https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1si1.004
Aged and Gendered Mobility in Rural Space in Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in a Sieve
DR. JAYASHREE C
Assistant Professor
Jain (Deemed-to-be University), Bangalore
Abstract: This paper examines the production and experience of space in Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in the Sieve (1954), a rural postcolonial narrative set amidst the intense urban development witnessed in India, through an interdisciplinary framework combining spatial criticism, feminist theory, postcolonial feminism, and feminist gerontology. It argues that space in the novel is not a neutral backdrop but a socially and politically produced entity shaped by labour, gender, and age.
Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s concept of the production of space, the study highlights how agrarian life is constituted through labour-intensive spatial practices, which are later destabilized by industrialization and capitalist intrusion, particularly through the emergence of the tannery. Doreen Massey’s notion of gendered spatial relations is employed to examine the unequal distribution of mobility and rootedness, where male characters migrate for labour while women remain largely confined to domestic and vulnerable spaces.
Further, Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity is used to analyze how spatial norms regulate female bodies, especially in instances such as Ira’s exclusion due to infertility and her subsequent entry into morally coded public spaces. The paper also engages Chandra Talpade Mohanty’s critique of Western feminist frameworks to situate these experiences within specific socio-economic and cultural contexts. Finally, feminist gerontology provides a lens through which ageing is examined as a process of spatial marginalization, particularly in Nathan’s physical decline and Rukmani’s reflective narration. The study concludes that the novel represents space as a contested terrain where gender, labour, displacement, and ageing intersect, foregrounding endurance as both a spatial and existential condition.
Keywords: Spatial Criticism, Gendered Spaces, Feminist Gerontology, Postcolonial Narratives
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