‘Feminine’ in Subaltern: Maliniyas of Salhesh Gatha

Abstract

Folk narratives are cultural repositories of societal values and meanings. This paper examines the changing meanings of feminine and femineity for the subalterns in Mithila region of Bihar. It is based on a study of three texts with Raja Salhesh as the central character. These texts mark critical junctures in the history of the region in relation to the nation and its political vibrations. The paper attempts to analyse these disparate texts as reflective of the transformations in female agency and sexuality in cultural discourse centred around dalits. The questions of representation of the ‘other’- the ‘colonial lens’, ‘caste-glance’ as well as the ‘male-gaze’ are important intersectional pivots of analysis.