Reading Notes W17: Devi, Part B

Mahasweta Devi, “Giribala” (1147-1165)

Mahasweta Devi:

·         Born 1926

·         Most important fiction and prose writer in the Bengali language

·         She is a premier social activist in Asia for aboriginal peoples

·         “Her unflinching novels, stories, plays, and essays about these and other disenfranchised people provided the literary foundations for what would later be called ‘subaltern studies’: the rigorous documentation of the lives of the powerless and the critical examination of how and why society marginalizes them” (1147).

·         Born into a high caste family in Dhaka

·         “The truth of literature lies chiefly in its commitment to people, actions, events, situations, and objects outside language, rather than to the literary language such topics are captured in” (1148).

·         Her beauty in writing serves a higher moral, social, or political purpose

The Story:

·         “The story offers a sharply etched picture of rural life in the north-central region of West Bengal around 1975, and a meticulous representation of the impact of its social organization, cultural practices, and economic problems on the life of an illiterate, vulnerable girl barely past puberty” (1148).

·         Arranged marriages in this region involve bride-price.

·         The girl’s father arranges her marriage without checking into (investigating) the groom.

·         Desperate world

·         Bonding between fictional character and reader

Some Quotes:

·         “She knew that although the groom had to pay a bride-price in their community, still a girl was only a girl. She had heard so many times the old saying ‘A daughter born, to husband or death, She’s already gone.’ She realized that her life in her home and village was over, and her life of suffering was going to begin” (1151).

·         “What kind of heartless parents would give attender young girl to a no-good ganja addict? How can he feed you? He has nothing.” (1152).

·         “Bangshi Dhamali happened to be in the village that day, and he too remarked on how Giri’s health and appearance had deteriorated since she went to live with that no-good husband of hers” (1155).

·         “The night wind soothed her raging despair, as it blew her matted hair, uncombed for how long she did not remember” (1158).

·         “What kind of woman would leave her husband of many years just like that? Now, they all felt certain that the really bad one was not Aulchand, but Giribala. And arriving at this conclusion seemed to produce some kind of relief for their troubled minds” (1164).