LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 25:8 August 2025
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Exertion of Val Plumwood's Theory of Instrumentalism in the Manipuri folktale "Uchek Langmeidong" in Dr. Haobam Bilashini Devi's Folktales of Manipur

Monica Potsangbam, Ph.D. Scholar

Abstract

It is to the advantage of the study conducted in this paper that Val Plumwood's instrumentalism in Feminism and the mastery of nature is exploited. The study in this paper explicates the dualistic relationships involved in the folktale "Uchek Langmeidong" in Dr. Haobam Bilashini Devi's Folktales of Manipur. The fundamental purpose of this study is to unfold the elements in the dualistic relationships of the folktale that align with the Val Plumwood's theory of instrumentalism.

Keywords:Folktale, Manipur, instrumentalism, dualism

Introduction

Defining “instrumentalism” in Feminism and the mastery of nature
The theory of instrumentalism, or objectification, in Feminism and the mastery of nature refers to the conventional theory of dualism. The theory of dualism dates back to the dualism of Ferdinand de Saussure in Structuralism. Dualism is a western school of thought, designed in binary oppositions of two terms. Binary oppositions are operated not independently, with reference to the fact that the two terms are rendered the positions of first and second terms under not mere difference but on account of the values and qualities associated with the terms. Categorically, the terms are classified the first and second terms; the first term stands superior to the second. As in the dualistic pair- men/women, men in the first term are conveyed superior; serving a contrasting figure to the women in the second figure. When it is exchanged to- women/men, the same is interpreted; here, women stand superior to men as to the fact that women are positioned in the first term and men in the second term.

Val Plumwood's theory of instrumentalism deconstructs the structure of dualism. Making use of instrumentalism, the politics embedded in the configuration of dualism is exposed by Plumwood in her Feminism and the mastery of nature. Instrumentalism extends a notion that the framework of dualism is configured entirely to make the ends meet for the dominator which refers to the first term. Pertaining to instrumentalism, the construction of a dualistic pair is marked with the target to deliver the interest of the superior first terms at the expense of the inferior second terms; the dominated second term is instrumentalised to facilitate the needs and purpose of the dominator first term. The dominated second term in a dualistic relationship is perceived as a mere resource to the first term. The needs and interest of the second terms are set aside, while that of the first term is prioritised. The play of the theory of dualism is executed in the interest of the upper side of a pair. The dualistic theory capacitates the upperside of the pair, the freedom to "impose his own ends." The upperside of a pair recognises not the needs and interests of the underside, owing to the fact that the position of the underside is conceived to serve the interest of the upperside; the worth of the underside depends on its being useful to the upperside. Laying bare the given circumstances of the framework of dualism, the expounded context of the state of affairs involved in a relationship between the two terms is positioned to establish a "moral dualism." It is the understanding that the underside in a dualistic pair is ruled out to get their identity acknowledged morally, yet they are in fact perceived entirely independent of morality in light of a different standard.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Monica Potsangbam, Ph.D. Scholar
JRF/NET & GATE qualified
Manipur International University
Department of English
MIU Palace, Airport Road, Ghari
Imphal, Manipur, India 795001
monicaimphal111@gmail.com

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