Bridging the “Imagination Gap” Through Indian Young Adult Historical Fiction

Abstract

Most of the Indian History textbooks catered to young readers position women with “sweeping generalizations.” Women are presented as passive receptors of historical currents bound by domestic, peripheral, and insignificant roles. Young girls and boys read those history books and imagine men in roles of rulers and warriors and women as mere trophies in the hands of men. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas theorizes “Imagination Gap” as a disability that limits the imagination of youth to envision themselves in non-conformist roles due to lack of diversity in books they read and films they watch. This is especially a huge problem for young Indian girls who are presented with only two models of womanhood. They could either be a virtuous and self-sacrificing wife and or Mother Goddess. Both the roles deprive women of their essential human elements like ambition, desire, sexuality, fatigue, and individuality. Devika Rangachari’s historical fiction “Queen of Ice” is a foray into this clutched imagination of a woman’s existence. By portraying young Didda and her journey to become one of the most powerful monarchs of Kashmir, Rangachari creates an exceptionally strong feminist character who pushes the boundaries in an extremely patriarchal and rigid social setting. The story unfolds from the shifting perspectives of Didda and her porter woman Valga. This paper is a study of young adult historical fiction “Queen of Ice” as a bridge in the “imagination gap” in the dominant discourse around woman’s incompetence as leaders and nation-makers.