Draft:The Golden Threshold

The Golden Threshold. is an anthology of poems written by Sarojini Naidu. The text was published in 1905 when Naidu was only 26 years old. The selection of poems within The Golden Threshold were inspired by her own life and are written in English diction. The poems present a variety of themes, some being romance, nature and spirituality. Naidu utilizes them to express orientalism, cosmopolitan nationalism, and Indian feminization. She meticulously chose her words to shed light on significant issues that resided within her culture, paving the way for her Political career. Shortly after providing a voice for silenced women through her poetry, Naidu entered the political realm. In 1914, Gandhi and Naidu gathered for the very first time in London to discuss protests against British enactment that would tax Indian people and force them to carry passes. The reunion would lead them to the establishment of their friendship. Her relationship with Gandhi influenced the approach she would take in her political life as she worked very closely with him. In 1925 Naidu became the first woman President of the Indian National congress

She is considered to have “intentionally blurred the established boundaries between political rhetoric and lyric poetry.”

An aspect of Naidu's work as an Indian politician was her work in the Women’s Indian Association, paralleling the movement to the Indian Independence Movement.

Literary identifications
In The Golden Threshold, Naidu positions herself “as a colonial subject caught in the pull of competing identifications”. Naidu attempts to reinstate her identity “as an Indian-English poet working within English literary traditions” while still being able to claim herself “as an Indian poet of an Indian nation writing for the Indian ‘people’”. Within her poems, she uses her English literary style to write pieces that allude to Western audiences to bring attention to her Indian home and community

Orientalism
Naidu’s home city, Hyderabad, is presented through a Western perspective, defining it “as a place of fading princely power and prerogatives but also of sensual mystical beauty”.

Cosmopolitan nationalism
Naidu’s poems have mentions of cosmopolitan nationalism, the idea that all human beings are members of the same community. The term is used to describe a belief in the establishment of world citizens and universal community, promoting different dimensions of community, such as universal moral standards; global political structures; and mutual cultural expression and acceptance. This theme is explored in detail in her piece “Ode to H.H the Nizam of Hyderabad”, specifically asking for the promotion of “global humanism that posits religious coexistence” and calling it “an attainable possibility for the Indian nation.”

Indian feminization
In The Golden Threshold, Naidu characterizes India as a feminine character, tying features that paint the country as a representation of the gender roles that oppress women in part by their male counterparts. In her pieces, men are portrayed as their physical embodiments, but women are portrayed as land that is open for conquest, domination, and maltreatment.

Literary trope
As Hyderabad’s ruler, the Nizam is represented as a power of higher entity that calls Naidu forth to represent the modern nation through her public poetry. The Nizam establishes Naidu “as a poetess-politician of the Indian nation” to render the “archaism acceptable” through her cosmopolitan view of manufacture and circulation of difference. Naidu becomes the voice for the ruler, but eventually replaces him.

Critique of Naidu's use of the senses
Some critics, such as Symons, view Sarojini Naidu’s poetry as decadent through “agony of sensation.” (Hoene 2 ). Symmons also seems to suggest that these objects Naidu writes about never “seemed of importance” to “others” (Hoene 2 ). Some also question if Naidu’s poetry was intentionally an act of “self-orientalisation” because her poetry was written in a different cultural context or background. The common conclusion to this question revolves around the idea that Symons encouraged Naidu to incorporate aspects of orientalism into her writing to make her writing intriguing and unknown to a Western audience.

Rasa
Rasa is an Indian aesthetic theory that focuses on “the emotional response to a work of art” (Hoene 2 ). Hoene claims that Naidu is tied to orientalism because of her Indian traditionalist style of writing.

Origins for inspiration
Naidu draws inspiration from her roots in Hyderabad (her home city), often discussing its qualities. She writes about the senses through her life experience, which she describes as “dramatic” and full of “fiery beauty” (Hoene 2 ). She depicts the sensuality of “colour, music, perfume” and “vivid human faces” she has experienced in Hyderabad (Hoene 6).

Nationalism
Naidu’s poetic voice was influenced by colonialism, racism, and the critical reading of her work as related to her feminism. In 1986, Naidu’s writing was noticed by Edumund Gossse, who constructed a program that orientalized and influenced Naidu’s technical writing skills to make them more appealing to English critics.

Naidu was influenced by folk traditions. Naidu’s work is related to her collaboration with Symons and his acquaintances.

In 1915, Bombay, Naidu supported home rule at the Indian National Congress, encouraging unity to India’s populations contenting for self-government, and Indian unity.

Translingualism
The Golden Threshold is written in English. According to Dr. Ana Parejo Vadillo, Naidu was “conscious of the fact that the English language was a colonial instrument." Early in her literary career, she had translated Persian poetry for English-speaking readers and published poetry with Persian titles in English magazines. She took inspiration from female poets such as Nur-Jahan and Zeb-Un-Nissa while writing poems to be included in The Golden Threshold. In Vadillo’s reading of “The Song of Princess Zeb-Un-Nissa,” Naidu refuses to lift her veil to the suitor as a representation of how Naidu likewise refuses to unveil herself to the audience who “want[s] to recognize her as an authentic Indian (and not an English) poet. ” Padillo argues that the English title of the collection itself is a symbol, representing a translingual imagining of the world and a borderless liminal space.