Gendered Labour and Caste Hierarchies: A Comparative Study of Domestic and Ritual Labour in Sangati and Rudali

Abstract

This study examines the representation of women’s labour in Sangati by Bama and Rudali by Mahasweta Devi through a comparative literary approach. While much literary scholarship has addressed marginalised women’s experiences, comparatively little attention has been given to how different forms of gendered labour, particularly domestic and ritual labour, are represented and valued in literature. The objective of this study is to analyse how these texts portray women’s labour within the intersecting structures of caste, class, and gender. Using close textual analysis and comparative thematic reading, the study explores how Rudali represents ritual grief as a form of paid emotional labour, whereas Sangati presents the everyday unpaid domestic labour of marginalised women. The analysis highlights both contrasts and similarities in the visibility and recognition of labour, showing that ritual mourning becomes a public and paid activity while domestic labour remains largely private and socially unrecognised. The study also examines how the writers’ distinct narrative styles, Devi’s politically oriented realist narration and Bama’s oral, communitycentred voice, shape the literary representation of women’s labour. Through this comparative analysis, the study contributes to understanding the complex ways in which marginalised women’s labour is experienced, valued, and represented in Indian literature.