Class Summary

We began today's discussion by analyzing why the start of Mahasweta Devi's story, "Breast Giver," was written the way it was. After dissecting the story's introduction and establishing a link between Kangali's feet being run over and Kangli's relationship with the Halder family, we discussed how this work was monumental for our course in that Breast Giver was the first piece of writing we read written by a woman. The second paragraph is about Halder boy "raping" the cook and then getting her fired; this shows how women had little influence and an essentially worthless role in typical Indian society at this time. It was very interesting that the main character was not the focus at the beginning of the story. In the readings throughout the semester, women have found themselves doggerel to men; however, in the Breast Giver, a woman (Rashoda), was the protagonist and held a position of high esteem. Though she ended up an "inferior" character as a result of dying alone, jobless and in pain, Rashoda at least maintained legitimate authority throughout a portion of the story. We had discussed that inter-relations between religion and gender contribute to difficulty comprehending the text.

After we talked about Devi's "Breast Giver," we proceeded to discuss "The World's Wife," which is a collection of first-person poems about the wives famous people in stories. We analyzed what makes it the "world's wife" as the author takes us on a tour of world literature combining classical literature, myth, contemporary figures, fairy tale ( Mrs. Quasimodo), and biblical characters (Lazarus). We discussed the author's postmodern style (simplistically direct), and how she uses rhymes (especially in Mrs. Sisyphus) to express her tone. The main similarity between these poems is that they are inspired by familiar stories; however, the author expresses her brilliance by conveying an alternate perspective of the characters and themes found in the initial works.

Word count: 314

Quotes

"Breast Giver"

"At first the Mistress hemmed and

hawed, but then she thought to herself and realized that the proposal was

worth a million rupees. Daughters-in-law will be mothers. When they are

mothers, they will suckle their children. Since they will be mothers as long

as it's possible-progressive suckling will ruin their shape. Then if the sons

look outside, or harass the maidservants, she won't have a voice to object." (Pg. 1075)

 - Over time and the course of several pregnancies, a women’s body changes in shape; in Indian culture it is believed that, once a women’s body changes, her husband can be with another women while the wife may not object to the practice (an idea which runs contrary to modern cultural norms in our society). 

"Such is the power of the Indian soil that all women turn into mothers here and all men remain immersed in the spirit of holy childhood." (Pg. 1074)

- This quotation embodies the prevalent mentality in India during the era in which this story took place. Women were forced to be mothers and bear the burden of childhood, while men were allowed to remain youthful and chase women even though despite their nuptial ties without fear of being reprimanded for doing so.

"The World's Wife"

"Mrs Sisyphus:"

"That 's him pushing the stone up the hill, The jerk.

I call it a stone- it's nearer the size of a kirk.

when he first started out, it just used to irk,

but now it incences me, and him, the absolute berk." (pg. 21, lines 1-4)

- This passage shows how the author uses the half rhyme, erk, to express the tone. "erk" refers to a hurt, angry and annoying sound;. it is not an audibly-beautiful sound, though it successfully coveys the woman's personality and the echo with which Sisyphus is engaged. 

Terms

Incubus- An imaginary demon or evil spirit of the male gender, believed to descend upon sleeping women with the intent of having sexual intercourse with them according to fable. The incubus often represents a deflection of responsibility.

Succubus- The female version of an incubus, attacking men as opposed to women.

Postmodernism- A late 20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism that represents a departure from modernism and has, at its core, a general distrust of grand theories and ideologies. Postmodernism also maintains a problematic relationship with any notion of art that is neither deconstructive nor purposely ironic.