Imagining the Dalit Identity: An Analysis of Narrative Techniques in Select Dalit writing

Main Article Content

Dr. Riad Azam

Abstract

This paper analyses the narrative techniques of two Dalit texts; an autobiography called Joothan by Omprakash Valmiki and a novel called Koogai: The Owl by Cho. Dharman. Through this analysis, the paper presents an account of the changing socio-political conditions of the Dalits in India after independence. Using the theoretical framework of narratology, the paper argues that the two very different narrative styles present in these two texts are reflective of the respective conditions within which their writers found themselves in and the larger socio-political questions that the Dalit emancipation movement was dealing with during those periods. Another aspect that the paper covers is how these two texts present the inherent conflicts and contradictions within the Dalit identity. It then asks the question whether these contradictions should be flattened to present a more homogeneous conceptualisation of what it means to be a Dalit or whether the identity should be imagined alongside these contradictions.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Article Details

How to Cite
Dr. Riad Azam. “Imagining the Dalit Identity: An Analysis of Narrative Techniques in Select Dalit Writing”. The Creative Launcher, vol. 7, no. 5, Oct. 2022, pp. 69-85, doi:10.53032/tcl.2022.7.5.06.
Section
Research Articles

References

Abrams, M. H., Harpham, G. G., A Glossary of Literary Terms. Cengage Learning, 10th Ed, 2012.

Baudelaire, C., The Painter of Modern Life. In: Charvet, P. E. (ed. and trans.) Charles Baudelaire: Selected Writings on Art and Literature. London: Penguin. 1992. Pp. 390–435.

Beth, S., 2007. “Hindi Dalit Autobiography: An Exploration of Identity.” Modern Asian Studies, 41(3), pp. 545- 574. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X0600240X

. . . 2018. “Dalit Autobiographies in Hindi: The Transformation of Pain into Resistance.” Accessed from:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265002350_Dalit_Autobiographies_in_Hindi_the_transformation_of_pain_into_resistance.

Chatterjee, P., 1993. The Nation and Its Fragments. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

- 2004. The Politics of the Governed. New York: Columbia University Press.

Dangle, A., 2009. Introduction. Dalit Literature Past, Present and Future. In: Dangle, A. (ed.) Poisoned Bread. Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan Private Limited. XIX- liv.

Desai, S., and Kulkarni, V., 2008. Changing Educational Inequalities in India in the Context of Affirmative Action. Demography. 45(2), pp. 245- 270. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0001

Dharman, C., 2005 [2015]. Koogai: The Owl. Oxford University Press.

Dickens, C., 1949. Oliver Twist. London: Macdonald.

Goulimari, P., 2014. Literary Criticism and Theory. From Plato to Postcolonialism. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203487198

Haider, S., 2018. Postmodernism Did Not Take place: On Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life. Viewpoint Magazine. Accessed from:

https://www.viewpointmag.com/2018/01/23/postmodernism-not-take-place-jordan-petersons-12-rules-life/.

Jaffrelot, C., 2003. India’s Silent Revolution. London: Hurst and Company.

. . . 2011. Religion, Caste and Politics in India. London: Hurst and Company.

Kaviraj, S., 1999., Democracy and Social Inequality. In: Frankel, F. R., et.al. (eds). Transforming India: Social and Political Dynamics of Democracy. Oxford University Press.

. . . . 2010. The Post-colonial State: The special case of India. Critical Encounter. Accessed from:

https://criticalencounters.net/2009/01/19/the-post-colonial-state-sudipta-kaviraj/.

Limbale, S., 1996[2004]. Towards an Aesthetic of Dalit Literature. Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan Private Limited.

Mukherjee, A. K., 2004. Reading Sharankumar Limbale’s Towards an Aesthetic of Dalit Literature: From Erasure to Assertion. In: Limbale, S., 1996 [2004]. Towards an Aesthetic of Dalit Literature. Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan Private Limited.

Muthukkaruppan, P., 2017. Tamil Dalit Literature: Aesthetics, Politics and Life Narratives. Biography, 40(1), pp. 64- 76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/bio.2017.0003

Nagaraj, D. R., 2010. The Cultural Politics of the Dalit Movement: Notes and Reflections. In: Nagaraj, D. R. (ed.) The Flaming Feet and other essays. Ranikhet: Permanent Black, pp. 93-109.

Nayar, P. K., 2006. Bama’s Karukku: Dalit Autobiography as Testimonio. Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 41 (2), pp. 83-100. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0021989406065773

Satyanarayana, K., 2015. Of Dalit life and resistance. Frontline. Accessed from:

https://www.frontline.in/columns/K_Satchidanandan/of-dalit-life-and-resistance/article7298368.ece.

. . . . 2017. The political and aesthetic significance of contemporary Dalit literature. Journal of Commonwealth Literature, pp. 1-16.

Satyanarayana K., Susie, T., 2013. The Exercise of Freedom. An Introduction to Dalit Writing. New Delhi: Navayana.

Sheth, D.L., 1999. Secularisation of Caste and Making of New Middle Class. Economic and Political Weekly, 34 (34/35), pp. 2502- 2510.

Valmiki, O., 1997 [2003]. Joothan: A Dalit’s Life. Columbia University Press.

Varshney, A., 2000. Is India Becoming More Democratic? The Journal of Asian Studies, 59(1), pp. 3-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2658582

Venkatachalapathy, A. R., 2015. When Kovilpatti Sneezed. In: Dharman, C., Koogai: The Owl, pp. XIX- XXXVI.

Witsoe, J., 2013. Democracy against Development: Lower Caste Politics and Political Modernity in Postcolonial India. University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226063508.001.0001

Wordsworth, W., 2012. Preface to Lyrical Ballads. In: Duncan,W. (ed.) Romanticism: An Anthology. 4th ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 506–17.