Feminist poetry touches all aspects of humanity: Olga

TIRUPATI: Denying freedom of speech is nothing but violation of human rights, said noted literate and feminist Olga.

Delivering a lecture on స్తీవాద కవిత్వం (Streevada Kavithvam) at the సాహితి సంస్కృతి మహోత్సవాలు (Sahithi Samskruthi Mahotsavalu), here today, she said that the denial of freedom of speech to women all these years, curtailed their empowerment to a large extent.

Stating that ‘feminist poetry’ was not new, as feminism could be traced back to poetry of Vijjita, wife of King Rajasekhara of 6 century AD as well as in poems scripted by many Boudha Sanyasinis, yet for centuries the male dominated society stifled the voice of women.

Against this gloomy background the women of our society fought their way and rose from the position of being a subject of description to themselves creating panegyrics.

Citing the banning of రాధిక స్వంతనం (Radhika Swanthanam) of ముద్దుపలాని (Muddupalani) dubbing it as obscene, she said that many poetesses faced innumerable hardships, before gaining acceptance in the society.

She said that feminist poetry, over the years expanded from mere advocating of feminism to progressive and revolutionary poem and further portraying the sorrows and sufferings of Dalits and minorities.

“Now it is not confined to mere women issues like gender bias or equal right but touches every issue affecting the humanity including fundamentalism and globalisation,” she averred.

The recent enactment of laws by the government - one against sexual harassment of women in work places and the other against domestic violence, was the result of decades of sustained campaign carried out by women, she added.

Andhra Praja Natya Mandali president Nalluru Venkateswara said that it was high time that the government came with a policy on culture, not only to save various forms of folk arts that were fast disappearing, but also to check the onslaught of TV and cinema.

He candidly said that the domination of TV and cinema saw the rural folk arts pushed to oblivion and the present generation in villages have almost forgotten the enchanting bhajans, burrakatha and other art forms performed during various festivals and the onset of different seasons.

Even in colleges various cultural activities marking the inauguration and anniversary of the academic year were not seen now, he said.

With commercialism predominant in every walk of life proving costly to the folk arts and all like minded people and outfits should join together to launch a campaign against the trend proving detrimental to our art and culture, he said.

Noted literate Vadrevu Veeralakshi spoke on సత్యాన్వేశి చలం (Sathyanveshi Chalam) while Sumathi Narendra on the topic of సాహిత్యం-మహిళ చైతన్యం (Sahityam-Mahila Chaitanyam).

Later in the evening, TTD Chairman B Karunakar Reddy who is also chairman of the Telugu Samskruthi Vikasa Vedika which is organising the week long celebrations felicitated ‘Emesco’ publisher Vijakumar.

The classical dance by Challa Tripurasundari and the performance of Kadiri Gopalanath on Saxophone enthralled the audience.

Courtesy: NewIndPress