From Feminine Autobiography to Collective Allegory: Arundhati Roy’s Sensory Writing in the Perspective of Phenomenology of Perception

This is a literary study of Arundhati Roy's novels The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, read alongside her memoir Mother Mary Comes to Me. It uses Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception to analyse how characters experience the world through the senses at different life stages. It asks how Roy moves from personal memoir to collective allegory. It is literary criticism and does not study children's well-being, services or interventions.

Key points

• The study examines the tension between authenticity and fictionality in Roy's two novels.
• It draws on Roy's memoir to look at her formative experiences and writing process.
• It uses Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception, with postmodern developments, as its framework.
• It analyses characters' sensory experiences in childhood, youth and adulthood.
• It argues that sensory writing lets Roy move from personal memoir to collective allegory.

Limitations

Only a short abstract is available, so the findings and methods cannot be assessed in detail. The work is literary analysis and says nothing about the well-being of real children. The country hint (CN) is not supported by the text, which concerns the work of an Indian author.