Re-inventing the Myth of Draupadi in Mahasweta Devi’s Draupadi

Name of Author : Ms. Humaira Khanji

Abstract: Mahasweta Devi, a prolific writer, an advocate of womens rights as well as tribals life has an array of works under her name. She has been awarded the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award also received the Jnanpith Award, Indias highest literary honor, in 1996. She was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1997 for her compassionate crusade through art and activism to claim for tribal peoples a just and honorable place in Indias national life. Her works often highlight the struggles faced by tribal people living under the tyrannous reign of feudal lords as well as authorities. Mahasweta Devi showed the plight of such people through her works. They were often portrayed as the other section of the society by the upper classes and the governmental authorities. Draupadi by Mahasweta Devi is also on similar lines, where Mahasweta Devi tried to reinvent the myth of Draupadi through the character of Dopdi. Dopdi is an illiterate woman who faces hardships because of her caste, class as well as her gender and thus, she is thrice marginalized. The purpose of this paper is to show how the women after being othered by society for so long try to turn the tables and break the circle of the years of abuse through their courage.

Keywords : Subaltern, Naxalism, Marxism, social discourse

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