A Comparative Study of Hunger and Satiation of Hunger in the Literary Works of M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Perumal Murugan

Abstract

The ‘presence’ and ‘absence’ of food, has been an oft-deliberated topic right from the Palaeolithic Age in India. Starting from the Bhimbetka Rock paintings to the famous Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings to Nandlal’s artworks depicting the famine and drain of economy due to the imperial greed in Bengal - all of which depict the creative artist’s and writer’s colossal engagement with hunger and satiation of hunger. Likewise, several fiction writers have explored the idea of hunger, especially in Malayalam and Tamil language.

The idea of hunger has been used as a trope by several indigenous writers to explore multiple social turmoils and transformations. For example, writers like M.T. Vasudevan Nair use memories of hunger by child narrators to depict the fall of the feudal system, collapse of matrilineal structures, social neglect and gender marginalisation.

In the present essay, we focus on two aspects of hunger a) the representation of memories of hunger amongst the rural agrarian communities b) the role that mothers play and the methods that they incorporate in mitigating hunger and creating a feeling of illusory self sufficiency (of food) amongst children. The essay argues that memories of hunger, dearth, and abundance of food are forged not just by the physical lack of it but by the experiences of lack of social security, denial of identity and the rupture of familial ties. To substantiate our arguments we draw upon the literary works of M.T. Vasudevan Nair, and Perumal Murugan and use the theoretical framework of memory studies.