Challenging gender norms through literature

Weena pun is the author of ‘Kanchhi’ (2024), now available in bookstores across Nepal. She graduated from Stanford University and Cornell University’s MFA Program in Creative Writing. Pun currently lives in Maryland, USA. In this conversation with Publishof Rishika DhakalPun discusses her debut novel, inspired by the struggles of women in Nepal and the socio-political landscape that shapes their lives.

What is your novel about?

‘Kanchhi’ tells the story of a young girl who goes missing and her mother, who patiently waits for her return. It also explores Kanchhi’s village, people, culture and socio-political factors behind his disappearance. Woven into the narrative is the story of Nepal itself – like Kanchhi, the country yearns for something greater, striving to move beyond its current state.

How did you develop the characters in your novel? Are they purely fictional?

I developed the characters very carefully, drawing scene after scene, letting them interact with each other and researching people like them in the real world. I also looked at my memories. You have to sit down, start writing, and let the characters come to life as you discover the story.

Although you won’t find the characters exactly as they are in real life, some people look a lot like them. This happens because character building involves memory, imagination and research.

In ‘Kanchhi’, you explore rebellion, family and societal expectations. What inspired you to focus on these specific themes and how do they resonate with modern-day issues in Nepal?

Honestly, I didn’t consciously focus on these themes while writing. They came naturally because I am a woman from Nepal who is writing about other women in Nepal. For us, rebellion against family and social pressures is almost inevitable. These themes are likely to resonate with contemporary issues in Nepal because, unfortunately, little has changed since the period in which my novel is set – the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Even today, women in Nepal still face the same challenges: be informed about how to behave, how to laugh and deal with the policing of sexuality and discriminatory citizenship laws.

How has your journalistic background influenced your fiction writing?

I am not sure. I was a fiction writer long before I became a reporter, although I hadn’t published any fiction when I joined the Post in 2013. However, I had already started working on my novel and knew I had a lot of room for improvement with my sporadic writing. . On the one hand, I needed to understand Nepal better, and on the other, I needed to improve my interviewing skills to gain that understanding. I was shy back then, afraid to ask people questions. The report changed that – it taught me that no question is stupid when looking for the truth.

So yes, journalism has helped my fiction writing. I’m just not sure if it made my writing more engaging or clearer. What it did was help me talk to people, discover details, and better understand the country’s most significant sociopolitical issues.

Gender dynamics are a significant part of ‘Kanchhi’. With the book shedding light on the social pressures women face, what do you think is the role of literature in challenging or reflecting these gender norms in Nepali society?

The role of literature in reflecting gender norms in Nepali society is inevitable. The way women are included and excluded, or their inclusion in literature, says a lot about the gender norms, roles and perceptions of the society in which the story is based. A writer may not intend to reflect these realities, but it happens naturally – when you write about the society you know, you hold up a mirror to it.

Whether literature challenges these gender norms depends on the writer and the work itself.

Nepal has shown a growing interest in global literature in recent years. What is giving more and more attention to Nepali stories and what role does ‘Kanchhi’ play in this trend?

I think that writers born in the 80s, who grew up during the 90s, in the midst of Nepal’s economic liberalization, globalization and the shift to multi-party democracy, have matured as storytellers. These writers were educated in boarding schools, where they learned English, read global literature in or translated into English, and exercised their constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression. As a result, we are more than ready to engage with global literature – whether responding to it or sharing our own stories. I believe this interest will only continue to grow as more Nepalis become fluent in the language of global storytelling.

As for ‘Kanchhi’, I think it fits perfectly into this movement. It is an attempt to tell the story of a girl from rural Nepal in English, written by a Nepali woman who grew up reading literature in the 90s and early 2000s and always wanted to see her own stories reflected in it.

What do you hope readers remember about ‘Kanchhi’?

For some reason, this question seems difficult to answer. But let me try to share an anecdote about how I felt when I first read ‘The God of Small Things’ by Arundhati Roy. I read it in 2005, during my second year of A-levels, and what surprised me most was that it was a story set in a South Asian country, written by a South Asian author in English. It was something I hadn’t realized was possible, or perhaps I had forgotten, even though we had read RK Narayan in our English classes.

The thing is, I remember that feeling of wonder when I first read ‘The God of Small Things’. Although I am not Arundhati Roy and ‘Kanchhi’ is not ‘The God of Small Things’, I hope that the readers of ‘Kanchhi’ can find something in it that they will cherish forever.

Weena Pun’s Book Recommendations

The Copenhagen trilogy

Author: Tove Ditlevson

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Year: 1967-1971

It is a series of memories that shows working class life as it really is, without exaggeration or romanticism.

The things they carried

Author: Tim O’Brien

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Year: 1990

This is an authentic account of the Vietnam War. I revisit this book to experience honest, fast-paced fiction.

This boy’s life

Author: Tobias Wolff

Publisher: Grove Press

Year: 2000

Wolff’s book is another memoir that reads like fiction, with surprising details. It inspires me to write about my life in the same way.

How to love your daughter

Author: Hila Blum

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Year: 2024

The anguish of a mother unable to accept her daughter’s departure is evident throughout the book.

Mothers and others

Author: Sarah Blaffer Hrdy

Publisher: The Belknap Press

Year: 2013

As a new mother struggling with fear and anxiety, this anthropological work has helped me. This assured me that my anxiety was normal.