Sarojini Sahoo

{{Short description|Indian (Odia) Writer}} {{multiple issues| {{fan POV|date=May 2024}} {{original research|date=May 2024}} }} {{Use Indian English|date=December 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Sarojini Sahoo | image = Sarojinisahoo.jpg | imagesize = 200px | caption = Sarojini Sahoo | birth_date = {{birth date and age |df=yes|1956|01|04}} | birth_place = [[Dhenkanal, India|Dhenkanal]], [[Orissa]]<br/>(now [[Odisha]]), India | occupation = {{flatlist| * Novelist * Short story writer * poet * essayist * academician }} }}

'''Sarojini Sahoo''' (born 4 January 1956) is an Indian [[feminist]] writer, a columnist in ''[[The New Indian Express]]'' and an associate editor of Chennai-based English magazine ''Indian AGE.''<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080305184440/http://oriyanari.com/id45.html Oriya Nari ]}}. Accessed 7 November 2010</ref><ref>[http://expressbuzz.com/searchresult/sarojini-sahoo Express Buzz]{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Accessed 7 November 2010</ref> She has been enlisted among '' 25 Exceptional Women of India'' by [[Kindle Magazine]] of Kolkata.<ref>[http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowOriyaOrbit.asp?id=16983 Orissa Diary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327052759/http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowOriyaOrbit.asp?id=16983 |date=27 March 2010 }}. Accessed 8 April 2010</ref> and is an [[Odisha Sahitya Academy Award]] winner.<ref>[http://www.orissasahityaakademi.org/english/common/sahitya-awards/award2.htm Orissa Sahitya Akademy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120410215206/http://www.orissasahityaakademi.org/english/common/sahitya-awards/award2.htm |date=10 April 2012 }}. Accessed 7 November 2010</ref>

== Life == Born in the small town of Dhenkanal in [[Odisha]] (India), Sahoo earned her MA and PhD degrees in [[Odia language|Odia]] Literature and a Bachelor of Law from [[Utkal University]]. She now teaches at a degree college in [[Belpahar]], [[Jharsuguda]], Odisha.

She is the second daughter of Ishwar Chandra Sahoo and the late Nalini Devi and is married to [[Jagadish Mohanty]], a veteran writer of [[Odisha]]. She has a son and a daughter.<ref>[http://sarojinisahoo.com/ Official web site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930151308/http://sarojinisahoo.com/ |date=30 September 2007 }}. Accessed 11 August 2007</ref>

== Fictions == [[File:The dark abode.jpg|thumb|right|180px|''[[The Dark Abode]]'' cover]]Her novel ''[[The Dark Abode|Gambhiri Ghara]] '' proved to be a bestseller in [[Odia literature]].<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20061217121022/http://www.oriyanari.com/id21.html Books: Oriya Nari]}}. Accessed 7 November 2010</ref> Her novels have gained a reputation for their feminist outlook and sexual frankness<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nobleworld.biz/images/Agarwal.pdf |title=Accessed 04 August 2010. |access-date=1 December 2011}}</ref> and have been translated into English and published from India under the title ''[[The Dark Abode]]'' (2008) ({{ISBN|978-81-906956-2-6}}) and published from [[Bangladesh]] in [[Bengali language|Bengali]] as ''Mithya Gerosthali'' ( 2007 ) ({{ISBN|984 404 287-9}}). Prameela K.P has translated this novel into [[Malayalam]] and has been published as "Irunda Koodaram" by Chintha Publishers, Thiruvananthapuram. Martina Fuchs for German and Dinesh Kumar Mali for [[Hindi language|Hindi]]. Another novel ''Pakhibas'' has been translated into Bengali and published from Bangladesh under the same title in 2009. This novel has been translated into [[Hindi]] by Dinesh Kumar Mali and has been published with same title by Yash Publication, Delhi ({{ISBN|81-89537-45-8}}) in 2010. Also, Dinesh Kumar Mali translated two more novel in Hindi titled बंद कमरा and विशादेश्वरी published from Rajpal and Sons, New Delhi and Yash publication, New Delhi. The same translator had translated सरोजिनी साहू की दलित कहानियाँ and रेप तथा अन्य कहानियां published from Yash publication, New Delhi as well as Rajpal and Sons, New Delhi.

== Essays == She has published a collection of essays titled '[[Sensible Sensuality]]'' (2010),<ref>{{ISBN|978-81-7273-541-8}} published by Authors Press, E-35/103, Jawahar Park, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi- 110 092</ref>'' where redefining femininity with Eastern perspective, the book explores why sexuality plays a major role in our understanding of Eastern feminism. The author thinks feminism should not act in opposition to men as individuals. To her, feminism is against oppressive and outdated social structures which forces both men and women into positions which are false and antagonistic. Thus, everyone has an important role to play in the feminist movement. It seems ironic that feminism has been characterized as anti-male, when in fact, it seeks to liberate men from the macho stereotypic roles men often have to endure such as the need to suppress feelings, act aggressively, and be deprived of contact with children. Sahoo thinks people should emphasize their femininity rather to impose the so-called stereotyped feministic attitude of the second wave.''<ref>Note by publisher of Sensible Sensuality, {{ISBN|978-81-7273-541-8}}, Accessed 3 September 2010.</ref>''

As an Indian feminist, many of Sarojini Sahoo's writings deal candidly with female sexuality, the emotional lives of women, and the intricate fabric of human relationships, depicting extensively about the interior experiences of women and how their burgeoning sexuality is seen as a threat to traditional patriarchal societies; this book is rare of its kind and has covered the topics that never be discussed so far in any Indian discourse. Her debatable concept on feminism, her denial of [[Simone De Beauvoir]]'s 'the other theory', make her a prominent feminist personality of South Asia and for which KINDLE Magazine of India has placed her among 25 exceptional mindset women of India.<ref>Preface by publisher of Sensible Sensuality, {{ISBN|978-81-7273-541-8}}.</ref>

== Thoughts and themes ==

=== Feminism === Sarojini Sahoo is a key figure and trendsetter of [[feminism]] in contemporary [[Indian literature]]. For her, feminism is not a "gender problem" or confrontational attack on male [[hegemony]] and, as such, differs from the feminist views of [[Virginia Woolf]] or [[Judith Butler]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://orissadiary.com/personality/writer/sarojinisahoo%20.asp |title=Accessed 8 May 2008 |publisher=Orissadiary.com |access-date=1 December 2011}}</ref> Sahoo accepts feminism as an integral part of femaleness separate from the masculine world. Writing with a heightened awareness of women's bodies, she has developed an appropriate style that exploits openness, fragmentation, and nonlinearity.<ref>Dominic, K.V. "Preface." Critical Studies on Contemporary Indian English Women Writers. Ed. K.V.Dominic. New Delhi: Sarup Publishers. Page:ix. {{ISBN|978-81-7625-631-5}}. Accessed 4 August 2010</ref> Sahoo, however contends that whilst the woman identity is certainly constitutionally different from that of man, men and women still share a basic human equality. Thus the harmful asymmetric sex /gender "Othering" arises accidentally and 'passively'from natural, unavoidable [[intersubjectivity]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jemmer |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YlN_kz8th4cC&dq=Sarojini+Sahoo&pg=PA5 |title=Engage Newcastle Volume 1 |date=2010 |publisher=Newcastle Philosophy Society |isbn=978-1-907926-00-6 |language=en}}</ref>

Treating female sexuality from [[puberty]] to [[menopause]], her fiction always projects a feminine sensibility. Feminine feelings such as restrictions during [[adolescence]] or [[pregnancy]], fear factors such as [[rape]] or being condemned by society, the concept of the "bad girl," and so on, are treated thematically and in-depth throughout her novels and short stories.

Her feminism is constantly linked to the sexual politics of a woman. She denies patriarchal limits of sexual expression for a woman and she identifies women's [[sexual liberation]] as the real motive behind the women's movement.<ref name="Sahoo, Sarojini 2010">Sahoo, Sarojini, Sensible Sensuality, Authors press, Delhi, {{ISBN|978-81-7273-541-8}}, Accessed 4 September 2010.</ref> In South Asian Outlook, an e-magazine published from Canada, Menka Walia writes: "Sahoo typically evolves her stories around Indian women and sexuality, which is something not commonly written about, but is rather discouraged in a traditionalist society. As a feminist, she advocates women's rights and usually gives light to the injustices Eastern women face. In her interviews, she usually talks about the fact that women are second-class citizens in India, backing up these facts with examples of how love marriages are forbidden, the rejection of divorces, the unfairness of dowries, and the rejection of female politicians."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.southasianoutlook.com/issues/june_2008/sarojini_sahoo_advocating_womens_rights_through_literature.html | title=Home - IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters }}</ref> For her, [[orgasm]] is the body's natural call to feminist politics: if being a woman is this good, women must be worth something. Her novels like ''Upanibesh'', ''Pratibandi'' and ''[[The Dark Abode|Gambhiri Ghara]] '' cover a myriad of areas from sexuality to [[philosophy]]; from the politics of the home to politics of the world. According to American journalist Linda Lowen, Sarojini Sahoo has written extensively as an Indian feminist about the interior lives of women and how their burgeoning sexuality is seen as a threat to traditional patriarchal societies.<ref>Cf. Lowen, Linda, ''Indian Feminist Author Sarojini Sahoo Explores Female Sexuality'', women's issue guide of [[New York Times]] portal [[About.com]] [http://womensissues.about.com/od/feminismequalrights/a/FeminisminIndia_2.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703225536/http://womensissues.about.com/od/feminismequalrights/a/FeminisminIndia_2.htm|date=3 July 2008}}</ref> Sarojini's novels and short stories treat women as sexual beings and probe [[culturally sensitive]] topics such as [[rape]], [[abortion]] and [[menopause]] – from a female perspective.<ref>Lowen, Linda, ''Sarojini Sahoo Explores Female Sexuality'' [http://womensissues.about.com/od/feminismequalrights/a/FeminisminIndia_2.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703225536/http://womensissues.about.com/od/feminismequalrights/a/FeminisminIndia_2.htm|date=3 July 2008}} </ref>

===Sexuality=== Sexuality is something that can be related to many other aspects of culture, tightly-linked with an individual life, or into the evolution of a culture. Anyone's class or ethnic or geographic identity could be closely associated to his/her sexuality, or anyone's sense of art or literature. Sexuality is not just an entity in itself.<ref name="Sahoo, Sarojini 2010"/>

Still, either in West or in East, there is a reluctant outlook towards sexuality. Society has always tried to hide it from any open forum. But neither society, nor the legislature, or even the judiciary stand by the side of sexuality to support it.

In the West, [[James Joyce]]'s ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'' or even [[Radclyffe Hall]]'s ''Loneliness in the Well'' or [[Virginia Woolf]]'s ''[[Orlando: A Biography|Orlando]]'' are some examples which have to suffer a lot for describing sexuality in literature. Sexuality in literature grew with feminism.

Simone De Beauvoir, in her book ''[[The Second Sex]]'', first elaborately described the gender role and problem away from biological differences. In [[Odia literature]], Sarojini is considered a key figure to discuss sexuality in her fiction with a sincere effort to express her feminist ideas.<ref>Oriya Women's Writing: Paul St-Pierre and Ganeswar Mishra, Sateertha Publication, {{ISBN|81-900749-0-3}}</ref>

Her novel ''Upanibesh'' was the first attempt in [[Odia literature]] to focus on sexuality as a part of social revolt by any woman.<ref name=amarigapa>''The Amari Gapa'': Special Issue on Sarojini, May–July 2006</ref> Medha, the protagonist of her novel, was a [[bohemian style|bohemian]] . In her pre-marital stage, she was thinking that it was boring to live with a man lifelong. Perhaps she wanted a chain free life, where there would be only love, only sex and would not be any monotony. But she had to marry Bhaskar. Can Indian society imagine a lady with bohemianism?

In her novel ''Pratibandi'', Sarojini has also described the thematic development of sexuality in a woman. Priyanka, the protagonist of the novel has to encounter the loneliness in the exile of Saragpali, a remote village of India. This loneliness develops into a sexual urge and soon, Priyanka finds herself sexually attached with a former [[Member of Parliament]]. Though there is an age gap between them, his intelligence impresses her and she discovers a hidden archaeologist in him.

In her novel ''[[The Dark Abode|Gambhiri Ghara]]'', she describes an unusual relationship between two people: a [[Hindu]] housewife of India and a [[Muslim]] artist of [[Pakistan]]. It is a net-oriented novel. A woman meets a very sexually experienced man. One day he asks if she had any such experience. The woman, Kuki, scolds him and insults him by calling him a caterpillar. She said without love, lust is like hunger of a caterpillar. Gradually they become involved with love, lust, and spiritually. That man considers her as his daughter, lover, mother, and above all these, as a Goddess. They both madly love each other, through the [[Internet]] and on the phone. They use obscene language and they kiss each other online. Kuki does not lead a happy conjugal life though she has a love marriage with Aniket. But the novel is not limited to only a love story.

It has a greater aspect. It deals with the relationship between State and individual.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boloji.com/women/099.htm |title=accessed 8 May 2008 |publisher=Boloji.com |date=14 October 2007 |access-date=1 December 2011}}</ref> Safique is not a Muslim by temperament, but as a historian, thinks the Pakistan of today has separated itself from its roots and looks towards Arabian legends for his history. He protests that the syllabus of history for the school would start from seventh century A.D., not from the Mahenjodaro and Harappa. Safique was once arrested after the bomb blast of London for allegation of being associated with the terrorist, but is it a fact? Later Kuki learned that Safiques is trapped by a military junta. The ex-lover of Safique's wife had retaliated against Safique by arresting him with an allegation of terrorism.

Here, the author deals with the question of terrorism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oriyanari.com/id21.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061217121022/http://www.oriyanari.com/id21.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=17 December 2006 |title=accessed 8 May 2008 |publisher=Oriyanari.com |access-date=1 December 2011}}</ref> There is often discussion about terrorism caused by an individual or by a group. Society rarely discusses terrorism caused by a state.

What is a state? Is it a group of people that resides within political and geographical boundaries? Are a state's identity, mood and wishes separate from its ruler? Is the wish of [[George W. Bush]] not considered as the wish of America? Has it reflected the mood and wish of the people of America? So, every time, the state's arranged anarchism or terrorism is merely a reflection of a terrorism caused by an individual. The great truth lies beneath Safique, as a terrorist, develops from the mind of a military man.

The author has painted the difference of sensibility towards sexuality between male and female and has her own credibility for the frankness to deal with sensitive matters, be they matters of politics or matters of sexuality.<ref name="amarigapa"/>

== Awards ==

* Odisha Sahitya Academy Award, 1993 * Jhankar Award, 1992 * Bhubaneswar Book Fair Award, 1993 * Prajatantra Award, 1981,1993 * Ladli Media Award, 2011

== Selected bibliography ==

=== Novels ===

* ''Upanibesh'' (1998) * ''Pratibandi'' (1999) {{ISBN|81-7411-253-7}} * ''Swapna Khojali Mane'' (2000) * ''Mahajatra'' (2001) * ''[[The Dark Abode|Gambhiri Ghara]]'' (2005) * ''Bishad Ishwari'' (2006) * ''Pakshibasa'' (2007) * ''Asamajik'' (2008)

=== Short stories === She has published ten [[Anthology|anthologies]] of short stories.

Her English anthologies of short stories are:

* ''[[Sarojini Sahoo Stories]]'' (2006) {{ISBN|81-89040-26-X}} * ''Waiting for Manna'' (2008) {{ISBN|978-81-906956-0-2}}

Her some of short stories have been anthologised in Hindi:

* ''Rape Tatha Anya Kahaniyana'' (2010) {{ISBN|978-81-7028-921-0}}

Some of her short stories have also been anthologized into Bengali:

* ''Dukha Aprimita''(2012) is one of her Bengali version of short stories, translated by Arita Bhoumik Adhikari and published from Bangladesh.<ref>{{ISBN|978-984-404-243-8}}, published by Milan Nath, Anupam Prakashani,38/4, Bangla Bazar, Dhaka 1100</ref>

Her other Odia anthologies of short stories are:

* ''Sukhara Muhanmuhin'' (1981) * ''Nija GahirareNije'' (1989) * ''Amrutara Pratikshare'' (1992) * ''Chowkath'' (1994) * ''Tarali Jauthiba Durga'' (1995) * ''Deshantari'' (1999) * ''Dukha Apramita'' (2006) * ''Srujani Sarojini'' (2008)

==See also== * [[List of Indian writers]]

==References== {{reflist}}

== Sources ==

===Print===

====Primary sources==== * Sahoo, Sarojini. ''Sarojini Sahoo Short Stories''. Grassroots, 2006. {{ISBN|81-89040-26-X}} * Sahoo, Sarojini. ''Waiting for Manna'', ''Indian'' AGE Communication, 2008. {{ISBN|978-81-906956-0-2}} * Sahoo, Sarojini. ''The Dark Abode'', ''Indian'' AGE Communication, 2008. {{ISBN|978-81-906956-2-6}} * Sahoo, Sarojini. ''Mithya Gerosthali'', Anupam Prakashani, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2007. {{ISBN|984-404-287-9}} * ''Sukhara Muhanmuhin'' (1981) * ''NijaGahirareNije'' (1989) * ''Amrutara Pratikshare'' (1992) * ''Chowkath'' (1994) * ''Tarali Jauthiba Durga'' (1995) * ''Upanibesh'' (1998) * ''Pratibandi '' (1999) * ''Gambhiri Ghara '' (2005)

====Secondary sources==== * ''Oriya Women's Writing '': Paul St-Pierre and Ganeswar Mishra, Sateertha Publication, {{ISBN|81-900749-0-3}} * ''The Amari Gapa (Odia Literary Journal)'', Special Issue on Sarojini: May–July 2006 {{Odia literature}} {{portal bar|Biography|India|Literature|Feminism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahoo, Sarojini}} [[Category:1956 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Dhenkanal district]] [[Category:Indian feminist writers]] [[Category:Feminist studies scholars]] [[Category:Indian feminists]] [[Category:English-language Indian writers]] [[Category:Indian women short story writers]] [[Category:Indian women essayists]] [[Category:Writers from Odisha]] [[Category:Odia short story writers]] [[Category:Odia-language novelists]] [[Category:Novelists from Odisha]] [[Category:Women writers from Odisha]] [[Category:Scholars from Odisha]] [[Category:Indian women philosophers]] [[Category:Utkal University alumni]] [[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]] [[Category:20th-century Indian philosophers]] [[Category:20th-century Indian essayists]] [[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]] [[Category:21st-century Indian novelists]] [[Category:21st-century Indian short story writers]] [[Category:21st-century Indian essayists]] [[Category:21st-century Indian philosophers]] [[Category:21st-century Indian women scientists]] [[Category:21st-century Indian social scientists]] [[Category:20th-century Indian women scientists]] [[Category:20th-century Indian scientists]] [[Category:20th-century Indian women novelists]] [[Category:21st-century Indian women novelists]]