Abstract 113
Dr. Amith Kumar P.V.
The Dialogic Discordance and the ‘Dissent’
of ‘Indian’ Vernacular
Abstract
The Indian ‘vernacular’
condition exemplifies an extremely diverse problematic as it challenges any
classification in terms of thematic or formal elements. This problematic arises
out of the divergent and messy ‘ground reality’ that gets more and more complex
as one examines the genres, themes,
styles of narration, languages, motifs, plots, literary etiquette and such
other supranational assemblages [Satchidanandan: 38]. This paper seeks to argue
that the multifarious elements of the Indian vernacular tradition have little
in common with Indian writing in English, as the latter represents a condition
which is more or less a homogenous literary category guided and moderated by
International market. By adopting
Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of ‘dialogue’ that encapsulates a tension between
concordance and discordance, the paper aims to chart out the territory of the
dissent of the Indian Vernacular tradition.
Bakhtin’s Dialogic model provides us a theoretical proposition where
agreement becomes as important as disagreement, and hence, dissent acquires the
status of an inseparable ingredient of any culture’s existence [Morson and
Emerson: 313]. In the Indian context, this dissent needs to be understood as
‘centrifugality’ [that is, diffusion of ideas and themes]of the Indian
Literatures as against the encompassing ‘centripetality’ [that is, forces that
homogenize and impose a gravity upon ideas and themes] of the Indian Writing in English. The paper presents a systematic suspicion
about the nature and concerns of the Indian Writing in English and asserts that
there is a necessity for a theoretical articulation of the dissent of the
vernacular. At the same time, the paper emphasizes the necessity of a
‘comparative turn’ within the vernacular literatures.
The paper is divided
into three sections. The first section deals with the articulation of ‘dissent’
so far as Indian Vernacular traditions are concerned. Here, the central idea
would be to understand the modes of operation of the regional literatures and
the element of incompatibility between Indian writing in English and the
vernacular traditions. The second section would be concerned with unveiling the
ancillary apparatus that homogenizes the reality presented by Indian Writing in
English. Questions of globalization, localization and cosmopolitanism and their
significance for Indian situation will be taken up for discussion. In the third
section, the notion of dissent within the Indian literary spectrum will be
explained with substantive examples from Indian Writing in English and
Vernacular traditions.
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