Multi-perspectives of Embodied Widowhood : The Resistance and Inherited Paradox around Sattras in Mamoni Roisom Goswami's The Moth-Eaten Howdah of the Tusker

Abstract With a background of the post-independence Assam, The Moth-Eaten Howdah of the Tusker translated into English as A Saga of South Kamrup by Dr. Mamoni Roisom Goswami portrays the complex interaction between the physical and the psychological state of characters in the background of feudal socio-cultural paradigm. This paper tries to examine how bodily experience is a critical place of power negotiation, patriarchy and resistance in feudal Assamese society. Marginalized bodies of the women of lower caste and widows, as well as opium addicts are subjected to control and surveillance by the patriarchal, caste-based systems and leftover colonial powers. Goswami reveals the control of social and religious institutions over the corporeal life by means of the ritualization of the suffering of widows, the normalization of addiction, and the use of female bodies to create the moral and spiritual discipline. The paper also tries to challenge the dichotomous politics of flesh and spirit that shows how the discourse of ideology and religion justify bodily deprivation. The novel has transferred physical suffering into an effective way of social criticism by representing the body as a place of oppression and an avenue of silent resistance. According to this paper, The Moth-Eaten Howdah of the Tusker places the body at the forefront of identity and ethical investigation, and provides a strong reflective commentary on power system and the marginalized within the Assamese literature and society. Key Words: Post-independence, Patriarchy, Resistance, Marginalized, Widowhood, Flesh and Spirit, Desire and Morality.