The Sociocultural Politics of Infertility in Perumal Murugan’s Narratives
Atheesh N1, Ramaswamy J2
1Research Scholar, (Reg. no.: 23213154011014), Department of English, S.T. Hindu College, Nagercoil, Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Abishekapatti, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India. atheeshn1998@gmail.com
2Assistant Professor, Department of English, Pioneer Kumaraswamy College, Nagercoil, Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Abishekapatti, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India. ramasj25@gmail.com
| Received: May 18, 2025 | Accepted: June 08, 2025 | Published Online: June 30, 2025 |
Abstract
The research paper analyses the sociocultural politics of infertility as portrayed in the novel One Part Woman (2013) by Perumal Murugan, translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan. Murugan’s depiction of the cultural background, religious rituals and social practices in association with infertility of the Kongu region, Tamil Nadu, is keenly focused. As portrayed in the novel, the study also investigates cultural victimisation and social stigmas. Furthermore, the article highlights social bullying with reference to infertility such as blame, judgement, intrusive questioning, social pressures, expectations, insensitive comments, and unsolicited advice by the patriarchs. Considering the protagonist couple Kali and Ponna, as the primary case, the paper substantiates the politics of infertility and the underlying victimisation. Nevertheless, the prime objective of the study is to reveal the psychological complexities of infertile couples in the contemporary world due to sociocultural factors. To endorse the key idea, secondary references and real-life cases are included.
Keywords: Patriarchy, Infertility, Stigma, Victim, Impotent
