokeya and Doris Lessing

Mohammad Kaosar Ahmed^1,

¹Department of English Language and Literature, International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh

Cite this paper:
Mohammad Kaosar Ahmed. Demonstration of Political Consciousness by Two Iconic Feminists, Begum Rokeya and Doris Lessing. Journal of Linguistics and Literature. 2019; 3(2):58-61. doi: 10.12691/jll-3-2-4

Abstract

Both Lessing and Rokeya demonstrate their political consciousness in their writings. They also write against colonialism. Feminists are always politically active. For Lessing, politics means communism as she has been actively involved with the communist party. That Lessing’s political commitment is more intellectual than nationalistic makes her distinguished from Rokeya whose political concern is based on Bangali Nationalism. In her several essays, Rokeya opens out her political stance writing about the deprived Muslims, farmers and the colonized people of India. In spite of having a strong political bearing in mind, Rokeya unlike Doris Lessing did not involve herself with any political party.

Keywords:
political consciousness nationalism colonialism

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References:

[1]	Brewster, Dorothy. Doris Lessing, English Authors Series. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1965. Print.
[2]	Rokeya, Begum. Rokeya Rachanabali, 2d edition. Ed. Syed et al. Dhaka: Bangla Academy, 1999. Print.
[3]	Wang, Joy. “White Postcolonial Guilt in Doris Lessing‘s The Grass Is Singing”. Research in African literatures, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Fall 2009). Print.
[4]	Lessing, Doris. The Grass Is Singing. New York: New American Library, 1976. Print.