'Draupadi' is a short story written by Mahasweta Devi. It takes us into the life of Dopdi Mejhen. She is described in the first few lines of the short story as "Name Dopdi Mejhen, age twenty-seven, husband Dulna Majhi (deceased), domicile Cherakhan, Bankrajharh, information whether dead or alive and/or assistance in arrest, one hundred rupees … Continue reading Mahasweta Devi’s ‘Draupadi’: The Symbolism of a Name
Tag: Postcolonial Literature
The Namesake and Diaspora
The Namesake, published in 2003, is the first novel written by Jhumpa Lahiri. Lahiri was born to Indian parents in England who then moved to America while she was still a child, making her a part of the Indian diasporic community. This theme of Diaspora is recurrent in her writings, including The Namesake. In the … Continue reading The Namesake and Diaspora
Tragedy in Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, is a landmark text in African writing in English. At the most basic level, the novel is a story about Okonkwo, his rise to status in the Igbo community and the subsequent fall culminating, eventually, in his suicide. The combination of hubris and misfortune that leads to … Continue reading Tragedy in Things Fall Apart
Inter-generational Liberation in Ama Ata Aidoo’s ‘The Girl Who Can’
'The Girl Who Can' is a short story by Ama Ata Aidoo. Set in a village in Ghana, the story takes us into the world of Adjoa, the seven-year-old protagonist, who lives with her mother (Maami) and grandmother (Nana). Set in a household comprising only of three generations of women, the grandmother-the mother- the daughter, … Continue reading Inter-generational Liberation in Ama Ata Aidoo’s ‘The Girl Who Can’
The ‘Treasures’ in Bessie Head’s ‘The Collector of Treasures’
The short story 'The Collector of Treasures' was published in Bessie Head's collection of short stories - The Collector of Treasures: and other Botswana Village Tales. The story is about a woman named Dikeledi Mokopi who is charged with the murder of her husband, Garesego, and imprisoned. The story starts with her journey to her … Continue reading The ‘Treasures’ in Bessie Head’s ‘The Collector of Treasures’
Reading Marquez
At the beginning of 2020 I read two of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novels, namely Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Of Love and Other Demons, and it is these novels that I am going to talk about (read: gush over). The plot of Chronicle of a Death Foretold revolves around the attempt of the narrator … Continue reading Reading Marquez
Not So Random Ramblings 