Native Canadian writing and 'Halfbreed'

Native Canadian writing in terms of form of autobiography:

Abstract:

                The present paper focuses on the elements of autobiography and how the present autobiography ‘Halfbreed’ is use full to know about the lives of Native Canadian. Autobiography is not only the presentation of the ‘one’s self’ but it’s the presentation of the person’s socio historical and political context. This paper will also focus on the term Native, Metis, and aboriginal. How these people suffers because of imperialism, race, colonization and identity. Identity is something like that which will come always along with you. Apart from that we also try to know how different ideologies and states apparatus work within the society. What Marx says, what we see is the superstructure of the society, we need to see or understand the base (Capitalism). How the white projecting the history of Native Metis as inferior by using media and how white gaze works within the Canadian society.

Keywords: Halfbreed, Native, Self, Metis, race, identity.

Introduction:

            Why do we need to write? In order to survive any culture or tradition writing is very important and writing direct relates to the knowledge. If the knowledge is lost, the Native identity will be lost. Here we come across with native culture and native identity in the present autobiography ‘Halfbreed’ 1973. It generally happens in the case of autobiography that it sometimes full of resistance and rebel, if it were written by a marginalized person. For example, in India Dalit autobiography, Afro-Americans autobiographical writers show their anger and frustration. Here the present work is also the result of frustration and anger which came through her pen and paper. Campbell writes, “I tried being the militant speaker and the activist…. That’s when I realized that… writing was the best way to reach people” (190).

Native Canadian writing and Halfbreed:

            Autobiography primarily means ‘auto’ (self), ‘bio’ (life) and ‘graphy’ (writing). Now a day we call it life writing or self-formation. This autobiography deals with the violence of race and identity in the social world, its accent on collective suffering, experiencing of humiliation and community formation. It is deeply rooted in the Enlightenment project of modernity and rationality. It’s concern with the representation of the self in relation with the outer world. This narrative negotiates with the private, the public, the social, and the political barriers. Actually it is not like the tradition autobiographies which suggest a certain power of the personality over society. The question is why people write autobiography? Because it is became the transcendental narrative, where the act of writing helps the narrator cross the limitation of the self itself (Pascal 39).

            Here Maria Campbell’s autobiography Halfbreed rebirth the Native biographical genre. It generally provides the clear picture of the Matis community. Now let see how she describes the problems related to aboriginal and Metis.  It begins with the Metis history of Northwest Territories. The history includes Red River Rebellion 1869, the battle at Batoche 1884 and Louis Riel was hangedas a result of it. She gives the outline of these incidents in first chapter. It means that the opening of the autobiography is from the rebellion. She writes,

“I believe that one day; very soon, people will set aside their differences and come together as one.  Maybe not because we love one another, but because we will need each other to survive. Then together we will fight our common enemies.” (184)

            She holds a positive outlook towards her people and to see the Metis as distinct from either Indian or Whites. In order to understand this work first we need to understand what Metis means.  Metis means a person of mixed blood; especially often capitalized: the offspring of an American Indian and a person of European ancestry (dictionary). Here the writers herself is Metis and brought up by Metis family. Let us do the epistemological study of Metis. These mixed blood generally called ‘Half-breed’ means neither fully this nor that.  The seed of the Metis community was from the Red River Rebellion in 1869 and battle at Batoche. These half-breeds were defeated at Batoche in 1884. These half-breeds establish Matis history and politically struggle of Rial. The origin of Metis was in the Red River during 1800 and now they located in north. Where they fight with Hudson’s Bay Company and finally formed government in 1869 (Web). Loosely speaking the Metis develops form a mixed race descendants of unions between, first nation women and western European men. Now Metis recognized as an Aboriginal people.

            Here we can truly say that Halfbreed is the story of Campbell’s retelling of Native history in a revolutionary tone and this is a rereading of the hegemonic writing of the Metis history. Here first she illustrated the nature of Halfbreed people and their origin. The above lines shows that she believes in a whole family and instead of being shame full she take pride on her Metis Identity. No doubt in the first part she describes the poverty and economical problem faced by her family but she draws the happy picture of her childhood days. She also describes about Cheechum her grandmother as her best friend. She passed most of the time with her. Here Cheechum’s dual awareness can be seen through conveyor of the corporate past and the prophet of the future. She does the class based analysis of society.

            She also describes Native and halfbreed as superstitious people. She remembers about the Native medicine and the power of the word which are closely related to the oral tradition and their knowledge.The description shows that Campbell’s early life is full withthe memory of the Native Community like Christmas, Funeral, marriage etc.

            Here Cheechum represent the symbol of hope. She knew about the politics and Native Organizations and their activities. She has seen many failures. Cheechup tells Maria, “Wait my girl, it will come. I’ve waited for ninety years and …. You will feel discouraged like this many times in your life but, like me you’ll wait.”(76-77). She encourages Maria to take part actively in Native organizations. This shows the spirit of the Natives. She knows that the main issue of her community was overheard and never paid much attention by government. This also leads to the painful struggle of Metis Community in Canada during 19^th century. Because of this they are being called ‘Road Allowance people’.

Though they are the true native of the country, they don’t have a proper identity. Halfbreeds are created by subjective externalization in western Canada because of many reasons. The government is not in favor with them, this lead them to move toward side tracks. Here she try to portraying her collective identity she writes, “It’s not my story I’m telling; it’s the story of a people” (85). This is direct resistance against the non-Aboriginal society and government who set up different discourses in order to hide their own identity as Native. This resistance will be helpful for the critics of post-colonial theory.

Campbell writes, “Go out there and find what you want and take it, but always remember who you are and why you want it” (98). This emphasize on the fact that they belong to a particular community. Campbell also writes that there is inner conflict between the Native part of her and her desire for the upper-class wealth and lifestyle available to whites is the root of her identity conflict and downfall. A theoretical movement called ‘post-positivism realism’will help to understand these multiple identities within Halfbreed.Actually this movement attempts to reclaim identity as a meaningful term of analysis without falling into restrictive claims.

            There are two other aboriginal writers like Duke Redbird and George Manuel take excerpts from Halfbreed and published in Maclean’s magazine under the title of “Death of a great Spirit: Canada’s Indians speak out.” This shows the history of halfbreed how they tragically ruined. This magazine helps Halfbreed to spread out among the readers. Then critics take aboriginal identity as an essential critical and political concept. Apart from that Beth Paul said on radio about Halfbreedas ‘A New Native Literature’ that forming non-Indians about us (native people) as People’ There is also a movement called ‘Aboriginal Nationalism’ which leads by aboriginal scholars and fight for their problems. But we need to remember that the influence of one culture on the other is natural and that develop ones identity accordingly. This generally happens during the colonization. This aspect can be clearly seen in Halfbreed, we can call it as the resistance and rebel against colonial policies and attitudes. Campbell writes, “I write this for all of you, to tell you what it is like to be a halfbreed woman in our country” (8).

            This text is not only resist and rebel against the prevailing norms of government but also generalized, idealized, and de-historicized the social condition. It means this text possesses both the element like resistance and connection because it also connects the native people. It also shows the effect of colonization when she reduced to a ‘cold, rich and unreal’ sexual tool and drug addict. Here ‘cold’ means an absence of humanity. She is fascinated by the white symbol of success. It shows the colonization of Maria’s subjectivity by the economic necessity. She writes, “”no worse sin in this county than to be poor” (61). She faces with the gender ideology and race ideology which force her to be a whore-housewife. An employer claims that Indians are “only good for two things – working and fucking” (108). It’s the example of gender ideology.  The beauty of the prostitute, serves economic necessity for person. She writes, “A beautiful world full of beautiful people with no feeling of guilt or shame” (137). Guilt and shame are emotions that Metis and Indians have is the result of colonization. It is generally defined by the white the dominant, the term “Indianans”. It is the result of White gaze.

It is both for their resistance and empowerment. The same thing found in another autobiography named Thunder through My Veins (1999) by Gregory Scofield. Actually Halfbreed makes him to write about his own life struggle because Halfbreed provide him the sense of connection to a larger community. Her person story is relational, summarizes into struggles, frustrations, and dreams of the oppressed.  Generally this tone can be found in most of the autobiography by the marginalized or oppressed people. They use writing as a tool to express their anger. Here two things play very important role i. e. Land and History.That’s why we can say that Halfbreed Theory works as Tradition knowledge of the indigenous people of Canada.

Conclusion:

            Here we sum up that In Halfbreed, Maria Campbell challenges Eurocentric standards also in term of genre. She uses the form of autobiography to subvert the imperialist history. Here she also breaks the linear history in Halfbreed which can be mark as decolonization. She uses the oral tradition to create her characters. This autobiography through the private life Maria provides us the clear picture of the Metis community and their problems. It means that writing an autobiography is not a personal one but it creates the collective or community feeling.

References:

1)      Campbell, Maria. Halfbreed.Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1973. Print.

2)      Miner, A.T. Dylan. “Halfbreed Theory: Maria Campbell’s Storytelling as Indigenous Knowledge and Une Petite Michin.” Maria Campbell Selected Essays. Print.

3)      Lundgren, Jodi. “Being a Half-breed” Discourses of Race and Cultural Syncreticisty in the Works of Three Metis Women Writers.Print.

On Dreams (1901) By Sigmund Freud.

On Dreams (1901) By Sigmund Freud.

Abstract:

“Dreams” We hardly find any person who never dreamt. But have we ever tried to think why we dream or how a dream is built and why it is built or suppose we dream then why we forget it or do dreams have any connection with ours daily life. We have so many questions related to the notion of dream. Here the present paper is tried to answer these questions with the help of Freud’s Dream Theory.Primarily this term is coined by the medical and philosophicalwriters; they consider it as the mental activities of subject during sleep. But the problem is they do not have scientific justification for that.This paper will also focus on what is the content of dreams and how to access the unconscious through psycho-analysis in order to know about the repressed desires of the subject. Also try to know what the language of drams is and how to interpret with dreams. To answer these questions we take Freud’s work On Dreams and The Interpretation of Dreams.

On Dreams:

“Dreams are the product of a dissociated and uncritical mental activity.” - Freud

            The present essayOn Dreams published in 1901 the beginning of twentieth century. On Dreamsand the Interpretation of Dreamshas createdanodal position in psychology and bring revolutionary change in our knowledge of the structure and function of the mind and psychology. The method Freud uses in the investigation of dream is termed by him as Psycho-analysis.This essay consists of some different elements of the dream whichare discussed below.

1)     The scientific and popular views on dreams constructed:

Before Freud there are certain pre-existing views on dream. The pre-scientific people consider dream as a product of dreamers own mind. Schubert declares, “Dreams are liberation of the spirit from the power of external nature, and a feeling of the soul from the bonds of the senses” (Freud 448). Further Scherner and Volket define dream in The Dream Imagination, “Dreams arise essentially from mental impulses and represent manifestations of mental forces which have been prevented from expanding freely during the daytime.” Both the definition put stress on the element of memory.

Now the essay begins with the arguments that ‘dreams have stood in need of explanation’ (448). SoFreud described the dream mechanism in The interpretation of Dreams. Here Freud’s greatest discovery is the Unconscious, the Conscious, and the Preconscious in his psychological system. Later on Freud modifies the slightly and called the new subsystems as the Id (unconscious), the Ego (conscious) and the Superego. The function of Unconscious is like storeroom which consists of the repressed wish and desires. It contains unpleasant feeling or trauma. Our desires are controlled by the Conscious which is build according to the socio-cultural rules of society. Ego creates the sense of ‘self’, what is to be a normal man.The more you repress your desires the more normal you are. The first thing represent in unconscious is called ‘libido’ or sexual desire but not always. According to Freud while the subject is sleeping Conscious also called censorship slightly loosen the control over the unconscious, then these repressed desires come into dreams in order to maintain the psychological balance. It’s called temporary wish fulfilments. This is primary idea about how dream triggers in mind.

Generally he classified dreams into the three categories. The first that are sensible and intelligible in which the mental processes fully resemble those of waking life; such especially are the dreams of children. The second which are connected and have an evident meaning but it’s not resembles to the waking life because it has a curious or surprising element in it. For example, a person dreams his son dead by an accident. The third is where the mental process disconnected, confused, and senseless. It has the quality of strangeness and unreality which Freud calls ‘illusion’. 

2)     Manifest and Latent Content of Dreams:

The content of Dream helps in psychological investigation, the solution of phobias, obsession, obsessions, and delusions etc. (448). The procedure of psychotherapy helps for the explanation of dreams. For that reason we need to understand what manifest and latent content of dream is. The Latent content loosely called the dream thoughts which characterised manifest content. The latent content or dream thought is a logical part of the subject’s mental life and contains none of the absurdities which generate manifest content of most dreams.

The manifest content of most dreams depicts a situation or rather an action, so that we can call it the theatrical representation. They provide the material or dream-content for dream. Every element of the manifest content represents several dream thoughts and latent content is brought by a true condensation. Freud mentioned two problems in relation to manifest and latent content of dreams; first what is the psychical process which has transformed the latent content of the dream into the manifest one. Second what are the motive/motives which have necessitated this transformation? (451). He describes the process which transforms the latent into the manifest content is called ‘dream-work’ which has a meaning and deserve all our attention.

3)     The dreams as Realization of Unfulfilled Desire:

Mostlythis happens in child’s dream sometimes also in adults. Children are not able to make distinction between the reality and dreams which is attained by the adults. That is why adults simply use a phrase “Oh! It was just a dream.” The wish which is not fulfilled in reality is fulfilled in dreams. Freud comes up with this argument after analysis some children dreams that “All of them fulfilled wises which were active during the day and had remained unfulfilled. The dreams were simple and undisguised wish-fulfilments.”(452) For Example, An eight year old boy had a dream that he was driving in a chariot with Achilles and that Diomede was the charioteer. It was shown because he had a great identification of the Greek heroes. It means dream has the connection with the day time life. He terms for that ‘infantile type of dream’.

4)     Dream Mechanism – Condensation, Dramatization and Displacement:

The dreammechanism consist two main elements which are Condensation and Displacement. It can also be called as the distorting mechanisms. Let us first understand these two terms. Dream combines different images and produces one image is called ‘Condensation’. For example in dream all my CUG friends are at my native place although they don’t have any connection to that place. There are many sorts of ways in which condensation takes place like figures can be put together like single figure by giving it the features of two people, we can call it ‘collective person’. If this fusion has taken place in the latent content then the process is called Identification where dreamer put himself instead of the subject. Freud writes, “Condensation, together with the transformation of thoughts into situations (dramatization), is the most important and peculiar characteristic of the dream-work” (455).

Trivial or sometimes unimportant things come back into dream is called ‘Displacement’. For example a casual visit at our friend’s house in dreams. Because of Displacement mechanism the most dreams contain so many indifferent and minor impressions of the previous day. To understand a dream and make connection between the dram-content and dream-thoughts Freud calls it “Dream-displacement.” He also calls it a trans-valuation of all psychical values. A connection is to be found the content of the dream with any impression of the previous day that impression is so trivial that only we can recall it and it becomes the dream-instigator. These images create a visual picture by using different symbols or pictorial in mind is called Dramatization. When dream thought became the form of visual picture Freud terms it Regression which is the raw material for dream. In the formation of dream Condensation and Displacement combine to produce the result.

5)     Three Classes of Dreams:

As I wrote before that dreams are undisguised wish-fulfilments, which is left during daytime life. In that case the dream-situation represents as fulfilled a wish which is known to consciousness. They are repressed wishes of the subject. Here the famous belief about dream is that it is foretell of the future which is now confirmed. Really speaking the situation which is occurred in dream is not future but we like to be occurred it. It means what it wishes, it believes. We can classify dreams into three categories according to their wish-fulfilment. First consist of an unrepressed wish undisguised like infantile dream. Second consist of repressed wish disguisedly, it requires analysis before it can be understood. Third represent a repressed wish, it sometime generates because of anxiety, andanxiety takes place of dream-distortion.

6)     Why The Dream disguises the desire – The Censorship:

As we discussed above the function of conscious and unconscious what is rejected by the censorship is in a state of repression. Censorship helps to control the offensive elements because it never completely deny but merely reduced. It is just like the compromise between the two frontiers agency and the demands. This censorship recovers it power when sleep is over and it wipe out what is achieved in the dreams. Because of this we are unable to explain everything about our dreams what we have seen. That’s why we forget dreams.

7)     Normal and abnormal psychology and Dream symbolism:

Here we need to understand thatmost of the adults’ drams are of erotic wishes. Freud described it as ‘sexual dreams’. It doesn’t mean that dreams with an undisguised sexual content. In this type of drams dreamer make a person as sexual objectsof his choice. Freud calls it as ‘perversions’ (465). Generally it is considered as sexual wish-fulfilments, which are the representation of repressed erotic wishes. Freud observed that every civilized man retains the infantile forms of sexual life in some respect or other.

Dreamer use different ‘symbols’ to represent the private parts. Sometime dreamer himself doesn’t know the meaning of the symbols which are being used by him. For exampleknife, hills, sword, as male genital or cave, cupboard, box as uterus. Symbols like staircaserepresent sexual intercourse. For that reason the knowledge of dream symbolism is very important in the technique of dream interpretation. It is considered to be an ancient technique to interpret dream.Here we need to remember that symbol is an individual construction according to his or her ideation material and some symbols are universally spread. So the knowledge of symbolism is can be called as the language of dreams. It is the creation of dream-work. Symbolism gets its material for dream from unconscious for condensation, displacement, and dramatization.

Conclusion:

            At last we can say that dreams are a logical continuance of our waking mental life. We dream at night only about those matters which have taken place or we mostly concerned by day. In that case we can also say that dreams are differ from psycho-neurotic symptoms because both have the opposing wish, wish to sleep. In a sense we can call dreams as the guardian of sleep. Freud’s theory of psycho-analysis has the tremendous impact on the culture of twentieth century. It also becomes famous in literature. Yet it challenged by Lacan because he proved in his work The Insistence of the Letter in the Unconscious that “Unconscious is structured like language.”(Lacan 60)

References:

1)      Freud, Sigmund. “On Dreams (1901)” FREUD Complete Works. 448-467. Print.

2)      Jones, Ernest. “Freud’s Theory of Dreams.” The American Journal of Psychology 21.2 (1910): 283-308. Print.

3)      Freud, Sigmund. “The Interpretation of Dreams.” Daedalus, Twentieth-Century Classics Revisited 103.1 (1974): 91-96. Print.

4)      Trosman, Harry. “Freud’s Dream Theory”.

5)      Lacan, Jacques. “The Insistence of the Letter in the Unconscious.” Modern Criticism and Theory. Ed. David Lodge, Nigel Wood. London: Longman Publications, 1999. 61-88. Print.

Orientalism by Edward Said (1935-2004)

Orientalism by Edward Said (1935-2004)

Ø  He was Palestinian American writer and educator.

Ø  Highly criticize the Western portrayals of Arabs and United States foreign policy in the Middle East.

Ø  He identified with Conrad’s sense of being an exile and took inspiration from Conrad’s exploration of colonialism.

Ø  Best known for his book ‘Orientalism’ 1978, which discusses the attitude of Western intellectuals towards the east.

Ø  Argued that Westerner have a limited, oversimplified concept of the Middle East and its history. This view, he said goes hand in hand with political imperialism.

Ø  ‘Culture and Imperialism’ 1993 Drew similar perceptions from works of Western literature – perceptions of the east as the ‘other’ of peoples barbaric and limited, of oriental despots, and of cultures both exotic and degenerate.

Ø  He argued that these perceptions remain influential today and have an impact on politics, particularly towards the Middle East and Arabs.

Ø  Said’s ideas influenced a rising generation of educators in former colonies and formed the main foundation for the new field of post-colonial studies.

Ø  On the political front, Said was a powerful voice expressing the plight of the Palestinians as a people dispossessed of their homeland.

Ø  Said supported a Palestinian state and helped pave the way for secret peace negotiation between Israel and the PLO ‘Palestine Liberation Organization’ in Oslo.

The Beginning.

Ø  Said, Edward (1935-2004) an American literary critic, post-colonial theorist and political commenter.

Ø  He was a par proff of English and Comparative literature, at Columbia University, New York.

Ø  Said’s orientalism is perhaps one of the most influential texts of 20^th century, which Spivak calls, ‘A source book’ where Bhabha refers to it as, ‘Inaugurating the post-colonial field’.

Crisis (in Orientalism)

Ø  The present extract, called simply ‘crises’ in the original text, concludes the first section of the book entitled, ‘The Scope of Orientalism’.

What is Orientalism?

                Said’s argument borrows from Michel Foucault’s dual notions of discourse and knowledge as inextricably liked to power.

a)      Discourse is the conceptual terrain of thought, a system of ideas and opinion that section’s certain forms of knowledge.

b)      All ‘Will to knowledge’ is tied up with to power without prior knowledge about to subject of power.

Ø  Said argues that knowledge about the Orient (Asia, the east and non European cultures) was not disinterested or knowledge for the sake of knowledge; it preceded actually colonial practices.

Ø  Colonial practices (political, economic) necessitated the production of such knowledge. Hence, Orientalism was caused and was a by-product of colonization.

As we know Colonization is

                ‘Settlement on a new land far off… established control over the indigenous people of the colony’

                Now, the question is why, would one seek settlement in a new and far off land?

Ø  The reason is simple, to exploits the resources like natural resources, human resources, intellectual resources and so on.

Ø  To cope with protest and resistance of native the colonizer applied two main strategies.

o   To defeat native politically ad establish their control over administration.

o   By making colonized (native) feel inferior (socially, culturally and so on.)

Ø  And to inject this inferiority in natives, colonizers constructed, ‘an objective and linear discourse.’

Ø  Where they proclaim that native was ‘an area of darkness’, and colonizers invaded natives for themselves but to enlighten their ignorant natives.

Ø  Such body of knowledge, to orient the understanding in a certain way is called ‘Orientalism’

 Hence Orientalism is …

                ‘A body of knowledge, (or discourse) about the orient by the people of occident.’

It was considered as a kind of favor to colonized (native)

Ø  For the first time this view of Orientalism was deconstructed by Edward Said, He stated that, the orientalism is not an objective or linear discourse, but a ‘political discourse.’

David Lodge defines the term Orientalism as…

                ‘The discourse of the West about the East, a huge body of text literary, topographical, anthropological, historical, and sociological – that has been accumulating since the Renaissance.’

Orientalism overrode the orient:

Ø  Said avers that during 19^th century orientalism produced a great many things, so far as its strictly scholarly work was concerned; it produced scholars, it increased the number of languages taught in the West and the large quantity of manuscript edited, and translated.

Ø  In many cases it provides the orient with sympathetic European studies – Students genuinely interested in such matters as Sanskrit grammar, Phoenician, numismatics, and Arabic poetry.

Anthropocentrism in Alliance:

Ø  Said further states that almost every Orientalist began his career as a philologist.

Ø  Moreover, he observes that the great philological discoveries in comparative grammar made by Jones, Franz, and Jacob Grimm were originally indebted to manuscripts brought from the East to Paris and London.

Ø  According to Said, Orientalism carried forward two traits from the outset.

o   A newly found scientific self-consciousness based on the linguistic importance of the orient to Europe.

o   A proclivity to divide, sub-divide and re-divide its subject matter without ever changing its mind about the orient as being always the same unchanging uniform.

Ø  Said gives an examples of Friedrich Schlegel, who learned his Sanskrit in Paris, when Schlegel said, ‘It is in the orient that we must search for the highest Romanticism.’

Ø  He must the orient of Sakuntala, the Zend-Avesta, and the Upanishads. Nowhere does Schlegel talk about the living, contemporary orient.

Summing Up:

                Hence, the crisis in Orientalism dramatizes the disparity between texts and reality. Said not only to expose the sources of Orientalism’s view but also to reflect on its importance. Apart from this Said is also known for his other works like, ‘Covering Islam’ 1981, ‘The politics of Dispossession’ 1994, ‘Out of Place’ 1999 and ‘Reflection on Exile’ 2001. Etc.

the narration of pain in Binodini Dasi’s autobiography.

Write a short paper response on the narration of pain in Binodini Dasi’s autobiography.

Ø Introduction:

                Here we are going to discuss Binodini Dasi’s two literary works which are My Story and My life As an Actress. Through these works we try to see narration of pain in her autobiographical work. Moreover there are some incidents in her life which are quiet joyful, then why she continuously describes the pain of her life. The purpose of the present paper is to show how and why she mainly focuses on the sadness of her life and also try to see wither it is applicable to all the actresses of her time. Or does she try to show the real condition of female actors within the Bengali theatre and culture.

Ø The Narration of Pain:

                Binodini Dasi is a well known name in the history of Bengal theatre. She was such an exceptional actress that within the short period of twelve years of her professional life, she performed more than eighty main roles on the theatre. Though she was a fabulous star, her life was full of hard ship, struggle and pain. That can be seen in her autobiographical work Amar Katha (My Story, 1912) and Amar Abhinetri Jiban (My Life as an Actress, 1924/25). There are some reasons why she faced so much despair i.e. economical problems, sudden death of her family members, and betrayal by trusted people. The most important was her social status.

During the colonial time most of the female roles were played by the aristocrat (bhadra) men. It could not be so much impressive, that is why the organizers wanted the women for the female characters. For that reason they recruited women. Most of the female actresses generally came from the prostitution, abandoned women or widows generally they were belonged to the lower class. They were either prostitutes or their children. Being borne as a woman is a cursed in Indian society. Moreover being a woman and a prostitute then there is no way out. It does not matter that the woman is a big star like Binodini; society will never give them respect or never accept them.

Most of them were recruited from the prostitute quarters (since no bhadramahila could be found to perform with the bhdralok), the stage actress was already read as a ‘fallen woman’ and outside of the nineteenth century projects being constructed for woman. (Introduction, 5)

It creates the lack of cultural identity. And this lack generally causes the pain. In these two books also, we constantly can see the binary aspects like inner reality of soul and outer reality of body. No one knows what Binodini really feels inside. Sometimes she also asks questions like where is her choice, who is responsible for her condition. That’s why she consistently describes her ‘story’ as a (bedona-gatha) a narrative of pain, despair or melancholy. It is her desire to see her pain in ink and in print.  From the very begging of the book one can find the outburst of pain look at these lines.

There is no one in this world before whom I can lay bare my pain, for the world sees me as a sinner – a fallen woman. I have no kith or kin, no society, no friend – no one is this world whom I may call my own. (Preface, 51)

Her life was full of despair from her childhood itself. They did not have enough money to survive. Her younger brother was the only male in her family. And the sudden death of her brother created major gap in her family. Then her mother also became mad for few days. She did not get much education but it was her desire to educate her daughter because she knew that only through education her daughter would get social acceptance and herself too. The book My Story is full of worst adjectives used for her like a fallen woman (patita), unfortunate (abhagini), despised and despicable (ghrinita), a sinner (papi), and repeatedly calls herself as a prostitute (barnari). If we compare both the books we find both as the brilliant actress as well as the wretched fallen woman. She lived as the mistress of Gurumukh Rai after took leave from the stage. And after his death she lived in isolation no one knew what happen to her after that.

When she entered onto the stage, she was treated well but betrayed by trusted persons. First incident the preface was not written by Girish babu even after her request. Second she was also betrayed by a young rich man who was her protector. Gurumukh-babu and Dasu-babu had promised her to give her name to the new theatre the ‘B theatre’ but surprisingly they fixed name under the title ‘The Star’. They betrayed her in spite of she had spend lots of money and labor to establish this new theatre. Means she came across such a pathetic experience of her life. In both of the books we can see the continuous narration of pain of the fallen woman.

Reference:

1)     Dasi. Binodini., My Story and My Life as an Actress, trans. Rimli Bhattacharya.,

Kali for Women, New Delhi. 1998. Print.

Prepared by

Manoj Dalsaniya