A Retrospection of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s Sultana’s Dream

Abstract

Until the recent past, there had been a dearth of academic study of literature in English produced by the Muslim women writers. The gender bias and the minority status to which the writers belong has been a barrier to voice their views and establish their identity. Despite this hurdle, some Muslim women writers could create an identity for themselves through their writings and that too was feasible due to the socially advantageous position or rather the economically strong background from which they hail. Comparatively, Muslim women were kept away from the purview of the education scenario and those who attempt to break this barrier were stigmatised or looked down upon by the patriarchal society. This paper aims at probing the answer for the marginalisation of Muslim women writers and considers the contributions made by the first Muslim women writer of India, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain to the field of literature.