A Life in Writing: An Analysis of the Gaps and Silences in the Autobiographies of a Marginalized Woman

Abstract

The writing of lives has seen an unceasing charm from time immemorial among a gamut of people ranging from scholars, intelligentsia, scientists, writers as well as the common man. The human species have a tendency to narrate stories. As a matter of fact, it is a dexterous method of transmitting valuable knowledge to mankind making them quite essential for survival. Autobiographical chronicles that determine who one is with reference to time, place and in relation to others have to abound in frameworks that are not only explanatory but also evaluative. Such life-texts interlink occurrences, people and places inspired by intentions, motivations as well as the different psychological states. However, a life-text could be pregnant with gaps of time, memory and perspective and it is up to the readers to fill in the elisions, interpreting them according to his or her viewpoint. It is the skill of the scholar which enables him to excavate the implicitly underlying chasm. In the case of biographies, there could be conflicting perspectives and knowledge gaps. The biographer may incorporate fictional elements into the real story just to fill in these gaps. The fallout of this being that the authenticity of the biography may become questionable. In the case of translated versions of life writings, the role of the translators plays a very vital role in determining whether the end product is one with or without gaps. In some cases, the intrusion of political and commercial aspects into life narratives raises a question as to whether gaps and omissions in the life-text have been deliberately assimilated. The publication of two versions of the autobiography of Nalini Jameela, Oru Laingikattozhilaliyude Athmakatha (The Autobiography of a Sex Worker) and Njan, Oru Laingikattozhilali (I, A Sex Worker), is a case in point.