From Oral Tradition to Feminist Adaptation: Rewriting Yogmaya in Nepali Literature

Abstract

This paper examines Neelam Karki Niharika’s Yogmaya (2018) as an act of feminist adaptation that reclaims silenced memory and reimagines the legacy of Yogmaya Neupane (1860–1941). Drawing on Linda Hutcheon’s theory of adaptation and André Lefevere’s concept of rewriting, alongside South Asian feminist perspectives from Spivak, Mohanty, and Rege, the study argues that Yogmaya transforms oral baani, petitions, and collective memory into feminist historiography. Rather than replicating biography, Niharika’s novel adapts fragments into a narrative of resistance, negotiating between fidelity and invention. The analysis demonstrates how adaptation in South Asia functions as feminist praxis—rewriting silence into voice and situating Nepali women’s struggles within global debates.