During the early 1920s and 30s, Telugu women’s literature began to break through the traditional bounds limiting it to religious realm. The traditional literary interpretation of women’s role and status in society began to be seriously questioned during the post-independence period, particularly in the 1960s.
Several complex and interactive factors have brought about these changed perceptions of the role of women in society. Gender bias has been intrinsic to these re-articulations of social and imaginative life in which Telugu women writers played an important role. Womens’ work, published from the forties through the nineties, document the many faceted and often contradictory configuration of our nation, state and region as part of their efforts to reshape them on many levels.
Literature, as created by Telugu women has been a window that enables us to peer into their many areas of knowledge, expertise and creativity since its inception. There are three viewpoints in which this literature can be re-examined: