From Dopdi to Draupadi, from Oppression to Empowerment: Reading Mahashweta Deviâ€™s Draupadi

Somjeeta Pandey; Bidhu Chand Murmu

From Dopdi to Draupadi, from Oppression to Empowerment: Reading Mahashweta Devi’s Draupadi

Somjeeta Pandey *

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Bidhu Chand Murmu

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From Dopdi to Draupadi, from Oppression to Empowerment: Reading Mahashweta Devi’s Draupadi

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Abstract

The subaltern stories by Mahasweta Devi, by refusing to conform to the conventions of the Indian literary canon have blatantly exposed the grim realities of the interplay of caste and class in the fabric of Indian society and as Rangrao Bhongle rightly asserts “have projected an unknown facet of social reality in the Indian context.” The paper seeks to study “Draupadi”, a short story by Mahashweta Devi and translated by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak in 1988, which recreates the episode of The Mahabharata in which Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandavas, was asked to be stripped naked but was finally saved by Lord Krishna. Draupadi (Dopdi) Mejhen, the leader of Operation Bakuli in the story is caught by the police and raped by many. While no God comes to save her, she at the end derives strength from her naked body and finally stands as an empowered woman, a “terrifying superobject” (Spivak), in front of Senanayak the man who sanctioned her rape and who stands like an “unarmed target” (Spivak) in a state of paralysis.

References

6 Cites in Article

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R Krishnaveni (2013). Draupadi -The Symbol of Retaliation.
E Latha (2013). Political Suppression in Mahasweta Devi's Draupadi.
Manu (1920). Manu Smriti: The laws of Manu with the Bhasya of Medhatithi.
Deepti Misri (2011). Are you a man?': Performing Naked Protest in India.
Lakshmi Nair (2015). Tamil Dalit Feminist Poetry As Theory.
Gayatri Spivak,Chakravorty (1981). "Draupadi" by Mahasveta Devi.

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Funding

No external funding was declared for this work.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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No ethics committee approval was required for this article type.

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How to Cite This Article

Somjeeta Pandey, Bidhu Chand Murmu. 2021. "From Dopdi to Draupadi, from Oppression to Empowerment: Reading Mahashweta Devi’s Draupadi". Global Journal of Human-Social Science - H: Interdisciplinary GJHSS-H Volume 21 (GJHSS Volume 21 Issue H5).

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GJHSS Volume 21 Issue H5

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Journal Specifications

Crossref Journal DOI 10.17406/GJHSS

Print ISSN 0975-587X

e-ISSN 2249-460X

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Classification

GJHSS-H Classification FOR Code: 330205

Submission ReceivedFebruary 11, 2021
Peer Review Double Blind
Handling Editor
Accepted March 1, 2021
Published March 15, 2021

Version of record

v1.2

Issue date

July 3, 2021

Language

English

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