COMMODIFICATION OF WOMAN AS BONDED SLAVERY: A FEMINIST STUDY OF MAHASWETA DEVI’S "BREAST GIVER"

Abstract

The current study is the investigation of the bonded slavery that is a traditional practice in different regions of the world, particularly the current study focuses on bonded slavery in India. The topic “commodification of women as bonded slavery: a feminist study of Mahasweta Devi’s ”Breast giver”. Bonded slavery is caused by debt-bond in India where people have insufficient sources of their income, forcing them loans on interest from capitalists who later on force them to have a pact to become bonded labor that is similar to bonded slavery. Men are not only the victim of bonded slavery but women have also to pay on behalf of their men and families, even, women have to work in brothels for the sake of their family. The current research with reference to the phenomenon of bonded slavery deals with the work of Mahasweta Devi’s ”Breast giver”. The current research is qualitative and close textual analysis has been selected for analyzing the primary sources while Campbell and Alpers (2004)’s “Introduction: Slavery, Forced Labour and Resistance in Indian Ocean Africa and Asia” has been selected as theoretical framework. The research showed that both stories of Devi presents the diverse themes of bonded slavery as women are presented in both works as commodity. Despite the fact that Jashoda belongs to Brahaman family, as Brahman is the well-recognized and esteemed cast of Hindu religion but religion also plays it paralyzed role to save women from commodification and enslavement. Jashoda in "Breast giver" feeds 50 children causing her breast cancer and dies in the same way. The character simply dies for the sake of her family and she can be characterized as bonded slave because she cannot get emancipation from the clutches of this slavery.