Journal of African Development

This paper discusses the psychological aspects of illness, stigma and survival in the context of novel One Part Woman based upon the concepts of feminist medical humanities, psychology of illness and trauma studies. One Part Woman is written by Perumal Murugan. Madhorubhagan is an original novel in Tamil which was translated into English by Aniruddhan Vasudevan. The novel not only covers the issue of infertility as a biological problem, but also as a stigma that goes deep within the human personality, marriage, emotions and social life. Ponna and Kali is the way Murugan gives expression to the inmates' suffering due to a culture that equates a woman's reproductive cessation with psychological and emotional isolation. The paper suggests that emotional trauma is exacerbated by silence, shame and social pressure, and that it is a form of resistance to oppressive cultural structures to survive. The novel also uncovers the role of disease and stigma in the construction of identity in the context of sexist and caste-based societies