Countering Mythical Tropes

A Decolonial Approach to Girish Karnad’s Selected Plays

Abstract

Abstract

India is a country globally acknowledged for its ancient Mythology and history, which are deeply intertwined with its culture. Myths are timeless tales that lack historical evidence and are passed down through generations. This paper examines Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana (1971) and Yayati (1961), prioritising the Indian myths and folktales as tools of resistance against the Western theatrical dominance in postcolonial India. It draws on decolonial theoretical insights from Walter de Mignolo. Karnad uses the ancient sources such as the Mahabharata, the Vetala Panchavimshati, and Kathasaritsagara (“Ocean of the Streams of Stories”), to reinterpret them with a touch of social and political commentary, showcasing dilemmas, identity crises, and meaninglessness. Karnad’s Hayavadana echoes Thomas Mann’s novella The Transposed Heads (1940), exploring incompleteness and hybridity through folk theatre elements that are rooted in the “Yakshagana” theatrical performance. Similarly, Yayati deals with King Yayati’s moral transgression and curse that trades his old age with his son, Puru’s youth, which explores moral and existential dilemmas.

This paper investigates Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra over Aristotle’s Poetics, through Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s postcolonial idea, and it revives the “Yakshagana” theatre to dismantle the colonial intellectual hegemony to preserve the cultural legacy. This analysis sheds light on how such reinterpretation transforms myths into living forms of resistance by addressing intersectional oppression or power hierarchies in ritualistic performances.