An Analytical Study of the Social Attitudes Expressed by Sinhala and Hindi Short Story Writers About Women: Two Selected Short Stories

Abstract

The current short story can be called a part of popular literature common to almost every language in the world. A short story needs to include a relish as well as a deep wisdom or philosophy of life. The short story writer has used the experiences gained from society in his creations. Among them, the main theme of the creations of many writers is the woman. The woman is the source of life. In the traditional social context, women who performed multiple tasks within the family unit were confined to the household. The economy and social lives of people today, as well as in the past, are based on industry. Because the production of the country is mainly based on the industry of the people, women are assigned the same performance as men in the economic process. The Sinhala short story 'Weli Katare Kandulu Binduwa' written by Newton Gunasekara, presents a woman who participates in the economic process but is ostracised by society through the character of Laila. The Hindi short story 'Shayad' written by Mannu Bhandari, presents the story of Mala, a woman who faces the social process due to economic reasons, through her short story. In this research, 'Weli Kathare Kandulu Binduwa" and "Shayad' short stories are used as the primary sources, and academic writing journals and the internet are used as secondary sources. The purpose of this research is to analyse the attitudes of Sinhala and Hindu society towards women as well as the views expressed by Sinhala and Hindi short story writers about women.