The theme “Tradition versus Modernity: Women’s Roles Across Generations in Indian and Diasporic Fiction” explores the evolving representation of women’s identities, roles, and struggles as they navigate the tension between inherited cultural values and the forces of modernity. In the literary works of authors such as Manju Kapur and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, this dynamic becomes a central axis around which questions of gender, family, migration, and selfhood revolve.
Indian and diasporic fiction often depicts women as custodians of tradition, entrusted with preserving familial honor, cultural continuity, and social harmony. However, as modernization, globalization, and transnational mobility reshape the contours of Indian society, women are increasingly portrayed as agents of change — individuals seeking autonomy, education, and self-expression within or beyond traditional boundaries. The resulting conflict between duty and desire, conformity and individuality, roots and routes becomes a rich site for literary exploration.