Historicizing Brati: A Journey of Sujata’s Memories in Mahasweta Devi’s Mother of 1084

Abstract

Mahasweta Devi’s Mother of 1084 has a trope of returning to the past events, after a tragedy. This trope is central to both the plot and act of narration of the protagonist, Sujata. Sujata’s journey to the past is not just part of a thematic element, but also a narrative strategy through which Mahasweta Devi casts an indirect gaze on the Naxalite world. This study analyses Sujata’s trip into the past by focusing on different subsets of memory involved in her journey which Mahasweta Devi employs throughout the novel. Devi’s Mother of 1084 entirely is a narrative from the perspective of a bereaved Sujata after having lost her son Brati to unknown circumstances. By referring to the theoretical underpinnings of renowned scholars from the field of Memory Studies, including Jacques Lacan, Endel Tulving, Chris Brewin, and Kurt Danziger, this study explores how different memory subsets that of recollection, reminiscence, episodes, semantics, and flashbacks of the characters in the novel come together to historicise the memory of the deceased (Brati). The study then attempts to understand memory’s role as the focal point in bringing an artistic sense to the novel.