100. Dr Suja Kurup P.L

Abstract 100
Dr Suja Kurup P.L  

Dissent as a Mode of Discourse in Mylamma: Oru Jeevitham

Abstract

Mylamma of Plachimada fame is the symbol of the fight for human rights, particularly environmental rights, launched by the people who belong to the lower strata of the society. She spearheaded the anti Coca – Cola struggle in Plachimada in the year 2002, in which the tribals, the villagers and the local self – government took an active role. Mylamma, referred to as the illiterate heroine of the Plachimada agitation, belonged to the tribe of Malavedans and would have easily gone into obscurity but for her activist stand against the multinational company which overexploited the ground water resources of the region.

Her autobiography as narrated to Jyothi Pariyadeth was published in 2006. It takes a look at that part of the lives of those men and women who dared to question the figures of authority that deprived the poor of clean drinking water and found the courage to revolt. This paper titled “Dissent as a Mode of Discourse in Mylamma: Oru Jeevitham” is an attempt to explore how the autobiographical discourse in this book assumes the voice of dissent that works against a common enemy. There are many instances in this work where the ‘double speak’ of the authorities is made fun of and dismissed. Anchored in the context of resistance and affirmation, it cautions the readers not to take for granted the euphemistic sayings about the tribal people. She also questions the liberal humanist version of a unified nation, which she says is a hollow concept, since the tribals and the Dalits are still left out of nationalist projects. The paper would also examine how the locational specificity of the work is invariably connected with the global stream of culture and the literature of the oppressed whose politics  must be an active one that fights for human rights, most importantly, the livelihood of the poor.