Rewriting Psychoanalytic Memory: Gynotopic Structures in the Intergenerational Fiction of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Amy Tan

Abstract

Responding to the historical relegation of the maternal to the margins, this paper reimagines psychoanalytic memory as a literary structure by introducing Gynotopic Narrative Dynamics, a feminist-critical framework rooted in Elaine Showalter’s gynocriticism and expanded through Nancy Chodorow’s The Reproduction of Mothering. Gynotopic spaces are narrative and symbolic sites where women’s experiences, voices, and memories are legitimized as acts of epistemic justice, transforming what has long been marginalized into authoritative culture and literary knowledge. The gynotopic lens illuminates how domestic and caregiving experiences, historically dismissed as apolitical or non-literary, become sites of resistance, healing, and literary innovation. Through a close reading of intergenerational fiction by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Amy Tan, the study explores how maternal memory and emotional inheritance are not merely thematic concerns but foundational narrative architectures. Mother-daughter relationships in these texts function as affective blueprints through which voice, temporality, and identity are shaped, transmitted, and resisted. By situating psychoanalytic memory within narrative form, this paper argues that diasporic women’s fiction rewrites the maternal script, restoring silenced subjectivities. Reflecting the evolving global consciousness around gender justice and inclusion in knowledge systems, this intervention aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). The study expands the scope of English literary studies, bridging psychoanalysis, feminist theory, and narrative form, offering a transformative reading of how memory, power, and voice intersect in the emotional landscapes of diasporic fiction and beyond.