Narrative, Norms, and Nation: A Counter Narrative Tradition in Select Retellings of The Ramayana

Retellings have emerged as an accepted genre in the recent years. The retellings of the Indian epics, particularly of The Ramayana have gained significant scholarly attention and focus. The recent studies posit the retellings provide alternative or counter narratives to challenge and reshape the original tale. The important questions here emerge: 1. Will the tradition of retellings lead us to completely forgetting the Valmiki’s Ramayana? 2. Are we in the process of creating a new Ramayana? 3. Do these retellings align to the epic tradition of India? All these questions are sought to be explored in this paper through an analysis of three modern retellings of The Ramayan: Devdutt Pattanaik’s Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of Ramayana, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Forest of Enchantment and Amish Tripathi’s Sita: Warrior of Mithila. All these retellings provide fresh viewpoints, voices, and versions to understand Sita as a character, and to reinvent identities, contest meanings, and proclaim political influence. The paper finds the counter-narratives portray Sita as a symbol of empowerment and wisdom and contest the notion of patriarchy reinforced in the mythical narrative. It argues the retellings attain a fresh spin with their narrative techniques and intent, yet confirm to the core story and the scheme of characterization. The alterations in the narrative of the retellings do not necessitate a novel tradition, but a continuation of the historical and mythical chronicle, in accommodation of the India’s cultural diversity and socio-political dynamics.