https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i2.054
From Distress to Solitude: Female Loneliness and Emotional Labour in the Malayalam Film Eko
ANAGHAVINOD
Independent Research Scholar
Email: anaghavinod10@gmail.com
Abstract: This paper examines the representation of female loneliness in the Malayalam film Eko through the lens of feminist theories of emotional labour and affect. Moving beyond conventional understandings of loneliness as a psychological lack or social failure, the study argues that Eko presents loneliness as a dynamic and transformative affective condition shaped by gendered expectations of care, emotional availability, and relational responsibility. The female protagonist’s initial experience of loneliness is marked by distress and emotional exhaustion, emerging not from physical isolation but from a persistent lack of emotional reciprocity within intimate and social relationships. Despite her continued presence within relational spaces, her affective needs remain unacknowledged, revealing loneliness as a product of uneven emotional labour rather than absence of connection.
Drawing on feminist critiques of emotional labour, particularly those articulated by Arlie Hochschild, the paper traces how the protagonist’s loneliness gradually shifts from a condition of suffering to a space of reflective solitude. The paper ultimately argues that Eko reimagines loneliness as a feminist affective strategy—an enabling space that facilitates self-reflection, emotional autonomy, and quiet empowerment.
Keywords: Female Loneliness, Emotional Labour, Malayalam Cinema, Solitude and Silence.
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