Recovery or Reinscripition? Feminist Translation and the Politics of Representing Subaltern Women in Mahasweta Devi's Work

Sonali Biswas

Feminist Translation, subaltern women, translation politics, postcolonial studies, power and language, representation

The paper entitled "Recovery or Reinscription? Feminist Translation and the Politics of Representing Subaltern Women in Mahasweta Devi's Work," interrogates the ambivalent role of translation as both a site of recovery and a mechanism of reinscription in the representation of subaltern women, with specific reference to the English translations of Mahasweta Devi. Devi's Bengali writings foreground the lived experiences of tribal and marginalized women, articulating forms of resistance that challenge dominant socio-political structures. Translation has enabled these narratives to reach a wider, global readership, positioning them within transnational feminist discourse. However, this movement across linguistic and cultural boundaries is fraught with tensions. The study argues that while translation appears to "recover" silenced voices, it may simultaneously reinscribe them within hegemonic frameworks shaped by the target language, readership, and publishing industry. Through close readings of key texts such as "Draupadi" and "Stanadayini (Breast-Giver)", the paper examines how culturally specific idioms, subaltern speech patterns, and embodied expressions of resistance are negotiated - or, at times attenuated - in English translation. Particular attention is given to the politics of language, including the loss, transformation, or domestication of caste, gender, and indigenous markers. Drawing on feminist translation theory and subaltern studies, the paper conceptualises the translator not as a neutral mediator but as an active agent whose interpretative choices shape the contours of subaltern representation. It further explores the ethical implications of translating voices that are already structurally marginalized, questioning whether translation can authentically preserve subaltern agency or inevitably reframes it within dominant epistemologies. Ultimately, the paper highlights the need for more self-reflexive and politically conscious translation practices. By examining the tension between recovery and reinscription, it contributes to ongoing debates on voice, power, and representation in postcolonial literary and translation studies.

Volume 14 Issue 4, April-2026

Pages : k274-k278