Slow Entropy and the Thermodynamics of Gendered Exhaustion in Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp and Stone Slabs for Shaista Mahal

Abstract

This paper critically examines the celebrated Heart Lamp and Stone Slabs for Shaista Mahal by South Asian author Banu Mushtaq through the lens of entropy and thermodynamics; not necessarily in the literal sense of determining social order, but as a way to illustrate the metaphorical aspect of depletion, lack of recuperative ability, and energy expenditure in the context of gender relations inside domestic systems. In the universe of Mushtaq, domesticity does not constitute either a thermodynamic system or a closed system, but rather an enclosed social sphere, where domestic work, silencing, emotional stress, and lack of autonomy result in constant depletion. Using Rob Nixon’s concept of slow violence, Arlie Hochschild’s theory of emotional labour, and Lauren Berlant’s concept of cruel optimism, this study critically analyses the concept of gendered endurance within the context of entropy. By reframing domestic endurance as an entropic process rather than a moral virtue, this paper offers entropy as a critical vocabulary for understanding the quiet, cumulative nature of gendered oppression in contemporary South Asian fiction.