A Feminist Reading of “Draupadi”, Written by Mahasweta Devi and Translated by Gayatri Chakravarti Spivak.
ABSTRACT
The main focus of this paper is to explore a feminist criticism of Mahasweta Devi’s short story “Draupadi” (1978). Firstly, this paper will focus on the patriarchal stereotyping elements of oppression, found in the story. Then a discussion will be given on the defiance of the protagonist of the story against patriarchal subjugation. Mahasweta Devi has written “Draupadi” in Bengali that is first published as individual story in 1978 and after that appeared in the book Agnigarbha (Womb of Fire)- a collection of short political narratives, in 1981. Then in the same year it has been translated in English by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and anthologized in her Breast Stories. To prepare this paper only the translated version of the story is used.
Introduction
“Draupadi Mejhen, the most notorious female, long wanted in many.” (Devi, 1978/1981) Through this very statement Mahasweta Devi expresses that her story, “Draupadi” (1978), is about a female who after violent degradation of her life by the police, becomes a rebellious and is going to cleave all the stereotypes associated to a woman. Mahasweta Devi is an eminent personality in Bengali literature who enriched the depositories of Bengali literature with her notable works. She writes for the women of Indian patriarchal society who are oppressed for centuries and have fallen behind and need to be enlightened about their inherent power. “Draupadi” is such a story reflecting the fact that a woman must stand up for herself. The central character of the story, Draupadi Mejhen, belongs to the indigenous tribal group called ‘Santal’ where she is known simply as Dopdi. A woman in a patriarchal society encounters continuous discomforts and oppression, and if it is found that, the woman deviates from the mainstream group or she is aboriginal, the level of oppression increases. She falls victim of continuous social, political, and economic oppression for not only being a woman but also being marginalized woman. Gradually, that oppressed woman who has no support from the law, and no one by her side, becomes a ‘silenced subaltern’. Mahasweta Devi refuses Dopdi’s becoming a ‘silenced subaltern’ rather she creates a ‘defiant subaltern’ who can lacerate the stereotypes of the society and can stand up for herself leaving everyone terribly blue. A feminist reading of Mahasweta Devi’s “Draupadi” will explore all those stereotypes of a patriarchal society and Dopdi’s refusal to be subjugated by this sickened society.
The Image of Woman
The story of “Draupadi” is situated against the Naxalite movement (1967–1971), The Bangladesh Liberation War (1971) and the ancient Hindu epic of Mahabharata, engaging with the complex politics of femininity, Bengali identity and Indian nationhood. In the book Sexual Politics (1969), Kate Millett argues that sexual politics is the analysis of masculinist historical, social, and literary image of women where patriarchy is pervasive and it demands the subordination of the female to the male, and treats the female as an inferior to male. The power of patriarchy is exerted directly or indirectly in civil and domestic life to constrain women. Millett adds that the image of woman in a patriarchal society compels both male and female to learn certain ‘female characteristics’ such as- ‘passivity’, ‘subjugation’ as natural. Thus, culturally learned ‘female characteristics’ perpetuates by both women and men and acts out these sex roles, in the unequal and repressive relations of domination and subordination which is known as sexual politics. Situated against the Naxalite movement (1967–1971), The Bangladesh Liberation War (1971) and the ancient Hindu epic of Mahabharata, the story of ‘Draupadi’ engages this complex politics of femininity, Bengali identity and Indian nationhood. Dopdi is a Robinhood like figure who with her husband, murders wealthy landlords and usurp their wells, which is the primary source of water for the village. Thus, Dopdi breaks the law of being a woman in a patriarchal society by going beyond the ‘female characteristics’ stated above. She refuses passivity. That is why, at the end of the story the Senanayak along with his officers wants to subjugate Dopdi by oppressing her physically and psychologically. The government through ‘Operation Bakuli’ attempts to subjugate the tribal rebel groups by many means: kidnapping, murder, rape and thus, Dopdi is captured by officer who instructs the other army officers to rape her to extract information about the rebel uprising.
Representation of Body
- Violation of a Female Body
Patriarchal society attributes particular values to the woman’s body, and the woman assimilates these values. Feminists argue that the woman’s body has been represented as mother, seductive material, sexual and procreative, and it demands the protection by men. Any kind of violation of this body causes shame for a woman. In “Draupadi” when the army officers torture her, Dopdi finds that she has been degraded by ‘many men’, tear tickles out of the corner of her eyes against her will. Then turning her eyes away, she finds her white saari laid down the ground. Then dopdi suddenly feels helpless and as Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak narrates in her translated version,
“Shaming her, a tear trickles out of the corner of her eye… She’s been made up right… How many? Four-five-six-seven- then Draupadi had passed out. She turns her eyes and sees something white. Her own cloth. Nothing else. Suddenly she hopes against hope.” (Devi, 1978/1981)
2. Male Gaze
At some points, Mahasweta Devi depicts Dopdi’s body as the object of study, control, discipline and gaze. Male gaze, argues Luce Irigaray, refers to that, ‘the man looks where the woman is looked at’, and it is the one who looks, holds the position to control, and power to name things and power to explain the world. The one who is looked at, holds no power- the woman, is merely an object to be seen. The character of Surja Sahu represents the oppressing landlord whose power dominates the whole village and the inhabitants of it. In the time of drought, all the authority of the village wells and tube-wells remained under the control of Surja Sahu, and for him, people suffered for water, they could not cultivate. And it is only by killing such oppressor, village people get rid of these inhuman sufferings. This Surja Sahu’s gaze toward Dopdi is the example of the ‘male gaze’ who controls the authoritative power of society. After the capture of Surja Sahu by the tribal group of Bakuli, Dopdi complains about his gaze upon her by saying- “His mouth watered when he looked at me. I’ll pull out his eyes.” (Devi, 1978/1981)
The example of male gaze again can be found in section 3 of “Draupadi” when Dopdi after getting her sense back finds herself seriously injured by the officers. Dopdi’s arms and legs are tied with the four posts. She is laid as “a compelled spread-legged still body” (Devi, 1978/1981), following the translation by Spivak. Then turning head, she finds a guard leans on his bayonet and leers at her which Mahasweta Devi narrates-
“She turns her head, the guard leans on his bayonet and leers at her. Draupadi closes her eyes.” (Devi, 1978/1981)
Language and Resistance in “Draupadi”
- Écriture féminine And Mahasweta Devi
Écriture feminine is a French phrase which is translated as woman’s writing in literature. It is claimed by Helene Cixous that, in a patriarchal culture much of women’s subjugation occurs in the form of psychological repression enacted through the medium of language. In other words, women live in a world in which virtually all meaning has been defined by patriarchal language. For example, in ‘Draupadi’ after the apprehension of Dopdi, the Senanayak orders the other officers to ‘Make her’ (Devi, 1978/1981) Where making is the process of oppressing Dopdi physically as well as psychologically by degrading her body violently. Here, the word ‘make’ represents the patriarchal interpretative and dominating psychology. That is why, according to Cixous, it is through language, one can undermine or eliminate patriarchal binary thinking that oppresses and silences women. Cixous is a creative writer and philosopher who argues for a positive representation of femininity in a discourse she calls “Écriture féminine”, and her essay “The Laugh of the Medusa” (1976) is a celebrated manifesto of ‘women’s writing’ which calls for women to put their ‘bodies’ into their writing. Cixous writes ecstatically of the teeming female unconscious: ‘Write yourself. Your body must be heard. Only then will the immense resources of the unconscious spring forth’ Luce Irigaray develops, in more rigorously philosophical terms, ideas which resemble Cixous. She considers that patriarchal oppression of women is founded on the type of negative constructions associated with female sexuality. So, she calls for ‘women speak’ which resists patriarchal modes of thinking and writing. Mahasweta Devi practices such use of language in her short story “Draupadi” where her style resists and explodes all firmly established forms, figures, ideas and concepts of patriarchy. Dopdi’s body at the end becomes the symbol of resistance against the oppression of patriarchal society. After Dopdi’s apprehension, the Senanayak instructs the army officers to rape her to extract information about the rebel uprising. The officers not only rape her but violate her body in a barbarous way. After getting her sense back, Dopdi finds her legs and arms tied to four posts. Her ‘ass’, ‘waist’, ‘vagina’ becomes sticky with blood. She looks down and sees her breasts are bitten raw, the nipples torn. The beastly officers left her naked as she is a “compelled spread-legged still body” (Devi, 1978/1981). Mahasweta devi uses the raw Bengali words of ‘ass’, ‘vagina’, ‘blood’, ‘breast’ metaphorically, to depict the male oppression over female body properly. Ironically, the same officers who violated Dopdi’s body, instructs the guard again to cover her up, once she is ‘done with’. Intransigently, Dopdi rips off her clothes and walks towards officer, the description of this scene is bold and protesting in the use of the languageas Devi narrates- “Draupadi stands before him, naked. Thigh and pubic hair matted with dry blood. Two breasts, two wounds.” (Devi, 1978/1981). The rapid use of punctuation increases the intensity of the action. The Senanayak becomes shocked by the defiance of Dopdi as she stands before him with her hands on her hip, and declares that there is not any man there that she should be ashamed of. Devi narrates- “Draupadi pushes Senanayak with her two mangled breasts, and for the first time Senanayak is afraid to stand before an unarmed target, terribly afraid.” (Devi. 1978/1981). Thus, Dopdi transforms the physicality of her body from powerlessness into powerful resistance and it becomes possible to comprehend by the readers as Devi uses bold and unrestrained language.
2. Binary Opposition
Mahasweta Devi also uses language that reveals patriarchal binary thoughts. According to Helene Cixous, words, such as- sun/moon, head/heart, father/mother etc represents patriarchal values. The sides that patriarchy considers inferior are- moon, heart, mother while sun, head, father, these are considered as superior. For example, in “Draupadi” Mahasweta Devi names one of her characters as ‘Surja Sahu’ to depict the superior group in the society practices control over everything. The Bengali word ‘surja’ is synonymous to the English word ‘sun’. She uses the word ‘moon’ in her story to reverberate the helplessness of Dopdi. She represents Senanayak as an intelligent officer who can manage everything according to the demands of situations and Dopdi who is eextremely emotional, and even ready to sacrifice herself to save her fellow comrades. However, what Mahasweta Devi has done is, she deconstructs the idea of patriarchal binary thought. She let the superiors be defeated by the inferiors. Thus, Surja Sahu and Senanayak both have been defeated by Dopdi’s resistance.
Dopdi as Defiant Subaltern
- Physical Defiance
Spivak defines Subalterns as the people who belong to the third world countries. The Subaltern cannot speak, says Spivak as they are divided by gender, class, caste, region, religion and other narratives. These divisions do not allow them to stand up in unity. Spivak’s arguments strengthen the fundamental principles of feminism. She reiterates the fact that there are differences in the case of race, class, religion, citizenship and culture among women. And these differences make women an ‘Other’ of men as well as she becomes a subaltern and the subject to be exploited by men. The notion of the subaltern body which is never questioned and only ever exploited is rejected by Devi. The character of Dopdi allows to view the subaltern’s identity vis-a-vis the hegemonic structures seen through the army officers and officer Senanayak. And her body becomes a site of both the exertion of authoritarian power and of gendered resistance.
Devi’s representation of Dopdi encapsulates what Spivak means by gendered subaltern. Through the dislocation of the epic princess Draupadi to the tribal rebel Dopdi, Devi is able to present voices and perspective that is unspoken and unheard of. Dopdi bears the torture as she is raped by many men through the encouragement of the voice of another man Arijit, who urges her to save her comrades and not herself. However, ironically the same officers who violated Dopdi’s body, instructs the guard again to cover her up, once she is ‘done with’. The attack on her body fades the authoritative power of male as she resists and refuses to be clothed again. This goes against the phallocentric power, and the exploitation of her body gives her agency to step away from the hegemonic patriarchy of the officers. Dopdi is a woman of strong mind and will power as she defies the shame associated with rape and sexual abuse, which is extremely relevant to India today. Especially, in the onset of the ‘Me Too’ movement where many women have come forward with their stories.
2. Linguistic Defiance
It is also important to mention the linguistic defiance shown by Dopdi. Dopdi is a tribal woman. She has her own language. The educated Bengali does not know the language of the tribes, and no political coercion obliges them to know it. Even the meaning of Dopdi’s song, sang in tribal language remained undisclosed in the story. However, Dopdi being a santal not only knows Bengali but also, she resists the Senanayak by using English word ‘Counter’. (The ’n’ is no more than a nasalization of the diphthong ‘ou’). As Devi explains, it is an abbreviation for ‘killed by police in an encounter’, the code description for death by torture. Dopdi does not understand English, but she understands the formula and the word. In her use of it at the end, it comes mysteriously close to the ‘proper’ English usage. It is the menacing appeal of the objectified subject to its politico sexual enemy. Devi narrates- “What more can you do? Come on, cou’ter me-come on, cou’ter me-?” (Devi, 1978/1981) The ’n’ of the word ‘counter’ is silenced here and dopdi does not care about the ’n’ in the word and by pronouncing the word by her own way she renounces the patriarchic thought of the Senanayak that she has been made up by the rape of her body. Instead, she is now unstoppable and is the one who can be the person to be feared by the powerful ones. Thus, Dopdi, through her defiance subverts all the authoritative politico sexual power of patriarchy, and left it terribly frightened before the strong will power of a subaltern.
3. Epic Princess Vs Santal Tribe
Draupadi is a character, taken from the Indian epic The Mahabharata. According to scripture, Princess Draupadi becomes the example of polyandry by marrying five sons of impotent Pandu. One of the most famous chapters of this epic is the ‘Cheer Haran of Draupadi’ where she was staked and lost in a game of dice by her eldest husband. Then by calling Draupadi a prostitute for having five husbands the enemy chief began to pull at her ‘saari’. But he failed to ‘unclothe’ her publicly as Draupadi was saved by Lord Krishna with infinite amount of ‘saari’ on her body. Mahasweta Devi rewrites the story. The men, in her story, easily succeed in striping Dopdi. In the narrative, it is the culmination of her political punishment by the representatives of the law. But she remains publicly naked at her own insistence rather than saving her modesty through the implicit intervention of a benign and divine comrade, suggesting that this is the place where male leadership stops.
In this way Mahasweta Devi compares two Draupadis and suggests that Dopdi is as heroic as Draupadi with an extended idea that Dopdi is also what Draupadi — written into patriarchal authoritative sacred text as proof of male power — could not be. Dopdi is at once a palimpsest and a contradiction.
Conclusion
“I think creative writer should have a social consciousness. I have a duty towards society… I ask myself this question a thousand times; have I done what I could have done?” Thus, in an interview with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Mahasweta Devi expresses her wish to write about the marginalized women. In a patriarchal society, woman emerges to be a class of low standard, has been dominated and does not seem to have attained her freedom even in independent countries. Her sufferings under-looked and eventually she merges into the unprivileged class which never asserts her rights and dignity. In “Draupadi”, Mahasweta Devi’s portrayal of Dopdi addresses the gender question and the differences seen between the sexes through socio-economic relation which ultimately influence to oppress female identity of the Third World. And woman can stand upright in a patriarchal society through deconstructing practice of norms that subverts the agency of Women.
References
Devi, Mahasweta. “Draupadi” in Mahasweta Devir Choto Golpo Shonkolon. India: National Book Trust. 2010.
Devi, Mahasweta. “Draupadi” in Breast Stories. Translated by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. calcutta: Seagull Books. 2010.
Hoque, Nikhat. “Draupadi As A Symbol of Subaltern Defiance”. 2010.
Nayar, Pramod. Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory. India: Dorling Kinderseley. 2010.
Selden, Raman, Widdowson, Peter., Brooker, Peter. A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory.
Pearson Longman. 2005. Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Can The Subaltern Speak?”. 1983.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “The Trajectory of Subaltern in My Work”. 2003.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Writing And Sexual Difference”. pp. 381–402. jstor.com Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today. New York: Routledge. 2006.
