Author: Mahasweta Devi
Publisher: Seagull Books
Year: 1997
Language: English
Pages: 156
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8170461383
Description
Translated from original Bengali, this piece of short fiction was earlier adapted and produced as a play in Hindi and later made into an acclaimed full length feature film.
Rudali is a powerful short story, revolving around the life of Sanitary, a poor, lowcaste village woman. It is an acidly ironic tale of exploitation and struggle, and above all, of survival.
In both incarnations of 'Rudali', it has been a woman who has wrought and rewrought this text which revolves around the life of a woman; and each version of Rudali can be read as an important feminist text for contemporary India.
Both the short story and the play are included in this volume, along with an introductory essay that studies how and why the versions are different and what the changes signify, leading to an analysis of how the metamorphosis of Rudali allows us to address the simultaneity and asymmetry of feminist positions in this country today.