Postcolonialism in Hayavadana

Abstract: Girish Karnad’s play Hayavadana has various cultural implications. This play also deals with every people, almost all characters of the play represent the term of ‘hybridity’ so characterization of Hayavadana is indeed remarkable. Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana represents hybridity in the most elaborate manner and Karnad’s postcoloniality is a result of his innovative application of traditional dramatic forms. After colonialism Indian drama was suffering from acute identity crisis, which gave birth to hybrid dramatic forms. Karnad uses both plots as a catalyst to arrive the theme of hybridity and fragmented identity. This play starts with an invocation of Lord Ganesh, who known as ‘Vigneswara’ or the ‘destroyer of obstacle’. Apart from the religious and cultural significance Lord Ganesh is brought at the beginning of the play intentionally. It represents that Lord Ganesha is hybrid, though he is invoked as the destroyer of incompleteness. Hayavadana, who has man’s body and a horse’s head, hybridity also portrayed through him, here we also see how mind or intellect is superior. As he finds his completeness and he change into a complete horse through the bless of goddess Kali. The most important characters, Devdatta and Kapila are play the theme of hybridity in Hayavadana. They present hybridity between minds and bodies that are not ordinarily consistent. When Kapila and Devdatta’s heads get transposed, then Padmini transposes their heads, giving Devdatta Kapila’s body and Kapila Devdatta’s. Here we see hybridity, which is important term of Bhabha’s theory on postcolonialism. We also see the separation of mind and body. Like the colonized people who borrowed western intellect to become superior and lose their native identity and become hybrid instead of western. Here Karnad did not directly mention east-west concept directly, but presented it through one’s own body, it means presents hybridity between physical and psychological. The concept of subalternity also presented in this play, through the character of Kapila and Padmini, as they have not power to say something against the upper caste people and male dominated society. Subalternity is another key concept of postcolonialism. Descarte’s theory of ‘cartesian dualism’ is also presented in Karnad’s Hayavadana, as we see supremacy of mind except body. Key words: hybridity, colonialism, identity crisis, postcolonialism, subalternity, cartesian dualism