RECONFIGURING CLASSICAL MYTHS IN CONTEMPORARY FICTION: A TRANSMODERN COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MILLER, ATWOOD, AND DIVAKARUNI

Abstract

Mythic retellings have acquired renewed prominence in twenty-first-century fiction as authors revisit classical narratives to address ethical, gendered, and political questions that earlier versions often left underdeveloped. This paper examines the reconfiguration of classical myths in the works of Madeline Miller, Margaret Atwood, and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni through the conceptual framework of transmodernism, which integrates inherited cultural memory with contemporary critical concerns. Employing transmodern theory, feminist narratology, and comparative hermeneutics, the study analyses the ways in which these authors decentre heroic masculinity, foreground marginalised female subjectivities, and render mythic structures responsive to plural and cross-cultural interpretations. Although their narrative strategies vary—ranging from Miller’s humanisation of mythic figures to Atwood’s ironic interrogation of canonical authority and Divakaruni’s reclamation of indigenous feminine agency—their works collectively signal a broader transformation in the literary function of myth. Rather than preserving myth as a static cultural inheritance, these authors reconceive it as a dynamic narrative site that enables ethical reflection and critical reinvention. The paper demonstrates that a transmodern comparative perspective provides a coherent analytical lens for understanding this shift and highlights the continued adaptability of myth in contemporary literary discourse.