TRANSLATION STUDIES Unit II: Drama

 

TRANSLATION STUDIES

Unit II: Drama

10 Two-Mark Questions and Answers

1. Who wrote The Legend of Nandan?
   Answer: Indira Parthasarathy.
2. What is the central theme of The Legend of Nandan?
   Answer: The theme revolves around caste oppression, religious devotion, and social justice.
3. Who is the protagonist in The Legend of Nandan?
   Answer: Nandan is the protagonist.
4. What is the historical context of The Legend of Nandan?
   Answer: The play is set in medieval South India, focusing on the Bhakti movement.
5. Who wrote Rudali?
   Answer: Mahasweta Devi.
6. What social issue is highlighted in Rudali?
   Answer: The issue of caste exploitation and the plight of lower-caste women in rural India.
7. What does the title Rudali refer to?
   Answer: Rudali refers to professional mourners, typically lower-caste women who are hired to cry at funerals.
8. What type of character is Shanichari in Rudali?
   Answer: Shanichari is a resilient lower-caste widow who becomes a professional mourner.
9. What is the tone of The Legend of Nandan?
   Answer: The tone is contemplative and critical, dealing with religious devotion and social inequality.
10. What literary device is prominently used in Rudali?
    Answer: Symbolism is used to critique the social order, with death and mourning symbolizing oppression and resilience.

5 Five-Mark Questions and Answers

1. Discuss the theme of caste in The Legend of Nandan.
   Answer: In The Legend of Nandan, Indira Parthasarathy presents caste oppression as a central theme. The protagonist, Nandan, a low-caste man, transcends social hierarchies through his devotion to Lord Shiva. His spiritual journey critiques the rigid caste system, suggesting that divine grace does not distinguish between high and low castes. The play highlights how religion, often used to enforce caste divisions, can also serve as a medium for subverting such inequalities. The Bhakti movement, which emphasized devotion over ritualistic practices, provides the backdrop for this narrative.
2. Analyze the character of Shanichari in Rudali.
   Answer: Shanichari, the protagonist of Mahasweta Devi's Rudali, embodies the struggles of lower-caste women in rural India. Her life is filled with suffering—she loses her family members one by one and is forced into the profession of a Rudali to survive. Despite her hardships, Shanichari’s resilience and pragmatism stand out. She symbolizes the enduring spirit of marginalized women who navigate a cruel social system. Through her journey, Mahasweta Devi exposes the intersection of caste, gender, and poverty, making Shanichari a powerful figure of resistance against exploitation.
3. What role does religion play in The Legend of Nandan?
   Answer: Religion plays a dual role in The Legend of Nandan. On one hand, it acts as a tool for social control, with the upper-caste Brahmins using religious texts and practices to maintain their dominance. On the other hand, the Bhakti movement offers an alternative view, emphasizing personal devotion over ritualistic purity. Nandan’s devotion to Lord Shiva transcends caste boundaries, challenging the prevailing social order. Through Nandan’s story, the play critiques the way religion can be both a source of oppression and a path to liberation.
4. How does Rudali address the issue of exploitation?
   Answer: Rudali highlights the exploitation of lower-caste women by focusing on their economic and social vulnerabilities. Shanichari, the protagonist, is forced into the profession of a mourner due to extreme poverty. The upper-caste villagers exploit her grief and poverty, hiring her to perform at their funerals, a service that they would not perform themselves due to caste purity concerns. Mahasweta Devi uses this profession to symbolize the broader exploitation of marginalized women, who are often trapped in cycles of poverty and subjugation with no way out.
5. Compare the narrative styles of The Legend of Nandan and Rudali.
   Answer: The Legend of Nandan is written in a style that combines elements of historical drama and social critique. Indira Parthasarathy uses Nandan’s spiritual quest to address contemporary issues of caste and social justice, making the narrative both reflective and confrontational. Rudali, on the other hand, uses a more direct, realist style. Mahasweta Devi’s narrative is stark, focusing on the harsh realities of life for lower-caste women in rural India. While both plays address social injustice, The Legend of Nandan uses a more allegorical approach, whereas Rudali is grounded in the raw, everyday struggles of its characters.

1 Ten-Mark Essay Question and Answer

Question: Discuss the portrayal of caste and gender oppression in Indira Parthasarathy’s The Legend of Nandan and Mahasweta Devi’s Rudali.

Introduction:
Both Indira Parthasarathy’s The Legend of Nandan and Mahasweta Devi’s Rudali tackle the intersection of caste and gender oppression in Indian society. While The Legend of Nandan takes a historical and spiritual approach, Rudali deals with the harsh realities of contemporary life for lower-caste women. Despite their different settings and narrative styles, both plays offer powerful critiques of the ways in which caste and gender combine to create a system of exploitation and marginalization.

Caste Oppression in The Legend of Nandan:
In The Legend of Nandan, caste is depicted as a rigid social structure that denies individuals like Nandan the ability to transcend their prescribed roles. Nandan, a lower-caste devotee of Lord Shiva, experiences the oppressive power of the Brahminical order. Despite his devotion and spiritual purity, he is denied access to the divine by society’s hierarchical divisions. However, Nandan’s unwavering faith in Shiva allows him to bypass these human-imposed barriers, suggesting that devotion and spirituality are more powerful than societal structures. Parthasarathy uses Nandan’s story to criticize the caste system while also presenting an optimistic view of spiritual transcendence.

Caste and Gender Oppression in Rudali:
Mahasweta Devi’s Rudali is a more direct confrontation with the everyday realities of caste and gender oppression. Shanichari, the protagonist, is not only oppressed by her caste but also by her gender, as she is expected to endure both poverty and societal exploitation without complaint. Her profession as a Rudali—a paid mourner for the deaths of upper-caste men—symbolizes the commodification of grief and the ways in which the upper castes exploit the lower castes for both labor and emotional work. Shanichari’s character represents the resilience of women who, despite their oppressive circumstances, find ways to survive and subvert the systems that oppress them.

Gendered Experience of Oppression:
Both plays highlight how caste oppression is deeply gendered. In The Legend of Nandan, Nandan’s wife plays a supportive but secondary role, reflecting the limited scope for women’s agency within the caste system. However, in Rudali, Mahasweta Devi places a female protagonist at the center of the narrative, showing how women, particularly lower-caste women, face compounded oppression. Shanichari’s gender makes her more vulnerable to exploitation, but it also gives her a unique position within the social hierarchy, as her role as a mourner places her in contact with powerful families.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, both The Legend of Nandan and Rudali offer critical insights into the oppressive systems of caste and gender in Indian society. While Parthasarathy’s play offers a spiritual solution to caste oppression, Mahasweta Devi’s Rudali depicts the stark realities of life for lower-caste women, who must find their own ways to navigate a deeply unjust world. Together, these works highlight the intersectional nature of oppression and the resilience of those who endure it.