Representing ‘Women’ at the Threshold of Gendered Identity in Mahasweta Devi’s Bayen
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Keywords:
Gender, Body, Sexuality, Representation, Women, Caste, Labour, IdentityAbstract
The objective of my paper is to look at identity and gender through Mahasweta Devi’s short story Bayen. The story deals with a woman named Chandidasi who is branded as a witch, a ‘Bayen’. The eponymous character is non-conforming, defiant entity whose body is a repulsive sight for the people of the dom community; Chandidasi is herself a dom- a gravedigger- a profession only reserved for the male members of the community. It is interesting to observe how the female body is marked by her gender, her caste, her class, her personal relationships and the work she does. Chandidasi is a representation of the deviant and defiant female body. She tries hard to establish herself in the world obsessed with sexed differences. The witch’s body is however constructed in a way that is neither strictly feminine nor masculine. Her physical habits and behaviours are likened to beastly creatures thus creating a complicated embodiment, that is also ‘dangerous’. In my paper, I chart the way in which the protagonist’s character goes on to establish an identity that transcends the physical body. The paper delves into the world of a community of lower castes where patriarchal norms are not absent. It interrogates the way in which Chandidasi, the figure of the female body, develops into a symbolic expression of protest and revolt. The paper also looks at Judith Butler’s theory of performativity and how the characters in the story ‘perform’ their gender roles.
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References
Elizabeth Grosz. Volatile Bodies: Toward a Corporeal Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994.
Judith Butler. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990.
Masweta Devi. Bayen. trans. Mahua Bhattacharya, Separate Journeys: Short Stories by Contemporary Women. Ed. Geeta Dharmajan. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2004.
Lia Litosseliti and Jane Sunderland. Gender Identity and Discourse Analysis. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, 2002. p.6
Roz Ivanic. Writing and Identity. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, 1998. p.11
Devi, p.1
Ibid.p.12
Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak, ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. ed. Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg (London: Macmillan, 1988) p. 28
Bell hooks. Feminist Theory : From Margin to Center. New York: Routledge, 2015.
Ajay S. Shekhar. Representing the Margin: Caste and Gender in Indian fiction. New Delhi: Kalpaz Publications, 2008.
Devi, p.10
Gerry Holloway. Women and Work in Britain since 1840. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Nancy J. Chodorow. The Reproduction of Mothering. London: University of California Press,1999.
Ibid.
Devi, p.7
Judith Butler. Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex. Abingdon: Routledge, 1993.
Judith Butler. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990.
Devi, p.14
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990. Print.
Butler, Judith. Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex. Abingdon: Routledge, 1993. Print
Chakraborty Spivak, Gayatri. ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. Ed. Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg. London: Macmillan, 1988. Print.
Chodorow, Nancy. The Reproduction of Mothering. London: University of Carolina Press, 1999. Print.
Devi, Mahasweta. “Bayen”. Trans Mahua Bhattacharyya. Separate Journeys: Short Stories by Contemporary Women. Ed. Geeta Dharmajan. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2004.Print.
Holloway, Gerry. Women and Work in Britain Since 1840. New York: Routledge, 2005.Print.
hooks, bell. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. New York: Routledge, 2015. Print.
Grosz, Elizabeth. Volatile Bodies: Toward a Corporeal Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994. Print.
Ivanic, Roz. Writing and Identity. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, 1998. Print.
Litosseliti, Lia and Jane Sunderland, Gender Identity and Discourse Analysis. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, 2002. Print.
S. Shekhar, Ajay. Representing the Margin: Caste and Gender in Indian fiction. New Delhi: Kalpaz Publications, 2008. Print.
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