Unpaid Reproductive Labour, Gendered Invisibility, and the Need for Intergenerational Dialogue in Mahasweta Devi’s ‘Breast-Giver’

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This paper explores the theme of unpaid reproductive labour and gendered invisibility through Mahasweta Devi’s famous short story ‘Breast-Giver’. The special focus is on how intergenerational dialogue can illuminate and transform understanding of women’s unpaid care work, their oppression in socio-cultural space, and economic exclusion from the capitalist market. The narrative of Jashoda, a Brahmin woman who becomes a wet nurse due to economic vulnerability, serves as a lens to explore the intersections of caste, class, and gender in a patriarchal capitalist society. By using Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality, the paper investigates how Jashoda’s multiple identities collectively intersect and shape her exploitation and thus render her labour both essential and invisible. The paper uses theoretical perspectives of various feminist theorists such as Silvia Federici, Indira Hirway, and Hannah Telling to contextualise Devi’s story within broader socio-economic frameworks. The analysis critiques the romanticisation of motherhood and caregiving and further interrogates the sexual division of labour that ignores women’s work both within household and beyond. The paper identifies that intergenerational dialogue is crucial for challenging internalised ideals of women’s sacrifice and servility. The lack of mutual comprehension and empathy between two generations, as depicted in the story between the central character Jashoda and the next generation daughters-in-law, helps to identify women’s exclusion from public spaces despite their fundamental role in social reproduction. It makes an earnest attempt to bridge that gap between two generations and promote mutual understanding.

Archana Gupta

Assistant Professor at Amity School of Languages, Amity University, Lucknow

Dr Archana Gupta is an Assistant Professor at Amity School of Languages, Amity University, Lucknow. She holds an M.Phil. in English, has passed the National Eligibility Test, and was awarded a UGC Junior Research Fellowship. She earned her doctorate in December 2017 on The Rhetoric of Selfhood: A Study of Select South-Asian Women Writers' Autobiographies. Dr Gupta has presented papers at national and international conferences, and her research has been published in reputed journals. Recently, she has published her paper titled ‘An Investigation into Students’ Perception of Translation in English Language Learning: A Survey Based Study’ in the Scopus Indexed Journal, Lex Localis – Journal of Local Self-Government.