ABSTRACT
Introduction South Asian women writers are largely categorised as those who are either ‘indigenous’ to India, Pakistan, Bangladeshi, Sri Lanka and those who are of South Asian descent but reside in the diasporas. The fiction these women write differs from that of their male counterparts in several ways, including their depiction of female characters (Sathupati, 1995). Whilst there are differences between British South Asian and Indian literature, the writings transcend barriers of nationality and culture by focusing on the awareness and awakening amongst their female protagonists. The writers assert their own definitions of femininity through the female protagonist and more specifically through the representation of the New Woman.
