1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This project aims to uncover the personal thoughts and feelings of women of the Hindu tradition about Sita, beyond what the texts say about her, and what the orthodox tradition says about how Sita should be interpreted.» (p. 3)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Six women were interviewed for this study, I used connections made through Montreal’s South Asian Women’s Community Centre (SAWCC), the Indian Student’s association at Concordia and McGill Universities and through online communities.» (p. 53) «Participants ranged in age from 20 to 50, some are married, some are single, and one was engaged. The three women who were more than 30 years old, and one of the younger women, were born in India or Sri Lanka, one was born in Canada, one was born in Indonesia». (p. 6)

Instruments :
Guide d’entretien

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

«The prevailing sentiments of the women in this study are that Sita is an ideal of the tradition, but her apparent lack of choice in life tempers her impact as role model for women.» (p. iii) «The participants in the study draw a distinction between what makes an ideal figure and what constitutes a role model. Sita is the ideal wife within a larger context of a religious tradition, but she’s no role model for women within that tradition. Given the numerous times that participants referred back to their grandmothers, mothers and sometimes fathers throughout the course of our discussions, it seems more likely that role models were found among immediate relations, rather than the ideal reflected by Sita. For the women in this study, the ideal is an unattainable standard that is best left that way. However, the relationship they have with their family and personal interpretations of Sita are meaningful, and those interpretations can inform some aspects of their lives, even if it means creating distance between oneself and the ideal they interpret.» (p. 100)