https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i4.075
Neocolonial Ecologies and Posthuman Agency: Analyzing Indigenous Crisis and Resistance in Mahasweta Devi’s “Madhu: A Fairy-tale”
MS. DITIPRIYA DAS
Research Scholar, Department of Applied English/ English
Gokul Das Hindu Girls College, Moradabad
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, U.P.
Email: ditipriya99d@gmail.com
PROF. (DR.) CHARU MEHROTRA
Research Guide, Department of Applied English/ English
Principal, Gokul Das Hindu Girls College, Moradabad
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly. U.P.
Email: charubareilly@gmail.com
Abstract: The paper aims to study Mahasweta Devi’s short story “Madhu: A Fairy-tale” as a prominent eco-dystopic narrative that captures the catastrophic effects of ecological destruction and anthropocentric advancement in the lives of the Korjus, a forest-dweller community of Maharashtra in postcolonial India. Highlighting the themes of colonial expansion, deforestation, tribal marginalization and habitat destruction the paper analyzes how the thoughtless despoilation of the forest ecosystem which was intricately connected to the survival of the Korju communities led to a state of existential, cultural and economic crisis causing a total depletion of indigenous consciousness. Along with that, the study also examines the non-violent retaliation adopted by the tribal people in the form of silent satyagrah, a self-imposed hunger strike against the forceful colonial intervention in indigenous lifestyle resulting in a condition of acute malnutrition and starvation. Engaging with the concepts of biopolitics, bio surveillance and biopower, the paper endeavors to investigate the dehumanizing impact of tech-driven organizations that reduce the malnourished body of a sixteen-year-old Korju, Madhu into a capitalist commodity to conduct some scientific experimentation on it. In conclusion, the paper analyzes the transformation of Madhu from a famished young boy into a gigantic creature that foregrounds a form of posthuman resistance against anthropocentric agency by blurring the distinction between human and the non-human, civilized and monstrous, natural and supernatural.
Keywords: Neocolonization, Indigenous Crisis, Deforestation, Biopolitics, Posthuman Resistance
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