EMOTIONAL AND INVISIBLE LABOUR: A THEORETICAL EXPLORATION THROUGH MAHASWETA DEVI’S WORKS

Abstract

In this paper, I question the idea of emotional and invisible labour in works of Mahasweta Devi, used to discuss how the author raises the invisible caring, mourning and birthing duties of women in the patriarchal-capitalist world. With the references to Arlie Hochschild talks about the theory of emotional labour and analysis of Silvia Federici about reproductive labour, the article is about analysing such short stories as Breast-Giver (Stanadayini), Rudali and Chinta and revealing the systematic exploitation of women's bodies and affective forces. In Breast-Giver, the maternal role of Jashoda is sold out, but her attachment with the children is not accounted for in the logic of the market, which leads to her physical as well as emotional destruction. In the case of Rudali, Sanichari has turned to professional mourning by selling her grief, indicating how caste-dominated the performance of emotions is when it comes to death ceremonies. Chinta depicts the underrepresented emotional labour at old age when being a caregiver and memory worker constitutes most of the people involved, but their work is not rewarded or recognised. This paper will claim that Mahasweta Devi's stories are critical of how capitalism and patriarchy exploit disadvantaged women physically and emotionally. Shortening the long history of the Marxist discourse on labour exploitation, Devi takes into consideration the distinctive analysis of the Marxist theory within the perspective of labour exploitation and introduces into this limited view the emotional economy of the subaltern. Her narratives constitute a reminder of the need to reconsider what labour is, and to bring care, grief and emotional work to the arena of economic and literary analysis.