Spose del Fiume e Donne della Foresta: mitologie della reclusione e dell'alienazione a partire dal caso delle vedove indiane raccontate da Deepa Mehta e Bapsi Sidhwa

Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta explores the theme of Indian widows’ isolation and loneliness in the feature film Water (2005), which inspired Pakistani writer Bapsi Sidhwa to write her novel of the same name. Both works explore the marginalization of widows in 1930s Indian society, giving voice to a group of women relegated to an ashram and showing the difficulties they face amid stigmas and discrimination. The boundaries of their solitude are defined not only by the perimeter of the “widows’ house” but also by their own bodies, considered untouchable due to a series of rites that further reinforce their alienation.