113. Dr. Amith Kumar P.V

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.