Representing and Resisting Rape: Re-appropriation of the Female Body in Usha Ganguly’s Hum Mukhtara

IF 0.1 4区 文学 0 LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS
S. Ghosh, Rajni Singh
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Abstract

ABSTRACT Women, from time immemorial, are always considered subservient to men, and they have remained at the disposal of the head of the family, the father. They are denied their basic human rights and the ‘biological control over their bodies’ as woman is the sexual property of her family and at the same time her body is negotiated for sustaining family honour. The female body is subjected to regulation and control in order to achieve the intended docility, a process through which power is dissociated from the body. The guardianship of women’s bodies make men proud possessor of property rights as well as self-acclaimed protector from their enemies. The body of the woman is the site for contesting where men can take revenge upon other men by violating her sexuality, thus, taking revenge on her ‘owner.’ Usha Ganguly’s play, Hum Mukhtara, an adaptation of Mukhtar Mai’s sensational and inspirational autobiography, In the Name of Honor: A Memoir, registers the protest of a victim of an institution sanctioned gang rape who later became one of the foremost figures of women empowerment in one of the most hostile countries for women in the world, Pakistan. Although the play brings out the inhuman brutality of the patriarchal society, it is a play of hope and inspiration as the protagonist emerges victorious by transcending the notions of ‘izzat’ (honour) and stigma to fight back against her tormentors, turning her docile body into a site of resistance. The present paper seeks to interrogate Usha Ganguly’s use of the theatrical space in the play to protest against the materialisation and objectification of female body by advocating forcefully for the empowerment of women and emancipation from their bodily constrictions.
再现与抵抗强奸:乌莎·甘古利《胡姆·穆赫塔拉》中对女性身体的再占有
自古以来,女人就被认为是男人的附庸,她们一直听命于一家之主,即父亲。他们被剥夺了基本人权和“对自己身体的生物控制”,因为妇女是其家庭的性财产,同时她的身体是为维持家庭荣誉而谈判的。女性的身体受到调节和控制,以达到预期的顺从,这是一个权力与身体分离的过程。对女性身体的监护使男性自豪地成为财产权的拥有者,同时也自诩为免受敌人侵害的保护者。女人的身体是竞争的场所,男人可以通过侵犯她的性向其他男人报复,从而报复她的“主人”。乌莎·甘古利的戏剧《胡姆·穆赫塔拉》改编自穆赫塔尔·迈耸人听闻、鼓舞人心的自传《以荣誉之名:回忆录》,讲述了一名机构批准的轮奸受害者的抗议,她后来成为世界上对女性最不友好的国家之一巴基斯坦妇女赋权的重要人物之一。虽然这部剧展现了男权社会的非人残暴,但它是一部充满希望和灵感的戏剧,因为女主角超越了“izzat”(荣誉)和耻辱的概念,战胜了折磨她的人,把她温顺的身体变成了反抗的场所。本文试图探究Usha Ganguly在剧中对戏剧空间的运用,通过有力地倡导赋予妇女权力和从她们的身体束缚中解放出来,来抗议女性身体的物化和物化。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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CiteScore
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