Representations of Women’s Labour and Resistance in Mahasweta Devi’s Fiction: A Feminist Sociocultural Lens and Implications for Inclusive ELT Pedagogy

Abstract

The chapter examines how the labour and resistance of women is represented in the writings of Mahasweta Devi through a sociocultural perspective of feminism with implications to inclusive English Language Teaching (ELT) pedagogy. The fiction of Devi frequently depicts women, particularly tribal and rural women whose labor is needed to support them but is also the subject of abuse by the patriarchal and colonial systems. At the center of the analysis are the means by which the characters in Devi fight against oppression with the help of defiant actions, solidarity, and self-reclaiming. Through the analysis of such texts as Breast Giver and Rudali, this chapter will explore the representation of the exploitation of the physical and emotional labour of women uncovering the many-layered intersectionality of gender, class, and caste in postcolonial India. Pedagogically, this study brings to light the possibilities of the works of Devi to be used in ELT curriculum as a tool of promoting gender equality, social justice, and critical thought. ELT can transform the traditional approach to language teaching by adding the history of women challenges, and their resistance, to provide students with awareness of virulent social problems and, consequently, inclusivity in education. The feminist socio-cultural approach to the reading of Devi texts can provide a new model of teaching that does not only focus on linguistic competence but also deals with socio-political contexts on the usage of language. Finally, this chapter provides value to the notion that ELT needs to include more and more feminist voices to break the patriarchal norms and foster a more inclusive and socially-aware pedagogy.